Cairanne Vide Grenier

When we first started coming to France, we would regularly see signs advertising a Vide Grenier. It wasn't long before we went from the literal "empty attic" translation to garage sale.

Each year on the first weekend of September, Cairanne has a community Vide Grenier winding from just below us down into the main square and behind the school. When we had our children over to visit us in Cairanne in 2009, it was the weekend of the Vide Grenier and we recall how much fun Aaron had with it. It was here that we found our Obernai double decker cookie plate for 3 Euros, a savings of close to 100 Euros and this year we picked up some additional Langiole cutlery for 6.5 Euros, an equivalent savings to the plate.

Today, we went for lunch at Auberge la Tuilerie. Now that we are into September, this restaurant set in the middle of Plan de Dieu vineyards on a wine estate, is only open weekends. It was a beautiful sunny and not too hot day, so lunch on the terrace was perfect.

The menu here is a set 6 course meal with a half litre of wine included for 29 Euros per person. We went from an amuse bouche of an olive and a sardine tapenade with a glass of rose with cassis, to a pork caillette (a combo of many pig parts - caillette sounds more polite) and then a rouget papillote (mullet fish with shallots and tapenade in a butter paper)

While dining we were accompanied by the farm mooches - 2 cats, a chicken and a rooster.

This would go over well with the health inspectors in Canada. Our last three courses were pork Provencal with scalloped potatoes, a cheese course with stinky goat and smooth sheep cheese and finished by an apple tart with rum (lots of it) ice cream. We don't need to eat again for the next week, but I'm sure that won't stop us. Our return to Chez Pigeon found the Vide Grenier still going strong as we went into hibernation.