tedgale

Just got in from the airport -- a characteristically depressing return from a great -- and rather different -- trip to France. Stayed in 2 B+Bs and 2 gites -- all of which I can recommend, though clearly the most beautiful was the Maison de Marion in Aimargues, near Nimes.

Rather a different holiday because we consciously did NOT race around but drove little, hung out a lot and saw numerous friends.

Though the trip covered mostly familiar ground, we made some discoveries, the most memorable of which was Marseille and the surrounding countryside. Who knew? We were aware of the calanques east of the city but no-one ever told us about the charming villages west of town: Mejean, Redonne, Carry le Rouet and the Cap Couronne...

BTW: Beaches were full this past weekend and Marseille was "en fete" -- a big soccer game + the Marseille-Cassis marathon (16,000 runners). Unfortunately, no one had informed US, so we found roads blocked and Cassis over-run.

Whatever. It was an adventure. One of several, as I will recount tomorrow, when my brain clears of its fog. And I regain my composure after discovering myself in the midst of a freak BLIZZARD upon touching down in Canada.

AnselmAdorne

Welcome back, tedgale. What a shocker to return to a snowstorm in October.

I'm looking forward to hearing all about the trip.

Anselm

Nikki

Welcome home, Ted. Looking forward to hearing about the adventures.

And if you want to escape the snowy North, you could turn around and go to Paris next week, where Anselm and I and some others are planning a festive gathering.

tedgale

Lucky you! I'd leave tomorrow if I could!

I've decided I'll likely limit my post to facts, web links and the kind of info that my photos won't convey.

Then I'll post links to my annotated Facebook albums. That will give people a much better visual sense of where we went, where we stayed and what we did.

For starters:

Immediately upon arriving in Marseille, we lit out for the closest bit of coast, then travelled across the north edge of the Camargue to Aimargues, where we had booked at La Maison de Marion.

Aimargues is nothing special as a town -- indeed, Marion herself commented sadly on the fact. But it is a few minutes from the autoroute (Spain-Avignon section), it is 15 minutes from Aigues Mortes, close to Nimes and Montpellier -- and there are a few decent restaurants in nearby villages.

Here is the link for my album "Aimargues and the Camargue" -- covering our seaside stop near Marseille, The Maison de Marion, Aigues Mortes, Les Saintes Marie de la Mer and Meze:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...;id=1126123095

The Facebook link works for non-FB members too.

More to follow, starting with our next stop, Uzes.

tedgale

OK now I'll fast forward 10 days to the final part of our trip, when we stayed at Lambesc, just north of Marseille.

The link for photos is at the end of this post:

The place we stayed outside Lambesc was remarkable -- a middle aged woman artist raised her now-adult family of 4 children on this 20 ha property with a big house, studio + little house built for her late mother in law. The latter building is where we stayed.

Very pretty little house of traditional design -- with fplace, beamed ceilings, provencal tile floors and bath and its own terrace. Unfortunately the latter was covered with fallen olives, acorns, fruit, all starting to compost! But that's normal in this season.

We were free to pick persimmons from the trees, for snacks -- also apples, plums etc. She brought us a huge bkfast each day and we did some cooking for the rest -- Lambesc is not well supplied with eating places.

Overall we became quite friendly and found many points in common -- eg her daughter who came for the wkend spent last year at Concordia University in Montreal, 190 km for our Ottawa home.

We paid 100 E per nt for the house and bkfast.

We did not spend much time in Marseille but enjoyed it as a place to drop into and hang around on a Sunday. Wandered the old port, then took the corniche road past the beaches, on the wealthy south side of town.

That Sunday was also Marseille-Cassis marathon (16,000 runners) + a big soccer match, so the city was en fete but traffic esp in evg was horrendous. We did not learn of the marathon until we got to Cassis -- cd not understand why a main Marseille-Cassis road was closed and we were re-routed many miles via autoroute.

