Fontaine de Vaucluse

On all of our trips to France, we try to visit at least a couple of France's "most beautiful villages".  We visited Vezelay last week and agree that it is an exquisite village.  And today we set off for a picnic at Fontaine-de-Vaucluse and Gordes, one of the beautiful villages, where we thought we might have afternoon coffee.

We packed a picnic lunch, stopped at the boulangerie down the road on the way out for bread and a beautiful little cake, and headed off on lots of narrow winding roads to Fontaine-de Vaucluse. The sky was blue, there were very few tourists and the crystal clear water in the river was flowing rapidly. The setting under huge, centuries-old plane trees, in a deep, deep gorge, with the remains of a 13th century castle overhead was simply breath-taking.  We think it is probably the most beautiful village we've seen - and it's not included in the official list!


The village is built around the biggest spring in Europe - the source of the River Sorgue.  We had coffee at a cafe right on the river - lots of ducks swimming around in the shallows (where there is a bright green "forest" growing under the water) and then walked up a long path to the end of the canyon where there is an enormous gaping hole in the gorge wall - a vertical funnel that is 308 metres deep - from where the main springs flow. The river has been used to power waterwheels used by paper-making mills since the 16th century - only one of which is still in operation.

We had our picnic on the banks of the river near where our car was parked, and then went back to the centre of the village for a bit of shopping (bought some table linen) and to visit the paper mill and then a museum for the French Resistance of the 1939-45 war. Nothing really prepared us for this quite small museum.  We were given English audio handsets and ended up staying there for about 2 hours. We were both completely spellbound and very moved by the stories portrayed in the outstanding exhibits.

Then back to the car along even narrower roads for the very high hilltop town of Gordes.  It is a beautiful village - with fabulous views of the surrounding countryside.  We walked all around the village and stopped for drinks just as the bells rang for 6 o'clock.  

And then off again, on even narrower roads (the sign said 2.1 metres wide) built between high dry-stone walls (I assumed that it was a one-way road and was shocked to find that we drove out on the same road) and then through bush that reminded me of Kakadu (don't ask me why - it just did) to find the ancient village called Village des Bories - where the houses are made of dry-stone and are shaped like beehives.  They are said to have been used as houses from "neolithic" times right up until the 1960's.  We spotted a couple of them in some olive groves on the way to the village and when we finally arrived, found that the village is hidden behind dry-stone walls that are over 2 metres high and that the gate was shut!

We finally arrived home at about 8pm when the sky was still a beautiful pink on the horizon.  What a day we've had - exhausting but fantastic!

Market at L'Isle-sur-la Sorgue

We woke to the alarm at 7:45 and opened the bedroom curtains to a blue sky and could clearly see the white tower at the top of Mont Ventoux, something I last saw in July on my favourite TV programme - Le Tour de France - finish line of stage 15!

We took off in the car early, as advised by our landlady, to find a parking spot for the huge Sunday market which commences at 8:30 at L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue .  The small town is built on an island in the middle of the river Sorgue and is absolutely beautiful - surrounded by water and has little canals everywhere - and on Sunday mornings, the whole town becomes a market.  Our plan was to do a bit of shopping and to have breakfast at a cafe in town.

The market was fabulous!  Grapes, melons, figs, strawberries, tomatoes, capsicums, olives, cheese, cold meats etc etc, lots of clothes, French linen, knives, soap, antiques, and fortunately straw hats because the sun was quite strong (I gave the one I bought in Burgundy to Brian).

There are dozens of bars and restaurants in the town but they all seemed to be selling only coffee and wine this morning, and were busy gearing up for big lunch crowds.  We finally settled for a cafe that had little tables and chairs set up under a canopy by the river and I went into the bar and ordered, in what I thought was excellent French, "un cafe au lait et un double espresso".  The charming French lady obviously didn't understand my Perth accent and brought us 1 white coffee and 2 short-blacks!  

So we decided to buy, for what was now becoming brunch, a cooked chicken and roasted potatoes.  Rotisserie chickens cooking and dripping hot fat over chopped potatoes are quite a common site in France.  they sound dreadful but they smell and look fabulous.

