24 Hours: La Palud sur Verdon — L’Isle sur la Sorgue (Terri and Finn’s European Adventure Day 3)
After leaving the Hotel des Gorges du Verdon near La Palud sur Vendon, we headed south to enjoy the natural beauty of Gorges du Verdon as described in the previous post 24 Hours: Nice-Gorges du Verdon (Terri and Finn’s European Adventure Day 2). We were jet lagged and sad to leave the area but excited about the day before us.
We had no actual plans.
We made it to Lorgues during the lunch (two) hours and dined at an odd but tasty place called Carnets des Voyages that Finn found through Google reviews.
We were still jet-lagged and my brain was tired from adjusting to speaking (and understanding) French. We got back on the road and headed toward Aix-en-Provence.
After parking in a very small parking space in one of the many garages, we made our way out to the surface and started walking. We’d done a loop around town so we assumed we’d walk by something interesting. Admittedly I’m not a huge fan of Aix and I didn’t take any pictures. My opinion of Aix didn’t change on this trip.
Finn got some new orange boots from one of the shops which have been perfect for Burlington, VT (pictured below). We had some ice cream in a tea shop to restore our blood sugar before getting back into the car. The GPS guided us to the road as Finn searched booking.com for a hotel for the night.
In 2015, we did two home exchanges: ten days in Paris (14th arr.) and 3 weeks in Provence (Monteux near Avignon). Finn searched for places near Monteux and found what appeared to be a charming (and expensive) place in l’Isle sur la Sorgue. We now lovingly call it the scorpion place.
The pictures of Le Mas de Cure Bourse did not come close to matching reality (and not in a good way). But there was good parking, we were able to check in and go for a walk in the surrounding area, and I could drink wine at dinner at the hotel restaurant without worrying about driving somewhere.
Why the scorpion hotel? After our walk, I went into the bathroom and saw what appeared to be a scorpion next to the toilet. I yelled for Finn to join me in the bathroom and asked Finn to confirm it was in fact a scorpion since Finn had seen one on the NOLS trip earlier in the spring. This was my first scorpion sighting. I didn’t even know Provence had scorpions. Fun fact: very few people die from scorpion stings in France.
We left our room (unlocked since we couldn’t get the key/lock to work and by the way there was no wifi) and went to the reception area. In French, I explained that we found a scorpion in the bathroom. The gal didn’t believe me and got some guy to come with us to our room. He quickly confirmed it was a scorpion, left, and returned with a small broom and dustpan. He left with the little creature and no, I don’t know what he did with him/her.
Needless to say I was nervous about this pest situation and asked Finn if scorpions travel in pairs, groups, or solo. Finn suggested that I not google for more info and said we would be fine. I immediately searched for more info and was not happy with the answers. They are not solo travelers.
To get over this unexpected experience, we decided to dine on the patio where we enjoyed a beautiful and delicious dinner.
Dessert was lovely (the wine lovelier) and Finn’s macaron was about three inches across.
After dinner we strolled the 20 feet to our room, once again attempting to lock it, seached the room and bathroom for scorpions and went to bed. We slept surprisingly well.
We were up early for breakfast on the patio before driving to our first brocante (flea market). We’d been told that we should get there before the parking lots filled up. We were there so early that some of the vendors were not quite done putting out their wares.
We were on the hunt for something for Adam that would fit into our carry on luggage since we only brought small carryons and backpacks for the trip. I was hoping to get Adam an original Le Creuset from France but had no luck so this entertaining woman provided a fascinating backstory on this tiny saucepan with an engraved picture on the bottom, and agreed to take a picture with it after I paid for it.
Finn bought a used copy of an Agatha Christie paperback in French to add to their collection. It cost a whopping 3 euros and Finn now wishes they had purchased more.
I found a linen vendor from Sault with some designs similar to what I’d picked up in 2015. After talking to him, assuming we understood him correctly, he also had a shop in Salut. Score! I picked up two tablecloths and two dozen napkins for less than I could get a single tablecloth here.
I love buying home goods when I travel because I am reminded of my travels every time I use the souvenirs.
My favorite shop was Petit Coin de Paradis, a collective of creators with everything from hats (pictured below), artwork, vases, jewelry, and fans. Finn purchased this piece from the artist (pictured above) and it graces their desk at college.
I needed to get a bottle of champagne to take to friends in Dieulefit so we popped into one of the shops off one the of squares where an Irish guy from Dublin was working.
We had a conversation first in French and then when it got too complicated, we switched to English.
When we were in Provence in 2015, we came here to L’Isle sur la Sorgue. It’s a charming town with a really good Sunday market.
Get to the market early to get parking. By the time we left around 11 AM, the parking lot was full and folks were waiting outside of the lots for people like us to leave.
We returned to the hotel to inspect our luggage for scorpions before checking out and packing up the car. We were headed to Dieulefit via Carpentras (for lunch) to visit with the friends we house swapped with in Monteux. They moved a few years ago.
But first we had to drive by the house in Monteux to see if Finn could remember anything about our three weeks there. Sadly, the outside did not bring back any memories including the dead chicken, playing Marco Polo in their pool, and late night dinners in the summer Provencal heat as we were serenaded by cicadas. Sigh.
Terri Hanson Mead is the multi-award winning author of Piloting Your Life, Managing Partner of Solutions2Projects, LLC, and an advocate for women through all of her platforms including YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and this blog. Terri is the mother of two college aged kids, is based in Redwood City, CA and in her spare time, loves to travel, cook, play tennis, and fly helicopters around the San Francisco Bay Area, especially under the Golden Gate Bridge.
