On Tuesday morning it still seemed somewhat too cool (and a tad blustery) to head off immediately on bikes. We went into Malaucene for a few things and stopped by the pottery place in Crestet where I bought some beautiful blue oven-proof dishes. At home I made individual tomato-chevre calfoutis (scentedwith herbes de provence) in them and we had those for lunch. They will be served again on Thursday, as they were an easy winner over the tomato tart, and also because that means there can be fruit galette for dessert. 
In the afternoon we went for a little bike ride and took the Entrechaux-St. Marcellin route to Vaison and then the cyclotouristique road to Seguret. It is the one Kate and I took in the other direction last year. It was passable, but there were spots of broken pavement and loose gravel and some steep climbs. It involves quite a bit more climbing when attacked from this direction. In Seguret I hobbled around in my cleats a bit until we found a terrasse on which to enjoy a pastis. We took the main road home and it was brutal. The wind was so strong that the tall grasses growing in the ditches were horizontal. At a couple of points I thought I might be joining them in the ditch.
We eventually made it home safely and had just finished showering and devouring some leftovers, when Martin called from Orange. I had spoken to him earlier in the day and he and Michel and their two friends had planned quite a busy sightseeing agenda which was going to bring them in our direction, but we were not exactly sure when. By the time they got here it was probably about 7:30 or so, and we managed to scrounge up some bruschetta, some sausage and cheese (with condiments) and some croquettes for them, along with an assortment of beverages. We had a nice visit and heard from Ben, who owns a farm near Grignan) all about the unforeseen difficulties of transacting with the French builders. We also heard the common wisdom hereabouts that the mistral lasts either 3 or 6 or 9 days. Some lively discussion ensued as to when it might be anticipated to end, but this was a question incapable of resolution as no consensus emerged on when it had, in fact, started.
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