Monday morning and I do what I do best – off to the supermarket to stock up. I make a breakfast of mushroom and camembert cheese omelette, rockmelon and strawberries – pretty darn good if I do say so. We head off for a drive to Grambois but it’s Monday and toute ferme au Lundi so we have a coffee at Bastide des Jourdan and then drive to the golf course to check it out for Michael. There is a lovely terrace restaurant which warrants a second coffee and fruit salad and then back to the maison for a schmooze around the pool and relax. At 16:30 I go to the supermarket for some final supplies for dinner which I cook.
Chorizo and crab dip for appetizer at 18:30 and at 21:00 a fillet of beef with lovely taste but slightly tough, mashed potatoes, salad, corn and mushrooms and a dessert of strawberries and cream in honour of Wimbledon.
Technology is an awesome thing. A friend of mine in Phoenix has a “Slingbox” attached to his “Foxtel” box and the internet and this allows him, or in this case me, to log in and watch his cable television, any station, change channels etc., so Michael and I do watch a bit of Wimbledon during the course of the afternoon.
Next morning we rise relatively early and leave around 09:00 for Cucuron and its markets a 25 minute drive away. This is a very pretty town and the market takes place around a larg pond in the town centre. We have a coffee in a lovely tea house and then buy a cooked chicken, some flat beans and other goodies for dinner. I notice the Iberian ham which looks good and reasonably priced at €13.50 until I realise that this is per 100gms. We buy 75 grams to have with our rockmelon for an appetizer.
We then go through Bonnieux, one of the nicest places around here and which Danielle and I went to last year and head for L’isle-Sur-La-Sorgue http://tinyurl.com/yzlsxs a very picturesque town rather than a village built around the Sorgue river. We had lunch by the river which was great even though the food wasn’t so great but as everything was closed for lunch and it was fiercely hot we headed back to the house arriving at 16:00.
Meanwhile Michael went to play nine holes while at 18:00 I drove down to Manosque (10km) to get some last minute supplies for dinner and diesel for the car and then back to the house. Nice dinner followed by a relaxing evening.
Next morning I cooked pancakes for breakfast with cream cheese topping I made from Crème Fraishe lemon and sugar, strawberries, bananas and lemon and sugar – pretty darn good if I do say so myself. Michael had Hong Kong races so we basically spent the morning mooching around the house. I ended up sleeping for three hours in the afternoon while M and V enjoyed the pool. The temperature has been in the high thirties but without humidity it is quite acceptable.
That evening we drive to La Petite Maison a one star Michelin Restaurant. They have been open two years and got their star five months ago. Disappointingly we had booked a garden table but they had not noted this and we were placed on the first floor. Our disappointment was soon appeased by the outstanding, food, service, champagne apology and Armagnac after the meal. It is hard to describe just how good the meal was. There were two menus one for €40 and one for €60 – Viv took the first Michael and I the second. The beauty of this was that there were no choices to be made and how great that turned out to be.
http://www.lapetitemaisondecucuron.fr/fileadmin/Menus/Menu_de_la_Saison_01_au_juillet.pdf
Amuse bouche
Green and red tomatoes in a lovely vinaigrette
Brandade douce de colin, velouté d’artichaut et une râpée de truffes d’été A découvrir, les ormeaux breton de pleine mer cuit meuniere purée de chou fleur et garniture grenobloise
This was a seafood mix with black truffles and pureed cauliflower
Filet de veau clouté de lard de « colonata » puis doré dans ses sucs fricassée de giroles
A sensational piece of veal with a slight but not overpowering scent of aniseed
Le fromage sélectionné par Josiane Déal Bouquet de salades « fatiguées » à l’huile d’olive de Pays
An outstanding goat cheese called Banon which we then bought the next day together with a salad the waiter described as tired.
