On July 4th we left Parma and drove west across Northern Italy, over the Alps (actually “through” them, thanks to the 12km Frejus tunnel), and returned to France to spend two weeks with Jean-Claude (Stephanie’s Dad) and Sabine in their new house in Loriol-sur-Drome, just south of Valence. It was also Stephanie’s first chance to meet her new demi-sœur (half-sister) Gaïa, 8 months old and full of smiles (when not sucking her thumb).

In addition to the usual (taking it easy and catching up on the internet), Jean-Claude and Sabine were eager to take us around and show us the area. Over the course of our time together, we visited a lavander distillery just before the harvest, tasted (and purchased) Clarette/Cremont in Die, toured an olive oil moulin (mill) in Nyons, had cheese fondue in Villard-de-Lans (a ski station in the wintertime), toured (and tasted) Chartreuse at the distillery in Voiron, watched the feu d’artifice (fireworks) from their terrace on Bastille Day, and finished it all off with a fête du village (village festival) in Saoù, honoring the local goat cheese, Picodon, a tasty chevre which gets progressively more gnarly the longer it’s aged.

Rooftop panorama of Loriol: clay tiles and satellite dishes