Back home...... to winter

Kite surfer, Frejus, Saturday

Well we are back....... and to the worst April weather for many years.  We feel very sorry for our exchange partners Agathe, Fabrice and their lovely children.  They must think it's always this cold and wet - it's not honestly, please come back and find out!
Our last night in France was again at the Hotel Cap Riviera near Frejus.  We decided to look for simple fare and pizza seemed to fit the bill, especially as my diet starts again on Monday and pizza will be out of the question.  So we drove into Frejus and headed for the port/beach area.  It was strangely quiet for a Saturday night.  We parked up and explored the area on foot, plenty of people wandering around, but all the eateries were either empty or not serving pizza and we didn't want a rich, three course dinner.  We eventually found a place with plenty of people and which proclaimed pizza on the menu.  We went in and were welcomed with an aperitif on the house.  So far, so good, but then we waited and waited for a menu to be brought to the table.  Looking around we realised that barely anyone had any food in front of them, and people didn't look happy.  We gave it five, then ten minutes, but still no menu had been offered.  The only waitress seemed dippy and not at all organised.  We couldn't catch her eye to ask for a menu.   Amazingly it was the bearded one who cracked first, "come on let's go, I'm fed up of this" he said.  I agreed so off we went.

Back towards the hotel thinking we might end up going to bed without any dinner (no bad thing given the amount we've eaten this last week), but we happened across a basic pizzeria within 5 minutes of the hotel.  They had a wood oven, some free tables and a warm welcome.  We ate great pizza, Four Seasons and Brazillian (actually chorizo and chilli, so not what you might be thinking!).  Washed down with Belgian beer, all in all rather a departure from the fare of the rest of the week.  But very good and we agreed a fine end to a splendid holiday.

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside.......

Well after a lovely stay in our home from home in Salon we decided to spend the last two nights on the Cote d'Azur. Trip Advisor, our trusty companion came up with a good suggestion at non stratospheric prices, so I called them and bagged their last sea view room with a balcony. We are between Frejus and Ste Maxime, in the pretty village of St Auygulf. The room is pretty with a nautical theme and we have a little balcony overlooking the sea and a little cove. For restaurant choices we tend to combine Michelin with Trip Advisor and local recommendations, and this trio took us to the village of Les Issambres and a place called Chante Mer. Another excellent meal and good value for the area. Three courses for 35 euros and a very good bottle of Gigondas, cote de rhone. We got chatting to the local people seated on either side of us and had some good banter about English food ( all terrible of course ), what Scots wear under their kilts, and wears the trousers (the woman of course wherever you are from). All too soon the evening was done and we went back to the hotel and slept to the sound of the sea. This morning we drove around the coast to Ste Maxime from where we took a navette (ferry) to St Tropez. We wandered the old port, taking in the super yachts(tacky) and the designer boutiques (over priced tat) before finding the market, always fun to stroll. It's and undeniably pretty little place and easy to see why it would be so popular in the summer. But today on a sunny, breezy day in April it was uncrowded and easy to find a good lunch spot. A very simple place with tables on a terrace and 3 light courses for 18 euros. Goats cheese salad, stuffed mussels and ice cream. The obligatory half bottle of rose completed the meal nicely. in the afternoon we sat on the beach near Frejus watching kite surfing. A sport not for the faint hearted, but it looked fantastic fun if a little chilly. So now we approach the last evening of the holiday. Thoughts turn to the lovely French family in our house, hoping thev've enjoyed themselves in England and our house as we have in their country and their house.

Les Croquers

Really the whole week was about Le Croque Chou, our favourite restaurant anywhere, even more than the Manoir au Quat' Saisons or Le Gavroche.  So finally on Thursday evening the time had come, we put on our gladrags and headed for Verquières, between St Remy de Provence and Avignon.

Happy Birthday to me..........

Presents and cards to start the day, brought all the way from home by the lovely bearded one.  Lovely pearl earrings from mum, books from bearded one, and a cheque (always welcome) from little sister. 

A familiar stomping ground...

