The first week in Tresques was a sleeper. Literally.

We slept through a lot of it. The rollator made it down to the kitchen but that was it. We didn’t go out for meals until the next weekend. Just prepared goodies from Intermarche or Picard, the upscale version of M&M in Canada.

Saturday, Sept 20 was our first restaurant meal, at Le Pt’it Mercier. Don’t bother looking up Mercier. It is the surname of the young (by our standards) chef, Hugo. Everybody is adding Petit in some way to restaurant names so they can seem chi-chi. I don’t know. The meal was great and we had a sort of Marcus cat to keep us company and eat dead bugs or sniff them.

He was checking Judy out. Typical.

So….that was Saturday.

Sunday was Le Petit (again already) Eden in St. Quentin de la Poterie. What a mouthful. No cats there. But it was raining dogs, and we were happy to eat inside with all the locals.

There is one senior lady, older then us (amazing) , who claims that this is the best resto in St. Quentin. She should know. Bet she has tried them all.

Sunday was also the day for the Archers to fly to Marseille via Lisbon. What an adventuresome duo.

Their flight was on time, and so were we. Short term parking at the Marignane airport is pretty reasonable. The only challenge was getting Mary and Brad through passport control, and they texted their status. Very slow, but after the better part of an hour they showed up near Paul, in the food court.

Pooped and hungry but ready for action they were, so after we escaped Marignane we took the A7 north to another Paul (like OnRoute in Ontario) where we stopped for a cold drink and sandwich. Then north to Orange, switch over to the A9, and then south to the Roquemaure exit. Google it.

Rural legend has it that this is where Hannibal and his herd of elephants crossed the Rhone on the way to conquer whatever. How they crossed the Mediterranean from Africa is beyond me. But you can google that too.

After a leisurely ride through the mostly red and brown vineyards, we arrived at the Château de Tresques.

Gosh, looks inviting, no?

For dinner after this arduous journey, we heated up a couple of Fiorini pizzas from Intermarché. Frozen pizzas here are top notch, and easy on the budget. Various toppings, all available in a ten minute cook time.

Crunchy on the outside, chewy inside – just like igloos according to polar bears. (Thanks to Gary Larsen).

The visit from Brad and Mary was a treat. They get up early, pour their coffees, are quiet, and clean up the dishes.

We had some fine lunches out at a variety of restaurants, from the classy Bistro de Montcaud to the more casual Petit Patio in Orange. The week went by fast; we watched an old James Taylor concert plus a newer Dixie Chicks tour concert.

Geoff and Nicola came up for apéro one afternoon on the terrace. They explained about their 40-plus week renovation of their “new” Victorian house far from London. Lots of work for the serfs.

Serge and Patricia visited a couple of days later, also for apéro. Inside, however. All quite congenial.

And before we knew it, we were escorting the Archers back to the Marseille airport, the day before their gruelling journey back to Toronto via London. Good travellers and good guests. We went back to washing our dishes and sleeping in.

Back to Le-Grau-du-Roi

We booked three nights at the Hotel Splendid, where we had stayed previously.

The room was somewhat dinky but the bed was quite comfortable. Since it was on the fourth floor Judy had a good view of people and dogs as they paraded along the promenade between the road and beach.

The fourth floor in France would be considered the fifth floor in North America, since the ground floor is zero. Fascinating, no?

Judy’s new walking aid was a big help, and the restaurant staff was very courteous in terms of storing it during meals.

We made a new friend at our first dinner, a moochie cat. He is a regular at the restaurants along the main drag. He lives behind the hotel and everyone seems to know him – his name is Serge. He took an immediate shine to Jude, since she had ordered a half chicken and needed help to finish it.

Seafood is a staple of the resto menus. One of my favourte dishes is a fisherman’s platter, with shrimp, mussels, and bulots. The latter are sea snails, an acquired taste for sure.

Before finishing our stay in Le Grau, we lunched at an outdoor spot that had an unusual variety of goodies from the sea. Judy started with a mussel dish while I had couteaux – French for knives. They are clams which Judy calls razor-backs, thanks to their similarity to straight razors. Ugly but tasty. Then we each had calamar, which were served whole. Quite filling but not to everyone’s taste.

Judy also had a Lynchburg Lemonade, with bourbon. She consumed the whole thang.

After three nights at the Med, we were back to Tresques Friday morning. Just ten days to chill and enjoy before the journey to Toronto. Three more lunches at favourite restaurants. Meal prices in France are approaching the stratosphere. It’s partly the lousy exchange, but the days of a prix fixe lunch under €20 are history.

