Fall is here
Or it sure feels like it. Many vines are now red or brown, and they don’t look too pleased. Getting lots of rain, which would have been welcome months ago. Now it just flows down from the château to the Tave river,, and hopefully doesn’t overflow the banks.
Maurice is not happy that there aren’t many sheltered spots but he makes do, as long as he gets his food.
As our neighbour Aka says, mange, mange, mange,
Seaside holidays
Last week we took a little vacation to Le-Grau-du-Roi, which is a seaside resort town on the Mediterranean. We were there for a day trip a few years ago, but decided that a little vacation would be a nice change.
We found a small, clean, and reasonably priced hotel right on the waterfront. Like Nice without the rich celebs and paparazzi, or the rocky beach.
Not a lot of traffic. The Hotel Splendid was quite enjoyable. Next door is the Splendid Bistro and Splendid Restaurant
Both were pretty splendid, especially on the cusp of low season. Later during the first afternoon, we ventured to the local Brasserie for a pre-dinner libation. It was sunny and warm, so I opted for a draft beer.
Judy found lemonade on the menu..
She asked could you please add a shot of vodka to that?
Damien , the waiter, didn’t miss a beat.
Lady, this is a bar!
And so it came to pass. No charge for the lemonade, just the bar shot.
Le Grau-du-Roi is, according to Serge, more like a village. It straddles a canal and lots of fishermen supply the local restaurants . Nice place to wander.
Since it’s a seaside village, there are oodles of seafood shops, offering fantastic selections of bounty at reasonable p4ices.
For a pittance, you get fantastic oysters, mussels, shrimp, amd some other seafood delicacies that are great but you might not choose (like sea snails). I like them
That’s just about $40. For around $120 you can have one crazy seafood party!
We did not partake, but maybe in the spring.
Hallowe’en
It s not a big deal here, at least not in the stores. Some of the locals have started decorating. Or maybe they just leave them up all year.
Where’s the beef?
Last Sunday, we decided to lunch at Galantine in Goudargues. The owners are Dutch, and they serve consistently good meals. He is the chef, she is front of house, and their daughter connects the kitchen to the tables. They are multilingual as you might expect. The menu always has a somewhat East Asian flavour, but not overboard.
The fixed price menu is always good, but they had a côté de bœuf for two which sounded great. It came with onion confit, mushroom cream gravy, and absolutely incredible fried potatoes. The beef was Black Angus, and the spuds were imported from the Netherlands. The latter are boiled until they burst open (!) and then deep fried to super crispy.
Not to be outdone, the beef is prepared sous vide for a couple of days, and finished on the grill. The presentation is not the most attractive, a symphony in brown.
But it was delicious. We couldn’t finish it all but had a few pieces of meat left for lunch the next day.. Just as good reheated
Many French towns and villages have names that end in argues. From some cursory research, it seems to refer to fields. But no sources seemed certain. We welcome any insights regarding this, since nobody online seems to know for sure.
Vacqueyras
This week we ventured across the Rhone to explore the wine regions of the Vaucluse. Vacqueyras is another oddball commune with a name ending in “as”, like Gigondas. Why? Don’t know. We arrived around noon but the GPS was not helpful in finding a restaurant. So we went to Beames-de-Venise for a simple but hearty repas Then back to Vacqueyras for some wine shopping.
RhoneAis the place to go. We have never seen a bigger wine store devoted to one region.
I tasted a couple and opted for a case of Hauts de Castellas. As you can see from the above, they sell a lot more wine by the case (6 bottles) than singles. I must be looking more robust these days, since no young lady offered to carry our purchase to the car.
The store certainly recognizes the importance of the aging demographic. It is fully wheelchair accessible. I joined their loyalty program. Why not?
October 22
That’s today. We opted to visit Grain de Soleil in Goudargues again, for what turned out to be a three hour lunch. Judy cannot resist a French chat (talk, not cat) and she is pretty good at it.
The food was perfect for an early fall day. Ravioli with wild fowl and truffle oil, Coquilles Saint Jacques (marinated): and bœuf bourguignon. Quite filling. I had a café gourmand for dessert, and Judy indulged in millefeuille. Bread and cheese for dinner tonight…maybe. Or Lay’s salt and vinegar chips.
The guy on her left was a garrulous Greek, there with wife and grandson. By the time he was into their second bottle of rose we had covered most topics.
Then a conversation started out with the table to her right, another couple of roughly our vintage. They spoke pretty fair English, and it turned out they were originally from the Eastern Townships.
They were quite familiar with the owners of the restaurant. You may recall that a few weeks ago we met Alain Batty, the former Ford Canada president, there. Small world – Henri at the next table is Alain’s brother. Next thing we will be exchanging Christmas greetings!
Who will we meet next? Let’s see what tomorrow brings,
But now it is time for our daily dose of What’s my Line, sponsored by Kelloggs of Battle Creek, who bring you the best each morning!
Final edition for 2023 due in a few days.
Tresquenadiens 