mcguire

Here's our itinerary for our trip to Provence this fall. Wanted to see if anyone has any feedback...

We have been to the Provence several times and usually plan to do way, way too much. This year, the itinerary is pretty open because we plan to walk a lot and, plus, as usual, there will be plenty of things we will do "on the spur of the moment", etc.

Due to the weak Dollar, as you can see, we are not planning to eat out all that much. I like to cook, and armed with a list of all the market days in the area and collection of recipes utilizing the wonderful, fresh, flavorful, local ingredients, we'll be making many of our meals and picnic-ing a lot. With the wonderful Serrano ham or Bayonne ham and a fresh baguette, local cheese, and olives, you can't go wrong for an easy, simple picnic!

Arrive Barcelona Tuesday,Sept. 25, 11:10 am
Lunch at Restaurant Boix in Martinet (this is a marvelous, destination restaurant by many gourmands that is right along the road
to La Seu d'Urgell. We will be hungry and, upon arrival in Spain, it will be so nice to
sit down to an exquisit meal!
4 nights at Hotel Andria in La Seu d'Urgell
Sept. 26:Gourmet food & wine shopping in
Andorra and
Lunch at La Borda--a restaurant
in La Seu d'urgell opposite
Hotel El Castell--that
specializes in meats and fish
grilled over an open fire. The
restaurant is an old catalan
farmhouse and you climb up a
flight of stairs to reach a
rustic dining area with open
beams and gingham tablecloths.
Sept. 27: Caldea for spa packages --
appts. at noon (We're both
getting a package which consists
of a 4-handed massage and
a foot reflexology massage.)
sept. 28: Take the cog train to the valle
de Nuria and explore some of
the other towns in the Central
Pyrennes, such as Llivia, etc.
Dinner at Hotel Andria--the
hotel is reputed to have a very
good restaurant--we'll see!
Sept. 29: Drive to Provence. On the way
stop at Lucques olive mill,
L'oulibo & buy olive oil. Also,
stop at Tavel.
7 nights at Domaine Saint Luc,
a winery with a couple of rooms
on B & B basis and also, 2 or 3
cottages. We will be staying
in one of the cottages--same one
we stayed in two years ago. Very
comfortable and very provencal!
Sept. 30 Go to market L'isle
sur-le-sorgue and then Lourmarin
and visit the Cote Bastide
showroom.
Oct. 1 Drive north and visit Paul
Jaboulet and E. Guigal wineries.
Also, visit the Valhrona
chocolate factory.
Oct. 2 Drive to Marseille. Explore old
part of Marseille and market.
Lunch at Chez Fonfon.
Faiencerie Figuere--do some
shoppping. Marvelous tromp
l'oeil (sp? sorry!)
ceramics.
Oct. 3 Drive to Bandol and Visit
Domaine Tempier. Hopefully, we
will be able to see Lulu.
Have lunch in Cassis--Restaurant
Bonaparte and walk along the
Calanques.
Oct. 4 Drive to Nyons and go to the
Thursday market. Shop at the
Cooperativo Nyonnais for olive
oil and olive oil soap. Visit
some of the pottery towns such as
Dielefit.
Oct 5: Drive to Graveson and purchase
fig products at the farm, Les
Figuieres. Have lunch at Le
Paradou and then drive to
Maussane-les-aphilles and get
olive oil at Moulin Cornille.
Oct. 6 drive to Oppede and spend one
night at Mas des Capelans.
October 7 Depart from Marseilles.

cigalechanta

Hi, mcquire, we usually buy th three bottle carryon from the Moulin but with the new restrictions we don't know how we can do that. How will you bring it back? Are you dining at the bistro in Paradou?
We lunched at Chez Fonfon in that delighful small harbor. I've always wanted to meet Lulu. I have her cookbook and her rosé is my favorite. She's on in years, I hope you get to meet her. Your trip sounds wonderful.

mcguire

Hi Cigalechanta,

Okay, here's my secret! We check 2 boxes that are specially designed with styrofoam packaging for shipping wine
as luggage. Then, during the trip we fill up our boxes but, even with all those slots, we still end up putting a couple of bottles of vinegar, olive oil or wine in our luggage!
Yes, we will probably have lunch again at Bistro Parandou.
We met Lulu a couple of years ago and have exchanged a card and photos. We have notified the winery of our visit and they said she will be expecting us, so we'll see.
I absolutely love Chez Fonfon! my husband already knows he wants the "roasted lobser slice".

cigalechanta

Where do I get one of those boxes?

mcguire

Hey, Cigalechanta,

you can probably find one at your local wine merchant. I usually order mine from Wine Club in Santa Ana, California. 800-966-5432. I order 6 bottles of wine and ask them to place throughout box so it is weighted evenly. The boxes usually hold up for one or two trips. We print labels and carry packing tape and scissors in our luggage. Have never had any problems with the Airlines or Customs. Be sure, however, to explain to airlines that the boxes are "specially designed with styrofoam packaging" for wine; otherwise, the airlines may be reluctant to take them because over the years there have been problems with passengers not packing wine properly and it breaks in baggage and spills over not only their luggage, but luggage belonging to others and, in general, makes a mess!!!!

cigalechanta

Thanks for getting back to me! I appreciate it.