Fortunately the costs of prepared foods at the supermarkets and specialty stores are within the budget, just.

Three flights to Toronto

As usual, we spent the night before flights at the Marignane Best Western. 6:30 wakeup call and we were off to the airport by 8:00, to catch a 10:40 flight to Paris. Arriving in Toronto around 4:30. Hah!!We had no idea that this would be our screwiest travel day in our shared history.

Check in was fine. Well, not exactly. We were told that for our Toronto long haul the screen at one of our seats wasn’t working. Big deal.

Then downhill from there.

We sat in the mobility assistance area with the rest of the seniors until around 9:30, then off to security and our gate.

Not so fast.

Our little brigade of wheelchairs made it to the departure level, and then we had to turn around and go back to the main floor.

There we were collectively greeted by army guys in camo outfits, with what looked like sub machine guns. I did not take any pictures. Sorry. Not a smile on any face.

We were herded back to the check-in zone to then hurry up and wait. There were hundreds of people by now, and all we could glean was that someone had tried to get through security with something suspicious attached to her body. It must have been mighty suspicious to call out the French military, plus the gendarmes and fire department.

By this time, we were pals with another travelling trio, led by Tracey, a lovely Irish lady with a voice you could listen to all day long. She had lived in Paris for eight years and spoke fluent French, but maybe with an Irish accent. We will never know.

After a couple of hours, they let us through security, but our 10:40 flight was long gone. Which meant we would not meet our connection in Paris. Uh oh.

In Paris, our wheelchair guy took us right to the Air France desk to figure out what to do next.

Fortunately there was a flight from Amsterdam to Toronto with a couple of business seats available. Better than an overnight at Charles de Gaulle. We were assured that our luggage would join us. Uh oh. Hah. Hah.

Off to Whamsterdam. We were escorted to gate E2 – I will never forget it – for a wait to board the home leg.

There is something bizarre about long waits. The time seems to pass faster than if you are just waiting for a few minutes. Probably has to do with the feeling of futility and total loss of control.

We boarded the KLM flight after meeting the captain briefly at check-in. He inspired confidence.

The plane made it to the tarmac before the captain announced that there was a defective valve which posed a safety issue. It would have to be replaced, and the part was sitting at the KLM maintenance depot, about a one hour drive across the airport. Then another hour for the maintenance crew to install and test it. Another two hours.

Beyond cranky.

The big bird finally launched, and it turns out we were sort of lucky. Many Amsterdam flights were cancelled or delayed the next day thanks to high winds.

After a flight of eight hours, we arrived in Toronto around 11:00 PM. Our luggage was not so fortunate. We had all of the essentials in our hand baggage so it was relatively easy to catch a limo and head home. No traffic at midnight Wednesday.

Our wayward bags arrived late Thursday evening, just as I was donning my sleeping attire. Whacked.

In the end, a nice job by Air France and KLM to get us home. I can’t imagine how this could have all been managed without some pretty well integrated technology.

And a captain with empathy.

Signing off now, after another adventure with the Châtelaine and her trusty escort.

A bientôt to all.

J U D Y!!!

We had only been at the Marseille airport for perhaps 30 minutes, and already I lost my wife, our luggage, her wheelchair, and her assistant. What else could I do?

J U D Y!!!

Then somebody yelled

WHAT!!!

from behind some bushes, where they were sheltering from the blazing sun.

Jude’s assistant was a delightful young woman who took her job seriously, and made sure that we were safely loaded into our rental when it arrived. Another disaster averted, barely.

We arranged our car through Renault in Montreal. They are a very reasonable program where one buys the car and then sells it back at the end of the trip. One low price includes 300 km worth of gas, insurance, assistance if needed, multiple drivers…all the things that you pay extra for with a rental company.

In Marseille, Renault uses Transcausse as their agent for pickup and delivery, and we are getting to know Franck de Castro after a couple of years. I guess he is getting to know us too, since I didn’t have to sign any paperwork or show our passports. A trusting soul, with many tattoos.

Franck explained the nuances of our new Dacia Duster, which is a bit of a tank. Both of our suitcases fit in the hatch, which was a first. He made sure that our phone was synced to the GPS, and that all the commands were in Anglais. There is a spot under the dash where you can place the phone and it will charge wirelessly. Wonderful and unexpected bit of technology.

Finally, Friday afternoon we headed north to Tresques. It feels like we could go on autopilot now.

