Apt

This beautiful wisteria  is in the courtyard we drive from every day as we leave our villa.  It gets more full and sweeter smelling every day.

Somehow we have neglected Apt in our travels to Provence so we remedied that omission and headed to the Apt Provencal market.  Again, we had beautiful weather and our hour long trip was lovely–we drove (too fast for photos) along the Alpilles for awhile and on some very small chemins with plowed fields separated by rows of tall cypress trees, along the beautiful blue Durance River, passed espaliered apple and other fruit trees and two pastured white Carmargue horses.  Our view changed a bit as we drove in the valley between Vaucluse Mountains on our left and Luberon Mountains on our right. Here the fruit orchards were larger and more varied–cherry, apple and probably peach trees all blooming; and there were more and more vineyards as we approached Apt.

The city is the center of government for the Luberon region and is lively and typical of the villages in Provence–ocher plastered buildings on small cobblestone alleys.  The market was typical too and big–winding through the small alleys and filling squares.

Allan enjoyed smelling the many different soaps sold in the market and Clay enjoyed eating as many salty oysters as he could!  After wandering the market we had lunch at Mona Lisa cafe, walked to the fruit confit (candied fruit) store, JC Rouset and drove home.