Sunrise 6:07 am: Haricort verts in three sizes

Today was supposed to be a short, easy day for the Dawn Joggers but the restaurant at the goat farm on the top of a moutain couldn't take them for lunch until tommorow, so they set off for a 7 1/2 mile hike about a 90 minute drive away. Most restaurants in the area are closed for dinner Tues/Wed, so they returned not long ago with picnic dinner supplies but that's getting ahead of the story. So in no particular order they report: La Grande Begude, the mas where they are staying is quite lovely and very satisfactory but fodder for a novel. The exterior is Provencial but the staff is French, Argentine and Peruvian (as well as a French toddler who acts like Christopher Robin)...Crestet (pictured), a village on their hiking path is current winner of cutest darn village in France. Not a real village as there is no commerce except one small tourist cafe and it appears that few live there full time. But extremely charming nevertheless...France is so civilized in their attitude about dogs. The DJs had lunch (best crepes ever, the verdict from two people who aren't crepe fans) with a very well mannered Airedale whose owners turned out to be Swiss. (Each morning they have breakfast in the courtyard with the mas dog, a Golden Retriever or the French cousin thereof)...The DJs found you can find great fresh food, including even bread, early in the evening and avoid the French version of supermarkets (Casino or Inter Marchè). Well, it did take quite a few stops and a far degree of luck. They stumbled on a fruit and vegetable farmer's market that had a few cheese stands (haricort verts came in three sizes with the smallest costing the most just like in the states). Some tapenade and olives at small store just down the road. And even an open bakery. All together, the perfect picnic after another great day in the countryside (lots of vineyards, lots of orchards, lots of wildflowers, lots of hilltop villages with chateaux).