Sunset over Lacoste
Windy today and a bit cooler! Perhaps the Mistral, the famous wind of Provence? It’s supposed to come from the north, though I can never seem to tell the direction. Rosa Tomas (Henri's wife, from the boulangerie) says yes, it is the Mistral.
This morning we made a quick trip to the market at Gordes. The wind whipped noisily across the top of the village, jerking the umbrellas and threatening some of the merchandise. A wine glass blew off of a merchant’s stand and shattered. A large cardboard poster slapped across the main square. Bits of lavender flew out of their sacks. Charley picked up two small potted trees that had blown over at a restaurant.
The sellers played a strong defense, hanging onto their umbrellas and awnings and trying to make their sales to the many anxious tourists. I’m sure they deal with the wind several times a year; they know what to do.
The wind cleared the skies, and at the end of the day we were rewarded with a perfect clarity, accentuating every farmhouse, villages, hill, canyon, ridge, and mountaintop from here to Mont Ventoux.
And the best reward of all: a breathtaking sunset that began behind Bonnieux and spread across the entire valley... a riotous explosion of pink, red, orange, gold and grey… all across a midnight blue sky, perfectly illuminating Lacoste and its famous castle.
I ran down to the vineyard to enjoy the spectacle, the highlight of another summer's day in Provence.
