France Day 9 - To Market We Go!

Before we set out on our morning run, Claude told us (in French) about a lake nearby. We looked for it, but were unsuccessful and figured we'd try again tomorrow. We sat down to another delightful breakfast, chatted with the Canadians, pet Romain and headed to the renowned St Remy market. Hitting the markets for RRR was like me hitting Valrhona chocolate HQ and we were all pretty excited to see what we've read and heard so much about. Would it live up to the hype?

In a word...yes! When we got to the center of town, it was a flurry of activity with vendors selling just about everything you could imagine! We were accosted by some savvy saleswomen at our first stop, and walked away from that stand with three Tibetan bracelets. We browsed the stands of clothing, linens, jewelry, housewares, etc., picking up a few select items along the way and wishing we had another suitcase! Mitch's was already stuffed to the gills but she picked up a few paintings of the Provencal countryside by a local artist...

Personally, I was entranced by the selection of saucisson at one stand and sampled quite a few different varieties before I caught the eye of the vendor. He didn't speak English, however, when I rubbed my belly and said "oooooh saucisson", I think he knew he had a ringer! After purchasing olive and pork sausages and telling him (w/hand gestures) about my blog, he gave me his card so I could spell his name right. So next time you are in St Remy on their market day, tell Mme Andre' Rousson, that f is for foodie sent you!

I also sampled perhaps the best foie gras I've ever had along with cheeses, olives, tapenades, you name it! While we were dealing with sensory overload we stocked up on some goodies for our day of touring. Unfortunately, we were not able to transport the paella and coq au vin one vendor was cooking up but it certainly was entertaining to watch him cook in the biggest paella pan I've ever seen!

We eventually dragged ourselves away from the market and headed to the walled city of Avignon. After a bit of arguing over directions, we finally parked and headed into the circular city on a mission to find the hilltop picnic spot I've read about in my Lonely Planet book. When we finally found it, we set up shop at a picnic table and enjoyed our market treasures. The area was reminiscent of Central Park; the atmosphere, the people, the small lake, it was adorable with great views of the city. We laughed as a duck kept walking by us - perhaps he knows how much I've enjoyed his brethren so far!

After a bit more sightseeing, we eventually found our way back to the car with a few wrong turns & lots of bickering along the way. We hopped back in the car and went to Les Baux de Provence, a fortified hilltop village that we heard was absolutely breathtaking! Well, if breathtaking means trying to breathe with all the tour bus fumes, then this lived up to it's name! Unfortunately, this town was so overrun with tourists and cheesy souvenir shops that it didn't have the charm we expected.

We did stop in the tourist office to try and make some dinner reservations at one of two restaurants our cousins recommended but one was closed and the other was booked for the evening. The woman at the office suggested La Cabro D'Or, promising quality food and not a super-touristy cheesy restaurant. So we freshened up as best we could and headed to what we THOUGHT would be a casual meal.

Little did we know we'd be sitting down to a meal not that different from our dining experience at the French Laundry a few years back. Not only was this the priciest restaurant we've been to so far, but it also had the most courses. Always up for a challenge, we sat down to chow down. (my apologies in advance for the lack of photos, not really the place to whip out a camera)

We chose a 2003 Mas Saint Berth for our wine which is a blend of granache, syrah and cabernet savingnon. Our meal started like the all should with some amuse bouche: fresh olives, madelines with chorizo, goat cheese with tarragon on crostini and a Parmesan puff. Then one of our many waiters brought some bread: a lemony fresh citron and olive among the choices - all crusty and warm. We probably would have been happy stopping our meal here but we've only just begun to dine!

Next they brought out a "gift from the chef" - a sardine which was lightly coated and fried. Not sure when or if I've ever had sardines before but I was a bit too distracted by the bony texture of the fish to truly enjoy the taste of the fish and Mitch had already had more than her share of fish bones but I digress...

Next came a pumpkin soup which was somehow both creamy and light and frothy with a bit of nutiness to it. After our soup we enjoyed some ravioli stuffed with sweet onions, hazelnuts and pistachio.

As if this was not enough, out comes our 'fish' course. RRR chose the tuna tartare which was full of a variety of flavors and Mitch and I chose the scorpion fish lasagna. There were slivers of bacon, zucchini and a shellfish broth with saffron. The pasta was light and the robust scorpion fish had the consistency of shellfish.

