I had the pleasure of meeting the pétillante Poppy Nicole Salinger at a cocktail party at her Paris apartment several years ago but it wasn’t until now that I was able to accept her invitation to the Bastide Rose.

If the name means something to you it should for she is the widow of JFK’s press secretary Pierre Salinger. Theirs was a superb match and she has created le Musée Pierre Salinger at Le Bastide as a permanent memorial to the man and his times.

he day began with a quick drive from the Bastide Rose to the Maison du Vin in Chateauneuf du Pape, the summer residence of the Popes when the papacy was based in Avignon.

Home to the papacy from  1309-1377 this city in the heart of the Vaucluse is the base for your exploration of the region.

It was Tuesday, market day in this Vauclusian village, and the streets swelled with shoppers  perusing the  450 stalls groaning with vegetables, fruits, cheeses, meat and poultry, spices, candied fruits, nougat and flowers, clothing, shoes, linens, pottery and Provençal tchochkas.

Our visit to the Vaucluse began with a quick, relaxing 2 hour 40 minute TGV ride from Paris’ Gare de Lyon to Avignon where an automatic transmission Fiat was waiting-my chance to chauffeur M for a change. So far alles gut.