July 17-29, 2021

Saturday – Sunday – Monday – Tuesday – Wednesday – Thursday – Friday – Saturday

Wednesday
Lourmarin

We had pretty much exhausted all that Lourmarin had to offer, without making the effort to wander any further afield, at least. We slept in as much as we could – the air conditioner in our room wasn’t much help in the fight against the warm night air, and I found myself sleeping very poorly each night. I would say that at least there weren’t any bugs, but Dan had found a line of sugar ants that made their way from the tub plumbing across to the bed. He spent some time flicking them off the bed covers.

We wandered out to the pool to read and listen to some podcasts. One of the employees was kind enough to visit us at the pool and ask if we wanted anything to drink. Dan accepted but I declined. She then tried to tempt me with an ice cream bar. She won and I accepted. She came back shortly after with Dan’s beverage and my treat in its carton packaging. I opened the box eagerly – only to find a bowl of liquid with a wooden stick floating in it. She seemed genuinely surprised and offered to bring another one. I didn’t see how it would be any different and declined. It was a bit awkward to drink my ice cream, but it was tasty.

Eventually we got bored and decided to explore the local area some more. We went for another longish walk, this time going in the opposite direction of the village. Our GPS had originally suggested that we take this route to the Super U yesterday, but we were concerned that it was just someone’s driveway so we turned around. Today we’d see what was really down this lane.

It turned out that it did go through to another main road, but only after passing through a quiet, tucked away scattering of homes. It was nice, but nothing too special. And certainly no problem for the motorcycles – I’ll file that away for “next time”.

An unused gate to the BnB property

We took another wander through the village, following a path that I had serious doubts would take us anywhere. But it did, and I felt like some explorer discovering the secret lanes of Lourmarin.

Tonight we’d go out for another good meal. Lourmarin is known for its excellent restaurants and we wanted to try another one before we left. The BnB had corporate relations with a restaurant we’d seen in town, Le Moulin, and the woman at the reception desk suggested that we eat there. We left thinking that that’s what we’d do, but as we walked, we talked. We really weren’t thrilled with our BnB. Yes, the people were nice, but there was just too much that went wrong, or was poorly executed. And the price! We don’t mind paying for quality, but I can’t say that the quality we experienced was worth half the price we paid. The idea of going to a restaurant that was linked to our hotel didn’t excite us very much.

During our walk through Lourmarin we saw La Petit Table. Dan had read good things about it online and we decided to see if they had an open spot for us. The staff who greeted us asked if we had reservations (no) so she asked if we would want to sit inside. The owner, sitting near the kitchen window, was listening and smiled warmly as he encouraged us to take any seat we liked. The one we were standing near was right at the door and a refreshing breeze was blowing in. It would be perfect.

What followed was an absolutely lovely meal, served by friendly staff, all while the owner sat nearby working on the books. We could easily tell that this was a well-run business: the menu selections were few but clearly well thought out, the employees seemed happy to be there, and the wall of books kept drawing my eye. It was easily much better than Cafe Gaby and I was really pleased with our choice.

The BnB under a waxing moon

Our last night in Lourmarin was quiet and still too warm.

—> Thursday