Les Pampered Pooches de Provence

Music continues to be one of the great joys in my life, surpassed of course by the companionship of my best friend, Dawn. Fine wine, superb cuisine and scintillating company are also right up there. Since my Renault has a Bose sound system, we've had the radio on a lot and have been listening to CHERIE FM, which as you travel through the countryside shifts its frequency, so you can receive the best possible signal. Interesting concept! Kind of like what satellite radio does I guess. This station has an odd mix that includes current French pop and classic English soft rock -we're talking Lionel Ritchie, Phil Collins and Michael Jackson.
Thanks to CHERIE FM, I have found some new artists, English & French. The French include Christophe Mae and Elisa Tovati and the English are Keane and Lily Allen.
So, I've got to tell you about Lily Allen. Our radio has "song name display" and as we're driving along yesterday, the name F**k You comes up on the screen, WITHOUT the asterisks. The chorus goes "F**k you, f**k you very very mu.......ch" in the happiest, sweetest voice you've ever heard utter those words. Needless to say, we are NOT listening to North American radio!

One doesn't have to be in France to witness dog walking at the market. Any visit to St. Jacobs will accomplish that. I've never really understood why people feel obliged to parade their dogs around in a crowded market where there is barely room enough for humans alone. If you know me, you know I'm a dog lover. But, I just don't get it, unless all the people walking dogs in St. Jacobs are Europeans.

Now, unlike in North America, Europeans travel everywhere with their dogs and their dogs are generally welcome everywhere, from three star restaurants, to hotels, to local shopping malls. And yes, they are everywhere in French markets. Although I didn't capture them all, there are actually five dogs in the picture below.

Today's return to the Orange market was dedicated to capturing as many of the furry beasts on film as possible. Just to illustrate that there were other photo-worthy objects in the market, I include this token picture of roses.

The rest is, as they say, "Going to the dogs!"






On the way out of Orange, I finally stopped to grab a picture of the Arc de Triomphe. For the past couple of years it's been masked in scaffolding and there's actually still a small section under repair.

Last evening, Dawn made a fabulous stew of figs with red wine and framboise, with which we adorned our duck. Tonight she took the remainder of the figs and with them we did a nice side by side tasting of two famous French blue cheeses, St. Agur and Forme d'Albert. For the record, they were both fabulous, with the Forme d'Albert being milder and creamier, while the St. Agur is a more in-your-face blue. And the fig stew was a nice accompaniment to both, although better with the stronger St. Agur.