The Rollator

Now that Judy has a walker (rollator) in Toronto, we debated bringing it and then opted to buy one in France. Véro had found and reserved one in Bagnols, but by the time we were home it was too late to pick it up.

So I went first thing Monday to pick up her brand new Boston red rollator.

What a great device. Folds up and fits nicely in the hatch, gives her a place to sit, and helps her to stand up straight. A little hard to get into some shops but no problem at the supermarket. No chairs available at the cafe? Just put the brakes on and have a seat.

This is perhaps what you have been anticipating for almost a month. Now it’s here. Hope it is not a letdown. I am a bit out of practice.

Ready, Sète, Go

For the last couple of years, our little junkets have been to Grau-du-Roi. This year we were slow to plan, and there were no rooms left at the Hotel Splendid. We like it because it is small and right on the beach.

We did recall visiting another seaside town, Sète, several years ago. The memories were good, if slightly fuzzy, so we booked a couple of nights at the Hotel de Paris. Sounds swanky, right?

Sète is sbout 130 Km from Tresques, just over an hour. Most of that is on the A9 where the speed limit is 130. Trucks max out at 90, and if one tries to pass another you could be waiting a bit. Our check-in was 3:00 so no rush.

It is a weird commune. The east side is flat, peppered with canals housing recreational craft, and very industrial. Many of the apartment buildings and shopping areas don’t appear at all inviting.We would not recommend purchasing a holiday flat there.

But once you cross the main canal it is another world. The sidewalks on either side are homes to bars, restaurants, and a variety of shops. Many of the bars are oyster bars,where you can also order shrimp, mussels, clams,whelks (big sea snails), and other fishy things. Plus wine, beer, and Judy’s new favourite category, cocktails.

The GPS found the hotel OK, but took us beyond the entrance to the private parking. We were on a one way street, headed the wrong way, of course. The west side of Sète is steep hills and narrow roads which we had to navigate to loop back to the hotel.

I used to like this kind of adventurous driving, maybe 40 years ago. It has since somewhat lost its charm. After a mosly white-knuckle trip, we made it to the garage where Judy pressed the hard-to-find button. The door opened. Phew.

When booking, we opted for a superior room. This meant overlooking the inner courtyard and not being exposed to the noise from the hordes on the main street. Nice bathroom, walk-in shower, queen bed, ok AC. The drive, especially the last hour, was exhausting for us old folk, so after a brief rest we trundled across the street for afternoon tapas.

Le Tabary’s is a popular place for tourists and locals to have a meal, snack, or drink. Drink, please. Judy had a kir royale and I needed a 50cc pression, draft beer. These are really cold, really good, and really refreshing. Lest you imagined we just drank, not so. The charcuterie plate had excellent meats, cheeses, and country pate, plus a side of bread.

With Judy ready for her afternoon nap, it was explore time. There is a Carrefour mini-market just down the street. Also lots of restaurants, shops, and oyster bars. Right across from the hotel someone had conveniently placed two boutiques for the fashion conscious madame. Tomorrow. Today we feed seagulls.

There are a few restaurants within a five minute walk. Japanese. French. And an oyster bar, Bar Le Barajo. As the French say, and I am serious, « BINGO !!».

Our table was by the sidewalk, rather than under an awning. Questionable choice, but live and learn. We ordered a demi of rosé, and twelve each of shrimps and oysters. They arrived on a big platter with a bowl of aioli in the middle. Yum. Judy wasn’t crazy for the oysters – too salty and not plump enough- but fine by moi. The shrimp were big and tasty – the sort where Anthony Bourdain would suck the heads – and delightfully messy. Until Pierre Mouette arrived.

There was a sudden flap of BIG wings, and a very large gull landed on the table between us. He snatched a mess of shrimp and devoured them on the sidewalk. Thank heavens he didn’t care for oysters. There was a gaggle of young ladies under the awning, and they found this event to be hysterical. So did Judy. Me, not so much. We were comped another 6 shrimp.

Our Nova Scotian friends used to have a local mooching seagull they called Pete, so it seemed reasonable to call this bandit Pierre (Pete) Mouette (seagull). Better than Jonathan Livingstone.

Enough adventures for one day

But there was another day to come.

It isn’t often that we have two apparel shops across from our hotel, but lucky us. They both close for lunch, but so do we.

The hotel has a decent lunch menu of tapas, so that was that. We ate outside so we could keep an eye on the shops.

