Arles in a Downpour

Since tomorrow is a holiday in France, the smart locals have taken today off as well....who can blame them??? So we suspended our original plans to go to Nice and decided to stay close to home and headed to Arles. Unfortunately, the weather didn't' agree with us and it poured the whole way there. When we arrived we found parking by the Office of Tourisme and tried our best to see the town in the rain. 

It turns out we were visiting Arles during their 500 year celebration for Antico Confrarie di Gardian de Bouvino e Roussatino. I'm not completely sure what this celebration is for, something about ancient cattle and the guardian of Roussatino??? Anyway it was very cool.  They had a parade of horses around the amphitheater and bull fighting scheduled for tomorrow. (that would have been awesome!)

Our first stop in between downpours, in the city center

 The city was full of music, it was so cool. I particularly liked this man's contribution to the festivities!

 The Roman Ampitheater....The Arles Ampitheatre dates to 90 BC and is capable of seating 20,000 spectators and still hosts bullfighting and plays and concerts.

 Here I am in my 'hijab' to avoid the rainfall....actually I used my scarf to keep from getting soaked, but this picture looks pretty funny. The man at the ice cream stand told me to make sure and not cover my face as that is illegal in France. I think next time I will remember to bring my raincoat!!!!

 Mischievous puddle jumping.....

The horse parade around the Ampitheater..

In true french spirit we stopped for lunch! We saw as much as we could in the rain before Steve spotted the perfect restaurant where we could stay dry! This was quite the find and anyone visiting Arles in the future must seek this one out!!! It run by a husband & wife team and the food is absolutely out of this world. This is the best lunch we have had here....and a value! The restaurant is called L'Ecrin and it is located across from the Amphitheater. But this one is quite different from the other pizzerias and tourist cafes, it is simply wonderful.

This was not your typical cafe, it didn't have a 'Menu Enfant' but rather created one for London - a petit Entrecôte, sautéed pomme terre and vegetables. As for us, Steve opted for the menu de jour which was the best salad we have had here and then pork medallions and vegetables followed by the homemade apple tart.

 My plate choice was Pave Tuna with three vegetables

 Homemade macarons with a creme brûlée filling.....WHO combines macarons and creme brûlée????? This was complete heaven!!!!

We are already planning our return visit to this restaurant with my parents....the other menu options we cannot wait to try....duck with honey and balsamic vinaigrette, sea bass in a foil packet, lamb with provencal seasonings, etc........AMAZING!!!!!!

We met a friend from Boston, Armando.  He is visiting various places in France and Italy in memory of his wife.  We talked golf and baseball and he told us some great stories.  After thinking a bit he looked at me and asked....do you like baseball?  I replied of course.  He said, I was at the game where Carlton Fisk hit the famous home run, do you know what happened before that.  I thought a minute and said.....was Bernie Carbo involved.  He laughed and said of course, he hit a 3 run home run before Fisk hit the famous home run.  One minor trivia point on that is that a Tucson boy - Pat Darcy - gave up the home run.  Mr. Darcy attended Rincon High School in Tucson which was a rival of my high school.  Armando is spending time in Avignon and then he is off to Sorrento, Italy.

MMMM, more ice cream.....

 Roman Theatre.....

 Church door.....

And then of course......London found the carousel.....

On the way home we drove through some beautiful tree-lined streets. So pretty....

I think Steve is getting inspired by all this wonderful Provencal cooking, food and ingredients! Tonight he 'whipped' up this amazing fish and vegetable dinner. London and I think he is getting into this lifestyle quite nicely....we are reaping the benefits!!!! ;->

Gordes

I will always opt for the mountain roads home every time we are out exploring. It seems like an obvious choice, so beautiful and amazing with the towns built into the cliffs. But once we are actually driving them home, I wonder why I keep subjecting myself to driving "provencal style' - one lane roads that twist and turn over the mountains like nothing I've ever seen - straight-down cliffs and everyone driving like crazed Nascar people on pastis and rose wine!!

Today as I was holding on for dear life I realized why I always choose these roads, we got to discover Gordes.

 These are kind of funny tourist photographs....our heads are as big as the town.....;->

 After driving through Gordes today, we have actually booked lunch reservations at this restaurant with a terrasse that hangs over the cliff for Tuesday....we can't wait!!!!!

We are truly enjoying our experiences in Provence. Every day is a new adventure. Time to go home for our afternoon naps and then a dinner from today's market - grilled artichokes, poulet fermier, roasted red peppers and that amazing '95 Chateau Beaucastel. (Seriously could any dinner be bad with this wine??? Actually, who needs food with this amazing wine!!!)

Back to Isle Sur la Sorgue & on to Gordes

Today we made our way back to the Isle Sur la Sorgue market and we are glad that we did! We discovered a whole new side to the market with all the 'brocante' and antiques that we didn't even see last week!!! We stumbled upon a man with homemade macaroons and of course London and & had to stop and investigate.....we left with 6 delicious, huge and amazing macarons! London took care of eating the light and dark pink ones as well as the lemon one and half the chocolate and I managed to finish the other....I think Steve did get a bite of the pistachio one, but we can't quite recall. ;->

 MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm.........delish!!!!

