Bonjour!
I’ve just returned from 19 glorious sun-soaked days hosting Le Chat Gourmet’s Provence Vacation. Where does one even begin, first – to my guests, thank you for joining me on this culinary caper! Oh, how we did laugh, learned some new skill sets from playing pétanque to drinking pastis and the best…newfound friendships forged – loving the continued chatter on our private WhatsApp page.
June in the south of France, from the perfume of lavender warmed from the sun’s caress, crimson poppies dancing amongst grains of ancient wheat, jewel toned fruit and veg spilling from market stalls to singing cicadas amongst the trees announcing summers official arrival.
Our week began Saturday, at the table, with the release of our first cork, champagne glasses raised in celebration of adventures to come, followed by a lazy Sunday morning in the kitchen creating traditional Provençal cuisine with a few ‘chefy’ tweaks. Monday, we marveled at the engineering feat of the magnificent Pont du Gard (all dry-stone construction, no mortar!), an old school picnic in Chateauneuf-de-Pape and private wine tastings. Tuesday we were off on a ‘treasure hunt’ to the outdoor market in Gordes. Vendors hocking everything from linens, ceramics, spices, cherries, apricots, strawberries to the infamous Cavaillon melons. Wednesday, we donned our boots for a trek through the woods in search of witch’s circles and black gold – truffles! This is not a cultivated man-made woodland, it is wild, the real-deal truffle hunt! ‘Orange’ you glad to be here – we must be in the town of Roussillon!, where everything from the buildings, cliffsides to old ochre mines vary in hues from deep terra cotta to pale peach. Thursday, we walked in the footsteps of Vincent Van Gogh in the town of St. Remy and Saint-Paul Asylum. Then experienced the breathtaking light show at Carrières de Lumières (in an old limestone quarry) as the paintings of Claude Monet came to life enveloping us 360 degrees and 60’ high via animation and acoustics. And of course, there was partaking of multi-course dinners featuring seasonal ingredients and the inspiration of Provence.
Enjoy the following photo diary of our wonderful two weeks!
Chef Vincent
And so it begins, the first cork is released
– a sparkling toast to our soon-to-be-had adventures
Things are heating up – let’s get cooking!
Prepping Beef Daube
Prepping Lunch, Tomato & Goat Cheese Quiche
Lavender was a favorite addition to our cooking and baking throughout the week,
harvested just outside the kitchen door!
Lemon Lavender Tart Bakers!
Happy Chefs!
A FEW OF OUR DISHES FROM THE WEEK…
Roasted Herbs de Provence Pork Loin, Caramelized Shallots & Pears,
served with a river of Camembert Cheese Sauce
Celery Leek Soup with Bleu Cheese Drizzle
Individual Eggplant Tarte Tatin with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Classic French Radishes with Butter and Local Camargue Sea Salt
Provençal Blackberry Lavender Tiramisu
RANDOM PICCIES
Bad Hair Day?!
French Sushi?!
PONT du GARD
Each stone hand chiseled, the aqueduct was assembled like a giant puzzle completely
dry stone with no mortar – yes, all those arches, absolutely no mortar, mind-blowing
engineering from 40 AD!
IN THE LAND of CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE
A Few Quick Facts…
WATER: Cannot arrogate the vines
ROOTS: The vines need hardship to develop deep roots, growing over 20 feet deep!
CORK: Bottled with real cork – the cork is alive, thus its interaction with the wine which affects the flavor (don’t let those screw cap guys fool you!), that said most cork comes from Portugal and sadly there is a virus affecting cork farming
GRAPES: Wine can be composed from 13 grape varieties
Now Let’s Get Tasting!
FIN!
Picnicking in Chateauneuf-du-Pape
How to keep nosey tourists out of your vineyard?!
Marketing in Gordes – what treasures will we find?!
Oh My ‘Gordes’, this town is fantastic!
LE CHATS of GORDES
Extra bonus, art installation throughout the village of Gordes featuring cats!
IN THE LAND of LAVENDER!
ROUSSILLON – ‘Orange’ you glad you’re here?!
LET’S GO TRUFFLE HUNTING!
PÉTANQUE & PASTIS!
VAN GOGH
CARRIERES LUMINARIES
This amazing light show continues to surpass itself each year, this season the
paintings of Monet came to life via animation and sound.
TWO OF MY FAVORITE SEGMENTS
The Gare Saint-Lazare (Arrival of a Train in Paris) – 1877
The sound of a lone train whistle blows, hazy smoke envelopes us, one can almost
smell the coal scented air. Then we become part of the painting, finding ourselves
looking out from within the train’s passenger car as the scenic countryside races past
(all Monet paintings) – just incredible.
THE POPPY FIELD NEAR ARGENTEUIL – 1873
My favorite, as the mistral swept through the countryside, the wind carried poppies swirled and danced around us.
Merci Beaucoup from Le Chat Gourmet in Provence
– Chef Vincent!
