Dieulefit

Brian and Greg decided to take the "day off" so Keith and I drove north to Dieulefit to take in the local market. Dieulefit, meaning "God made it", was a very pretty village nestled in the nearby hills and is well known for its arts, specifically its pottery and ceramics. As in most of the markets we've been to in France, there are vendors selling fruits and vegetables, meats and poultry, fish, pasta, breads, cheeses, eggs and then of course, specialties of the region - olives, prunes, walnuts, strawberries etc. Depending on the market, you might also find artisans selling their wares and occasionally vendors flogging cheap imported goods. In Dieulefit, in addition to our usual purchases of fruits, cheese, meat and vegetables, we found some delicious honey (Keith loves the flavour of the honey here) and some interesting and flavourful, slightly flattened, large meatballs called caillettes. Caillettes are made with hand-ground pork, chopped pork liver, Swiss chard, spinach and spices; they are then wrapped in pig’s caul fat (the thin membrane that surrounds the stomach) rather than in a casing. We heated them through and served them with a piece of fresh baguette as an appetizer. They were a big hit! 

Here is a poissonnier (fishmonger) cleaning scallops for a customer.

Nougat is a specialty in this part of the world. Although I am not a big fan, it certainly seems to be popular.

Keith is just walking by one of the many local pottery stands. In town, there were many more small independent pottery and ceramic magasins.

A street in Dieulefit.

Following the market, we found a lovely restaurant to enjoy a salad and a glass of wine. It was a beautiful day, so we took our time driving back stopping along the way to take pictures of the countryside between Dieulefit and Valréas.

When we arrived home, it was still warm and sunny so we spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the sun on our patio and reading our books. Another day in paradise!

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Route des Vins

Yesterday, we went to the Tourist Office in Valréas to talk to Muriel, a good friend of our host. Not only did she provide us with a map and route, but she gave us the names of domaines to visit and wines to try. We began with a stop at the Cave Coopérative le Cellier des Templiers in Richerenches where she also had an exposition of her photography. We enjoyed a taste of crisp, white wine while admiring her art. From there we ventured south to the small village of Visan for a dégustation at the the domaine AnVis. It was a modern, beautiful building with a long bar for wine tasting. We began with a rosé that we subsequently purchased and then tried the 2004 Cuvée du Marot which she had recommended. It was very good too so we purchased a magnum that we drank with dinner. Some of the other patrons were locals that came to fill their personal containers at a very reasonable price.

Our next stop was the beautiful village of Cairanne which was also home to some botanical gardens. Before walking up the hill, we stopped for "smoko".

On the way up, we passed by this lavender bush in bloom. Most of the lavender in the fields still needs time to mature, but I am sure the countryside will be awash in purple in a few months. 

There were poppies, irises, gaillardia, hyacinth, tulips and daffodils blooming.

This was a picture of the countryside from the top of the village by the church.

Behind the gardens was this beautiful old home with a clock and bell tower previously owned by an historian.

Once back in the car, we continued south toward Gigondas. All of a sudden, Keith stopped the car and pulled over to the side of the road. Overhead there were 8 jets performing manouevers much like our Snowbirds. The underbelly of the planes was red, white and blue and periodically there would be jets of white, blue or red smoke emanating from the rear. We enjoyed our personal "air show" for a good 15 minutes or so while they changed formations and performed loops de loops in the air over the vineyards and lavender fields. When we got back to the house we searched the Internet to find out more about these jets. They are known as the Patrouille de France, a demonstration aerobatic team and part of the French Air Force established in 1931. It was one of those "bon moments". 

Before we left, Greg insisted we take his picture and add the caption "I heard it through the grapevine" - cute!

As I mentioned, we were on our way to Gigondas before stopping for the air show. Below is one of the charming streets in the village...

... and an old water fountain.

