France Day 7 - V is for Valrhona

Having decided the treacherous hills and narrow roads were too much for a jog, we sat down for breakfast at Marie's -- fresh bread, croissants, jams, yogurts, etc. Delicious but the jams and yogurt still can't compare to Francois! We've been spoiled!

We said au revoir to SheGal at the airport as she headed to Munich to meet up with her sister & nephew. Then after spending 30 minutes trying to figure out how to work the gas pump and pay, we were on the road to St Remy with a stop over in my destination of choice, Tain L'Herimatage, also known as the home of Valrhona chocolate!

There were a bunch of small outdoor cafes lining the municipal parking lot and while we were (once again!) at the end of lunch service, so we quickly chose one. We split a crepe and two salads, finally realizing that lunchtime is the opportunity to "get our greens" - salads are big and loaded with lots of goodies here!

Of course I needed to save room for chocolate and led the convoy to the Valrhona store. There is a chocolate school next door and the only thing I can say is that the smell from that place was heavenly! Fresh baked cookies don't ever smell this good! The store was pretty busy and loaded with samples! I was particularly impressed with the dark chocolate with pear ganache - the fruit was subtle and did not overpower the richness of the chocolate and was unlike a lot of chocolate I've had...believe me, I've eaten my fair share! After stuffing myself silly with anything that wasn't nailed down, I dropped 35 euro on a selection of chocolates and one organic pre-packaged bar. There is such a difference in taste when it comes to quality chocolate - and well worth the expense. And as an added bonus, they threw two free bars in my bag! Sa-weet!

After RRR & Mitch were able to drag me away from the store, we hopped back in the car and headed to St-Remy. On the way, we decided to take a detour and check out a scenic overlook that was in one of our tour books. I drove white-knuckled up a narrow, winding mountain road through a town which seemed to be inhabited by the "Others" from Lost (or at least creepy mountain dwellers). We finally reached the top, snapped a few photos and since what goes up must come down, slowly navigated our way down the other side of the mountain thankful for our diesel engine so an oncoming car would hear us and eventually made our way back onto the highway. This started a trend for the trip: let the person who drives the least (yours truly) do all the treacherous hilly driving!

We arrived at Le Mas de Manon and were greeted by Marie, Claude and their adorable black lab, Romain. Marie gave us a map of St Remy and told us a few restaurants to hit in the center of town, including her favorite. A recommendation from a local? We're there!

Luckily, we were able to get into Panache Grain de Sel and got a seat outside. It was an absolutely beautiful evening and this is how dinner went down:

white bean paste with cumin & toasts when we sat down

Appetizer platter:
Pastilla macorocaine a la pintade - meat seasoned with cumin and wrapped in a puff pastry
St. Jacques aux petits legumes - these scallops were the standout appetizer
Beignet de fleur courgette farcie a la brandade de movue Maison - a salt cod beignet reminiscent of a crab rangoon
Tartare de saumon a'laneth
Moursee aux 4 couleurs (courgette, aubergine, poivron, chevre)
cereales gourmandes aux legumes
tomate farcie aux trois viandes
soupe de poissons et legumes

This plate of appetizers was simply outstanding! It gave us the opportunity to taste a lot of different dishes and the influences here seemed to run the gamut from Asian to North African to French. So imaginative and what a beautiful presentation!

Mains:
filet de beouf aux morilles et foie gras - the foie gras melted on top of the filet and the beef was cooked perfectly; red inside and so tender!

filet de daurade aux legumes et spaghettis frais au pistou - Mitch overcame her fish bone aversion and enjoyed this wonderfully (bone free) fish with a side of pasta with pistou, the French version of pesto.

wine: Reine Jeanne 1999 Chateaunauf du Pape

This was certainly one of our best meals on the entire trip!