6 Weeks in Provence

When Peter & Margaret Pigeon asked us if we wanted to do a house swap for 6 weeks, we hesitated for a nanosecond before starting to work out the particulars related to that proposition. It turned out to be very slick - the meeting at the airport in Marseilles, exchanging car keys and parking stubs and going over home details at each location.

When we met them this morning in Marseilles, we both agreed that the arrangement had gone very well. Now as we hang out at our hotel awaiting tomorrow morning's very early flight to Paris and then Toronto, I have an opportunity to bring some closure to this episode of my blog with some final thoughts about France.
It's safe to say that 6 weeks of immersion have improved our fluency with the language immeasurably. For the first time this trip we successfully had phone conversations in French, which in the past we've always found extremely difficult. Dawn's also starting to buy and read French language magazines, especially cooking ones.
It remains a very expensive country for everything except wine, cheese and bread. Diesel fuel was selling for around a Euro a litre - around $1.60 Cdn - and regular gas was usually 1.25 a litre - close to $2.00 Cdn. No wonder small diesel cars are still the principle way to get around.

Because of our timing this trip, we got to watch just about the entire grape vendage process. They started picking the whites about a week after we arrived and as of today, the majority of the wine crop is starting to ferment, with very few grapes left on the vines. 2009 promises to be a good crop with more sugar in the grapes than last year, but with smaller, more concentrated grapes due to the extremely hot late summer. This probably means lower yields and possibly higher prices for the consumer once the product is bottled.

We certainly learned a lot more about the wine business in the Rhone valley than we knew before. Farmers feel there is 20% too much production in this region, but who's going to reduce? Then, since the only thing that grows well on most of this southern land is grapes, with what crop do you replace that 20%? There are definitely some serious questions to be answered in coming years, as France attempts to claw its way back to the top of the wine exporting world.
We continue to marvel at how different consumer products are in France. Whether it's a cut of beef or a pair of pants, everything is different than at home. Vive la difference!
Cairanne is an excellent spot to be centred for jaunts about the south of France. There is so much to see and do in the close proximity, but with a short drive on the autoroutes, not much in the south is very far away. In a very short distance the topography changes remarkably, from the beaches of the Mediterranean, to the swamps of the Camargue, to the gorges feeding the Rhone, to the mountains of the Ventoux area, to the expansive plains of vineyards, to the ancient hilled villages. This is one very pretty region!

So as I conclude my bla-bla-blogging for this trip, we anticipate our return to France next year for more new discoveries and adventures!

Last Day in Cairanne

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. We're at the end of our stay in Cairanne. Boy time sure flies when you're having fun!
Tomorrow we meet Peter & Margaret in Marseilles and then we're finally on the plane for home, Saturday.
Most of our packing is done, but guess what we found ourselves doing today? Buying another suitcase. I guess we should have come with our full compliment of bags in the first place. Hindsight is indeed CHEAP! Anyway, we should pass the weight test at the airport.
Tomorrow as we're hanging out at the hotel in Marseilles, I'll do a little retrospective of our six weeks in Provence. I'll tell you right now, that for both Dawn & I, the highlight of this trip was being able to host all of our friends and especially our children. How fortunate we were to be able to visit with them in our favourite place on the earth, France!

Some final visits

The weather continues to be fabulous and as I write this, we are experiencing yet another spectacular sunset. We have been extremely fortunate with the weather!

We made a last visit to Chateauneuf and the Carrefour in Orange today and then spent a quiet afternoon before heading back up to Domaine Morchon. On our last visit, their MC machine didn't complete our transaction, so after checking to make sure we had no charges on our account, we went back to make certain they'd been paid. Needless to say, Walter was grateful for our return.

We did a bit of exploring around Cairanne late in the afternoon and discovered that the largest operation below us is not the gravel pit, but rather the Cristalline water bottling plant.
We also drove up to the Cairanne cemetary for yet another view of the village.


On this visit, we have really enjoyed the number of different looks at Cairanne that you get from all angles and many distances. It really is a very prominent bump on the landscape!

Winding down!

Today we gave the Vasion la Romaine market one more good going over and came out with a bag full of suitcase packables. This could be a problem, but we'll see once we actually start filling them, since apparently some wines are making their way back to a home in my cellar. This was not the original intention, but if you've been reading this blog, you know we've sampled more good wine in these past 6 weeks than anyone should be entitled to. C'est la Vie!

