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Restaurant La Bartavelle, Goult – We were fortunate enough to get a last minute table (i.e. one week in advance) at this Goult charmer.  The small restaurant located down a narrow alley street seats only 25 people, with one service a night.  They sat our party of six in an almost private dining area towards the front that had the feel of a rustic home – complete with antique Michelin guides, coffee table cookbooks, and a shuttered door opening to potted plants and the outside street.  A decently priced 41 euro prix fix provided reinvented classic French cuisine done simply, perfect, and beautifully.

Markets – Outdoor markets are plentiful and rotate locations each and every day between the surrounding villages.  The most coveted item we discovered was a reduced wine infused with truffles, délice de vin barolo a la truffe, from a stand Les Aromes Mediterraneens, selling various tapenades, reductions, and oil.  The reduction accompanied salads, meats, and soft cheeses perfectly, the wine still strong but not overpowering and earthy truffles balancing the flavor.  We tried looking for the item again, last minute, in a few of the gourmet shops but could only find reduced balsamic with truffles – just not the same.

Roussillon – The grand red cliffs and ocre quarries are worth the see, despite the tourist crowd.  Shoes and feet will for sure be stained yellow for the rest of the day, but the vivid shades of yellow, red and brown, in contrast with an immaculate blue Provence sky, seem ethereal.