Biscuit moelleux aux framboises, sorbet aux fruits rouges
A biscuit with raspberries, raspberry sorbet and red fruits
We finished our meal in the garden talking to the chef who spoke excellent English. We asked him where he sources his food from and how he comes up with ideas etc. Simply outstanding and memorable meal – recommended deviation if necessary.
Home to bed around midnight.
Next morning we head for Aix en Provence, one of my favourite towns. We have the usual hassle there finding a parking place but opt for the car park near the shops/markets. We have our morning coffee and split up for a time and meet back at 13:00. The only thing I bought was some of the Banon goats cheese and some items for dinner. Michael happily noted that the €40 wine of last night was in fact €23 in the wine shop – something he is more than sensitive to after having paid €48 for a 500ml bottle in a restaurant and seeing a full 750ml bottle the next day for €6.50 in the supermarket.
We head for Cassis which is a lovely but not memorable quaint seaside fishing town where we had lunch – another humourless French waiter but the lunch was quite acceptable. There was a ‘sea of humanity’ as Vivien described it. It seems that the holiday season has started in earnest as there were also plenty of people in Aix.
After a short look around the town which I had been to before but M and V had not we head back to the house for rests, swims and a dinner comprising all our leftovers.
Friday morning, another fresh pancake breakfast, and we leave around 09:30. When Vivien looked up the Petite Maison de CuCuron website she noticed a beautiful garden being advertised. It turns out that this is a reception centre and B&B with the most beautiful gardens and we have arranged for an inspection of the gardens which are exceptionally beautiful. Do take a look at the website.
http://www.pavillondegalon.com/en/htm/home.htm
The hedge and many of the trees in the gardens of this former hunting pavilion (show me the main house!!!) are 250 years old. Bibi, the owner is so passionate about the gardens and this shows through as she shows us around accompanied by her Weimeraner dog, Paloma.
We move on to probably the most beautiful village in Provence, Lourmarin.
http://www.provenceweb.fr/e/vaucluse/lourmari/lourmari.htm
Vivien returns a bathmat she had bought last year which had run when washed and this was remarkably easy as the owner of the shop says ‘pas problem’ and simply changes it over. After a morning coffee we split up and go through the markets which I must say are superb – lovely food, clothes, manchester, homewares and much more. Well worth a stop if you are in these parts.
We head back to the house for a lunch comprising the leftovers and some extras I had bought at the markets. A restful afternoon and dinner back at Auberge Cheval Blanc. Apart from the many flies the meal is as good as the first time. I have opted for a tomato tartar with avocado which is excellent but too large and actually quite rich/filling. For mains I relent and order the foiegras with figs and a rich jus – no cholesterol tests for me for a few weeks. I was going to pass on dessert but the peach soup and red fruits of the forrest soup entices me to temptation.
Back to the house and a final pack – I had done some during the day and not that I had unpacked too much.
Next morning up early as Mr Perrin will be there at 10:00 to inspect the house and release us. Dead on the appointed time he arrives commenting on how clean we had left the house – looked normal to me so don’t want to see what others do. M & V leave for Torino while I head for Mandelieu and four days in a resort. The two hour drive was punctuated by a few stops at sports stores, cake shops and a supermarket.
I arrive around 14:00 and I need to say that check-in time at hotels, airports, car rentals etc. does not see me at my best and this was no exception. I am waiting very patiently in queue as somebody from behind is asked by the receptionist if she could help him. Then I find out that the onsite parking is €8 a day in a 2.5 hectare resort – guess what – for $A15 a day I can walk to my car when I need it. Then I get to the room and go to hook up to the internet to find the 1.8 metre network cable will allow you to plug in your computer and stand next to the television to use it. A 4-5 metre cable would reach the table where one would expect most people would want to use their computers. I go to reception to explain my situation and ask if a longer cable was possible. No guesses for the response – ‘ah sorry no’ accompanied by a shrug of the shoulder. When I ask to speak with the manager and she came I don’t think I could have received a more disinterested reaction but again accompanied by the French shoulder shrug. Oh well I simply rearrange the furniture in the room.
