Italy Road Trip: A Better Day!

In the mountains above Die.

The snow covered Vercors from Die.

It finally stopped raining during the night but by morning had begun again. Fortunately the site drains quickly and our pitch had dried out. During the day, however, we saw less and less of the wet stuff and the sun even came out periodically, especially late afternoon and evening. Flowers are everywhere, particularly great drifts of cowslips and meadow clary on the roadsides. Orchids are plentiful, mainly lady, military and man orchids. I am also fascinated by the many walnut orchards (if orchard is the correct term for walnuts) and the lavender fields. To be here in lavender time must be spectacular. After breakfast we began our day by driving up into the mountains to the Abbey of Valcroissant. Unfortunately it wasn't open but we enjoyed exploring the exterior. After this we drove beyond Die and up into the hills looking for a suitable picnic spot for lunch. As we rounded a bend we suddenly came upon at least 20 Griffon Vultures circling overhead; an absolutely stunning sight. Parking in the nearest available spot I leapt out, attached the long lens and managed to get some half decent shots. Unfortunately I needed a high ISO so they are a tad noisy. Still not bad record shots. Griffon Vultures have been reintroduced to the area over recent years, along with the Ibex.
After lunch we continued our circuit through the foothills stopping for occasional landscape and flower photography. By the time we returned to Die the Jaillance Cave, home to Clairette and Cremant de Die was open so time for some degustation. The Cremant is a typical dry fizz but the Clairette is sweet with a delicious floral nose and taste. The main grape used is muscat with occasionally small amounts of Clairette. We shall return. Moving on we stopped for another tasting near our site and this time bought a couple of bottles of Clairette. Before returning to the tent for a welcome cup of tea it was pleasant to wander around Chatillon in the sun for some present shopping. We have just had another brief thunder storm but the sun is now out again and it is a beautiful evening. The meal tonight is in the site restaurant. They had lapin on the other night so fingers crossed!!