The train ride down to Avignon was relaxing, I closed my eyes most of the way and pretended to sleep. The weather in Paris was about 20 degrees and rainy when I left, and in Provence it was 27 or 28 and sunshine all week! I arrived around noon to a very happy Marie-Césare and we went to a restaurant called Le Vieux Four in the heart of Provence. It was a very nice restaurant, with a pretty pricey menu. After we took our places at an umbrella canopied table outside, it was then I was told it was Padi and Didou's 40th wedding anniversary. So, here they are, celebrating their wedding anniversary with their 3 year old granddaughter and her au pair. What a celebration. There were 3 prix fixe menus to choose from, and the tasty modern southern French menu was certainly the hardest decision of the day. After a good 30 minute wait, our entrées came. I started out with a cold cucumber soup with a scoop of olive oil sorbet in the middle, served with an olive tuile. The olive oil sorbet was one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth. It was made with olive oil from the region and was so creamy, it melted in your mouth. The nuttiness of the olive oil contrasted well with the saltiness of the cucumber soup, so much so that I wanted to sop up every last drop with a piece of house made poppyseed bread. You could immediately taste the difference in the olive oil from the region and the stuff you buy in masses from the supermarket. It was after we left that I realized I should have asked for a pint to-go. The second course was a roasted pork tenderloin served with apricot sauce and vegetable risotto. The apricots and vegetables of course being fresh from the area. Dessert was just as delicious: a mixed fruit glass served with star anise chantilly cream, roasted almonds, groseilles (gooseberries) and a melt-in-your-mouth butter tuile. I'm not a big fan of star anise, but with the fruit it worked well....and they are big fans of anise in the south of France, so you never know if your next bite will taste like licorice or not.
After this delicious 3 hour long anniversary lunch we went into St. Remy to ride Monsieur Victor's carrousel. She rode about 5 times, the last one of course being a free ride. I guess she has built up enough frequent rider points since the beginning of her vacation last week! St. Remy was a totally different place in the summer! All of Aix-en-Provence was. Everything is green and flourishing. The vegetables have been lying in the sun hours upon end, just bursting with ripe colors and textures. There were actual fields of bright yellow sunflowers, which I had never seen before...only in photos! They were incredible. Their colors were truly magnificent in the sunshine with the yellow contrasting on the deep blue sky. Fields of lettuce, radishes, artichokes (I don't know where I thought artichokes came from but I've never seen those bushes either!) tomatoes, strawberries, melons....ah! It was incroyable!
We got back in the car to head back to the house in Maillane. Marie-Césare immediately wanted to put on her bathing suit and go swimming, and I chose to occupy the lawn chairs with my new book. I'm glad I didn't decide to swim with her, because she just wanted to get wet in the basin. I'm not sure there would have been room enough for us both.
I couldn't believe that there was a pool at her disposal, and she wanted to splash around in a bucket. Me being the swim geek I am, I knew this had to change. After a couple of hours lying around the yard, Didou went in to make dinner. Tomato salad with fresh cucumbers and fresh homemade herbs de provence. Not the kind you buy from the supermarket that have been sitting on the shelves in those little tins for months. We also had pizza with cheese, olives, walnuts, and fig oil. YUM. Dessert in the summer is always fresh fruit...if its a special occasion, a little bit of ice cream on the side. Apricots, strawberries, peaches, you name it, you got it.
I was amazed at how pretty the house looked in the summer. It was very French country in the winter, but now with everything green and in bloom, in looked even better. The vines over the doorway were lush, and the outdoor table and umbrella are a great summer eating spot.
The next morning, Marie-Césare crept upstairs to wake me up at 8:30 am. If she hadn't I'm not sure what time I would have woken up. The sheets that were on my bed were soft linen, and tucked so tight that after 3 days it looked like I was never even there. Marie-Césare is very sweet in the mornings so I didn't mind being woken up by warm hugs and bisous. We had breakfast outside on the table, which is sometimes the best part of the day because guess what there is at breakfast?!? Padi's confiture! Om nom nom. The bread is really just a way to get the jam into your mouth. Prune and orange were the pick of the day and I gladly gobbled up both. Didou wasn't feeling so well so Padi took her to the doctor after breakfast. Marie-Césare and I colored until the sun came out over the pool, then we went for a swim. We lathered up with sunscreen and donned our hats and flip-flops. I dove right in sort of forgetting about Marie-Césare. She wanted her float, and I couldn't believe at 3 years old she still had this ginormous yellow buoy. She should have at least graduated to water wings by now. I put her in her float and we putted around the pool for an hour or so.
Then, I decided that we should start jumping. So, I got us both out of the water, and I did a huge cannonball into the water. Then, I told her it was her turn. We argued back and forth for about 15 minutes on whether or not this was a good idea...and she was rather scared. I told her I was right here and nothing was going to happen..ya know, the typical things you tell a child when they feel as if they are about to go under water. Finally, after much anticipation, I got her toes to the edge of the pool, and she went for it.