Then a drive back home, unpacked all of our fabulous goodies and sat down for brunch.  The olives, tomatoes, strawberries, grapes and bread were spectacular (best bread we've had so far) and the chicken and potatoes were ordinary to say the least!  That's the problem with buying food when you're hungry - things look better than they really are.

And this afternoon, I did some washing and hung it on the clothesline in the sun and had a little game with the beautiful black and white cat who was hiding behind one of the olive trees in the garden.  We did some planning for the remainder of our stay here and had a leisurely walk around this little village.  Simple dinner tonight, another backgammon tournament and now it's bedtime again.

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Burgundy to Provence

The alarm woke us at 7:45 when it was still quite dark outside.  There was mist in the horse paddock outside the bathroom window and the rain was falling quite heavily - definitely signs that we should move south!

So after breakfast, we packed and cleaned the cottage, said our goodbyes to Abigail, Jasper and 2 of the cats, and headed off.  We had originally planned to drive through the gorgeous wine villages that we love so much, south of Bouilland, stopping at a boulangerie and/or patisserie for bread and pastries to celebrate 2 special birthdays, but the weather dictated that we just get straight onto the A6 motorway and drive.

It rained non-stop until we reached Lyon, and then was patchy until we switched to the A7 and arrived in Carpentras, where it was, and still is at 7:30pm, fine and very warm with clear blue sky.

I booked this apartment over 12 months ago (as I do) and the English landlady seemed to be quite pleasant at first, but in the time since, has had me a little concerned.  So many rules, so many regulations, such a stickler for protocol. And then today, when I phoned from one of the "aires" (motorway resting places - often very upmarket with huge petrol stations, restaurants, supermarkets etc) to advise her of our expected time of arrival, all of my fears were confirmed.  This woman is going to be an absolute pain in the neck (to be polite).

Anyway, we arrived at our cottage, and I was ready for her.  I was not going to stand for any of her nonsense!  She greeted us at the door - a fairly senior English lady with her adorable rescue dog and 2 beautiful cats - and there seem to be no rules at all.  "You are on holidays" she said, "and this is your house, this is your garden, please make yourselves at home and let me know if you need anything." She is very sweet and has won me over completely!

And then she gave us a mass of fabulous information about markets and towns in the area - and our apartment is gorgeous.  Quite small, very pretty and spotlessly clean with large windows overlooking a gorgeous garden, a well equipped kitchen and perfectly reliable internet access - everything we could possibly want.

Brian has prepared a simple dinner of salad and some left-overs from Burgundy - and we will be toasting the health of 2 very special young ladies who bring joy to our lives and who are both celebrating birthdays today.  Happy Birthday Kerri and Freya - we love you both very, very much.

Ma Cuisine

We had another sleep-in this morning and a small, leisurely breakfast before driving into Beaune armed with some of the souvenirs we have collected so far on this trip with the aim of posting them home.  We are so comfortable in Beaune now and have no problems parking inside the city walls or finding our way around.

While the post office was closed between 10am and 1pm, everything else was open and we popped in and out of little boutiques and shops on the way to the famous Beaune restaurant called Ma Cuisine located in a gorgeous little cobbled street.  The main part of the restaurant on the ground floor is very small and unpretentious and there is another section upstairs - but we were lucky enough to have a table for 2 downstairs where we were served by the delightful owners - a husband and wife team (though we believe that they are no longer married to each other).

The food is very Burgundian, using beautiful produce, classically prepared without any pomp and ceremony, and they have an excellent wine list.  So for entree Brian had Rabbit and Tarragon Terrine and I had Pate de Foie Gras.  For mains Brian had Roast Pigeon and I had Entrecote.  And the wine - a half bottle of 2009 Pommery.  Everything was served with simple but interesting accompaniments, and there was a large basket of fresh bread and little containers of mustard, cornichons and olive oil on every table.  


By the time we left, the restaurant was absolutely packed and apart from us and the German couple at the next table, everyone appeared to be French.  It really was a fabulous lunch - not too heavy, the food was great and the ambiance just perfect - and sooo French. 

