France and Italy 2014 SXM-Info | SXM features

Bob and Joan, two friends and co-workers (a long time ago I did have a day job) from Sandwich (MA) asked us to join them on a great circle route around southeastern France and northwestern Italy. We said why not, found a house-sitter, and started planning. We looked at many alternatives but there are no good connections to secondary cities (such as Nice or Genoa), especially from Boston Logan. Eventually we choose Lufthansa to Munich followed by a short hop to Nice. We left about 8PM on a Monday and got to Munich at 10 AM on Tuesday. A quick walk got us to our 11AM flight to Nice, arriving at 12:30PM. The vacation was planned around a two day stay in Nice to recuperate, after which we would rent a car and drive east to Borzonasca in Liguria for three days. A short drive north would bring us to the Piedmont region of Italy, home of Alba, Asti, Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera, and Nebbiolo. Sylvain from Select Wine Cellar was on his fall buying trip and we were joining him for two days of tastings during our four day stay in Neviglie. Rather than retrace our steps, we struck out over the Alps toward the Vaucluse. The scenery was breath-taking and the driving was hair-raising. We stopped at the tiny village of Jausiers, elevation about 2000 feet. The next day we made it to Cadanet just north of Aix en Provence for six days. On our last morning we drove for about two hours dropping the car off at the airport. It was a total of about 1050 km (650 miles), estimated at 13 hours split into five travel days. Thus, we had less than three hours driving per travel day. Leaving at a normal checkout time, say 11AM, would get us one to two hours along when we would stop for lunch. A leisurely lunch, maybe even a stroll around town, would break up the drive nicely. We'd finish the drive and generally still be too early to check-in.

In order by date Flight out Nice Hotel Armenonville Franchin Restaurant Matisse Museum Franciscan Monastery Le Lodge Restaurant Liguria Ivano Restaurant Casa del Bosco Cinque Terre Vernazza Gambero Rosso Manarola Genoa Market at Genoa Buca restaurant Strada Nueva Museum da Marcello Restaurant Neviglie Caprafoglio Villa Camino Restaurant Castello Grinzane Cavour Lo Sprin Restaurant Adriano Winery Rizzi Winery Reverdito Winery Contea Restaurant Fenocchi Winery Roddolo Winery Terroir Wine Bar Jausiers Bousquetiere Gite Cadanet Tuiliere Gite Arles Bistrot a Coté Forcalquier Creperie Restaurant Aix-en-Provence Vintrépide Restaurant La Petite Maison Restaurant Flight home

In alphabetical order Adriano Winery Aix-en-Provence Arles Bistrot a Coté Buca restaurant Casa del Bosco Bousquetiere Gite Cadanet Camino Restaurant Caprafoglio Villa Castello Grinzane Cavour Cinque Terre Contea Restaurant Creperie Restaurant da Marcello Restaurant Fenocchi Winery Flight home Flight out Forcalquier Franchin Restaurant Franciscan Monastery Gambero Rosso Genoa Hotel Armenonville Ivano Restaurant Jausiers Liguria Le Lodge Restaurant Lo Sprin Restaurant Manarola Market at Genoa Matisse Museum Nice Neviglie Petite Maison Restaurant Reverdito Winery Rizzi Winery Roddolo Winery Strada Nueva Museum Terroir Wine Bar Tuiliere Gite Vernazza Vintrépide Restaurant

Restaurants/Table d'Hotes Bistrot a Coté Buca restaurant Casa del Bosco Bousquetiere Gite Camino Restaurant Contea Restaurant Creperie Restaurant da Marcello Restaurant Franchin Restaurant Gambero Rosso Ivano Restaurant Le Lodge Restaurant Lo Sprin Restaurant Petite Maison Restaurant Terroir Wine Bar Vintrépide Restaurant

Our visit in 2012 taught us to bring euros with us and to get more as required from ATMs. Our Scottrade Bank account linked to our Scottrade brokerage account will reimburse us for any ATM fees worldwide and they give good rates on the exchange. I had saved some euros from St Martin last winter and doled out 40 of them to the cabbie for a four mile journey to the Armenonville Hotel near the Casino, the famed Negresco Hotel, and old Nice. It had a pool (which we did not use) and free parking. They served a nice breakfast and the neighborhood was quite calm despite its proximity to a supermarket and the major shopping/dining street running a block in from the promenade along the shore.

