Chateauneuf-du-Pape

When I mentioned this Rhone Valley town to my sister-in-law, she said, "Ooh, the wine." And a young Cincinnati bartender we know said that Chateauneuf-du-Pape was the first red wine he ever tasted and liked. Of course, the town is best known worldwide for its complex red wines, but it is also a cute, small town with a couple of excellent restaurants, plenty of tasting rooms, and the ruins of a medieval Pope's summer chateau.

At lunch in town

We visited only one winery, the lovely Chateau la Nerthe in the valley near the town, where we had an appointment to tour the caves and try some of their very hard-to-find white wine blends.
We also had lunch in town at Le Pistou, where I had perhaps the most interesting and tasty single dish of our trip to Spain and France: this salad featuring sliced, cured duck and delicious melted cheeses on toast -- among many other delightful things on the plate.

Duck Salad, Le Pistou

Picnicking at our hotel

As was the case most evenings, we had a picnic in the gardens of our hotel at dinnertime.