At the first one Judy picked out a lovely one-size dress. No problem. Then a top from next door. Also no problem

After all this excitement it was time for the post lunch nap. No problem.

Au Feu de Bois

This was our restaurant of choice, just up the street. We opted for an inside table as insurance against another mouette attack. Most of the menu items – fish, fowl, or hoofed – are grilled over a wood fire. Frites (so good), salads, etc. are prepared in the back kitchen. But everything comes together beautifully.

Fried little calamari to start. Wow!

Judy ordered the veal special with bearnaise sauce, and claimed it was the tenderest best ever yummiest piece of meat she ever had in her entire life. Who am I to argue? I opted for the flank steak with pepper sauce, and it was a treat.

Stumbling back to the Hotel de Paris was a brief task.

Off to bed, to prepare for our 11:00 AM checkout.

And since it is now 11:09 PM here in Tresques, I too shall check out.

Next issue in a few days. Lunch reports to follow.

Ready, Sète, Gone!

Dormez bien!

Been very lazy

We sleep in a fair amount; the beds are too comfortable and there has been nothing too pressing to do. That’s not really accurate. I set the ironing board up three weeks ago, so there is pressing. But not today. Or tomorrow.

Judy was very smart when we left Toronto. « Why iron clothes before we pack when we can just iron them in France when they are needed? »

That is why we married. Avoid unnecessary activities unless they can be proven to be essential.

So my shirts mostly remain a tad wrinkly. However my short sleeve shirts with the « no iron «  label are pristine, which is why I chose them. The brand is Leo Chevalier, they are very comfortable, made in Canada, and the pocket is perfect for my clip-on sunglasses. You can find them online, or at Gadsby’s in Stratford, while madame is trying on clothes at The Wardrobe.

Le-Grau-du-Roi revisited

Many French town names are long and hyphenated. So I will take a page from Peggy’s book on linguistic simplification and refer to it as LGdR. There are also towns whose names start with St. but then you find out it is Saint. But in Canada we have Niagara on the Lake which is just as awkward. And we also have Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, formerly a Jesuit settlement.

But let’s focus on LGdR. It is absolutely a tourist destination, and there is no reason to go there other than to chill, watch people with dogs and kids, stroll along the beach or promenade, dine on a variety of seafood (see food, eat), drink vin gris (a sort of rosé), or wander the back streets.

Most of the cheap shops look like they were stocked from the back of a high-jacked truck, but there are some bargains. I found a shop that printed souvenir tee-shirts, but you have to wait a day. Not a problem. So I picked up a LGdR shirt for Jude. She will probably be the only person in our building with one.

This was the third time we stayed at the Hotel Splendid. It is very comfortable and reasonably well appointed. The balconies overlook the Mediterranean. Adjoining the hotel is the Splendid Bistro, and next to that is the Splendid Restaurant. The bistro meals are absolutely enormous. Jude ordered fish and chips. Very good but she could barely finish half. It’s the same place where we ordered moules frites in May and neither of us could make a dent. I hope the remains go to some deserving soul. Their cocktails are also enormous. Judy ordered a gin fizz and it was about a quart.

The Splendid restaurant is a bit more high end and the food is quite good. For our first dinner there we had queue de lotte or monkfish tail. It was peculiar but tasty. Normally one gets a cut from the body but this had everything but the tail fin itself. Not quite the lobster stand-in but enjoyable.

Our waiter, JC (not that JC) let us out through a secret passage into the hotel. Then he showed up at our room 5 minutes later, with Judy’s purse, which she had left at the table. Pretty decent service. Actually incredible.

Parking

That can be a bit challenging. The hotel has a handful of parking spots in a lot in the centre of town, for about $20 daily. They were already booked when we made our reservation. Patrice, the desk clerk, said public parking was not a problem. I had my doubts.

When arriving at the hotel, one has about ten minutes to park in front (with a pass) to unload luggage and bodies. The elevator holds two people and one suitcase. We deposited Judy and the carry-on in room 402, and then Patrice materialized with our suitcase. Very nice guy and unusually considerate performance.

Frankly, parking had me concerned. We have red tourist plates and I had read tales of cars being vandalized. Patrice drew an odd little map of streets with free parking, 24/7 and I was pretty sceptical. But after driving around for about 15 minutes I found a spot on a side street. And guess what—-after three nights it was still there, untouched. However I did take a picture of the intersection and street name in case I got lost. But that never happens.

Parking is free everywhere in town from November 11 until March 27. Probably no tourists.