We then drove Tim & Di to their Pullman Hotel at the Marseilles Airport. It turns out this is a really nice 4* joint. Quel dommage! What a crappy way to spend your last hours in Provence! I think they had a nice time, so I think we're pretty pleased about our record with this visit's company. It was busy but, heh, these are good friends and we had a great time hosting them.
Back at the ranch, the rest of the day was spent reading, drinking fabulous white wine and sunning on the terrace. Once again, quel dommage! The weather is remaining spectacular, so as September winds down, this is going to be a hard place to leave.

Les Plus Beaux Villages de France

Today after we bid adieu to Tony & Jackie, as they TGV'd off for Paris, we headed back to the Luberon, to give Tim & Di a good look at three of the Plus Beaux Villages in this region.


Our first stop was Gordes and its fabulous view as you come up to the town. We took the obligatory picture on the rock and then headed down the valley to the Abbey de Sennaque. There are always a few photo ops here as well.

Then we took the beautiful drive up the valley to Roussillon and made our first stop, one for lunch, on the terrace of the Restaurant des Couleurs along the main walking street of the town. We all had the Menu du Jour - essentially steak/frites, although they called it a bavette.


With lunch behind us, we finally took the walk through the ochre trail, with its amazing orchre coloured formations. Wow!


Another drive through the Nesque Gorge, was next on the list - not exactly a fast route. We finally got to do a walking tour of yet another Plus Beaux Village - Venasque.

We then headed back to Cairanne for slow time before heading out for dinner at Les Florets in Gigondas. Thanks again to Margaret for another excellent suggestion.
The dining room here was very traditional, elegant, with outstanding service and fabulous food. We all started with an aperatif of cremant with creme de peche and Beaumes de Venise. First course was either foie gras with melon ice cream or zucchini flowers in a seafood bisque. Main course was either swordfish with artichokes and a zucchini flan or duck breast with petit epautre. At this point, Tim & Dianne opted for the cheese course which had some wonderful choices, like tome, brebis, camembert and munster. Dessert was chocolate shortbread with rum ice cream and orange custard. Needless to say, a good time was had by all, accompanied by a superlative Gigondas Font Sane Terrasses des Dentelles.


Back at the ranch we finished up with another round of "Bite Me", our last night with company on this trip.

Sunday

In a world where Sunday seems to make very little difference in terms of commerce, it's enlightening to spend some time in the south of France where things still really do shut down for Sunday.
After sending Tony, Jackie, Dianne & Tim off to Vinsorbres for some ice bags - the big wineries do maintain a Sunday presence - Dawn & I drove to the Carrefour in Orange to discover that the whole commercial centre at Orange Sud is closed up tight for the entire Sunday. We did, however have a backup plan because we knew the downtown Orange Intermarche was open mornings on Sunday. So off we went for some dinner essentials for tonight.
Lesson to self: take Sunday off. It feels good! But, you have to plan for it.
The rest of the day, Tony & Jackie's last in the south, was a slow one, with a few late day photo ops about town as the day's highlight.

Bien Boire ou Boire Bien encore une fois?

After a quick trip to Ste. Cecile this morning for some food essentials, we drove down the road a bit to Domaine Rabasse-Charavin for another round of "Bien boire or Boire bien?". The weather is still sultry, so tables were erected below trees on the edge of the property. We were fairly certain that we were going to enjoy today's tasting, because two of the domaines represented today were wines that we've really gotten to enjoy - Rabasse-Charavin and Dionysos.

The focus of this - the last of the season - bien boire, was pairing wines with Asian food. A caterer, who has a van that parks in Cairanne on Thursday, provided the food that was matched to the various wines we tasted. The first message we got loud and clear was that there were no rules for whites and reds with certain foods. It was all a matter of personal preference. The second message was that wine does indeed go well with Asian food.
Our leader for this tasting was the petit Geraldine Clement. Along with her minute stature, she had this kind of raspy French voice that reminded me of Edith Piaf.