Then a walk to the tiny post office and around the corner to Krys the optician to collect my 2 new pairs of glasses.  We received a lovely welcome from the miniature schnauzer whom we thought was called Krys - because that's what we thought the optician, who speaks almost no english, told us last time.  But the optician's wife, who has very good english, told us that the dog's name is Liniaxe - though they usually just call her L'axe! 

And having sent back all of those souvenirs, on the way back to the car, I managed to find about 5 more that we'll have to send home from Italy.  

We drove home in the rain (it started soon after we arrived in Beaune), lit the fire, and sat with another glass of wine and the backgammon set. And tonight for dinner - the  left-over coq au vin with fresh bread and salad.  It really is delicious - looks more like beef than chicken.  I wish we could get this Burgundian produce in Perth. 

Another lovely day Burgundy.

Cote de Nuits Vintage

Today Brian and I headed along the motorway almost to Dijon and then down the Cote de Nuits, visiting little villages, negotiating narrow cobbled roads with tractors, buses full of pickers, semi-trailers and cars of other tourists like us, keen to see the vintage in action.

We started at Marsannay, then Couchey, Fixin, Gevrey Chambertin, Morey Saint Denis, Chambolle Musigny, Vosne Romanee and then Nuits St Georges before heading back across the hills to our village.  We stopped many times for Brian's essential photo opportunities, at a national park in the hills above Gevrey Chambertin for a picnic lunch, and at Nuits St Georges for a walk around the shopping area and coffee at an outdoor cafe.  There were large groups of pickers, vans that transport them and tractors that carry the grapes just about everywhere. 

And then this evening, Anka, Lincoln and Oscar took us out for dinner to thank us for chauffeuring them around this part of the world during the past 8 days - because their hire car is huge and not great for negotiating the narrow winding roads around the countryside and the narrow cobbled streets of the little villages - and also because we can now find our way around this area quite well.

And what a dinner it was - at a fabulous hotel/restaurant called Abbaye de la Bussiere located just over the hill from our village, about 20 minutes' drive away.  We arrived half an hour early so that we could walk around the gardens - a topiary garden, a huge parkland with enormous trees, a lake with its own island, ducks, geese and large otters in the lake, beautiful old buildings everywhere and such a serene atmosphere.  We went into the reception area just after 7pm and were invited to take pre-dinner drinks in one of the 4 drawing rooms upstairs.  We chose the smaller, more feminine room with seating for 6 or 7 (the one next door had hunting trophies, swords and knight's armour) and Lincoln ordered a bottle of Ruinart champagne - and with it we each received a small rectangular plate on which were placed 3 beautiful little canapés.


Then downstairs to the restaurant itself - a Michelin 1 star.  The service from the sommelier and our senior waiter in particular was impeccable, the other staff were all charming, and the food and wine were nothing short of sensational.  Exquisite tastes, textures and presentation, with a fabulous grand cru Chablis and a Chateauneuf de Pape.  

Then back to Anka, Lincoln and Oscar's cottage (driving very slowly due to the possibility of deer being on the road) for coffee and to say our goodbyes, because they are heading off on a cycling holiday tomorrow morning. 

We've had another fabulous day in Burgundy and it's now well after midnight and time for bed...

Vezeley

We had a bit of a sleep-in this morning and called at Anka, Lincoln & Oscar's cottage at about 10:45 for coffee before setting off for the village of Vezeley.

We decided to take the "no toll charge"option with Jane so that we could take the more scenic route through villages, fields and forests and came across a gorgeous market on the way - unfortunately not one of us can remember the name of the village - and stopped to buy bread for dinner tonight, fruit and a straw hat for me.

Then along the road past several fabulous chateaux and through tiny villages before stopping at a "pique-nique" spot for a delicious lunch prepared by Brian of bread, cheese, cold roast beef (left-overs), salad, nectarines and a bottle of burgundian red.

Then on to Vezeley. Brian and I have been there before and absolutely love it.  We parked in the middle of the village, near some beautiful little cottages with colourful gardens, and then walked up the steep, winding road, past little boutiques, art shops, jewellery shops and cafes to the unbelievably beautiful Basilica of Saint Mary Magdalene.

