Did a more feeding of "Madame Canard" this morning using the baguette remains from last night's dinner. These ducks just come right up to you, they're so used to people. This evening I was having a cigar on the patio (a great Cuban Partagas Series D number 4), and Madame Canard just came up to within a couple of feet from me and looked up like she was saying "I'm hungry, what have you got?" She likes bread, and Pringles potato chips. It's funny listening to a duck crunching on chips. At least she didn't ask for dip.
We visited Les Baux Des Provence today, one of our favorite places in Provence. It's a medieval village at the top of a hill, originally anchored by a castle owned by the Marquis a thousand years ago. Now it's a village filled with shops and restaurants. We did a bit of shopping, picking up a cool little souvenir for Tommy 3. Then we went to a little creperie that looks out over the hillside. The crepe was excellent, with bacon, cheese, mushrooms and onions. They had monster ice cream sundaes too, so we shared one of those.
Les Baux is a great area for olive oil and wine. We visited Mas De Gourggonier, a winery I'm familiar with, to taste their wines and the olive oil they make. They have olive trees on the property in addition to grape vines. They make a number of different wines that you don't see in the US, and they were all excellent, so we picked up a few bottles. Their olive oil was very good as well, so a bottle came away with us.
On the way back home we stopped in Valleron to go to the only evening farmers market in the area. It's primarily a produce market with a couple of cheese makers there as well It's frequented primarily by locals, and there were a bunch of people there waiting to get in when it opened at 6pm. We blew through there in about 20 minutes, buying cherries, asparagus, hericot verte, carrots, fresh from the farm eggs, a couple of little melons, and a couple of pieces of goat cheese, all of it produced locally to Valleron. The markets here are great.
This evening's dinner was stuff we had procured from the farmers market, along with a couple (yes, a couple) of bottles of red wine. The 2000 Mas de Gourgonnier Reserve was excellent. We also opened a 2010 Chateau Le Nerthe Chateauneuf-du-Pape, which was also really nice but was way too young.
A small number of photos from today, which you can see here.
Hi Guys! Sounds like your trip is wonderful so far! We are enjoying reading your posts and seeing your photos! (Send more photos of the house! - would love to see more about the backyard, patio, kitchen, living areas). Have you cooked in your kitchen yet? Seems like there are wonderful bistro's nearby so perhaps cooking on your vacation isn't necessary!! So, are the farmers markets open every day? Have you taken out the bikes yet? Can't wait to hear more - enjoy yourselves., We're with you in spirit!
ReplyDeleteHi Deb,
ReplyDeleteWe've had dinner at home every night so far. We're making salads using the veggies we're buying every day at the market. We'll usually pair it with cheese and a couple of bottles of wine.
There is a market every day somewhere in the region. There's a lot of similarities in the products, but it's great to be able to get fresh stuff every day. The locals are all over these markets.
We haven't done any biking yet. We're going to other towns for sightseeing right now. We'll do more around town later this week or next.
Sounds like you are definitely enjoying the local produce! I love the idea of having salads for dinner with cheeses and wine! I gather you're having a heavier meal at lunch then? Sounds like the food is yummy and I can't wait to see photos of the local shops! I love your blog - it is almost like being there (well, not really ...) ha!
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