Entry to Cassis was easy when we finally got there but the traffic in the outward direction was solid from the centre of town to the autoroute entrance -- about 5 km! All bars and restaurants were full too.

As we had a car, we cd and did explore the Route des Cretes from Cassis to La Ciotat -- stunning views of the calanques from above. Glorious sun too.

Another day we explored the far less well known areas west of Marseille: Vesse, Niolon, Mejean, La Redonne, Carry le Rouet, Cap Couronne. The first of these are real calanque villages -- reached by precipitous roads that wind down from a bare, rock-strewn plateau.

Each is a little different -- the further west you go, the gentler the topography, the more "settled" and posh the communities. The ones closest to Marseille (e.g., Niolon) are quite humble, working ports -- really delightful. A tiny train threads its way from Marseille and passes above the villages -- via MANY tunnels and viaducts.

Here is a Facebook album of this part of the trip:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...;id=1126123095

tedgale

I'm working on my Uzes album but will cut to the chase with a small number of recommendations/ comments:

1. We stayed: B&B "Au Quinze", just outside the centre (in Petite Bourgade). A remarkable building given a very Zen twist by the Belgian owners. Old town mansion with magnificent renaissance staircase plus a large garden, plunge pool and other amenities you don't expect in town.

We saw this place a couple of years ago and were most impressed. I now wonder whether the owners are -- just possibly -- getting a bit weary of hotel-keeping. They are gracious and efficient but the garden seems to be getting away from them and they seemed a bit ambivalent overall.

Next time might try the nearby Maison du Bourgade, which has both B&B and weekly self-catering studios.

2. We ate: At the Hostellerie Provencale -- a superlative meal and a nice tone to the place. Definitely one of our "fanciest" dinners. Service is deft, relaxed....and the vibe is as hip as it could reasonably be, when the management and all the clients are past 50.

Also ate at the unfussy and very good Pizza du Duche. Not just pizza is served. I had an excellent salade de gesier de canard as a starter and a thin-crust pizza to follow. And I got to sit with my back to the pizza oven -- a treat on a cold night.

3. We shopped: At Bouche a Oreille, a great decoration shop. (The name means "word of mouth", BTW). At Van der Meer decor -- very hip and sometimes quite reasonably priced. And at the antique/brocante market (complete with cafe) across from Bouche a Oreille, in the ground floor of a medieval chapel. Upstairs is the glorious 3000 sq foot converted chapel/ bachelor pad we rented last year....

4. We visited: Villeneuve les Avignon -- the 14th C. chartreuse is a must see, as is the Fort St Andre. Both were almost totally empty when we visited.

I have kinda done with Pont du Gard, beautiful as it is. But I am still intrigued by the nearby Chateau de Castille, a half-finished folly of the later 18th C. The owner decided he wanted a house with a grand peristyle (Right term????) of columns, in the same layout as the forecourt of St Peter's in Rome. Only got it half built so there are unerected or fallen columns lying about, etc etc.

Castille was also home, in the 50s, 60s and 70s, to one of the most gifted art critics and collectors, the wealthy Australian/ Brit Douglas Cooper. Possibly one of the most unpleasant and vindictive men who ever lived, according to the bio of ex-boyfriend John Richardson (in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice&quot.

Anyway, Picasso visited often and the collection of Picassos was one of the best.

cigalechanta

Thanks ted, your title hits on some of my favorites places. I stayed almost three weeks in Villeneuve=Lez-Avignon.
In summer there, it has one of the most famous Provencal gardens.
Yikes! sorry about the blizzard!

tomboy

Hey Ted
Do you know the name of the open air (at least in summer) restaurant on the edge of the main square in Uzes? We still hark back fondly to memories of a pissaladerie that was soooooo great! Sure wish I had the recipe.

Leely2

I have not gotten very far into your report, but I absolutely love the photo of the horse with donkey pal, and the close-up of donkey (?) with the sheep in background.

All the photos are wonderful but those two just lifted my heart for some reason.