Our rooms were not quite ready at 1PM so we dropped our bags and headed toward the main road. We had several meals on the two flights so nobody was terribly hungry. We were at the western edge of the shopping/dining area and it was about a mile to the old village so we took a long and slow walk looking for a suitable place for dinner. Sharp-eyed Martha (the youngest of our foursome) spied an interesting prospect shortly after leaving the hotel. Restaurant Franchin was on Rue Massenet running toward the shore. The story was that the chef had worked in several very good restaurants and now had his own place. The meals seemed to cost a bit more than average, but also seemed to be a bit better than average, especially if they were being prepared by a well-trained chef. The restaurant was closed, so we made a mental note and strolled on down the street. On our way back, the restaurant was getting reading for dinner service and a helpful waiter took our reservation.
	We arrived at 7PM to find a very crowded restaurant with a four-top waiting for us on the terrace. That's Martha's back in the lower right corner of the photo above. We sat down and asked for sparkling water and a pitcher of red wine. After perusing the menu we ordered goat cheese and salad (left) and some chunky, country paté with a bit of salad and some tart mustard (right) as our shared aps. This area is known for fresh fish, so below left is a loup de mer with with a topping of chopped tomatoes and pine nuts, with a grilled tomato, and a bit of ratatouille with arugula.
	But what is loup you ask? On the island it is usually called bar and is translated as sea bass. At least that is what's done at Bistrot Caraïbes where it is almost always on the specials board. This is not to be confused with the Patagonian toothfish which is a cod masquerading as Chilean seabass. Here's some help with French names for fish. In the center above is a lovely long-cooked lamb shank with tomatoes and cous-cous with chopped arugula. On the right is a plume (loin) of pork with chickpeas mashed into a paste and fried. Left are some large shrimp with chorizo and rice plus the inevitable chopped tomatoes. We drank a couple pitchers of the house wine and walked back to our hotel quite happily. Having tasted everything, I can say it was all quite good. We had spent a mere 174€ ($226) for a fine dinner for four.

The next day we trudged about two miles uphill to the Matisse Museum. The view below left is taken across a prehistoric site adjacent to the museum. It's a lovely location high on a hill with a spectacular view of the rooftops of Nice leading down to the med. The photo on the right was taken from the garden of the Franciscan Monastery (lower center) also next door to the museum. The photo below right was taken in the extensive gardens of the monastery. The museum has a large collection sweeping across his entire ouevre: paintings, sculpture, drawings, and collage/cutout. It's well worth a visit, especially with the gardens next door, but take the bus.

That evening we had dinner at Le Lodge serving "traditional good quality French Cooking in a British colonial atmosphere." ??? We did not have to sing God Save the Queen and thankfully it really was traditional good quality French cuisine, at least as done on the shores of the med. We started with two warm squid salads (no photo as the photographer was jet-lagged). He was revived by a lively bottle of Bourgogne Aligoté such that on the right is another loup, bar, or seabass. In this case it was was prepared a bit more simply than the previous evening's version. We also had a St Pierre, sometimes called a John Dory (below left), some gambas provençal (center), and grilled fish and shrimp (right). All were great, absolutely fresh fish, prepared simply. A bottle of Brouilly helped. The total was 152€, about $200. A bit less than last night, especially considering the two bottles of wine, but the preparations were not as elaborate and you'll note that every plate came with white rice. We had four different starches with last night's dinner.

The next morning we walked about a mile to the Sixt Car Rental agent on the promenade. We got there a bit before 11 as we wanted to return the car at about 11AM and didn't want to pay for extra hours or days. It took a while to actually get the car as we had to negotiate a blizzard of upgrade possibilities before we could leave. Did we want to upgrade to a larger car. No, thank you. Oh, well, we will have to upgrade you because we don't have the car you reserved. There is a lesson here: always refuse an upgrade as you may get it free. If you really want one and they aren't out of the car you reserved, you can change your mind and say you will pay for the upgrade. Then there were three levels of collision insurance deductible, a charge for an extra driver (as if two people could drive at once), tire and window damage, theft, etc, etc, and etc. Finally we got the key and a complex set of instructions and security hoo-ha to get to the very dark underground parking lot where we were to carefully inspect a car for previous damage. We got a BMW (nicer, newer, and bigger than the one I left in Revere and it had a navigation system) for the price of a Skoda Octavio. Never heard of one? There's a reason for that. I believe it is a Czech Volkswagen. The one we had in 2008 was fine.

