Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Above Cavaillon

Just west of central Cavaillon, the land rises up in a rocky outcropping. Various trails (and a road) go to the top, providing visitors with sweeping views of the city below and beyond. to the west and south the Durance River makes its way to the Rhône near Avignon.

One of the many routes to Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle passes this way, I believe. Digitized color slide, September 2001.

Yesterday morning, a huge tractor-trailer drove up past our house and out into the vineyard. It had been carrying a very big vehicle, sort of like a dump truck, that was now driving behind. The crew left the dump truck thing out by where the first row of trees was recently cut down and drove the tractor-trailer away.Maybe we'll see today what's going on out there.

Monday, March 18, 2024

The car

This is the car we rented for our 2001 Provence trip. It's a Renault Scénic, I believe. It looks pretty much like any car you can see on the road today. I don't remember much about it. I suppose that's a good thing. We rented it in Paris and drove it down to Provence and back.

Today's cars have more pronounced front ends, as is the style. I prefer this style. Digitized color slide, September 2001.

Ken and I are more and more convinced that we've identified the house we rented for this trip in the photo I posted yesterday. With the help of Google Maps and our photos, we're pretty certain now. As soon as I figure out how to add an arrow to the photo, I'll post that. Please try to contain your excitement.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

I think I can see it

I think the house we rented back in 2001 is in this photo. I can't be certain. We don't have, or can't find, any paperwork with the address on it, but I remember there was a field between the road and the house on the north side (toward the left in the photo), and an even larger patch of vacant land on the south side (toward the right in the photo). Using Google Maps helped me to locate what could be the place.

Standing in central Cavaillon looking east toward the Luberon. Digitized color slide, September 2001.

The small city where I'm standing is Cavaillon. There is a high spot near the center of town with views in all directions and I think that's where this photo was taken from.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Nesque

Remember les gorges de la Nesque? I recently posted a view of a rock formation in the Nesque river valley that we drove through. This is a wider shot from the same viewing area with that rock formation visible in the lower right.

Nesque River Gorge. Digitized color slide, September 2001.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... I'm watching the grass grow with trepidation. It's really thick in spots. Big spots. I'm hoping for a dry spell so I can start cutting it. When it doesn't rain, we have heavy dew that takes a while to evaporate. I go through this every year. And every year it works out. Eventually.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Just one (more) look

I think the cherry tree blossoms have passed their peak now, so here's another view taken a few days after the first one. The white blossoms in back are on our neighbor's plum tree.

Cherry and plum trees are early bloomers in spring. Seen from the deck.

Today we're getting haircuts. Ken goes in first, the I go in later. Our new (to us) salon keeper is moving her business across town this month, so she'll be out of commission for a short time.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Le pont Julien

Just north of Bonnieux (Vaucluse) is a Roman bridge, built in the year 3 BCE. According to Wikipedia, the bridge has been in continuous use since. In 2005, however, car traffic was diverted to a new bridge built nearby to reduce wear and tear on the historic monument. Pedestrians and cyclists can still use the old bridge. We visited in 2001, so we were able to drive across. Still, we got out to take photos.

Le pont Julien outside of Bonnieux. Digitized color slide, September 2001.

We're socked in by fog this morning. Predictions are for a warm day (as high as 19ºC depending on which weather service you consult), but recent predictions of similar high temps have fallen short.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Documentation

I'm glad I took the camera out last week for these photos of the taking down of the "first row of trees," as we call it. The trunks got cut at ground level, then the branches were removed, and finally the logs were split (with the help of a big mechanical log splitter) and stacked. Yesterday, a tractor came by with a trailer and, after a few round-trips, the logs are all gone.

Acacia logs stacked on the other side of the stream bed. They've all be taken away now.

In the foreground of this photo, you can see the new vines that were planted last year. At some point, the big vineyard parcel in the background (behind the logs in the photo) will be prepared for new vines. I wonder if it will be this year or next?