Life in the Vaucluse

Oysters, Fish, Game and Green's

The title of this entry is also the title of the Green's Restaurant and Oyster Bar blog. For anyone visiting London, you could do a lot worse than visit the new outpost of Green's in Cornhill, over in the City. The former banking hall makes a spectacular backdrop to lunch or dinner where seafood and game and other 'nursery food' staples are the order of the day. All rather different to the cooking in Roussillon which is all the more surprising given that the fab chef here, Michel, hails from the heart of Provence! Of course I am a little biased as I did design the website - www.greens.org.uk

VRBO

I am continually amazed and happy about the amount of traffic and enquiries we get via our entry at VRBO, the holiday home rental site based in the U.S. Our entry is at http://www.vrbo.com/115651. We already have a few bookings for summer next year and that hasn't happened before. Looking forward to being in Roussillon ourselves in a few weeks, it's been too long...

The Yardbirds in France

 

Just realised that the Yardbirds are going to be playing at the Festival de Blues in Salaise sur Sanne a week before we are next going to Roussillon. A real pity as it is only about one and a half hours north. Oh well, I suppose we have seen them once or twice already... details at http://www.jimmccarty.co.uk/Yardbirds-Tour-Dates.asp

Gorgeous Gorges

We drove the other day north to the gorgeous Gorges de Toulerenc just near Malaucene. It took about an hour and a half but it's a lovely drive anyway. The gorge is just north of Mont Ventoux and is quite touristy, however it's easy to see why. The main reason for going is that one walks along in the river! Mostly it is no more than a foot deep however here and there it can be at least waist deep. It's a lot of fun particularly where the gorge narrows. It's possible to park near the bridge and we walked downstream. Next time, we'll explore upstream..

Cafe des Ochres, for the first time

Although we have had many a drink at the Cafe des Ochres by the boulangerie, we had never actually eaten there before. Bumpng into the owner the night before last I booked a table for lunch yesterday on the balcony. It was great fun with a good view of the village and the valley beyond. We even a had a good French arguement as a car went into the back of another resulting in some good Roussillon road rage. The food was fine and good value but the position was excellent.

After dinner last night we went up into the village and found a jazz band playing in the square. I thought I heard something earlier from our terrace and wished I'd popped up earlier to investigate. Anyway we caught the last half hour or so and they were good - especially when the trumpeter played from the terrace above the square while the rest of the band played on below..

Cat on a hot tiled roof

Beautifully hot down here. Village buzzing but quietens down in the evening.. climbed up on the roof last night to rescue a neighbour's Persian cat that had been up there for 3 days. Think I'm going to get Roussillon's Legion d'Honneur...

Uphill to Ventoux

I notice that Le Tour goes to Mont Ventoux tomorrow. Not for the fainthearted,  this is a tough climb. Even our car puffed a bit. And of course it's where British cyclist Tommy Simpson collapsed and died during the Tour 40 years ago. A pity we won't be there to see it as it will be a spectacular site. Click on the map to see the route in detail.

French farce?

This really needs no explanation - an everyday tale of renting a house in Provence..

"Well, we are finally in your lovely home. We have had quite the adventure today. When we arrived in Avignon and picked up our leased vehicle, we were served by a very young woman who spoke no English. Fortunately, our daughter speaks French -however we were not given any details of the vehicle...only a set of keys and a curt look. As we attempted to familiarize ourselves with it we discovered that the fuel tank was on empty. Sadly, because we rarely use diesel fuel in Canada, my husband filled the tank with regular fuel. We made it about 200 meters when the engine quit. We pushed the vehicle back to the petrol station and spent 4 hours trying to get some help from Renault. Finally we were told that the vehicle would need to be towed  and the tank to be drained etc..  and that that could not happen until Monday.

 

We were obviously distressed as Georgette was expecting us and also we were delivering our daughter to Montpellier tomorrow. Following numerous failed attempts at an interim rental...we ended up with a Mercedes....the only rental in Avignon and 1500 euros later.

 

But oh, it gets better!

 

After we made our way to Roussillon - we knocked on Georgette's door, only to be informed by her and her daughter that the house had already been rented and that the occupants arrived earlier today. I told her that couldn't be possible, as I had confirmation from you only last night. Together, we knocked on the door and found the "occupants" out by the pool. A young British/New Zealander couple with a toddler were enjoying a swim and a beer. As Georgette (and her daughter) spoke no English, I asked the couple about their reservation and the husband told me that they were to meet his sister in law here - that she had booked it and they were arriving shortly. When I explained that I had booked this home for the month he replied that he had "know idea what I was talking about." All the while, my husband was illegally parked...waiting for info to the car park.

 

The most bizarre moment of the day happened when the man's wife, emerged from the pool - naked! She had quite a girth and was trying to balance a naked child who was slipping and sliding and the towel she had fetched...while the husband scowled and finally shouted at my daughter and I that he would just go back to England. He then stormed down the garden steps sopping wet. 

 

Fortunately, our sense of humour was tested today and won!

 

Eventually we discovered that of course they were in the wrong house. Apparently, as they were wandering down the street earlier trying to find their address, Georgette appeared and asked them if they were the renters. They replied that they were and the rest - is history!  Certainly one for the books to be sure. The wife was very apologetic (but of course all I could still see was her dripping nakedness) and the husband, clearly embarrassed, said nothing as he banged and threw things into bags and boxes.

 

We waited while they packed their bags and food (they had filled the fridge already) and after the woman had retrieved the paper with the correct details, Georgette assisted them in finding their rental.

 

I hope that my rendering of our adventure does not upset you.  I am hoping that you will have a chuckle...as we all just did over pizza and a bottle of wine next door. Tomorrow we head to Montpellier.  And then back to Avignon on Monday to collect our Renault.  With diesel fuel.  Mon Dieu!

We are thrilled with the home and love our new neighbours already. Poor Georgette - all she could say was "je suis desolee". She and her family were wonderful.  We are certain we will love Roussillon."

Vintage Roussillon

Back at the end of May, my good friend Jonathan Procter took part in a car rally in the Luberon and ended up driving through Roussillon. Whether they intended actually driving past our house is uncertain..

May in Roussillon

Of course spring in the Vaucluse can be a varied affair. Arriving late last week it promptly started to rain and was pretty cool. Perfect timing for the opening of the pool. We visited (in the rain) the chateau in Ansouis and while the house itself was interesting, the inside was not what we were expecting.

The chateau HAD been in the family Sabran since the late 12th Century but sadly they sold it 2 years ago. It all looked a little sorry for itself given the walls had marks where pictures had hung and the furniture a mish-mash of antiques. However we were told that the new owner was going to restore it to its former glory, let's hope so.

Ansouis does have a great restaurant though, La Closerie, with an extremely good value set lunch. Superior cooking at a good price.

 Talking of food, we finally visited Le Mas Touteron just outside Gordes. Lovely courtyard setting with some of the best cooking I have had in a very long time. I would describe what we had but I know that once I start writing.. well, this would be a long post. Let's just say that it's well worth a visit.