Lunchtime satisfaction rediscovered, twice, right here in Vaison.

DATELINE: Wednesday, Oct. 18. Vaison and around.

Maybe I should change the name of this blog to The Lunch Line. The focus of almost all of this year's posts has been our dejeuner;  where it was, what it included, and how the experience went down. I'll think about it.

There is good news on that topic however: our lunch luck changed back to positive on Wednesday, and at a more appetizing price level.

The day had begun with a visit from "The French Tornado", my nickname for Mme. Maurel, the local lady who handles cleaning and tidying for our rental lodging. In addition to her own energetic work, her grand-daughter and her great-granddaughter pitched in. In about an hour, the place was looking much better, plus we had enjoyed three lovely people.

When our lunchtime rolled around we walked to the center of Vaison to try a creperie recommended by our new friends, the Chongs. It's called "La Fleur de Sel" (The Salt Flower") to evoke the north coast of France. Far less elegant than our three previous lunch venues, it still offered outdoor seating, though on a back-street sidewalk. The menu listed a terrific collection of galettes. which are thin pancakes made with buckwheat/egg batter (hey, it's gluten-free!). These are folded onto various tasty fillings to form a square usually served on a plate of the same shape (picture on Roz's photo site).

We both had savory fillings with good melted cheese, washed down with hard cider (the essential drink of Brittany). Simple, but excellent -- for about $35 total. Our lunch line is back on high ground!

Though the sweet crepes on the menu were tempting, we took the plunge on pastries from the upscale patisserie, Peyrerol, we passed walking home. A conscience-clearing afternoon walk helped reduce our guilt as we ate them. Again, see Roz's photos.

All we had for evening nourishment was a bit more cheese with our usual aperitifs. 

DATELINE: Thursday, Oct. 19, in Vaison, Nyons, and Entrechaux.

We still had not scored any really great olives this trip, so Roz insisted we try once more at the big Thursday market in Nyons. We made an early run right after the market opened, found the stall with the best olive vendor, loaded up, and skedaddled before the crowd really arrived. We unloaded back home, then drove out to the Théos park for a brisk two-mile walk.

Pizza with roasted vegetables

Next, we pushed our Lunch Line luck a bit further with another Vaison restaurant. Pizza this time, at Bella Napoli, recommended by our host, Toronto native Allan Glube. Another great find with good food at a reasonable price, and within easy walking distance. Wish we'd found these good, nearby lunch places a week or more ago.

The after-lunch hours were spent back at the house. We had a date for aperitifs with our new friends, the Chongs, for early evening, so rested a bit then got ready to go. Their home, in a village near Vaison, is a very well-done remodel of an old Provence farmhouse. Beautiful landscaping, too. We four had a good time swapping stories and opinions. We consider meeting them to be one of the high points of this trip.

The drive home began on dark country roads, but soon put us on familiar highways. Plenty of parking at the nearby Post Office lot. A pleasant evening in many ways.