French talk

I confess to having a history of overestimating my ability to communicate in French. Perhaps it dates to my Grade 7 French teacher, Mr. Shore, teaching us how to count, referring to us as mes petits moutons (little lambs -hah!), or calling a classmate, Michael Fish, Michel Poisson.

One year Judy and I were touring around France in our little Renault, and needed gas. The attendant said something unintelligible to me so I referred him to Judy, mon mari.

Both Judy and the gas jockey were stunned to find out that Judy was my husband. I was too.

On the same trip, we stayed in a Swiss hotel (I think) and were in dire need of showers. We were short of bath towels so I found the housekeeper to let her know that we needed assiettes de bain. Those would be « plates for the bath », but I guess she knew what we needed.

Fast forward about 40 years, and I commit the same stupid gaffe in the Hotel Splendid. The housekeeper covered nicely by explaining that it happens all the time. Sure.

But we did get new clean serviettes de bain, which solved the little problem.

Little misadventure

Our plan was to do at least another little adventure, but as the available days get smaller, so do the choices.

We did have a crazy little day trip to Grignan in the Drôme Provençale with Véro. Grignan has one of the three famous châteaux of the Drôme, along with Montélimar and Suze-la-Rousse. But we went for lunch.

The GPS really screwed up, and we wound up going through all sorts of back roads and industrial zones. I take full responsibility, having entered the wrong town name. But after much cursing, we arrived 30 minutes before our scheduled reservation.

Good thing. The restaurant was empty, except for staff.

Véro went for a little walk in the sun while I found a parking spot. For a day pretty late in the season, the town was pretty busy.

We ate at L’Étable, where we have been a few times before. There is an interesting menu of regional dishes, each coming with a salad followed by a hot dish. Judy and Véro both had the smoked salmon starter, followed by scallops with ravioles. My salad came with quail pâté, while the main dish was a shrimp curry, with the ubiquitous ravioles.

These are not big ravioli, but little ones the size of a fingernail. They are stuffed with herbs, and I remarked that they looked like a lot of work. Véro advised that you can buy them in bulk at the supermarket. News to me.

The meal was quite fine, and filling. No dessert.

Followed by Véro and me searching for the car. I did not leave a trail of breadcrumbs.

The trip home had some challenging GPS twists. She provides some misinformation as we approach roundabouts, but that makes life interesting. We were back in Bagnols in time to beat rush hour, and to enable Judy to crash after a full day of random touring.

Winding up…or Down

Still a week to go before heading to the maze of the Marseille airport, which seems to be constantly changing and under construction. Just when we think we have it figured out, they move check-in desks, walls, elevators, everything.

Tomorrow we expect to welcome our neighbour Jean-Louis for apéros. It will be two hours of non-stop French immersion. He is very interesting but can he ever talk. Our eyes were glazing over. A couple of big lunches and some shopping, followed by the drive to Marseille next Monday, 21 octobre.

Did you know that Marseille is the oldest city in France? Me neither. But it seems to have the newest airport, thanks to renovation,

The weather is up and down. Yesterday Caribbean sunshine, today fog and rain.

The vines are shutting down. Some are golden, others a rusty red. Guessing that’s a function of the variety since each of fields has its own colour palette. After ten years I still have no idea how to identify the type of grape. Just like to see the cépages listed on the label, and we seem to know what we like. As long as it is wine.

Today we received the notice from Air France to enter our passport information. Or else we can’t goto Toronto. Oooo. Tough choice.

Planning to lunch en route at Le 19, which is basically a diner south of Uzes. Nothing fancy, but Judy needs her hit of frogs’ legs.

That’s all, folks!

I

Back again

Today, 16 septembre, marks the first day when Judy felt well for more than a few hours. Back pains give way to other ailments. Just now she is reading her Kobo and enjoying a glass of Panery wine.

In a few weeks we will celebrate our tenth anniversary as homeowners and taxpayers in France. Where did that time go? Of course, like us, you are ten years older, and maybe feeling a tad slower. Or perhaps you are on the ascending part of the curve. If so, good for you, and, please, take us along for the ride.

We have been subjected to the Mistral during the last few days. I just learned that it merits a“M”, and that it comes in a few flavours. In case you missed a previous note, the Mistral is a wind which typically blasts from a high pressure area in the north to low pressure zones in the south, such as the Mediterranean or North Africa. It truly blows.