And of course, with that giant float on, nothing happened and she lived through it. Whew. I was worried. We learned lots of English words for the pool, swimming, jump, float, and then I taught her how to cup her hands so that the water doesn't go through so she can pull herself along. She had the kicking part down pat, but the hands were another story. When Didou and Padi returned, we had lunch. Tomato Farcies with risotto. One of my favorites! We hung our wet clothes out to dry in the sun and went upstairs to take a nap. I started reading her Eloise, and she passed out within 10 minutes. Thank goodness because that book is long! I never realized how lengthy it was. We ended up sleeping for 2 1/2 hours....longest nap I've had in awhile! I didn't even think I was tired but that's what you do in the south-eat and sleep.
Padi, Marie-Césare and I went to St. Remy to ride the carrousel, and to let me have a look around the town. Most of the shops were closed because it was Monday, but it was nice to be able to have a look.
Dinner was homemade paté en croûte (paté wrapped with a delicious puff pastry shell), prosciutto and melon, fresh shelled peas, fat slices of tomatoes, cheese, and strawberries for dessert. We popped in an episode of Caroline for Marie-Césare and Didou went to bed. A couple of episodes later, Didou came back out and started going off because Marie-Césare wasn't in bed. It was only 10, but I guess I can see her concern. She snapped at Padi and kept sighing these huge sighs so he would get the point. He is just a grandpa who's granddaughter was him wrapped around her little finger so when she asked for one last episode of course he said yes! It was so funny.
After breakfast outside on Tuesday we immediately hit the pool. After a good while of using the float, I asked Padi to bring out her water wings. It was a slow moving process, but I coaxed her to put them on. She then wanted her float too, and I explained it doesn't work like that. I held her for awhile with her wings on, so she would get the feel of it. I eventually let go and her head bobbed down into the water a little bit. She took it like a champ and came up spitting and wiping her eyes. I think she liked having them on, and she was free to do more in the pool. It was then that having her hands cupped together made swimming so easy!
We played lots of games and splashed around for quite sometime. After lunch of veal cutlets, homemade fries, fresh green beans, and radishes (with salt and butter...which is how they eat them here.) we played around in the yard a little bit catching butterflies and even found a coccinelle (ladybug) and gave it a home in a jar for awhile. Padi had made some sort of a swing, so we both took a turn on it (my turn being very short as I was afraid it might collapse, but she found it quite enthralling to push me on the swing...) We took a 3 hour nap (woah!) and listened to the hum of the cicadas as we fell asleep.
After our lengthy nap, we went back to St. Remy for ice cream and another trip on Monsieur Victor's carrousel, and I had a chance to do some real shopping. I bought lots of goodies for the ladies in my family...as Provence is a shopping paradise.
Our last night's dinner was pasta with fresh tomatoes, olive oil, olives, herbs de provence, pine nuts, and prosciutto. For dessert? These strange looking gooseberries. The groseilles or gooseberries I've seen in Paris are tiny, red and deliciously sweet. These were a Eurasian variety, and looked a lot like little hairy grapes. They were a bit tart, with the texture of a grape for sure. I liked these, although I prefer the taste of the regular ones.
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| Didou and Marie-Césare playing 'cowboy' |
Wednesday morning we went to the market in St. Remy. It was huge and absolutely packed elbow to elbow and full to the brim with people. There wasn't even space to take a photo! Everyone within 200 kilometers was there. We stayed about 30 minutes, got what we needed and headed out! It wasn't even worth the fight. We picnicked on the lawn before our train at 2 pm. Marie-Césare always loves picnics because that means there will be chips!
Since the train only stops for a maximum of 5 minutes in Avignon, our goodbyes were very quick. They blew the whistle and we hadn't even made it onto the train yet. I pushed Marie-Césare on the train, and then moved 2 people out of our seats who weren't suppose to be there. I tried to read a book or something to get her to go to sleep, but nothing was working. I remember I had Finding Nemo on my Iphone and asked her if she wanted to watch it. I told her it was in English and she said she speaks English very well and wanted to anyway, and that worked like a charm. She was out cold within 15 minutes so the train ride was just fine. She woke up just in time to pull herself together before we got off the train. I loaded my shoulders with my overnight bag, her bag, my purse, and a bag full of things I bought in Provence and lugged everything to a taxi. I didn't figure that with all that stuff plus a 3 year old the metro would be a good choice at 6:30 during peak hour.
She was very excited to see her mother who was waiting for her when we got home. I was very excited to get back home to my apartment, where it is quiet and peaceful, but not so excited to feel the cold weather in Paris. I hope that I am able to go back to the south before the end of the summer and eat some more delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, play in the pool, and enjoy the sunshine. It is always a good time there, and always new places to see and things to do!!
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