Many thanks!

tedgale

tomboy: Sorry I don't know the names of the places in the square -- there are at least 4 and I've never eaten at even one. Problem of Uzes is "embarras de choix" -- too many great places and not enough days to fit them all in. As it was, we had to skip Bec a Vin, Bistrot de Grezac and Zanelli, all of which I have enjoyed or have been told to try.

Anyway, here is a link to my now completed album, Uzes + the Gard:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...;id=1126123095

For anyone interested in the Hostellerie Provencale, here is a record of what I ate at their restaurant, La Parenthese.

Their "thing" is elaboration, especially with simple but beautifully prepared fruit and vegetable garnishes. This is not decoration: You EAT everything on the plate. And you don't feel stuffed.

This menu is priced at an incredible 34 euros:

1. Amuse-bouche: tapenade on rusks + gougeres

2. First course (entree): Mousse of aubergine, tomato coulis

3. Second course: Pigeon stuffed with foie gras, accompanied by mangetout/ snow peas, cherry tomato, carrot, tiny beets, radish, escarole, radicchio, endive, diced mango and an onion compote

4. Third/main course: roasted "Cul de lapin" -- Rear-end of rabbit?? -- with spinach, pear stuffed with cranberries, carrot, green beans, Brussels sprouts, cherry tomato, tiny turnip, zucchini stuffed with green olive, a curried flan of chesnut and zucchini and a puree of potiron (pumpkin) and carrot.

5. Cheese: a sampler of five cheese, including a memorable Roblochon

6. Dessert: Assiette gourmande, comprising mint icecream, panna cotta with a strawberry coulis and a chocolate square with coffee sauce --- all garnished with orange, apple, kiwi, raspberry and fig. -- SEE PHOTO on my album.

AnselmAdorne

tedgale, this is superb. I am always amazed by the interesting places you find to stay, whether a B & B, an apartment, or a gîte. You must spend many hours sifting through various listings.

Your photos are wonderful. Thanks for taking the time to pull all this together, and so quickly after your return.

AA

JulieVikmanis

Thank you for such a helpful and interesting report. Beautiful pictures. We have booked in and out of Paris in March and I was thinking to use half of the time either for Nice or Lyon and Turin, now you've got me rethinking and considering Marseille and Uzes.

StCirq

Really good stuff, tedgale. Thank you!

tedgale

From Uzes we headed a short distance north-east to Seguret, near the Dentelles de Montmirail in northern Vaucluse. We had stayed there once in the 80s, I guess, at the Domaine de Cabasse -- now owned by a Swiss family.

Seguret is a wonderfully attractive hill town but has no shops of any kind. For every purchase you must travel to Sablet, 3 km distant.

I will write more later about the area but for now will talk about food:

Seguret has one public amenity, the restaurant La Table du Comtat.

I had hesitated in the past to go there -- looked too expensive and too fancy for the likes of us. Not that we are rubes... but I find self-conscious elegance rather draining and precious.

Well, I was dead wrong about the place. It is wonderful in every way, not least because of the faultless old-fashioned courtesy of the staff. No chi-chi, as they say in France -- just wonderful professional courtesy and a love of their metier.

The restaurant, at the top of the village is beautifully and elegantly decorated and has a million-dollar view over the valley and the sunset.

Here is what I got, from their 34 E menu:

With drinks: tiny sausage, gougere, an apricot wrapped in bacon

1. Assiette de patience: Fish mousseline with a tomato concassee and a pork bresaola

2. First course (entree): Marbre de bacalao -- like a terrine with layered cod, potato slices and pequillos (perhaps the name of the cheese in the terrine) in a crust of salt pork, served with julienned cooked red peppers with truffle chips, a few mussels on half-shells with an anchoiade (anchovy dressing) and a sucrine with fresh herbs (not sure what this was)

3. Main course: Carre of pork with a round of boudin (blood sausage) stuffed with pimento; a pulpe -- puree -- of sour apple and a saute of blettes (likely fennel or a cousin thereof)

4. Cheese: A terrine of Rocquefort with a flat gingerbread tuile and a mild caramel sauce made with port --served with a salad of radicchio and lettuce.