But wait there's more... out comes our main courses! I had the duck breast with fig compote and hazlenuts (from their garden) and RRR & Mitch went with the buffalo which we thought might be tough but the filet was tender and full of flavor. By this point we were out of wine and chose a Cressonniere Cotes de Provence -- my food coma started to set in so I didn't catch the year of the vintage.

Dessert consisted of a cheese course and we were all impressed with the tete du pape (translated means pope's head) cheese from Switzerland. The waiter cut it in a circular fashion so the cheese almost resembled the petals of a flower.

When we were finally finished with our meal, not only were we impressed with the excellent service, beautiful presentation and freshness of the ingregients and impeccable preparation but also impressed with the lack of pretention by the staff. We've dined in a lot of 'high-rent' (including the aforementioned French Laundry) restaurants but never in jeans after a long day of touring in the sun... by the way we were treated we may have well been dressed to the nines - what a pleasure!

On the drive home we were discussing our 4 hour meal and how this particular road reminded us of a road in Tuscany where we encountered some wild boar on the way home a few years ago. Suddenly, out of nowhere came four boar into the middle of the road! You would think our screaming would have scared them away but one straggler stood there for a bit confused and blinded by the headlights, until he finally decided to follow his friends to safety. Of course, yours truly was the driver in both boar-related incidents! What a way to end an already eventful day!

France Day 8 - A dizzying day of driving, directing and dining in Provence

Our first full day in Provence! Marie had a nice breakfast for us when we returned from our morning jog: bread, a lazy susan full of jellies and butter, fruit and yogurt. Definitely getting used to this cuisine! Chatted with the three Canadians also staying here, compared itineraries and got ready to hit the road.

We headed north to Vacqueryras where the wine at one estate smelled like a port and was sweeter and fuller than any wine we had tasted so far. Wines from this maker were made up of granache, syrah, cinsault and moverdre. I just love the blends!

Then we hit Chatenauf du Pape where due to the climate, the grapes are grown in rocks. We took a lot of pictures of the vineyards (Chateau Mont Redon being one) and tasted some incredible reds (and a few whites which are not too easy to find in this area). I can certainly see why this wine is a bit more expensive than others we have tasted on our adventure.

We decided to picnic in Seguret, a hilltop town. Iti is so wonderful that you can just pull into a town, find a spot and set up a peaceful delicious meal! Our lunch was some cheese, bread, olives, olive tapenade, an olive, cheese and onion pizza (sense a theme here?), and stuffed bread with sweet tomatoes and yellow and green peppers. Still in awe of this practice and loving every minute of it!

After lunch we headed to Vaison La Romaine and a bunch of villages in between. It is my M.O. to always squeeze in a stop to a church or historical site, so I snuck in a visit to the ruins in Vaison La Romanin. Cool but not nearly as impressive as Roman ruins. I stopped taking tasting notes at this point and decided to simply enjoyed the wine. The amount of ground we were covering was dizzying!

On our journey, we stopped at a co-op in Vacquareyes and took some photos of farmers unloading their grapes. It is pretty amazing to see the process behind something that brings us so much pleasure! And I love how the co-op is there for the small farmer.

Another stop was in Beaumeand de Venise. At this point, I needed a snack and we stopped in a little patisserie to grab a pastry. The woman was in the midst of helping us when we hear in the background the theme song to Law & Order. We started laughing and said "oh, Law & Order fan?" - the woman seemed embarrassed to get caught enjoying her American guilty pleasure but I found it adorable, perhaps because her pastries were so light and flavorful!

We also hit a wine shop in town and spent some time talking to the very knowledgeable saleswoman who educated us on a few regions we were not able to get to in our jam-packed itinerary. The man there was mocking American "McWine" and saying how it is basically fruit bombs. She corrected him and said there were some quality wines and we were there to learn about French wines out of respect and appreciation. Our heated friendly debate ended in us walking out with a few bottles and the laughing with the two of them.

When we finally got back to St. Remy, we had a hard time getting into a restaurant and spent some time arguing and wandering around aimlessly looking for a place to eat. We settled on an Italian-inspired place that not one of us can remember the name of. It seemed a bit touristy, but we were hungry and out of options.

I had what was called a "greedy plate" which was basically a sampling of appetizers: fig wrapped in pastry, foie gras, eggplant bread and tomato soup. The fig and the foie gras were the standout items here - the foie gras is so different than what you get in the US - I am forever spoiled.