 The bustling marketplace.....it was even better this time.

 Steve and London find a swan in the beautiful and crystal clear water surrounding the town.

 Time for some shopping......Steve and London stop for some great dried pommes, poires & fraises (apples, pears and strawberries) These are the greatest 'gummy' snacks ever as far as London is concerned!!!

 The selection of fresh flowers is overwhelmingly beautiful!!! Where is this selection in Dallas?????

 This is the side of the market that we discovered today! Don't be surprised if we come back next Sunday for one of those tables over the water! It was so beautiful and there were so many antique gems that I would have loved to look through if we had more time....but we had lunch reservations at Jardin de Quai and had to keep moving.

 There were these moss covered water mills throughout this small town and it was just amazing to stop and enjoy. What a great town to take a cafe ( or rose) and enjoy the sights. This town is quickly becoming our favorite stop in Provence.

1:00 reservations at the Jardin de Quai, so we were off to a lunch we were so excited about!!! The chef here does a set menu, no options and  we quickly discovered it was unfortunately the 'Disney World' of Isle Sur la Sorgue. It was one of our most expensive lunches and the setting was absolutely unbelievable and enjoyable.

 London ran to play and discover the gardens as soon as we arrived. This is definitely an attraction here as eventually all the children dining ended up playing in the gardens!

 Here is a view of the outside dining area of the Garden, simply beautiful and even more amazing with the perfect Provencal weather!

Ok, please ignore that I'm putting on my glasses as we walk back to the table and focus on the real attraction of this photo....the green suit on my right.....Where does one find a green leisure suit? And more importantly pair it with some Hogan shoes, a man satchel and a matching scarf???? I know I said that the style here was fantastic, but this ensemble is something that intrigued me the entire meal!!!! 

 At the table...what a beautiful surrounding and amazing people watching!!!!

 London quickly found some older French 'friends' to play with in the garden. She quickly commanded their attention to inform them of the Prince Charming and Cinderella she had with her......It cracks me up to watch her interact with a definite language barrier! We have learned in the last week that Disney princesses have French names here....Rapuzel=Raiponce, Cinderella=Cendrillon,  Snow White=Blanche Neige.......It's a whole new world.....

Unfortunately the setting alone doesn't quite make a perfect lunch. I'm pretty certain our waitress was in her first week of employment.  We were actually served our aperitifs without the amazing famous tapenade every other table received! And then worse....our entree/first course arrived before our wine ever arrived.......Quelle Horreur!!!!!!! After being spoiled in restaurants for the last 10 days, it is kind of shocking to have such lack of attention to detail. After pointing this out to the waitress and manager, we quickly recovered with a bottle of wine to accompany our food. As additional patrons arrived, we came to discover that this is the perfect restaurant location and that is what is all about. Don't get me wrong, the food was amazing, but the service just made it a little more 'trying' of a lunch instead of an absolute delight!

On our way out of the garden.....She looks so cute....too bad she doesn't realize that she is riding the bike backwards! ;->

On to re-discover the Luberon mountain roads home.......

Lourmarin

Today we were kind of excited to have a quiet day locally in Lourmarin. We started the day with cafe creme's in Lourmarin while London played with the other children in the courtyard. What a perfect beginning....

Then we met up with a local to look at some Lourmarin real estate....you should never stop dreaming, right??? We found an amazing property with the most beautiful gardens and huge outdoor living space. The house was built in 1627 with a renaissance wall on the exterior and the home has amazing qualities. I'm afraid we all fell in love today.......we shall see what the future holds.....

Then we headed back to Lourmarin for a local picnic for the new cooperative that's opening. Unfortunately it was a sold out event and we needed reservations. But we ran into our friend from the wine coop (the one with the wonderful Dogue de Bordeaux that we LOVE) and he poured us some rose and we got to enjoy the locals for a little bit. On the way out we ran into Greta, who manages the house that we are staying in. We stopped and chatted with her and got some 'scoop' on the locals. ;->

On to lunch!! We found a wonderful restaurant, La Recreation with a fabulous terrace. We had a great lunch and then went to Chateau Lourmarin for their medieval festival. London was excited to see all the princesses in the 'evil castle' as she called it.....medieval is a big word for some. ;-> They had all sorts of costumes and reenactments throughout the castle with jousting and music and of course, vendors!!! ;->

London greeted all the 'princesses' and then found a ring that she just had to have! She is collecting all sorts of jewelry on our visits around Provence! This is the vendor that helped London select her 'petite' sized purple ring!

So proud!!!

Dancing to the medieval music!

Au Revoir Chateau Lourmarin....thanks for a great afternoon!!!

We are off to our house for naps and to recover for our dinner reservations with David at L'Antiquaire for his special Bouillabaisse!!! When we got home we couldn't help but gather some of the beautiful flowers from the garden.

We have waited for a week for David's Bouillabaisse!!!! Tonight is the night and it was just wonderful! It was so great that we booked again for next Saturday night when my parents will be here so they can enjoy it too!!!!

(Seriously, London really eats food other than ice cream!!! She just gets so excited about it the we can't help but take her picture! ;->)

It's been a long but wonderful day! Thank you Provence.....we can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!!! Bon Nuit!!!!