Day 6- Vaison la Romaine to Gigondas, Vacqueyras

Today was a scheduled rest day but we were anxious to ride through the great wine towns of Gigondas and Vacqueyras.  Les and Sue were happy to join us.  The ride from Vaison was a beautiful descent through the vineyards.  This again reminded us of the Napa Valley but dotted with more wineries than we could stop at.  

The first stop was Seguret, a quaint village perched on the hillside above the vineyards below.  There was a small wine store that offered “deguestion” or tastings.  We had several reds, predominately Grenache and Mouvedre and some excellent Roses as well.  Les bought a bottle of the rose and we rode on to Gigondas. 

The next stop was a true winery and a little more attitude but still excellent.  After one more stop we made our way to Baumes de Venise for an “unscheduled” lunch.  How could we pass of the “bois” or wood fired grill on the street corner serving a true French “ BBQ lunch.  But before that, we stopped in at a winery down the street and tasted some of the famous Muscat grown in this area.  Generally served in the USA as a dessert wine, they offered a drier yet still fruity version.  Both were excellent.  They also had a great rose that we purchased.

On the way out of the winery Maria noticed a beautiful water color of the area with Mt. Venotoux in it.  The sales person gave us the name of the artist and said his studio was just up the road in Suzette.  So after a fabulous lunch, we made haste to Suzette.  The bun busting climb resulted in one was our best experiences of the trip.  The artist and his wife, also and artist, invited us in their house to show us their work.  I think she was actually the more accomplished and had an upcoming exhibition in Paris of her modern “orchestral” sketches.  His work was beautiful and he actually told us the picture in the winery was his favorite.  We told him we would like to purchase it so he drove back to Baumes de Venise and brought it back to us.  Les and Sue also purchased a picture as well.  This spontaneous episode was what we had hoped to experience; small French village, great food, fantastic new friends and art that captured the essence of the region.  We could not have asked for more.