We drove back to the hotel where the young ladies were waiting after checking out. By noon we were heading out of Nice for the expensive series of tunnels and super highways that run along the coast. It's about a half hour to Menton at the Italian border and after another half hour we were rather hungry as we arrived at Sanremo on the Italian coast. We could not find a parking place near the restaurant we sought and after a long trudge back from the parking spot we finally secured, we found that the restaurant was closed. It was getting late so we stopped at Ivano, a pizzaria/ristorante. The mixed fish plate was great and our bill came to 119€ with absolutely no itemization.

	We drove another three hours on some pretty, but winding, roads and reached Borzonasca about 10 miles inland from Chiavari which is about 20 miles east of Genoa, the birthplace of Columbus (maybe). Check the yellow arrow on the photo to the left. We were staying at Casa del Bosco, an agriturismo run by a young and energetic Italian gentleman named Sandro. As we had eaten a large lunch, we merely settled into our rooms and met later for wine and cheese on the patio. The rest of the photos were the view from the dining patio. The lower right is the telephoto shot across the valley to the opposite mountain.

We had dinner at Casa del Bosco on the next two nights. Both dinners started with a tasty pasta (below left). The first night featured a slice of local cheese and cima, a ligurian specialty made from veal breast, frequently served at Christmas, but served cold on a warm night, it works fine during the warmer months (below center). The second night had a bream cooked in aluminum foil (below right). Both nights had a dessert and we could bring our own wine or buy some reasonably priced local wine from Sandro. After dinner he had some nice grappa.

We went to Cinque Terre on our first full day in Liguria. Cinque Terre means five lands and is the name for five towns that perch on coast of the Ligurian Sea. They are virtually unreachable by car and if you get there, you'll find no place to park. It is largely a tourist destination reached via a special train ticket from Chiaveri. The ticket allows one to travel around the five villages and return at the end of the day. We went to Vernazza first. On the left is a psuedo-lighthouse. The center shows the view from our table, demonstrating why there are no roads. You can see the train tunnel that delivered us to this location. The photo on the right demonstrates the amazing telephoto lens and stabilization technology in my camera. That couple was on the hillside in the center photo.

We walked around town for a bit, but as it was packed with tourists, large groups of tourists with guides, we opted to snag a table on the waterfront terrace of Gambero Rosso before the rush. We got a primo table (#2), at the edge of the terrace. Liguria is know for seafood, anchovies especially, olive oil, and basil. We ordered an anchovy and potato special (below left), a couple mixed seafood plates, and the special local pasta (trofie, hand-twisted to look like spirals) with olive oil and basil, aka pesto. It was an amazing lunch with fabulous fresh flavors. A liter of house red washed it all down at a total cost of 82€, about $105 for four. We strolled around town for a bit and made our way back to the train station to ride it one stop to Manarola.

It took about 10 minutes to get to Manarola and it looked much the same as Vernazzza: steep cliffs running down to the sea with a town perched precariously on those cliffs. Far right immediately below is the neighboring town of Corniglio. Bottom left is a tiny cogged monorail that was carrying grapes down off the steeply terraced cliffs. The center picture shows somebody jumping off a cliff into the harbor. The tall picture bottom right is Bob and Joan with the extremely steep cliffs in the background.

On the next day (13 Sep) We drove to the local train station and took the train to Genoa. The Greeks left a cemetery here that shows they were here in the fifth or sixth century, but evidence exists that suggest the Etruscans were making use of the fine harbor earlier than that. Today it is one of the largest cities on the Med (population about 600,000) and Italy's largest seaport. The cities of Turin, Milan, and Genoa form Italy's main industrial area. Nonetheless, the older parts of the city are on the World Heritage List (UNESCO). On the left is a church in the old town quite close to La Buca where we had lunch. The far right is an example of trompe l'oeil.