When I was in my late teens, I would often have Sunday dinner with my dear friends, the Metcalfes. The meal usually included a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Nowadays, that wine is not readily accessible to most of us because of the price. However, because we were so close, I really wanted to see what remained of the Château and visit the village. The Château has definitely seen better days, but it was interesting to walk about the ruins.

Just down the hill from the Château, there was a cave featuring the wines. The proprietor was engaged with some other patrons so we just had a look around. Even the prices here were out of our league especially when you consider there are so many great French wines that are very well priced.

It was time to start heading home. We returned via Ste-Cécile-Les-Vignes, a village we had visited previously. We wanted to purchase another bottle of 2010 Les Deux Chapelles from Chantecôtes that we had so enjoyed. There was an interesting small boucherie down a back street and we bought some saucisse (fresh sausages) for dinner and some saucisson (dried sausage) for snacks. Below is a photo of the fountain in the town centre.

Our final stop of the day was the Château de Suze-La-Rousse/ Université de vin. It was built between the 12th and 15th centuries and was inhabited by the La Baum-Suze families until 1958. When the last last heir died, the property was acquired by the General Council of La Drôme. In 1978, the University of Wine was opened. Students from around the world come to learn about oenology, marketing and managing of the wine industry. There are even 3 day week-end courses for tourists.

The museum opened in 2013.  We paid a nominal entrance fee to enter the courtyard and explore the rooms on the second floor. Each room had information on the varieties of grapes, the tools and vessels used, the production process etc. At the end, we had a chance to guess the aromas often associated with wine. My friend Eleise would have done much better than me! 

As with all our days in Provence so far, it was memorable!

Séguret

Now that Greg is here (we picked him up at the Lyon airport Tuesday), we have begun to explore more of the countryside, nearby villages and wineries/caves of course.  Although it is cool with the prevailing Mistral, the sun is bright and warm and the sky is a beautiful blue. After breakfast and coffee on the front deck yesterday, we went to the Valréas market to pick up provisions for the day.

It is interesting to see the differences in markets in all of these small villages. This one had many more stalls of trinkets, clothing, gadgets for the kitchen etc. We managed to find everything we needed including a cup of coffee at one of the local bar/restaurants. Years ago, when we were travelling in Australia, we learned that a coffee break was called "smoko". Since then, we have coined the phrase "smoko" as that most important break mid to late morning to stop, have a coffee and simply enjoy one's surroundings. 

Once we unloaded the groceries back at the gîte, it was time to have lunch. On one of Keith's walks, he had found a restaurant overlooking a small lake near our gîte. That is where we had a lovely meal.

After lunch, we headed south of Valréas. Our first stop was the very small village of Buisson. We only spent a short time there to take a few pictures of the pretty landscape and buildings.

A couple of days ago, at one of the caves, the caviste explained to us that the thick 80 year old vines that are not supported by stakes and wires are carignan and grenache varietals (seen below) These must be picked by hand. The newer vines like syrah and mourvèdre are thinner and have wires supporting the branches which apparently allow for machines to pick the grapes. 

This is a picture of Mont Ventoux which according to Brian is one of the most difficult legs on the Tour de France.

Below is the village of Vaison-la-Romaine. It too was a beautiful old Roman village where we spent an hour climbing among the ruins....

.....and then ending our visit at a local cave aptly named Domaine des Roches Fortes. The kind proprietor gave us a taste of the white Côtés-du-Rhône - a blend of Grenache blanc, Clairette et Viognier which we all thoroughly enjoyed. He suggested that it would be a perfect accompaniment to the fish we were having for dinner. He was absolutely right! We also purchased a bottle of 2009 "Les Andoilles" which is made with grapes from the old grenache vines. I'm looking forward to trying that one too.

Our last visit of the afternoon was Séguret. This was one of the places that was listed as a must see village and I can understand why. Below you can see the lovely archway and stone Roman road at the entrance to the village. 

Greg and Keith just ahead on one of the narrow streets.