5. Dessert: A mousseline of epautre (tapioca-like but really a grain -- spelt!) with caramelised lime, praline icecream and a chocolate nougatine.

I guess if we had ordered coffee we would have got some friandises as well but who cares. We were full and we floated home on a wave of euphoria.

tedgale

Just checked my French terminology.

Blette is a white beet and sucrine is a small lettuce rather like romaine.

So now I -- and you -- know.

cigalechanta

Seguret also has " Mesclun" that has a beautiful view.

nukesafe

Simply wonderful report! I'm bookmarking for some of those €34 menus. Someday ---- perhaps soon, if the Euro stays down.

tedgale

cigalechanta is correct -- I neglected to mention Mesclun, which is tiny and has an attractive terrace overlooking the valley. It may be a bit pricier than T. du C.

We ate one night at the Bastide Bleue, an attractive stone place just outside the village. Not a great success -- nothing wrong but the food was unremarkable. However, the long-simmered taureau (bull) stew was very good.

Other local resources include Les Remparts, a simple restaurant in Sablet, and Les Abeilles -- a much fancier, highly reputed and pricier place in the same town.

Otherwise you pretty much have to drive into Vaison la Romaine (we ate at the Bistro du'O) or another more distant town.

I'll report on Bistro du'O next -- but first will mention the place we rented in Seguret, which was great and a good deal.

(Why am I always mentioning money??? Must be market-meltdown-itis. I reckon we got "hosed" in October. But I've always been fixated on the "rapport qualite-prix", as the French so deftly put it.)

Anyway, we rented the house called Lou Magnou from Postcards from Provence. It is also listed on frenchconnections but our email inquiry via frenchconnections did not get through.

The owners are Australians based in London -- they make only flying visits to this house. Consequently, the property is really a commercial property, hence furnished in an impersonal, rather stark style. White walls, few pictures. Well- (if plainly) renovated, stone village house with comfortable furniture and good beds.

It was a great location for touring in all directions AND the house was clean, well equipped (multi-channel TV; telephone; WiFi; washing machine,; dishwasher)and very spacious for a couple or even 2 couples.

It is on near the entry to the village. It is on 2 floors and overlooks a deep ravine with views upward to the older parts of the village. Exceptionally quiet -- only noise is fast-flowing stream far below you.

Main floor has large entry with fplce, 2 chairs and circular stairs to the upper level. Door to dining room (fplce) and huge living room with 5 windows looking over the ravine. Small terrace off the living room. Largeish, functional kitchen off the hall had access to the courtyard, which we used only for drying clothes.

There is a gated parking space but the gate was locked so we parked in a public lot 100 m away.

Upstairs a large, if austere, bathroom + 2 bedrooms. The master bedroom is large, has a queensize bed and walk in closet. Off the master is a second, very large terrace (the roof of the living room) with southern and western views (good for sunsets).

We paid an off-season rate of 585 E. Financial arrangements are a bit of a bore -- the owner wants a bank draft sent in euros, incl damage deposit which is later returned (but you may have to pay a charge to your bank when it gets to you....).

That hassle aside, the arrangements were smooth and we had no serious problems with the property or the local agent, who lives in Sablet and manages about 20 local properties.

BTW the agent mentioned that her other properties are mostly listed on gite.com, a Toronto-based website launched by a restaurateur there who sometimes lives in Provence. Gite.com has nice Sablet properties, ranging from 1 to 5 bedrooms. So there are alternatives, for those whom this 2 bedroom property would not suit.

TexasAggie

welcome back, tedgale! Sorry to hear about the blizzard, yuck!
Love your photos!

TexasAggie

P.S. The photos of the market... SO worth blowing a diet for!