We were on the property of Rabasse-Charavin and their female vintner, Corrine Courturier, helped to serve wines and explain the process taken for each of her wines they served. Her white wine is easily one of the best I've had on this visit with only a Chateauneuf du Pape Chateau de la Gardine and a Domaine de Dionysos Cotes du Rhone rivaling it. Yes, they CAN make a good white wine in the southern Cotes du Rhone.

After baking in the sun drinking wine we headed back to the ranch for a paella lunch and a very slow afternoon. We found yet another great view of the old village, leaving the Rabasse-Charavin property.

For dinner, we were back to Le Tourne au Verre tonight. We actually ate outside under the plane trees, but as the evening wore on, the breeze picked up, so without sweaters, that all other guests came armed with, it got a little chilly. We did, however, survive and had a pretty substantial meal of a chick pea & mesclun salad, braised lamb on vegetables & quinoa and panacotta dessert.
When we returned to the house, the boys headed out of town for a night pic of the village. Very impressive!

No night would be complete without a rousing game of cards, so that's how this evening concluded as well.
In case I haven't given everybody enough views of Cairanne, how about this one? Im sorry I can't take responsibility for taking this picture.

Group of 8 Lunch

Today, we had arranged to meet Dennis & Jackie at a restaurant midway between their location in St. Saturnin les Apts and us. So after checking out the drop off spot for Tony & Jackie's car in Avignon and another visit to Tissus Gregoire, we met Dennis & Jackie at L' Oustau de L'Isle just outside of L'Isle sur la Sorgue - another of Margaret's recommendations.

We had another fabulous meal consisting of an entry of a cashew & vegetable stuffed manacotti with fish and a main course of herb de Provence chicken leg and potatoes. Dessert was a pear cake with caramel ice cream.

After lunch, we drove to the Auchan at Avignon Sud to pick up essentials for dinner and breakfast. Everyone was duly impressed with the enormity and variety of this place.
For dinner this evening we started with our artichoke specialty and then had a variety of steak, chicken and lamb with potatoes from the market. Desserts were equally varied from the supermarket. The wine tasting for this evening started with an essentially horizontal tasting of the bouquet of 3 Vinsorbres wine that I picked up at la Vinsorbraise in our first week here. This was an interesting tasting since all wines were 2007 and of the same percentage of grapes - 60% grenache and 40% syrah. Each wine, however, was distinctly different.

The evening ended with cards and more wine to round out the day.

Another Day in Paradise

The day started as every recent Thursday has - with a trip up the valley to Nyons for their market. This was Tim & Di's first Nyons market, which was actually significantly smaller then last week. I guess a lot of the vendors have already given it up for the season. The goal today was to obtain both lunch and dinner items , since the last of our guests, the Krambergers were expected to arrive.
With chicken, lamb, potatoes and pizza in tow, we headed back to Cairanne.

Jackie & Tony arrived pretty much on schedule and we all sat on the northern terrace, avoiding the hot sun that is apparently here for a few more days at least.
Mid afternoon, we walked down to the Coop to do a tasting and then over to the Belvedere to continue. With wines and another baguette, we trudged our way back up the hill. It's interesting that we always set out to walk about town, but the walk back to the house is always significantly more than we bargained for. What are these slopes anyway? 12%? 15%? Worse?

After another obligatory slow time, we had the market goodies and then only Tim, Di, Dawn & I finished the night with cards.

Foodies to the end

When you stay in France for any extended period of time, like on this visit, you're likely to experience several memorable meals. Any place you eat in France will present meals in an artistic manner. But when you get into better restaurants, the results can be even more spectacular.

Today, after a very slow start we drove to Vacqueras and the Hotel Chateau Montmirail for lunch. Since the weather has turned spectacular again, this was an excellent opportunity for a terrace experience. We all had the autumnal menu - 33 Euros - which consisted of foie gras starters or a squash/lobster dish and then lamb main course and varied desserts to follow.

We all agreed that this was the best food so far, for this foursome - each dish a culinary delight, with unparalleled flavours.



After lunch we had a walkabout Gigondas and finally discovered the Santa Duc Domaine, that brings most of our decent Rhone wines to Ontario and then had an abbreviated walkabout tour of Seguret.

We finally ended up at Domaine Mourchon for their Wednesday vineyard tour. While Tim & Di experienced the domaine, Dawn & I read our books and entertained the local dog.



The end of the day was spent back in Cairanne with pasta dinner , Ile flottante and of course cards.