The Taste of Fear Part 2 March 6

 Our friends Jerry and Kathy took us for a ride to Banon, in their rented car, where we visited a giant bookstore. Le Bleuet with over 100,000 titles on the shelves was not something one would expect to find in a little town in the middle of nowhere France. The place was amazing, it was located in two adjoining ancient houses just off the main square in Banon. I counted 7 different levels, the basements were full of books, the attics were full of books and everything else in between.

The town itself is very cool and we had a picnic on the church steps. We had run into our friends shortly after the pig encounter yesterday and they were impressed by the story. Impressed enough to buy some wild pig sausage from the Corsican in the market. We enjoyed fresh bread, provençal cheese, pastries, some wine and of course the wild pig sausage (sanglier soucissons). I did have a look around first to make sure no wild pigs were looking before I enjoyed the sausage but this encounter with the pig was less traumatic, for me at least. 

Yoly bought a little book at the store and she hasn't put it down since. It is a Guide/Story, she loves it because it is a story that takes place right on the route we followed through the region. The guide part of the book explained the oak forests (truffelculture), the emblem on the cross on the town gate (Chèvre d'Or, golden goat that has appeared on the hilltops periodically ever since the town was sacked and burned by Saracens back in the day) the remarkable designs on the hillsides of scree (formed by action of La Pascale the prevailing wind blowing out of the north down the valley of the Toulourenc river) and the big pines (left over from the 1900s when people left for jobs in the cities). The story part of the book is about an eight year old boy who decides the best course of action is to leave home and go to Jerusalem. Turns out a tour of the surrounding region's churches and villages may be enough to resolve his problems. He eventually makes it to Saint Sepulcre Chapelle 

The route Kathy found for Jerry to drive was incredible, fields of lavender, vineyards, olive groves, farms, snow on the sides of the  winding roads, and the magnificent snow covered alps in the back ground.

Banon is perched around a small hill on the edge of the high valley of the Coulon. The vieille village is very picturesque, with narrow cobblestone streets between ancient houses. The top of the hill, with the 17th-c romanesque église St-Marc and tall bell tower was once circled by its own defensive wall. What remains of that is the old entrance at the Place du Portail and, at the top, the ruins of the walls.

The church at Montbrun- les -Bains on the way to Banon.

The old gate to the protcted part of the city. You can see where the cross is mounted to the left of the gate.

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The cross features the legendary golden goat mentioned in Yoly's book. 

Part of the town of Banon.

The photo Yoly wanted to take but didn't. It's the view of Banon from a distance.

Going through the old gate.

The road up to L'église Haute Banon.

We found something we have not been missing, snow.

Yoly's new shoes leave impressive tracks.

Flowers and snow, looks like spring time in Alberta except two months early.

The bell tower has a cool tiled roof.

Detail of roof.

View from picnic site.

Giant bookstore middle on Banon.

Statue of books carved out of wood.

Kathy managed to fit into an old desk in the book store.

I think it is a bad sign if trees grow out of the walls and roof.

Having a picnic on the church steps because it was on the sunny side and was dry.

Wild boar sausage, 

The Alps don't seem that far away.

Fields of lavender and cereal. Too bad we are going to miss the lavender blooming, that happens late June to early August.

Pumpkin left over in the fields and the Alps are back at a safe distance.

The sky was very blue but not quite that blue.

Ruins in the town of Pertuis.