A perfect meal in Bonnieux

We drove to Bonnieux, which is an absolutely lovely little town.  It has a 12th century church and cemetery at its summit.  It was lunchtime, and even though I could share views from this village with you, I really want to share what we found was one of the best meals we have had in France.

We were very excited to see this outstanding menu at a small restaurant in Bonnieux named "L'Arome."  Our lunch started out with an amuse bouche, or a tickle to the mouth.  A verrine (sometimes referred to as 'luxury in a glass') of basil pesto topped with whipped ricotta.

Though I chose the outstanding eggplant compote topped with goat cheese, The Trout picked the real winner.  He had a tomato aspic, (remember those?), tomato and herb sorbet, cucumber verrine and tomato salsa.  I cannot wait to get back to Florida in the fall and experiment with the tomato sorbet.  It was so wonderful, cooling and delicious, that I will be working on this to perfect it.

For our main coarse, we both selected roasted duck breast in black cherry sauce with purple mashed potatoes and one lonely but delicious baby carrot.

As usual in France, dessert was outstanding.  We had the Creme Brulee Nougat with a honey mousse that we drank with a straw.  I know, you can only imagine!!

A glass of red wine for each of us, and we both declared this meal was at the top of our "Fabulous Meal" list.

Delightful Cassis by the Sea

One small town I fell in love with is Cassis, on the sea.  The sea has been a favorite place of mine since I saw it for the first time when I was 18.  The Mediterranean is exceptional.  Who would imagine that such a massive body of water would be so clear and clean looking.

The dockside is lined with delicious seafood restaurants.  Many are quite pricey, but if you dare to wander down a back street, many wonderful restaurants exist there also and they seem to be frequented more by the locals instead of the tourists.

The magnificence of Cassis is the calanques, long, narrow inlets eroded from the limestone cliffs of the Gardiole.  You can walk along the top of the cliffs, several hours round trip, or take the boats, as we did.  It was a beautiful tour along the cliffs.  The day was perfect...actually, probably the most perfect day we had all trip.  Not saying the weather was bad, but some days could have been better.

The Massif des Calanques

"The Massif des Calanques stretches in a mostly continuous line from east to west. It is the result of erosion due to several factors: the sea, the heat and perhaps most of all, the winds. The sea played an important role when, several million of years ago, the massif formed by sedimentation at a time when the area was completely submerged. Then, as the sea withdrew, it left behind very hard and    View from the Massif des Calanques (Click photo to enlarge) very white limestone. Indeed, the water level was about 400 feet lower only 10,000 years ago. As it went back up again, little by little, it ended up forming small islands and creating little inlets some of which are eroded very deeply into the rock. These are the beautiful "calanques" that we see today. While the near absence of tides in the Mediterranean limited the importance of marine erosion, the heat on the other hand has always played an important part. Just imagine a massif heated by the sun's rays 320 days per year, a place where between the months of June and August the sun shines more than 15 hours a day. It is easy to see how the relief of the hottest and driest region of France evolved from the combined effects of the sun and the wind that blows quite strongly at times."

Because of all the limestone cliffs in the area, there are not many vineyards.  However, the wine produced in the Cassis area is highly priced.  The light, fruity white wines go beautifully with the seafood and bouillabaisse.

Just by chance, we came upon one of those off the street restaurants for lunch.  "Restaurant Le Bonaparte" was a lucky find.  Above, I had mussels in wine sauce and The Trout had a salad with bacon.

The special of the day was scallops, sole and red fish in olive oil.  Outstanding!!  Along with this was ratatouille and roasted potatoes.  We also each had a glass of Cassis white wine, which we enjoyed.

Of course...dessert.  Strawberry cake with pudding and whipped cream.  Oh, yes!!  After dinner, the owner treated me to a glass of cassis liqueur and The Trout had a drink of cognac.  It happened to be mother's day in France, so as we left, I was presented with a red rose.

We went back a few days later for the bouillabaisse.  It was made the traditional way for this area.  We enjoyed it, but it was not the best we had ever had.  They brought out the fish to show us how they had been marinated overnight in saffron.  We then had a bowl of the broth with potatoes as the fish was cooked in the remaining broth in the kitchen.  It was not a pretty dish, but it was fulfilling.  

We Love the Wine!

One of the major reasons I wanted to return to Provence was for the delightful wines found throughout the region.  I have become especially fond of the reds of BANDOL,  a small AOC region of 3,200 acres.  This wine is 80% comprised of the Mourvedre grape and blended with varying amounts of Grenanche and Cinsault to produce a dark and soft wine with undertones of spice, vanilla and blackberry.  This is a pretty rough wine while young but after 10+ years of aging, it is great addition to that special steak dinner.

There are plenty of other fine wine producing areas that produce outstanding Cotes du Rhone  reds such as Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Rasteau, Carianne etc..  Their wines are usually blends of Grenache, Syrah, and other varietals that produce a soft, fruity wine meant to be drunk fairly young.  Look also for the whites of Cassis, a special wine for the great seafood dinners and the sweet dessert wines of Beaumes-de-Venice.

The most famous wine of the region has to be the strong, aged reds of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  Up to 13 different grape varietals can be used to produce a deep red, full bodied wine.   I like these wines but they are a bit "vegetal" tasting to me so I prefer the better Cotes de Rhones.

I think the most consumed wine of the region is the lovely Rose' meant to be drunk young and well chilled with the great salads and breads easily found for an afternoon repast.  The same red varietals are used to make rose' of varying hues and dryness.

So fellow wine drinkers, lift your glasses high to salute the good life found in Provence!!

TROUT