Happy Birthday Susan

 I know it’s tomorrow where you are now!!!

But it’s still your birthday here, saw this doggie at dinner tonight and he also wants to wish you a Happy Birthday

💚💜🎂 🥳 

Saint Raphael - Le Bishop Resturant

 Our last French dinner needed to be in a cute (Not Touristy) French restaurant.

So our lady at reception put us on to her favourite French Restaurant and as it is off the main seaside strips the tourist just don't go there so the locals have it all to themselves …

Oh and now us! It was so calm and quiet with traditional fair.

Sat inside to escape the smoking locals outside …

so happy Pete.

They had the best Champagne by the glass and actually the cheapest we have had all round, it pays to shop where the locals shop that’s for sure.

We shared a plate of beautifully cooked calamari with a simple parsley and garlic sauce plus crusty bread to mop up all the sauce.

As we both wanted a desert to finish off our

French Food Experience 

The Baba au Rhum XXL for me.

Being a classic French pastry of yeasted cake soaked in rum and wow was it soaked it rum!!! With white raisins 

which we also very drunk!!! 

And the Ile Flottante for Sands 

A floating island of soft meringue cooked in milk,

 torched and floating in a very runny custard.

Twin Sets

 New Season French Sea Side Fashion.

Twin sets for men!!!!

Saint Raphael - Basilique Notre Dame de la Victoire de Saint Raphael

 Just around the corner from our hotel and wow what a stunning space inside with new stained glass for the 1978. Got to be a story there so on the hunt for more info.

Thick coloured glass and thick metal framing super interesting for me who once did stained glass.

Saint Raphael - On The French Riviera

 We are staying at The Hotel Excelsior and our room is the top opened window on the far right.

Not to shabby a view.

The sea air coming in the window is so sweet and refreshing.

We can hear sounds of water lapping the shores and the squawking of the huge seagulls are all hints that you are now at “the seaside by side the sea” 🎶 

Left

And right

 By day the hustle and bustle … by night it’s just so beautifully  quiet.

Handed The Car Back Today

 So all good things must come to an end and driving some 700km around Province in the south of France over the past 

10 days is one of those good things!

Especially when your parking has improved and the car is returned without a scratch.

Back to the Avignon train station, so modern.

We are heading to 2 hours and 265km south to Saint Raphael for 2 nights on the French Riviera for sometime 

by the sea.

Geranium’s.

 This post is for me to remember that I need to really reconsider the humble geranium. 

So hot and dry here as it is in Tamworth … so I’m thinking that I will be doing some splashes of colour in pots in our courtyards when we get home.

Le Pre du Moulin - Our last Night

 Loved spending time walking the streets around where we have been staying at Le Pre du Moulin in Serignan du Comtat.

All the cute archways over the cobbled allies leading in circulate pattens into the centre of the old towns. 

Yes I get lost! but its like one big maze and eventually you come out the other side.

Renovators delights to be had everywhere … 

But at our time of life we both think that the hotels are a better option! but always fun to look.

Back for dinner tonight at Le Pre du Moulin where the tables are set beautifully in the courtyard ready for our dinner and in France that means a 8pm start at the earliest! 

The sun is still fairly high in the sky and it’s not till about 10pm when it starts to fades. The French make the best of every second of night time to sit and eat, drink, chat with friends and family … oh and smoke!!!

Thank god we are outside and on an outside table with 

the wind blowing in my favour as we all know 

precious Pete is a bit of an anti-smoker.

 But suck it up princess (or try not to suck it in 😂) or else we won’t be getting any dinner tonight.

Great dinner … I will save you the blow by blows re the other dishes, just to say that they were nice! but … well not worth writing home about. So I will cut to the chase as tonight it was all about the finish and tonight we finished with the soufflé.

That was another French dish that we want to have and now it has been ✅ed off our list.

It was truly superb, soft fluffy 

and oh so French right down to the ribbon.

Oh … apart from the sneaky little cup of celery soup toped with a seafood veloute foam served as the amuse Bouche.

IT was YUMMY

Ricard or Pastis

 Having a drink in France for James.

 Ricard was one of Jame’s favourite drinks that he introduced to me, so I hunted out this little bar and toasted to good times had with our friend. So while there the barman introduce me to the Pastis, it sort of like a Ford or a Holden personal choice and for me I like both.

!

 ! 

What does that even mean!

While driving around the South of France we quite often saw this sign, mostly it has words or pictures under it so you knew what to look for.

I:E huge pot hole or another speed hump!!!!!!!

But one its own?

What are we to expect?

And for how long before we discover, what it is that we were to be expecting?

Châteaneuf du Papa

 Just loved this name Châteauneuf du Pape

It is the ancient town on a hill 20km south of Orange and a particular wine. 

 Translates as “the house of the Pope”.

I stumbled on this place when we were looking for places visit while we were planning the trip. 

It was funny after we had booked when we were in Sydney at Christmas time we found this distinct wine on 2 restaurants wine lists. 

The driveway leading to the château was long and boarded by pines.

Again that rocky ground where the grapes are growing, once their roots get down thought the rock they can reach some 60 feet into the rich soils, unlike some other areas where the vine are replanted every 20 to 30 years here the vine can live till 150 years.

So let’s get tasting.

This red wine is made appellation standard which means it i a blended wine following strict percentages. Grenache 70%, Syrah 10%, Mourvedre 5-7% and the balance of up to 13 varieties can be tweaked by the wine maker at that point, so not much room to go wild! 

And the winner is … so now we have a bottle …

But as France it is not a BYO sort of place! we will tuck this away in our suitcase for a rainy day with a beefy dinner.

Châteauneuf du Pape is a big and complex wine 💚💜

that we both loved.

Orange Wine Country

 Tummy full and now totally in love with Canneles 😍

So it has to be time to do what we came to southern France to do!

Another wine tasting is needed … out of pure respect to all these amazing grape vines that are lining the road sides and giving the cute little houses and church steeples great foreground. 

The ground is just so rocky and that is apparently what the grapevines love here.

Vines as far as the eye can see.

We are just under the mountains near Orange where our tasting is going to happen. We are trying some wines from very small wineries that have pooled resources and have one wine outlet.

Meet Matt … Character personified!! Looks like he has been tasting to many wines today already!!

 

But if you saw Sandy's FB post he is the man that gave me a French lesson as to how … and how NOT say 

thank you very much!!

100’s of wine to taste and today we gave it a far nudge!

(but no sleeping in the car park was require today) 

Was a success day as we didn't find a wine that we didn't enjoy … and for our wine friends playing along at home 2020 was a great year in Southern France around the Orange area. 

Loving discovering the taste and all the differences of the rosé that we are having here in Southern France.

Check out the colour … Matt said the one on the right is left on the skins for 20mins for a wine to drink while cooking the BBQ the one in the middle on skins for 187mins great for sipping by the pool and the one on the left is a food wine and on skins for a week. Looks like I need to get a pool!!!!

Canneles

 Enough of all this driving and wandering around!

I’m getting a wee bit peckish. 

Saw these Canneles and remembered seeing them sometime ago on a TV show as the “have to have” when in France!

So yet another tasty little morsel ✅ed off the too try list. 

Interesting little chappies, not much bigger than a golf ball 

that is wearing a ribbed girdle!!

Rubbery to the squeeze, 

solid custard in the centre with an intense vanilla and rum flavour. 

The outer skin cooked so the caramelised flavour was just on the edge of darkness.

The mouth feel was rubbery with a satisfying chew.

Weirdly they were moorish, I will be hunting for them again.

Need to find a French Canneles cooking class as I really want to eat these in Australia.