Today dawned clear and col and we breakfasted on the outside patio with sacrosaints, our favorite Provencale pastry–sweet, light, with a crispy outside, sprinkled with toasted almonds and powered sugar–and coffee. A great start to our day! 
First drive of the day was over and through the Alpilles to a grower/processor/seller of all things olive called Moulin Calanquet. Last year we had a tour there that taught us a lot about olives. This producer uses every part of the olive tree for something so they sell spoons and bowls made from olive wood, olive tapenade, olive soap and of course, olive oil. The “olive season” begins next week so the processor was short-handed today and could not fulfill Clay’s needs. We moved on to Moulin CastelaS and found what we needed. Generally, this area of France is the most prolific producer of olives in France. The groves are extensive and many of the trees are very old.
The two olive producers we visited are on either side of Les Baux so we rode over and took this opportunity to walk (way) up into the town of Les Baux, shop a little (Allan bought soap), and have lunch outside at a small spot tucked into the rock.
Final stop for the day was the Carriere de Lumiere in a cavernous limestone theater of lights and music. This is our third year of visiting the Lumiere and we found it just as amazing as our other two visits. This show was twofold–Picasso and other Spanish artists of the time with beautiful music and 70’s era music with a psychedelic light show. The cave is multi-faceted with openings between pillars of stone. The light show projects the paintings onto all surfaces and sometimes turns still-life into moving pictures. It is a must-see in the South of France. I liked the 70’s show best.
Because of our not-so-light lunch, Allan and Clay produced an inspired salad and purchased baguettes for dinner. After our happy hour(s) we ate and retired for the night.
Latest Travels 