(Speaking of flavours, I prefer the « u » in words such as neighbour, rather than the American abbreviated version. This all started with the famous lexicographer, Noah Webster, who assumed the role of language cop for America. Not content with the Tea Party or Revolution, he wanted to use spelling to further the linguistic distance across the Atlantic. More on this subject later, in the book section.)

Today (Monday) was Bistro de Montcaud, which is always a winner. They have a “market menu” during the week, simple but delicious.

There is a narrow path between the church and the stairs to our front door, and when there is a mighty wind you hold onto whatever you can. Or whomever..

During the last week, we have enjoyed two meals out. Le Grain de Soleil was our target Saturday, the first big Mistral day. Judy’s appetite ain’t what it used to be, and she only had half of her entrecôte and same for her fries.

Fast forward to…

Friday, 20 septembre

We have been extraordinarily lazy, and getting full value from our comfortable beds. Judy is an inspiration when it comes to not doing anything.

I did set up the ironing board, and we will see what that inspires. To put it all in perspective, it took ten days to empty her suitcase. But we are heading to Le-Grau-du-Roi next Wednesday so I will have to do a partial pack again.

For the first week, our appetites were peckish, but things have picked up.

In Orange, there is a wonderful restaurant in the city centre (Canadian spelling), Au Petit Patio. (Serge corrected our pronunciation – Pasio). It receives rave reviews, fully deserved in the Clarkson Guide. A recommended main dish was quail breast skewers grilled and served on a bed of roughly mashed potatoes with onion confit. It is topped with a gravy of soya and citrus. Pinch me!

I am trying to abstain from posting photos of food so you will have to use your (spelled with a « u ») imagination, or else just gaga Google it.

Yesterday we met Peggy and Bob at a relatively new restaurant, not far from Uzes. Le Pt’it Mercier (abbreviations of petit seem to be in fashion) was reborn a few months ago and gets consistently good reviews. Judy and Peggy raved about their lotte which is also called monkfish, the poor man’s lobster. Maybe Bob had that too? My memory is failing and I did not take pictures, remember?

I had filet mignon which, you should either recall or know, is not a beef steak. It is pork tenderloin. The French know this. Many others do not. Mercier, however large or small it may be, is a repeat destination.

Flora – Laurence et Audrey

You met Audrey last spring, when she was sprouting somewhat grotesque growths. Audrey was named for the man-eating succulent in Little Shop of Horrors.

Here she is, then and now.

I do believe she may be getting too much Vitamin D.

Laurence, if you haven’t guessed already, is an olivier. Get it? We have had Larry for about nine years, and this is the first time he has come through with a bumper crop of olives. Judy tried one a few years ago but just about gagged.

He (or she) is really putting out this year!

Literary corner

Judy loves to read, and so do I. She likes books with plots. I prefer to open a book and read randomly. Dictionaries are good, as are books of quotations, short stories or poems, and anything that can reside on the toilet tank.

Judy just finished The Good German, a novel about the concentration camps and a sympathizer (hence the name). It was a movie with George Clooney and Kate Winslet, if you would rather watch it.

Now she is reading The Golden Doves, same subject except after the war. Two women search for survivors. I guess it’s not really a book because she is reading it on her Kobo.

My latest random read is Dreyer’s English, by Benjamin Dreyer, who coincidentally is or was the copy editor of Random House Books. According to Dreyer, copyeditor is one word. Either is acceptable. He taught me about Noah Webster, and is very big on the correct spelling of all sorts of words. Dangling participles leave him dangling. He is quite fussy about punctuation, and now I realize I should have packed my copy before coming to France.

So if you have nothing to do and lots of time to do it, any of these tomes should help you to sleep.

Off to buy wine tomorrow!!

Things have been…

somewhat quiet here in the little commune of Tresques. We are having some trouble getting our rubbish picked up weekly. The town has converted to lockable plastic poubelles.

If yours doesn’t conform, they don’t empty it. So we have accumulated a couple of bags of garbage during recent days. Fortunately we have been patronizing restaurants so not a huge problem…yet.

So, in no particular order, here is a sampling of our days.

Flora

We mentioned the poppies previously, but forgot to show the irises, which are just about kaput with June at our doorstep.

The agriculture has changed dramatically in the last three years. The apricot orchards were ripped out a couple of years ago and the fields have been planted with what I expect will be yet more vines.

Plus, in the last month, the vines have been growing non stop. You can almost hear them. The sad thing is that wine is fading as the beverage of choice for them young-uns. It has been replaced by beer. Which, I suppose, is ok for some of us.