We spent the latter part of the morning wandering around the market. It was mushroom season. On the left is a display of Caesar's amanita, which in not poisonous, although some amanitas are deadly. There are more in the center photo and on the right are some porcinis and pine nuts.
As mentioned this is the place for seafood. There were all manner of fish, lots of shellfish, plus squid, octopus, and eels. On the far right is the largest octopus I have ever seen.
Actually, the eels are below left. On the right are some spectacular figs and below are hams and vegetables. We left as they were shutting the market down. It closes at lunchtime and does not reopen.

We were operating out of a very old guide book so we had quite a time finding La Buca di San Matteo but it is near the church. In fact, if you look beyond the sign, you can see the distinctive gray and white pattern of the masonry. Despite being in the old quarter, the restaurant was quite modern and even had a window into the kitchen. We ordered water and a bottle of local red (a mere 22€). Martha had the risotto with seafood and I had ravioli pasta with pachino, olives and ligurian spices (photos below). Our friends had pansoti pasta filled with spinach and ricotta cheese and white sauce made with walnuts and trofiette pasta with pine nuts, pesto, shrimp, and marjoram. We were all quite happy especially when the bill came in at 82€ (about $105). Service was quite good, but it was not crowded when we entered rather late.

We spent the afternoon in the Museum Strada Nuova, a tripartite museum gathering three palazzos together: Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Bianco, and Palazzo Tursi, all dating back to the 16th century. Palazzo Rosso contained paintings by Dürer, Veronese, Guercino, Strozzi, Grechetto, Van Dyck and more. Palazzo Bianco contains works by Italian artists (Caravaggio, Veronese), Flemish artists (Hans Memling, Gerard David, Jean Provost, Rubens, Van Dyck), Dutch artists (Steen), French artists (Vouet, Lancret) and Spanish artists (Zurbaràn, Murillo), a wide range of Genoese paintings from the 16th to the 18th century (Cambiaso, Strozzi, Piola, Magnasco).

There were many cars in the parking lot and as we entered we saw quite a few diners in the room off the bar/entrance. There was one four-top available so we took it and ordered sparkling water and the house red. It arrived in an already opened, unmarked bottle. It was fine and I suspect they just saved money by not using a decanter. A waitress told us what dishes were available although several of the cold appetizers were on display in a cooler. We had some that were quite tasty but went unphotographed and proceeded to the pasta course with a very tasty ravioli. The green beans arrived for our contorni and most of us had a braised lamb and potato course as our secondi. Everything was quite good. Service was busy but good enough. The entire lunch cost 76€, less than $100 for two courses, a dessert, a coffee, and two bottles of wine. This alone would have been enough to be quite happy with lunch but as Ron Popiel says, "Wait, there's more!" We had been chatting amongst ourselves in English with Martha doing most of the negotiation with the wait staff in Italian. A gentleman at the neighboring table had at times offered his thoughts and eventually we learned like Bob and me, he was an engineer and he spent quite a bit of time shuffling clients around the area. He asked where we were going and when we said Neviglie, he told us about a wonderful restaurant there, much like the mom and pop operation we were enjoying. We went there two of the four nights we stayed in the area. One of those nights was for Martha's birthday.

We had rented two apartments in Caprafoglio Villa. Each had a dining area/kitchen, a living area, a bedroom and a bath at 70€ per night. It's a bargain and I could have coffee when I woke up in the morning without bothering Martha. We made it to the villa owner's home in Altavilla, picked up the keys, and continued to Neviglie. It had a gate on the drive, so the car was quite safe. There was no one else in the villa or in the other villa that shared the vehicular entrance, so it was quiet EXCEPT for the church bells. The views were quite nice also.

That evening we drove to Neive as we needed a light dinner and we had seen a pizza place called Il Camino there. We had individual pizzas, most of them featuring fresh porcini, some with arugula or sausage added. A cheap pitcher of Barbera and a couple salads brought the bill to 65€, about $85. We had ordered octopus and crab, but the crab turned out to be surimi, so we sent it back. We did get to pay for it later (9€). The Barbera was great and the pizzas were fine. I had some for breakfast over the next two days.