For my main course, I went with a pasta with pistou and almonds. Basically, it was fusilli in a cream sauce with a bit of pesto or I should say the French version of pesto. It was tasty but a bit too rich and creamy for me but since I've been going for broke the last week plus, why quit now?

Our wine of choice was a 2003 Chateau Vannieres from Bandol which is east of Cassis (one of our destinations) on the way to Marseille.

This was a good meal (they all were) but not a standout on any front. Again, this restaurant seemed to cater more to tourists and was a bit more "Americanized" than we were looking for...but little did we know that Day 9's meal would more than make up for it!

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!

France Day 6 - Goodbye Rhubarb Jam, Hello Beaujolais

Ate as much rhubarb lemon jam I could without scaring the other guests of the Chateau', said au revoir to Francois and his three wonderful dogs and hit the hilly road to Beaujolais.

We arrived in Fleurie at Domaine du Clos des Garands-Fleurie, met our hostess Marie, and went to have a late lunch at one of the only two restaurants this small town has to offer. One was closed, so our decision was made for us and we sat down to the many stares of the locals since apparently not a lot of tour buses come plowing through this tiny town.

The restaurant didn't seem to have a name or if it did none of us could figure it out. After navigating the French menu with our pocket dictionaries, we decided to kick off our lunch with a plate of charcuterie. This included a terrine mixed with pate', garlicky, fatty, tasty salumi and prosciutto. Gotta say at this point, I am over the terrines...

For my main course, I went "light" and chose saucisson in a rich brown sauce with potatoes au gratin, spinach and mushrooms. The texture of the saucisson reminded me of a combination of taylor ham (aka pork roll) and I am thinking it was pork not beef, but this is coming from someone who inadvertenly ate duck gizzards. Anyway, it was really tasty and at this point of the trip, my penchant for ordering and buying sausage products had become a source of comic relief for the girls. Yes, I am a saucisson addict!

After lunch we navigated the hilly roads and tasted some delicious fruity wines, especially the 2005 Chiroubles at Chateau de Raousset, Charvet Anthony, and Domaine de la Grosse Pierre to name a few. Since these wines are bottled quickly and meant to drink young, all of the wines were very inexpensive much to our delight!

Just about all of the winemakers were at the height of their harvest so we got an extra treat tasting in this region. If people weren't out in the field picking, they were loading or driving tractors full of grapes with tons of the juicy purple beauties! We also came across women making meals for the workers for when they come in from the fields (our hostess included). It was really something to see - generations coming together along with friends and neighbors to get the grapes harvested. A real sense of community that is very hard to find.

As the sun was setting over the beautiful countryside, we sat outside our hotel, broke open a few of bottles of wine and drunk in the incredible beauty of our surroundings.

Dinner was at Cafe de La Bascule, the other restaurant in town, that just happened to be owned by Marie's father. Again, small town! When we arrived the chef came out of the open kitchen and simply said, "the Americans are here" and the hostess sat us outside. Apparently four women traveling together seem to stand out like sore thumbs!

Anyway, we decided to order a 2004 Fleurie form Domaine du Clos des Garandes (our hotel) just to keep it in the family!

I started off with ravioles aux champignons with truffles en gratinee, a rich creamy, decadent combination of raviolis with mushrooms in a cream sauce. The truffles were so faint (or non-existent) that I didn't really taste them, but the creaminess of the dish didn't really call for it.

For my main I chose filet mignon de porc roti au romarin. I thought I had ordered steak, but mistakenly got the roast pork with rosemary and it wound up to be a delightful accident! (guess who didn't have a dictionary?)

The chef kept looking out at us, perhaps in horror, since as usual we were passing around tastes of everyone's dish and going on and on about the food - in a good way, but in a loud four girls who've been drinking all day good way!

Dessert was a cheese course, which was basically a bunch of cheeses on a plate that was passed from table to table as it was ordered. Once again, this did not disappoint with the exception of one cheese that was so pungent, so foul, that the curling up of my face caused the table to break out in hysterics. The two English guys next to us however, took my repulsion as a challenge and ordered the cheese course as well and actually took a liking to the offensive cheese in question.

As dinner was winding down, we started chatting with these guys who were on their way to Nice in an RV with a scooter to pick up a car that one guy was given for free - what a great excuse for a road trip! We eventually were asked to leave our closing restaurant and retired to the restaurant next door (where we had lunch) to have a drink and a lot of laughs before calling it a night.

Tomorrow...the road to Provence leads thru Tain L'Herimatage, home of Valhrona chocolate!