Our last favourite botanical wonder is Audrey, the amazing succulent. She is beside me now, in all her glory.

On the food front

We mentioned lunch at Montcaud, in Part 2. Forgot to include the dessert, which should be on the hit list for any aspiring pastry aficionado.

Fast forward to our Mediterranean stay in Le-Grau-du-Roi.

We left Tresques to head south around 1:00 PM. Breakfast that day was melon and some ham. On the road, Judy said she was hungry, and craving a hot dog! Didn’t really feel like stopping at McDonald’s, but where the heck would we find a hot dog / chien chaud?

Stopped for a break at a big rest stop, which had a Brioche Doree, a sort of upscale Tim Horton’s. Judy was ecstatic; they had hot dogs in brioche buns. With mustard. And heated to order. No double-doubles. Phew.

It was sunny and very windy by the beach, which made it feel colder than it really was. The Hotel Splendid is right across from the sand and the promenade. Great for people and dog watching.

We had our first dinner at the brasserie, with Judy tucking into entrecôte and me trying couteaux en persillades.

The Hotel Splendid also has a Splendid Bistrot and Splendid Restaurant. We had lunch at the Bistrot because herself was craving moules frites.

Saturday evening the neighbours came up for apéros around 6. They all brought champagne and there was abundant red wine, along with muscat de beaumes de venise, to marinate the local cherries and strawberries for dessert.

Everyone was in fine form.

The local supermarket has some very good prepared local goodies in jars. Black and green tapenades, onion confit, pates with myrtle, duck and boar terrine, plus marinated shrimp and white anchovies. There is a deli with excellent cheeses so we picked up some telaggio and gorgonzola. .

Serge, who is genetically, if not temperamentally, Italian, was having gustatory orgasms. The cheeses disappeared.

Shopping

We have done none. Two aborted attempts to do some gifting at Galeries Lafayette in Avignon. Maybe the week before we return to Toronto.

Whoops! Actually we did some shopping. In Le-Grau-du-Roi, Judy found a nice yellow leather purse for €20. Then she zeroed in on two pairs of shoes (plus one pair for me) for the enormous sum of about $150 Cdn. Wé’ll see how long they last!

Most of our shopping has been for mundane stuff like toilet paper, laundry detergent, shampoo, and food. Sadly, absent Maurice, no cat food.

Tomorrow (Sunday June 2) the Clacksons will pick up another roast chicken from Vival in Connaux. Plus some more smelly, gooey, delicious cheeses. They also have oysters from the coast, but they can wait until September.

Signing off

Today we lunched at a favourite restaurant, La Maisouneta, in Chateauneuf. It was pretty packed with Brits and Americans, Max comped us a couple of glasses of bubbles, and the menu was a bit off the wall. The main course was octopus tentacles, and this was some big octopus!

If they only had six legs, they would be hexapi. Sleep on that!

Bye for now, a tous et toutes,

Bruce and Judy

Plan A

You may have been holding your breath in anticipation regarding the solution to the eye drop dilemma. Feel free to in and ex hale. It wasn’t easy but thanks to the charming ladies at the pharmacy in Tresques I may not go blind before June.

First, I called Shoppers Drug Mart. They have all of our prescriptions. BUT they won’t email them. OK. Understood. So Catherine walked over to pick up a copy, since she was authorized. Then Karen the Cat Mommy took a picture and emailed it to us. I printed it and took it to the pharmacy. French pharmacies will fill foreign prescriptions if they appear to be legit.

All good, except the particular dose was not available in France. They suggested a substitute. So I called our ophthalmologist in Toronto (and dodged voicemail) and a couple of hours later got the green light. Total cost – $10.

Happy eyes, happy guy.

Lesson learned: Get hard copies of your prescriptions and scan them (if you wish). Have them handy when you travel anywhere, just in case.

Mange mange mange

That’s what Aka says about the cats around here. Eat, eat, eat!

During the last two weeks, we dined at four restaurants. All were distinctly enjoyable, and are mostly patronized by locals rather than tourists. The giveaways re the tourist trap are usually a preprinted bilingual menu featuring burgers and a shill outside inviting you in.

By contrast, there are lots of family gatherings at the good local restos, especially on weekends.

May 12 is not Mother’s Day in France. (Two weeks to go…) It looked more like Father’s Day. We lunched at the Bistro Montcaud, and it was beyond good.

Montcaud has two restaurants; the Bistro with a prix fixe menu for around €50, or about $75 Canadian, and Le Cèdre. Neither is budget friendly, but both offer excellent food.