On Martha's birthday we headed out to the castle at Grinzane Cavour. It's not the most beautiful of castles, but it probably worked well as a fort. That's me drumming up business for Dulak's Service Station in beautiful Ware, MA. The two center photos show the landscape. Generally the hills are not so steep that the grapes need to be terraced. There are hills everywhere and it is beautiful scenery, but not so much on a foggy morning. The final shot is Bob and Joan striking a pose. Looks like a bit of side boob. Can't take him anywhere. The castle has a wine shop for the local product and we got some Asti Spumanti as a starter for the evening's celebration and some grappa to close out the evening. there is also a wine museum. We had a nice lunch at La Salinera, a very small restaurant across from the central parking lot. I can't find any photos but I had some carne crudo, a local delicacy that consists of hand-chopped, high quality beef, essentially steak tartare substitute olive oil and lemon for a raw egg. We had a pitcher of wine, two menus of the day, several plates and paid a mere 39.60€, about $50 for a very good lunch.

On the morning of Martha's birthday we stopped at Lo Sprin about a mile from our villa and made a reservation for dinner as instructed by the engineer we had met at da Marcella earlier. The Agriturismo was a mere kilometer from our villa, but on a dark and winding road, so we drove down that evening and strolled in past an antique farm cart loaded with bottles of wine. The bottles had hang tags with the cost. As this was a birthday celebration, we choose the two most expensive Barbarescos, a 2009 Muncagota and a 2008 Bera. Some of us started with the veal carpaccio (below left). It was nothing but melt in your mouth tastiness. The agnolotti were tasty raviolis filled with meat and herbs. Below right is the normal version and on the left of the next row is a version for the sauce lover in the group. They may have made fun of me, but they did put extra sauce my dish. The next angolotti had a butter and sage sauce. Our second courses featured braised pork (left) and braised beef (right). There was also an unphotographed chicken dish. A lovely cheese tray finished the dinner. The total cost as 116€, about $150.

The next morning (16 Sep) we met Sylvain from Select Wine Cellar with Sujana, his girlfriend and Petrus, his dog (left). Alberto Ramella (right, a wine broker from Torino) had set up a series of tastings in Piemonte, starting at Adriano Winery in Alba. It's a lovely hilltop winery with the usual Piemonte views. They have made some major changes here revamping both the production facilities and the visitor facilities. First, a tour to show how wine is made.
Step 1: acquire grapes	Step 2: remove stems	Step 3: crush
Step 4: ferment the juice	Step 5: age in barrels	Step 6: bottle and age a bit longer
At this point, you need the fancy sign, with the lovely ramp into the cellars complete with a collection of antique wine implements. I've left out a few details. The process is, at the beginning, farming. As such, the weather and numerous creatures, some microbial and some much larger, conspire to devour your crop. You will need rain while the grapes are growing and despise rain when you are harvesting. Getting good grapes in good condition to the winery is a major accomplishment, but it is only the beginning of wine-making. The stems and seeds add tannin, necessary yes, but it should not be overpowering. The skins add the color. Grape juice is fairly clear, so red wines are generally fermented on the skin, maybe with seeds and stems. Natural yeast or add your own? Control the fermentation temperature or go natural? Ferment in stainless or wood? Pump the bottom liquid back to the top for good mixing? Punch the top down for even better mixing? Aging presents more questions. The first is what sort of tank (wood, metal, plastic, concrete?!), followed by how long do you age it before bottling. Even the bottling step presents questions as to the type of cork or even if it is a cork. We were told that the better corks now cost $1. (Note: not all of the previous six photos came from Adriano.)