I am feeling like a lunch of a different type and I noticed a Thai/Chinese restaurant just down the road so I head there for a very good lunch and back to the hotel to watch Serena Williams beat her sister in the Wimbledon final.
Best to all
XD
Chorizo and crab dip for appetizer at 18:30 and at 21:00 a fillet of beef with lovely taste but slightly tough, mashed potatoes, salad, corn and mushrooms and a dessert of strawberries and cream in honour of Wimbledon.
Technology is an awesome thing. A friend of mine in Phoenix has a “Slingbox” attached to his “Foxtel” box and the internet and this allows him, or in this case me, to log in and watch his cable television, any station, change channels etc., so Michael and I do watch a bit of Wimbledon during the course of the afternoon.
Next morning we rise relatively early and leave around 09:00 for Cucuron and its markets a 25 minute drive away. This is a very pretty town and the market takes place around a larg pond in the town centre. We have a coffee in a lovely tea house and then buy a cooked chicken, some flat beans and other goodies for dinner. I notice the Iberian ham which looks good and reasonably priced at €13.50 until I realise that this is per 100gms. We buy 75 grams to have with our rockmelon for an appetizer.
We then go through Bonnieux, one of the nicest places around here and which Danielle and I went to last year and head for L’isle-Sur-La-Sorgue http://tinyurl.com/yzlsxs a very picturesque town rather than a village built around the Sorgue river. We had lunch by the river which was great even though the food wasn’t so great but as everything was closed for lunch and it was fiercely hot we headed back to the house arriving at 16:00.
Meanwhile Michael went to play nine holes while at 18:00 I drove down to Manosque (10km) to get some last minute supplies for dinner and diesel for the car and then back to the house. Nice dinner followed by a relaxing evening.
Next morning I cooked pancakes for breakfast with cream cheese topping I made from Crème Fraishe lemon and sugar, strawberries, bananas and lemon and sugar – pretty darn good if I do say so myself. Michael had Hong Kong races so we basically spent the morning mooching around the house. I ended up sleeping for three hours in the afternoon while M and V enjoyed the pool. The temperature has been in the high thirties but without humidity it is quite acceptable.
That evening we drive to La Petite Maison a one star Michelin Restaurant. They have been open two years and got their star five months ago. Disappointingly we had booked a garden table but they had not noted this and we were placed on the first floor. Our disappointment was soon appeased by the outstanding, food, service, champagne apology and Armagnac after the meal. It is hard to describe just how good the meal was. There were two menus one for €40 and one for €60 – Viv took the first Michael and I the second. The beauty of this was that there were no choices to be made and how great that turned out to be.
http://www.lapetitemaisondecucuron.fr/fileadmin/Menus/Menu_de_la_Saison_01_au_juillet.pdf
Amuse bouche
Green and red tomatoes in a lovely vinaigrette
Brandade douce de colin, velouté d’artichaut et une râpée de truffes d’été A découvrir, les ormeaux breton de pleine mer cuit meuniere purée de chou fleur et garniture grenobloise
This was a seafood mix with black truffles and pureed cauliflower
Filet de veau clouté de lard de « colonata » puis doré dans ses sucs fricassée de giroles
A sensational piece of veal with a slight but not overpowering scent of aniseed
Le fromage sélectionné par Josiane Déal Bouquet de salades « fatiguées » à l’huile d’olive de Pays
An outstanding goat cheese called Banon which we then bought the next day together with a salad the waiter described as tired.
Biscuit moelleux aux framboises, sorbet aux fruits rouges
A biscuit with raspberries, raspberry sorbet and red fruits
We finished our meal in the garden talking to the chef who spoke excellent English. We asked him where he sources his food from and how he comes up with ideas etc. Simply outstanding and memorable meal – recommended deviation if necessary.
Home to bed around midnight.