The official French website says that the Benedictine abbey was founded in the 9th century and soon after acquired the "relics of Mary Magdalene" and became a place of pilgrimage.  It became a basilica in 1920 and has been listed as a world heritage site by Unesco since 1979.  The basilica is almost as big as the village itself, can be seen for miles, and has a simplicity which is breathtakingly beautiful.

I crept down to the tiny Crypt of Saint Madeleine (Mary Magdalene).  It is a very special place, lit by candles, where complete silence is required and I admired the beautiful statue of a nun praying at the alter.  After I climbed the stairs and returned to the football oval sized basilica, I ran into Anka and we discussed, in whispers, how special the crypt was.  Anka said "At first I thought that nun was a statue, but then I saw her move" - and she was right.  I couldn't resist and had to return to the crypt where I sat on my own with the beautiful praying nun who was wearing the old fashioned, long, flowing white habit - such a special time - before a group of foreign tourists stomped in and disturbed my meditation!  

So even the boys, who were not nearly as enthusiastic as Anka and I, seemed to be moved by the experience of visiting the basilica.  We went outside to the gardens which have incredible views over the surrounding countryside, before meandering back down the hill - running into a gorgeous 7 year-old schnauzer on the way - to a terrace bar overlooking the village square for beer (the boys), tea (Anka) and coffee (me).

Then back home the quick way - mostly along the motorway. 

Lincoln had popped a rolled shoulder of lamb in the oven to slow-roast before we left this morning, and this evening we had a fabulous dinner of the delicious lamb, a middle-eastern quinoa pilaf and steamed brussel sprouts, followed by cheese and chocolates, and of course some fantastic burgundian wines.  

Another beautiful day in Burgundy leaving us exhausted yet again.

Coq au Vin

We had a simple breakfast at home this morning and then headed off to Beaune for my appointment with a hairdresser - I had to take along my Maurice Meade "recipe".  The salon was run by a charming husband and wife team and I was the wife's only customer - so the session was very quick - and also extremely cheap by MM standards!  They have a gorgeous little poodle who is the same age as Ozzie, and he and I became best friends almost instantly - so much so that he sat at my feed for the entire time I was in the salon - following me to and from the basins.

Brian took himself off for a wander around the city centre and to a cafe for coffee and a croissant (they are so fabulous here) and to read his kindle as he waited.  There were a lot of other men at the cafe doing similar things - maybe they had wives at different salons?  Then we set off to find a restaurant we have been keen to visit and make a booking for Friday and visited a Beaune grocery store to pick up a few vegetables, and a patisserie for macarons for tonight's dinner.

During the afternoon, we visited a mustard factory in Beaune.  It was fascinating.  It's a family-owned business and the only mustard factory in Burgundy that uses locally-grown mustard seeds (other factories use seeds from Canada) - and we discovered that Dijon mustard does not relate to where the mustard is made, but to the style of mustard that involves filtration to remove the seed husks.  My eyes were stinging by the time we got back out into the fresh air and I found the tasting a bit too much - but Brian loved it.  I was delighted to make friends with a beautiful black cat who lives on the property instead.

Then back home the long way as directed by Jane - our Tom-Tom - through vineyards and little villages, and we are thrilled that vintage is now in full swing in Burgundy.  The vineyards are a hive of activity and the roads are full of tractors and bus-loads of exhausted-looking young pickers.

And then this evening - the coq au vin that's taken 3 days to make.  Once again Anka, LIncoln and Oscar joined us at 6:30 (they had been off cycling all day) along with Abigail and Jasper.  We started off with olives, a smoked fillet of pork (looks a bit like coppa) cut into thin slices and tiny cornichons served with a Gosset NV champagne.  Then the coq au van with rich garlic mash, lightly steamed cabbage and a green salad, served with white and red burgundies and fresh bread, the remainder of the Beaufort cheese (still a huge piece) from Sunday night with fabulous little black grapes, and a selection of colourful little macarons.

And the wines were fabulous again - Chassagne-Montrachet, Gevrey-Chambertin, Vosne-Romanee and the Gosset.

We had such a fun-filled night tonight.  Lots of laughter and nonsense - and it was wonderful to see Brian and Lincoln in such good form as they had the obligatory night-cap in front of the fire after dinner.  I couldn't possibly repeat what they were saying - but it was very amusing at the time!