After an excellent but very filling dinner last night we were late risers this morning.   Dinner was the recommended "un verre d'un" in Salon.  Specialising in cuisine from Lyon, the portions were huge but so tasty that it was impossible to leave anything on the plate.  We scoffed foie gras with fig jam to start with, before moving on to duck breast on an apricot and mint compote for me and lamb shank with orange for the bearded one.  A modest but well chosen cheese selection was followed by apricot tart for him and a very light fromage blanc with red berries for me.  It sounds so simple but it was very tasty and took us more than two hours to get through.  Hardly surprising that we slept so late!When we finally did emerge this morning we decided to head for the very familiar surroundings of St Remy de Provence. We've been coming here for 14 or so years and have seen the place change from a quiet but pretty small town into a tourist Mecca, especially for Americans.  The old places we knew have closed to be replaced by chic and epensive designer boutiques and pricey art galleries.  There are still many good places to eat and a growing market, and of course the nearby Roman ruins at Glanum, but we are wondering whether we have seen the best of St Remy and that maybe it's time to find the new St Remy somewhere else.  But putting that aside, we strolled the market for a while before deciding it was lunchtime.  We revisted a favourite place L'aile ou la cuisse, receiving a warm welcome and a good table.  The lunchtime "formule" was good value for St Remy, so we went for two courses, main and pud.  Cod fillet for me (mindful of the scales when I get back) and duck breast for the bearded one.  A nice half bottle of local rose to wash it all down.  But the main event here is the dessert window.  All fantastically tempting, but we went for raspberry tart and a chocolate covered chocolate mousse and shared them.   Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. 

Orange and Roman stuff

Day 3 of our Provencal adventure dawned cloudy and chilly.  What happened to the sun?  However, it wasn't raining so we set off for another place we had been meaning to visit these past several years - Orange.

 A short if moderately hair-raising (I wasn't driving) trip up the autoroute and we were there. An intact Roman theatre more than 2000 years old with seating for 9000 people and a magnificent statue of emperor Augustus  looking down on the performances.  We climbed to the highest row of seats and could clearly hear the people near the stage.  A fantastic place. 

Jour 2 en Provence

We've been to Provence many times but never made it to the pretty port of Cassis. Today we put that right. It's just to the east of Marseille but a million miles away in style. I accept that it might be different in high season, but today it was relaxed, uncrowded and tranquil. We wandered the narrow side streets and strolled the port looking enviously at the yachts, before partaking of a not-so-light lunch. We chose a busy little place on the harbour side and sat on the terrace watching the world go by. Stuffed mussels and goat cheese salad started us off, beef in shallot sauce and filet of fish for mains, chocolate fondant and taste tatin to finish. Did I forget to mention the half bottle of delicious white wine? A Noisette (espresso) and we were ready for the afternoon - or what was left of it! We took a winding road that led seemingly straight up the side of a cliff and found ourselves overlooking Cassis and the Calanques, rocky inlets that line coast from Marseille towards Toulon. The water was azure and so inviting but as I knew from an earlier paddle, it's still very chilly. But the sun shone and the views were amazing. We came "home" via the supermarket, picking up salmon, small peppers stuffed with anchovy and some raspberry tartlets. Oh and more wine!

Un petit coin de paradis

When you tell people that you are planning a house exchange you get the same response every time. "What about your house, what if it gets trashed?" Sometimes people say "Gosh, aren't you brave letting strangers stay in your house". But they have forgotten that in the months spent corresponding with our exchange partners to plan the thing, we have become friends, and why wouldn't you let your friend stay in your house, even if you weren't there? We have arrived in Salon de Provence for our umpteenth exchange. We've been to California, New England, Hawaii, New Mexico, skiing in Colorado, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Canada, Iceland, Denmark, France and we have 'one in the bank' for New Zealand? Our lovely Kiwi friends stayed while we were in Mauritius and we are desperate to go and see them in NZ - when we can afford the flights! You get much more space than a hotel room, often with a garden and you get experiences you otherwise wouldn't have. In California we took on our friends' shift making community meals, in New England we were invited to the family 4th July celebration and we explored Hawaii in the company of our exchange partners who had stayed at our house some monthus earlier. What's not to like? So that's the marketing pitch over with. Next time I'll tell you about the current holiday, which has started really well. A lovely, stylish and welcoming house, with drawings done for us by their kids, a fridge full of Provençal goodies and a basket of local soaps. Wonderful.

The Begining

Several of my friends have great blogs, so it feels like time for me to catch up. Who knows if I will enjoy doing this, or if anyone will read it. But here goes.