Hotel Crillon de Brave, May 13, 14, 2013

Arriving at Hotel Crillon le Brave, we were awestruck by Mt. Ventoux that towers over this village.We have joined the Gold Medal Plates group here. The funds raised from this event supports our Olympic athletes. We have 2 Canadian Olympians in our party of 60 Canadians, Tessa Bonhomme,  women's hockey gold medalist, and Curt Harnett, cycling bronze and silver. Ed Robertson, of Barenaked Ladies is serenading us daily and nightly. Whitehorse, the couple of Luke Doucet  and Melissa McClelland, are playing nightly in the bar. Everyone here is super-friendly. There is a a lot of people from Saskatoon, Newmarket, and Toronto. We are the 2 token Newfoundlanders.

Our room was in Maison Roche, part of Crillon le Brave

Day 1, we were informed of the weeks agenda and options. Wine tasting is a frequent activity punctuated by cycling and the markets. Monday evening, we ate a gorgeous meal at the hotel, and then retired to the bar, Whitehorse and Ed Robertson were playing until midnight. Whitehorse played songs from their album and sang a version of Springstein's "I'm On Fire", definitely worth the listen. Ed spoke of the song that he had collaborated with Chris Hatfield at the ISS, and sang the full version. What an evening.

Tuesday morning, the church bells were clanging at 7 am. Each clang hurt my head...OK, water only for Bridget today! Peter has decided to bike 45 kms today, and I have taken the option of the market!
We, approximately 30 of us, arrive at the market. Mon Dieu!!!!There were approximately 2 kms of stalls; fruit, meats, olives, lavender, and clothing. Jamie, and Melissa and I twacked(!) around. There was a brass band, playing ragtime in the street. We ate lunch in the park and then took a bus to the estate of John and Deb Harris. This Canadian couple opened their home to 60 of us for a pool party and dinner by a celebrated regional chef. Photos of the day will appear. The pinnacle of the evening was Ed Robertson, singing, "If I had a Million Dollars", against a Provence sunset.....truly a life moment. We then bussed back to the hotel. We had a 70's singalong with duelling Ipods, - remember
"Kung Fu Fighting", "Sweet City Woman", and "Oh, what a Night". Luke Doucet claimed that  he knew all of these songs, but, when confronted, he admitted to being 2 years old in 1975.

Long table at John and Deb Harris's