Orientation to Provence

WOW....What a whirlwind! If I don't write something every evening, I may not be able to recall what went on the day before! There is just too much to write about. So don't expect this to be a literary achievement....just a day to day report of my activities. And for heaven's sake, do not submit to Susan Klement for her to correct my punctuation.

I'm glad I arrived a day before everyone else because I had a good night's sleep on Saturday and was pretty well oriented by Sunday. The fountain in the center of town is the city's well known landmark and is truly beautiful.

 

I "tried" to go to Mass on Sunday morning but wasn't oriented well enough to find my way to the church on time. I ended up walking all over the place for a couple of hours and then returning to the hotel. My roommate, Elizabeth Ripp, arrived around one in the afternoon so we had enough time to explore a bit before meeting the entire group at 6 p.m. to head out for dinner.

 

Le P'tit Bout

 

There are 17 in our group (3 men) so it is a nice size. Our first dinner was at Le P'tit Bout in a limestone basement "cave" which was a lovely sitting. The salad was a "purse" of filo encasing goat cheese, tomato and pine nuts.. The main dish, small beef skewers, was served in an old fashioned canning jar with potato gratin on the side. And finally, a molten chocolate cake and expresso for desert. Looks like I won't be losing any weight! And yes, I'm photographing all the food.

 

Brochinettes de boeuf aux saveurs de Provence et gratin dauphinois

 

Quiche Lorraine et sa salade

Monday morning we attended a lecture by Claude Blanc about the history of Provence. Claude has 30 years of teaching experience in both France and USA so he knows his stuff. This was followed by a walking tour of the city and then (yes!!) more food. Lunch was the most wonderful quiche I've ever had and was paired with a lovely salad. I never eat desert at lunch but couln't pass the tiramisu. The expresso in the tiny cups is very French and VERY good.

After that big lunch (no doggie bags in France) we headed back to the hotel and got totally drenched by the rain. Lesson learned: always carry an umbrella. Our clothes dried on the heated towel rack while we took an afternoon nap. Later I walked to the main street and bought a couple of gifts at the open air market stalls.

Instead of dinner, Elizabeth and I went to the Casino, the local grocery, and purchased wine, cheese, and fruit. One has to place produce on a scale and select the item on a video screen and then a price tag is ejected from the machine. Grocery lesson number one. We sat on the patio of the hotel and had a very nice time visiting as a few other hotel guests joined us.

 

 

 

 

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