Holiday in France: Nyons Marché Provençale and the Mont Ventoux

I've been back from France for a month now, and I'm still not done posting our holiday pictures. Not because we took so many (I hardly used my camera), but because I'm trying to space my holiday posts out to get as much enjoyment out of them as possible. And also because I get homesick for France when I go through my photos.

So! Flashback to summer in France: day two. This day, we spent the morning visiting a local market in Nyons and drove on to the Mont Ventoux in the afternoon. We had dinner at L'Absinthe in La Garde-Adhémar, a gorgeous little village on the top of a hill.

First up: the marché Provençale where we were bombarded with overpriced trinkets, but we also marvelled at the stalls filled with hundred kinds of colourful herbs and spices, box upon box of olives, wild peaches, lavender and other typically Provençal specialties. The market was crowded, but the atmosphere was nice and so was the weather and the beautiful town of Nyons. I ended up limiting my purchases to some pottery, a basket and a slice of salted butter caramel nougat (which I wish I bought more of). Oh, and two scoops of delicious ice cream (grapefruit and pear).

Excuse me for some of the very bright pictures, my boyfriend was experimenting with the settings of our camera :/

After picking up a picnic of baguettes with goat's cheese, salad greens and tapenade, we headed back to our riding oven slash car (don't worry, we had airconditioning) for a ride up the slopes of the Mont Ventoux. This rather high mountain is mostly famous for being one of the most daunting climbs of the Tour de France, and sure enough our drive was mostly spent feeling sorry for the numerous tourist cyclists painstakingly pedalling their way to the top. Also, freaking out because the mountain really was very high. The top is above the tree line, which makes for an almost lunar landscape . Quite the place to enjoy your lunch.

After making our way down, we headed back home for some pool time before dinner. The weather was perfect: about 28°C, topped off with a nice, cooling breeze. I spent most of my evenings speed-reading through Gone Girl, which is a total page turner.

Once again, we followed the advice of our host and made reservations at a small restaurant in La Garde-Adhémar which was favoured by locals. We had no idea the town we'd be visiting would be such a beautiful place, though - one of France's Plus Beaux Villages, apparently! On the top of a hill, beckoning us in the sunset. We had to park our car outside of the village to enter the stronghold walls, and yeah, it looked and felt exactly as awesome as that sounds. La Garde-Adhémar was decidedly tiny, so even though we forgot to remember the exact address of the restaurant, we simply wandered right onto its doorstep.

I forgot to take pictures of the food, but my boyfriend and I had paté de campagne as an entrée, pasta (him) and lamb (me) as a main course, and crème brûlée for dessert. The entrée was my favourite course, very typical for the region and not something I'd normally order during summer, but I'm glad I did!

Ah, la douce France. You can read my other France posts here and here, for some instant holiday mood. Can't wait to go back!

You can read my other France posts here: 
- La Devinière
- Donzère and Viviers
- Balazuc and the Ardèche