This charming artist was painting a scene to his right. He was quite passionate about his work and he said it was most difficult to choose just the right colours. He had a nice old dog too and you can see him at the bottom of the picture underneath the easel.

Eglise Saint Denis from the Xème, XIIIème et XVIIème siècles .

Views of the rooftop gardens and some of the surrounding countryside.

What a great day! Tomorrow, a wine tour.

La Belle Provence

La Belle Provence - ooh la la! We pulled into our lovely gîte in Valréas yesterday around 4:30 p.m. The owners are presently in Cancun, but they had made arrangements for their parents to be here to welcome us. Not only did they show us around the house, but they had also stocked the fridge and cupboards with a few provisions including a couple of bottles of wine. How kind! I made Roquefort pasta accompanied by salad, baguette and a good bottle of wine. We were all pretty tired after dinner so it was an early night for all.

Our home away from home in Valréas 

It is definitely cool today and the Mistral has moved in. It is also threatening to rain. After breakfast, the boys walked to the city centre to do a bit of a reconnaissance while I had a shower. Afterwards, we were going to the market in the nearby village of Valaurie. Unfortunately Brian had woken up not feeling well, so he decided to stay home and rest while Keith and I headed out on our own. After buying a few goodies at the market, it began to pour so we started to walk back to the car. En route, we passed by a building with a sign called the Pause and went in. The mayor of Valaurie was there with one of the councillors along with a few of the locals. We were offered a glass of wine or a coffee and opted for a coffee at 11:00 a.m.

The mayor of Valaurie is on my left.

Next stop was the commune of Grignan. It is a pretty village dating back to the 12th century. One store we visited was filled with local products from the region. By the time we left, we had a bag filled with duck confit to have for dinner, a bottle of organic wine, olive oil infused with herbes de provence and some crème de marrons. By this time, we were getting peckish and noticed a sign for Le Claire de la Plume. This was one of the restaurants recommended by our hosts. Without checking the menu, we went in and were immediately asked if we had a reservation. Needless to say we didn't, but there was a table available overlooking the courtyard. I can only imagine how stunning it would be to eat there in the summer when the vines are in full leaf and the weather is good. 

It was a beautiful place with white linen table cloths, French blue and white place settings and sterling silverware. Once seated, we were asked if we would like a glass of champagne. Neither of us refused.

I took pictures of everything we ate because the presentation was so magnificent. I will share most of them in this blog. The first picture is the house appetizer including pigeon eggs (prepared like small devilled eggs) petite cream puffs filled with crème fraîche and small bits of bacon (or so we thought) and palmier like sticks with a mousse of some sort. All were delicious.

This little tidbit, my entrée, was a crouton with cheese shavings and a spinach leaf on top and a ball of foie de gras rolled in ? The presentation was simple, but effective.

This was Keith's entrée of fresh peas over proscuitto wrapped asparagus with parmesan shavings and small baguette crisps.

 

We both enjoyed the plat du jour - quail with a souffle and a sauce made with orange and citron.

Keith had the dessert which was a Granny Smith apple mousse on a biscuit base surrounded by caramel. The green dollop was sorbet with the same intense Granny Smith flavour topped with an almond paste flower. He loved it!

It was a very special lunch that took us several hours to eat and one that we will both remember not only for the flavour, presentation and ambience, but for the superb service as well. After our splendid meal, we noticed a sign for the Domaine De Montine, a local winery. At lunch, I had had a glass of wine from that winery that I really enjoyed, so we popped in for a visit. We tried a few different varieties and bought a bottle of both red and white wines. 

The village has a beautiful chateau and church atop the hill. We didn't have time to climb to the top, but plan on returning to make that trek. in the meantime, here are pictures taken from the road below. 

On one side of the road, there was a botanical garden...

...and on the other, lovely fields of lavender which will be spectacular in a couple of months. 

It was a great day for Keith and I. When we got home, Brian was still under the weather so I hope he feels better in the next day or two.