We are staying in Provence in a very nice little town called L’Isle sur la Sorgue, which is built over a series of canals off the Sorgue River. You can still see some of the waterwheels on the canals,

One of the canals in L’Isle sur la Sorgue

which at one point were used here to power the production

Sur la Sorgue riverfront restaurants

of silk, paper and tanned hides. It is about an hour west of Avignon and very close to the popular Luberon Forest with its hill towns. We traveled so far to the first couple of towns – Gordes and Rouissillon – and have plans for another day trip in that direction soon..

We rented the house we are staying in on Airbnb – as they say at the hair club for men, Pat is not only a proprietor but also a client – and it is one of the nicest rentals we have been in. It’s an 18^th Century French building that began its life as a stagecoach inn, and then was converted to a factory. It is close enough to the Sorgue river to have been able to pipe in water for the horses in its first

Stairway in the house

permutation, and then to be close enough to have a mill and waterwheel in the next. We are not sure when it was converted into a house – Pat has been e-mailing the owner in Paris for more details. It has giant beams and concrete and tile floors. The owner’s brother appears to have a photo studio on the first floor, and we have the portion on the two floors above. It has been very nicely updated without losing the

This 18th C. building has been an inn, factory and a home.

old look and feel.

Charlie joined us yesterday for a week, and we took a great excursion today to taste wine and see the country around Chateauneuf de Pape and other parts of the Cotes du Rhone region. Once we get back to the U.S., if any of you invite us over for dinner, we would be happy to share what we learned about wine-tasting techniques. We can explain the French term, terroir, if you like.

On the other hand, we also were psyched up in advance for the Thursday market here in L’Isle sur la Sorgue. But as perhaps you can tell from the accompanying photos here, it seems to be a little overrated.

The Thursday market was a little sparse

Now, it could be that it is just late in the season. We are holding out hopes for the Sunday market, which is by reputation the largest antique market in France. We will let you know.

I have not been very good at resisting the temptation to look at the newspapers on-line every day to check on the news of the U.S. election. So far, no one in Europe has asked us any questions about it, but they may sense our inability to discuss it intelligently in French (or In English for that matter.)

Meantime, Pat just went out to the boulangerie down the street for the morning croissants, and I will fire up the espresso machine. I wonder if Donald is contemplating a wall to keep out the French.