In the final analysis some good decisions were made at Adriano, allowing us to taste some very good wines. For whites, they made a Basarico Sauvignon Blanc and an Ardi Vino Bianco. The reds included a Dolcetto d'Alba and a Barbera d'Alba. We went for a lunch at Trattoria Risorgimento in nearby Treiso. It's a family run business with the father on the floor, his daughter in the kitchen, and siblings among the wait staff. We just had one antipasto each and one pitcher of wine as we knew that there were two more wineries to visit in the afternoon. Obviously we didn't sample the entire menu, but the food that we had was quite good and the service was friendly and helpful. After lunch we went to Rizzi Winery in Treiso. It is a lovely hilltop facility that also a couple rooms to rent. The wines included a chardonnay, several Barbarescos, a Dolcetta d'Alba, a Barbera d'Alba, a muscat, a late harvest, and a champagne style sparkling wine.

At 5:30 we had another tasting at Reverdito Winery. Snooth says: Michele Reverdito is a 'rising star' in Barolo. He is based in La Morra, a hill town high above Barolo. Reverdito's vineyards are set around the villages of La Morra and Serralunga d'Alba. He uses 'old school,' methods to make his wines, including hand harvesting and sorting and the use of wild yeasts and 1,000 liter barrels to age the wines.

That evening we ate at La Contea in Neive, a short drive but as the restaurant is in the old city high on the hill, not a trivial drive. I suspect the views from up there in the summer are as great as their photo (above left), but as fall arrives with a 6:00PM sunset, one eats dinner in the dark. There was a rather beautiful building in the old town lit up for our enjoyment. We arrived late without a reservation and after a bit of consultation, they graciously opened the main dining room for us as their terrace was full. We settled in, ordered water and perused the menu and wine list. We ordered an older Brunello as we were quite puckered from having tasted plenty of young, highly tannic red wines all day long. Below left is a pesto and pasta appetizer, center is a rabbit dinner, and on the right is a veal chop. All pretty good at 176€, about $225 for four people with a $45 bottle of wine. It got even cheaper when both young ladies were presented with a bottle of the house Barbaresco as we departed.

The next morning (17 Sep) Bob and Joan got on the train to Torino and we went on to taste at Fenocchio Winery (photo above), followed by a lunch at La Salinera (again!), a tasting at Roddolo Winery (center photos), and a major tasting at Terroir Wine Bar (far right). Alberto wanted to showcase some of his wines from other regions, so he had arranged to put on a tasting for us at Terroir. They laid out a lovely platter of all the usual suspects and Alberto outdid himself with wines. We wished Sylvain luck in sorting all this out, thanked Alberto for everything, and left a bit early to get Bob and Joan at the train station.

That evening we went back to Lo Sprin for dinner. It was close, inexpensive, and very good. We had a prosciutto and melon appetizer, some stuffed peppers, some pasta in a sage and butter sauce (again), and some ravioli with extra sauce (again).
Our main courses were a chicken and braised beef, both with carrots. Our first wine was a 26 year old Barbaresco. We eventually had 2 other bottles of wine and our wine bill was only 45€, about $60. The entire dinner for four people was as 117€, about $150.

On our last morning in Italy, we had been invited by Andrea, the villa owner, to come to his other establishment, Villa La Meridiana, for breakfast (and to pay the bill). It's on a hill on the outskirts of Alba with lovely views. After a great breakfast we paid a mere 70€ (about $90) per night per couple and pointed the car west toward La Bousquetiere in the French Alps. It was raining and the Italian roads had some twists and turns as we headed toward Cuneo where we stopped for lunch (hearty soup on the cool, drippy day) and some last minute shopping for a ravioli maker and hazel nuts. After Cuneo the road got steeper and in the afternoon it was an overcast, rainy day as we headed up and up through 180 degree switchbacks. There were two towns on the route that had a street so narrow that westbound traffic was stopped outside of town by a red light for several minutes while the eastbound traffic was allowed to travel. Then all traffic was stopped as the town cleared and finally the westbound cars were allowed to pass through the town. The hills rose precipitously from one side of the road and dropped into an abyss on the other but eventually we reached the top as the weather was clearing and headed down. Along the way we say these cave-like structures. At about 4PM we reached Jausiers and our gite. That is the Dulak Service Station shirt admiring the view from the breakfast room.
It turns out that the new owner, though French, spoke excellent English. We had requested a dinner and it was a very interesting evening as we dined with her and her husband, who was working on his English. As she was fluent, we could have more meaningful conversations than usual. We actually started with drinks and snacks in their living room and moved into their kitchen/dining room for dinner. The table (above) was in the rental part of the house and was used for breakfast. It had a complete kitchen for the use of the guests. The sign was from a crate of wine. Several were glued to the wall. There really are several St Martins in France, so it is not so rare to come across one.