Next morning we head for Aix en Provence, one of my favourite towns. We have the usual hassle there finding a parking place but opt for the car park near the shops/markets. We have our morning coffee and split up for a time and meet back at 13:00. The only thing I bought was some of the Banon goats cheese and some items for dinner. Michael happily noted that the €40 wine of last night was in fact €23 in the wine shop – something he is more than sensitive to after having paid €48 for a 500ml bottle in a restaurant and seeing a full 750ml bottle the next day for €6.50 in the supermarket.
We head for Cassis which is a lovely but not memorable quaint seaside fishing town where we had lunch – another humourless French waiter but the lunch was quite acceptable. There was a ‘sea of humanity’ as Vivien described it. It seems that the holiday season has started in earnest as there were also plenty of people in Aix.
After a short look around the town which I had been to before but M and V had not we head back to the house for rests, swims and a dinner comprising all our leftovers.
Friday morning, another fresh pancake breakfast, and we leave around 09:30. When Vivien looked up the Petite Maison de CuCuron website she noticed a beautiful garden being advertised. It turns out that this is a reception centre and B&B with the most beautiful gardens and we have arranged for an inspection of the gardens which are exceptionally beautiful. Do take a look at the website.
http://www.pavillondegalon.com/en/htm/home.htm
The hedge and many of the trees in the gardens of this former hunting pavilion (show me the main house!!!) are 250 years old. Bibi, the owner is so passionate about the gardens and this shows through as she shows us around accompanied by her Weimeraner dog, Paloma.
We move on to probably the most beautiful village in Provence, Lourmarin.
http://www.provenceweb.fr/e/vaucluse/lourmari/lourmari.htm
Vivien returns a bathmat she had bought last year which had run when washed and this was remarkably easy as the owner of the shop says ‘pas problem’ and simply changes it over. After a morning coffee we split up and go through the markets which I must say are superb – lovely food, clothes, manchester, homewares and much more. Well worth a stop if you are in these parts.
We head back to the house for a lunch comprising the leftovers and some extras I had bought at the markets. A restful afternoon and dinner back at Auberge Cheval Blanc. Apart from the many flies the meal is as good as the first time. I have opted for a tomato tartar with avocado which is excellent but too large and actually quite rich/filling. For mains I relent and order the foiegras with figs and a rich jus – no cholesterol tests for me for a few weeks. I was going to pass on dessert but the peach soup and red fruits of the forrest soup entices me to temptation.
Back to the house and a final pack – I had done some during the day and not that I had unpacked too much.
Next morning up early as Mr Perrin will be there at 10:00 to inspect the house and release us. Dead on the appointed time he arrives commenting on how clean we had left the house – looked normal to me so don’t want to see what others do. M & V leave for Torino while I head for Mandelieu and four days in a resort. The two hour drive was punctuated by a few stops at sports stores, cake shops and a supermarket.
I arrive around 14:00 and I need to say that check-in time at hotels, airports, car rentals etc. does not see me at my best and this was no exception. I am waiting very patiently in queue as somebody from behind is asked by the receptionist if she could help him. Then I find out that the onsite parking is €8 a day in a 2.5 hectare resort – guess what – for $A15 a day I can walk to my car when I need it. Then I get to the room and go to hook up to the internet to find the 1.8 metre network cable will allow you to plug in your computer and stand next to the television to use it. A 4-5 metre cable would reach the table where one would expect most people would want to use their computers. I go to reception to explain my situation and ask if a longer cable was possible. No guesses for the response – ‘ah sorry no’ accompanied by a shrug of the shoulder. When I ask to speak with the manager and she came I don’t think I could have received a more disinterested reaction but again accompanied by the French shoulder shrug. Oh well I simply rearrange the furniture in the room.
I am feeling like a lunch of a different type and I noticed a Thai/Chinese restaurant just down the road so I head there for a very good lunch and back to the hotel to watch Serena Williams beat her sister in the Wimbledon final.
Best to all
XD
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