Food Archives - Page 3 of 21

France: Provencal Villages

October 25, 2022October 25, 2022 JWF Leave a comment

Yesterday and today we took a relaxed approach and each day went for lunch and a wander in a small town. We were sorry this morning to leave our B&B in Avignon, our longest stay. It was a lovely setting, our hosts were super, and the accommodations met all our requirements!

ST. REMY DE PROVENCE

St. Remy is about a 30 minute drive from Avignon, and it made a nice outing. St. Remy is located at the foot of the Massif des Alpilles Natural Park with these low mountains as its backdrop. The town is noted as the birthplace of Nostradamus, an astrologer, physician, and seer. It’s also where Vincent Van Gogh lived for a year. In our later wandering, we stopped to read a few informational signs at spots Van Gogh painted.

Waze includes parking lots in its database, and you can always ask to be routed to a parking area near your destination. We parked the car (on a very narrow street as it turned out, not the designated lot) and then walked around a bit before lunch at Rose des Sables. This restaurant advertised Mediterranean cuisine which sounded like a welcome change from all the traditional French dishes. It was! We thoroughly enjoyed our chicken citron confit and my couscous dish with veggies and chicken and Merguez sausages. They were generous portions and were enough for this meal.

LOURMARIN

We were not familiar with Lourmarin, nor had we ever heard of it before. But looking at the recommended towns to visit, we decided that this would be a good stopping point between Avignon and our next B&B in Aix-en-Provence. It was a pretty drive through the countryside with a taste of the Luberon Hills on some of the, now familiar, narrow twisty roads. It took about an hour, and Waze got us to a parking lot.

On the edge of town, is an impressive castle which you can tour (we didn’t). In town, there are cafes here and there and some upscale shops. The feel of the town was pleasant, the air fragrant, and we finally got some bright sunlight and blue sky. Obviously, the tour buses stop here for the castle since we saw groups of people on the small streets. But it wasn’t overly crowded.

We opted for lunch at Le Café de L’Ormeau, thanks to France Just for You. It was an excellent lunch and made us think that more time in Provence on a future trip would be desirable. We ordered the menu formule which consisted of a green salad and a small pastry filled with walnut halves and blue cheese to start. Following was roast lamb with gravy and potatoes for the Chief Penguin and some panfried dorado for me with a lovely white wine sauce, ratatouille, and wedges of polenta.

The fish was so good, I could have eaten it all over again! Dessert was crème brulee. With that lunch, dinner will be munchies only or a local pizza.

TRAVEL TIPS

One of the best purchases we made for this trip was two EPICKA universal travel adapters. This adapter can be used in multiple countries, is compact, and can accommodate cords for iPads, iPhones, and other electronic devices like Fitbit and Kindle. There are 4 slots for USB connectors and one for C. It is cube-shaped and comes in a little zipper case. You can buy it on Amazon. Thanks to our friend Bill for this great recommendation!
Pack a nightlight if you’re likely to get up in the dark. Most B&Bs and many hotels don’t have nightlights in the room or the bathroom. Here we are using a little nightlight that plugs into a USB power connector, like the type you’d use to re-charge your iPhone. Amazon also has these.
We’ve also found that Kleenex is not always supplied, so small travel packs of tissue can come in handy.

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

France: Avignon

October 22, 2022October 22, 2022 JWF Leave a comment

LODGING & LOCATION

Avignon is one of France’s largest cities with walls and many gates of entry and the famous bridge of the song every American school child learns in 3rd grade. The city is historically important because In the 14th century, for almost 70 years, Avignon was the site of the papacy. Over that time, seven popes resided here. Pope Clement V chose Avignon over Rome because it was more centrally located in Christendom. Although the papacy moved back to Rome in the 15th century, Avignon did not become part of France until 1791 after many invasions and sieges and just two years after the start of the French Revolution.

We are staying on Ile de la Barthelasse, very close to old Avignon. There is free ferry service across the Rhone River. Our B&B is down a dirt lane tucked in, but it is possible to drive and park at a nearby restaurant and walk from there to the ferry landing. Ferry hours are more limited now that is October and post season.

The house we are staying in has a pretty garden and pool and small round tables outside each guest unit. Our room is quite spacious and has modern plumbing and a nice shower. We also have a mini fridge, just the right size to store a bottle of wine or some fruit.

Last evening, Luc, our host here at Le Mas de L’ile, kindly drove us and another guest to a parking lot near a bridge. We climbed a tall staircase and then walked across the bridge over the Rhône and through one of the gates into the city. There is nothing subtle about the architecture, but it is pleasant to walk these streets and think about all that has gone on here.

Avignon’s outer walls are impressive to say the least!

We had dinner at an up and coming newer restaurant called L’Essentiel. The Chief Penguin loved what he ordered, and I think he made better choices than I did. He had the foie gras starter followed by lamb shank cooked for 7 hours and then a little molten chocolate cake.

I had the egg parfait to start. I was being adventurous since I had enjoyed an egg cocotte previously. This dish was okay with its croutons and fried zucchini rounds, but a bit bland and too eggy. My main course was chicken (cooked sous vide) layered with some greens on top and underneath a mixture of tomatoes and potatoes. It was different and nicely presented, but I didn’t love it. My dessert was raspberries and cherries in a thick jam with sorbet and meringue.