We got up the next morning and had a nice breakfast, heading out at about 10AM. It was a slightly better day, still overcast, but not raining. We had many amazing mountains to look at and at one point a hydroelectric facility dammed up a river producing a long, though narrow, lake. We arrived at Cadanet in mid-afternoon.

The patio with its view of the olive grove was as we remembered. The gite was a short walk from town. The church spire allowed us to find the open air market on their grounds. We walked down to the market, bought a few things, and strolled to the tourist office. They pointed us toward Au Moulin Gourmand where we made a reservation for dinner.

That evening we drove down to the restaurant and led to our table in a lovely room. We ordered water and a pretty good bottle of local Provence wine. The menu had two three course dinners on offer, the gourmand at 21.50€, and the degustation at 28.50€. They essentially offered the dessert at no charge if you ordered the listed aps and main courses, with a few optional upgrades available. We took two of each and ordered the foie gras upgrade (right). The chunky, country pate is on the left below. Both were great.
Our main courses were beef and veal. Desserts were included. We ordered a pitcher of wine to bring the total to 155€, about $200 for a well-prepared and tasty dinner. Service was fine.

The next morning (Saturday) we walked down to the market to pick up a few things for lunch. The center shot below is the view of La Tuiliere, our gite, taken as we came back from the village. When we arrived we set up a lunch in the new Orangerie constructed after our previous visit in 2008. It's a glass faced building looking out onto the property. There is a very large table indoors, a complete kitchen at the end, and even a bathroom. This is now where breakfast is served and the guests are free to use the room for lunch or dinner. There is also an outdoor table. As it worked out, we had several lunches outdoors and a few dinners indoors. It was the French week-end of Patrimony when many museums, parks, buildings, etc that belong to the French government are opened to the public free! We experienced the same phenomenon the last time we were here. then again, our birthdays, 15 and 22 Sep, are when we vacation and when France throws this big party. They call it Patrimony but we call it Rick and Martha's Excellent Vacation. I doubt we would ever pay for a Museum of Wicker, but Cadanet has one and it was free this weekend. Nearby in the town of Lauris was a Museum devoted to natural dyes (plant based). They had lovely gardens of the various plants that could be used as dyes and an informative museum.

On 21 Sep (Sunday) we drove to Arles and went through Espace Van Gogh. Van Gogh spent quite a bit of time here but didn't leave too many paintings here. This museum had two traveling shows and I think only one Van Gogh. We also wandered through the ampitheater and antique theater. All this wandering about required a good lunch so we went to the Bistrot a Coté, the bistrot part of Jeal-Luc Rabanel's gastronomic headquarters. Next door is his Atelier, a two star Michelin restaurant. The bistrot may not have two stars, but it was fantastic. They don't do a la carte, and as I recall there was only one menu at 29€, although it did offer several choices and a few upgrades. Our appetizers were an heirloom tomato gaspacho with Jabujo ham and focaccia (left), a pissaladière, an onion tart as made in Nice (center), and pork rillettes hidden under the lettuce (right). We drank a very tasty and dry local rosé (36€). It was a very long lunch at an outdoor table on a warm afternoon, so we required two bottles.

Our main courses were a grilled fish filleted at the table (left) and mussels gratin in butter, herbs, and almonds with roasted potatoes (right).

Our desserts were a chocolate mousse with confit mango and cocoa sorbet (left), a pear and almond tart with homemade vanilla ice cream (center), and a fruit soup with homemade sorbet (right). With a bottle of water and a 5€ supplement, we spent 198€, about $250 total, or $125 per couple. I think we all agreed that it was a wonderful lunch and a wonderful afternoon.

After lunch we walked over to the ancient theater. It has been extensively rebuilt and now serves as a functioning theater, accommodating several thousand (left). On the right is the view out over the city from the highest point in the theater. That's the Rhone river off to the left.

