Chateauneuf du Pape and Vaison la Romaines

We left the farm pitch early and went to Decathlon to get Glenn a new bike tube with a UK valve fitting. While there we had a coffee and chocolate croissant for breakfast- yum!

Our next trip went through stunning scenery and skirted the edge of Avignon - a nice looking city - but for another trip.

Then we drove onto the wine museum in the famous wine village of Chateauneuf du Pape.

There was an audio guide taking us around the displays.

We found out about the wine regions in the Cote du Rhône area and that Chateauneuf du Pape is one if the 17 top areas - or Grand Crus.

Their wine always contains Grenache - it’s a rule.

The other main grape for reds is Syrah.

They do also make white and rose by removing the skins of red grapes.

The last part of the museum tour was to have a tasting of 3 wines - all red - great! The last one - the best chateauneuf du pape was excellent - but costs 220 euro per bottle - a little out of our price range. We bought another one for far less.

We continued on our way to our next stop Vassail La Romaine , an ancient Celtic then Roman town.

It was just under an hour until we arrived at the aire there. We immediately went to check out the town as we had a short time there. We looked in from outside on the archeological area of the Roman town.

Glenn wanted to get a better view.

We then went across the Roman bridge to the medieval city area - which is where the celts had lived in the beginning.

The narrow streets on the side of the hill looked ancient.

We found an old church currently being renovated. A Korean priest is a glass artist so has donated some interesting windows.

There was a castle, only ruins now, at the top of the hill. Glenn made it up there.

There was something different around every corner.

The views back across to the ‘new’ town - actually built on top of the Roman town - were very lovely.

We then checked out the shops on the way back to the van. While cooking dinner we had a knock on the door- it was the council employee picking up the parking fees. He was a jolly chap telling us about the town market the next day.

I threw together an unusual dinner of sausage, lentil and vegetable stew - very warm and filling. We went to bed early after another big day.