The restaurant’s hostess was delightful and quickly agreed to arrange a cab to pick us up and take us back to our B&B.

WHAT THIS TRIP IS ABOUT

This trip has many aspects. It’s a return to a country where we have spent considerable time over the decades. It’s an opportunity to visit regions we had not been to before like Normandy and Brittany and experience their noteworthy history and culture. Traveling by car, it’s a chance to explore small towns and villages and get the flavor of local life.

It has not been a trip marked by lots of museums and ruins, a bit more of those when we get to Paris. And because we love food and French cuisine especially, we have focused on and savored the meals, whether they be traditional fare in a casual bistro or the creative offerings of a rising young chef. We are deliberately not maintaining a frantic or even a frenetic pace. We are picking and choosing from the suggestions from our trip organizers and going about our days in a somewhat relaxed manner. This is travel that works for us at this stage of life.

SATURDAY IN AVIGNON

This morning we took the ferry across the Rhône. We had a wait for the small boat, but the actual crossing takes only about 3 minutes.

Disembarking, you go up a ramp and walk a short distance along a busy road to one of the big gates. We entered just beyond Porte d’Avignon and spent about an hour wandering the streets and re-visiting the main square, Place de l’Horloge, in the old town. Translated it means Clock Tower Square, but the clock of its name is barely visible, and I never did see it. Like Paris, the square is filled with grand 19^th century buildings (city hall, opera house, old bank) and dotted with lots of sidewalk cafes. If nothing else, the French give priority to dining well and often.

On the recommendation of Luc, our host here, we had lunch at La Cour d’Honneur. The tables in the courtyard offered views out to the street while still being enclosed. Here, we had a wonderful meal, another one of the best of this trip. The Chief Penguin and I both started with the Provençal tomatoes with mozzarella and greens in pesto oil. He had scallops with black truffle and I, the salmon with spinach. Silky risotto accompanied both dishes. With a bit of local wine and espresso to finish, it was perfect. I heard no English at all, and had fun watching the French diners around us.

Note: Photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Header photo shows one of Avignon’s exterior walls.

France: Hills of Provence

October 21, 2022October 21, 2022 JWF Leave a comment

STAYING NEAR LE BARROUX

Our current B&B, Ferme des Belugues, is a gorgeous property nestled in the hills outside the village of Le Barroux with views toward the Dentelle Mountains.

It’s formerly a farm, and the house exists on two levels with an addition on the upper level that has private entrance accommodations for guests. There’s also a separate common sitting and kitchen area for guests with spaces earmarked for each room.

Our hosts, Karen and Spencer, are British. They left their jobs in the corporate world in London in 2015 and created a new life here in Provence. They both like to hike and cycle and often their B&B guests are groups of cyclists.

The setting is very quiet and peaceful, and our room airy with a most comfortable bed and two big upholstered chairs. Outside each room is a round metal table and chairs. Breakfast each morning has included croissants of our choice, French bread, juice, and a plate of ham, salami, and cheese. We are Karen and Spencer’s last guests this year, but this has not diminished in any way the welcome or the hospitality they have shown us! With her lilting voice, Karen reminds us fondly of our friend Rebecca.

DINING IN CAROMB

Based on the recommendations of France Just for You and Karen, we had dinner at two very different restaurants in Caromb. This nearby town of 3,000 residents has a pleasant main shopping street with a small produce market (source of several clementines), tabac, pharmacy, wine bar, butcher, and the aforementioned restaurants. The first night we dined at Le 6 a Table, an upscale gourmet restaurant whose chef has received some attention from Michelin. The dining area near the bar is industrial style in shades of gray and white. Our meal was excellent. The Chief Penguin had a scallop starter while I had a zucchini blossom stuffed with cod. Our main dishes were the lamb confit topped with squash for CP and red mullet over veggies. The lamb was sweet and tender and the fish delicate. Desserts were grapefruit and sorbet for me and the cheese plate for him.

Last night we opted for the casual, family run bistro called 156. The son, who said he is a singer first of all, let us into the restaurant a few minutes early where we ordered glasses of wine. He told us the cook would arrive at seven—his mother. Meanwhile, his father was scurrying around getting things in order. Quickly, the small space filled with locals. From the blackboard menu, we ordered prosciutto to share and then each had the gnocchi a la Gorgonzola. (We’re now in a part of France where the Italian influence is evident, both in pizzerias and Italian dishes.)

Simple comfort food followed by the brioche dessert, pain perdu (lost bread aka French toast) topped with ice cream for the Chief Penguin. This meal was as satisfying and good as the one the night before.

France: Carcassonne to Provence

October 20, 2022October 20, 2022 JWF Leave a comment

STOPPING IN NARBONNE

Today we spent about five hours in the car getting from Carcassone to our latest B&B near Avignon. We made the usual gas and lunch stops, but the most interesting part of the trip was the hour we spent in Narbonne. Narbonne is the first Roman colony established outside Italy and was founded in 118 BC. Today it has a population of about 50,000. Entering the city, I definitely felt that we were in a different part of France. The architecture resembled some of that in Paris and there was a bit of a feel of Spain, as in Barcelona or Madrid.

Les Halles, Narbonne’s classic covered market, dates back to 1900. It is open every morning and is a food lover’s delight. I love visiting local markets. We did this in Mexico City and also in Valencia, Spain. Here are some of what we saw and salivated over.