	On 22 Sep (Monday) my actual birthday, the two best restaurants near Cadanet were closed. We tried to book a table on Sunday or Tuesday, finally getting a lunch on Wednesday. That meant extending our stay at the Tuiliere and canceling our final night in Nice. We would have to rise early and get to Nice Airport from Cadanet, about a three hour drive. We made the changes in reservations and steeled ourselves for the early drive on Thursday morning. So, with no big doings on Monday we headed for the big market in Forcalquier.

After a vigorous bit of shopping we headed up hill to find a restaurant. It was late and most places were full but we got lucky at La Creperie. They had a menu of the day at 17.50€, about $23. We added 1.5 liters of Ventoux red wine and had a nice outdoor lunch for 93€, about $120. The main courses included an local sausage (left, note the pitcher of Ventoux in the background), a seafood casserole (center), and onglet (hanger steak, right). One of the desserts was Isles Flotant (below left) and on the far right is an actual crepe! It was all good, service was fine given an absolutely packed terrace.

After lunch we got even more ambitions and headed up the hill to the citadel that protected the area. The panorama below shows the valley beneath the citadel and the start of the French Alps in the distance. We had just driven through them, reaching a height of about 4000 feet in the pass.
	The town was quite the place in the eleventh century. The church (at a lower elevation near the market) was a bishopric and the town was the the home of a Count of Provence. Note the blocky carillon in the back and the spire on the front that contains a light. There's not much left of the citadel.

That evening we had a light dinner at the gite.
Dried sausage, beans, radishes, yellow tomatoes, bread, and lots of wine!

	On 23 Sep we headed to Aix-en-Provence to see their market. It was quite large and featured a lot of clothing. Nonetheless, we wandered around so much that it was hard to find a restaurant. We eventually found Vintrépide, a rather classy place with few customers. We ordered water and a local red wine (24€). The chef produced interesting looking plates that weren't very full, which is fine with me. I haven't been to an all-you-can-eat joint in about 40 years. On the left is foie gras and on the right is lotte (monkfish). Below is duck, ombrine (fish balls), and a lemon tart. All tasty, 160€, around $200 with two bottles of wine.

After lunch we went to Granet Museum which had Masterpieces from the Pearlman Collection on display (They are gone now). The museum is named after a local painter,François Marius Granet. The permanent collection has Cezanne, Klee Giaacometti, Picasso, and Mondrian. There is even an archeological exhibit in the basement. On 24 Sep we awoke to rain and clouds. We headed toward Cucuron, home of Eric Sapet's one star La Petite Maison., our lunchtime destination. It was a lovely town, but not when the rain is coming in sideways. We browsed the local wine shop, but eventually gave up and showed up early for our 1 PM lunch reservations. They have a lovely terrace, but that was out of the question. There were basically two menus (48€, and 70€. We got two of each and shared around. We started with a dry Luberon Rosé and moved on to a Cote Rotie for the meat courses. that's the birthday boy with a small glass of Cote Rotie. Actually, it was their fancy decanter and that is a complete bottle of wine! We don't have much to say about the meal beyond that it was stupendous: finest ingredients in perfect conditions, prefectly prepared. We had several courses over several hours and although we had more than enough to eat, we did not feel as if we had overeaten. The bill came to 429€, about $550. A bit expensive, but this was the best meal in two weeks of very good meals.

We had a very light dinner at the gite and retired early. We did leave at about 8AM and the GPS in the BMW kept scaring us with an ETA that was very late because of traffic jams. Obviously, as we approached Aix-en-Provence at 9AM we were in a traffic jam, but so was everyone else in France - it was 9AM. The GPS was adding every traffic jam over the next 150 miles into our ETA. By 9:30 we were out of our traffic jam as was everyone else and we made it to Nice Airport with plenty of time to spare. We filled the car with gas rather than pay the extortionist prices to Sixt Car Rental for a less than full tank. They checked it in - no problems. no problems on the flight and we were back in Boston at 6PM as scheduled. Immigration, luggage, and customs were quick. A van was waiting as we exited customs and we were in our car by 7PM, home at midnight after about 24 hours with no sleep.

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