Their second restaurant, Le Cèdre, has a Michelin star, and the 4 course meal starts at €104 per person…,$160 Cdn. Needless to say…

Normally Judy does not like gin, but they do a wonderful G&T with grapefruit.

We didn’t get back from lunch until almost 4. Oink.

Poulet a la Clackson

Saturday I had ordered a rotisserie chicken from Vival in Connaux. They have them every weekend but not like our supermarket chicks, and you have to order (and pay) in advance. Keeps one honest.

Today (Monday) I roasted garlic in olive oil, and poached some potatoes to go around the reheated poulet. If it’s not good, I am not telling. But it will be good

The weather forecast for this week is rather spotty, with lots of rain. Next week looks much better, and we will be off to Le-Grau-du-Roi at the Mediterranean seaside for three nights. We will be at the Hotel Splendid, where we stayed last October. It’s the place where Judy had free lemonade when she ordered a vodka shot. Plenty of good seafood and refreshing local wines. It is only about 70 km and an easy drive.

Poppies

Not puppies. May into June is poppy season in the south. They are everywhere and are as ubiquitous as dandelions in North America. Arguably prettier, and growing in vast fields. Or you may find just the occasional little lonely flower.

Will report back in a few days. Best wishes to all!

À bientôt from the Clacksons!

Toronto to Tresques

A safe trip, but not uneventful. This time, we both had prepared packing lists and followed them – mostly. We each cheated but the bags weighed in at record lows. Next time I will also make sure to list the prescription meds. Explanation to follow.

The flight to Amsterdam was pretty smooth, except for the lightning strike during descent. It looked like someone was taking a picture with a 50’s flash camera. None of the crew appeared concerned, and we were pretty dozy.

After a layover in the lounge, we were escorted to the gate to board the Marseille flight. It required hopping on a bus to be transported across the tarmac and then climb the stairs to the plane. Not a chance. Once again, we rode the maintenance lift to be escorted to the back door of the plane, along with a lady who had a vacation accident and was crutch dependent.

These buses are used to transport cleaners and maintenance staff to the planes in an efficient manner. They work well for the mobility impaired, as well.

We picked up our Renault Clio at Marignane, the Marseille airport. It’s a hot little red four-door with lots of room and improved technology from the one we had last fall. The Renault purchase program is very efficient and economical. So is the car.

Regular gas here is now about €2.00, or $3.00 Cdn per litre. Don’t see many pickups or large guzzlers. On many parts of the A7 autoroute, the limit is 130 km/hour, but cars kept passing us. Unlike in Ontario, truck speed is controlled and they max out usually at 90 km/hr. And they stay in the right lane, unless they are passing an even slower transport.

After a rainy drive north, we deposited Judy in the boudoir so I could haul in the luggage. In the parking by the church, I met Aka Akoi, our neighbour who maintains the Tour de Guet and is the resident Patron Saint of Cats.

I asked about Maurice, the little ginger tabby who has greeted and mooched for the last few years. “Il est disparu”.

Not good. Aka hadn’t seen him for a few weeks and concluded that he was, sadly, a goner. I will miss getting up to feed him at dawn. Life in a little French town.

The farce

Nobody told us that May 1 is a holiday in France and Europe in general. It is Labour Day and just about everything is closed. Plus, it’s like family day. It looked like everyone was visiting relatives at the chateau, so I could not find a parking spot anywhere near our place. The only option was to go down to the area where our own parking is, behind the security gate.

From there, I would have to climb about 50 steps to get to our terrace. But our terrace shutter doors were all closed, and they don’t open from the exterior. I would have to take the footpath around the chateau to get home.

Somebody was already using our parking spot. A white Ford. Nuts! So I parked at the one for M. Coquille. He died a few years ago and the Bigots bought his apartment, and the parking is now theirs.

Thursday morning I decided to go shopping, and there was a note on our windshield from Mary-Alice Bigot, who is generally pretty nice. When Judy had Covid, Mary-Alice, MD, made a house call. But she was plenty ticked at our using her spot. (They have 4!)

I hadn’t parked close enough to the wall for Serge to get his Porsche out that morning. Their bikes were blocking me from getting closer to the wall. Fortunately there were some delivery guys who came and lifted the back of our car so he had room to go. They could have stolen it!

He called this afternoon and apologized when it turned out that it was Patrizia’s Ford in our parking spot.

May Day!

Nobody was dancing around the maypole here. The mayday expression originated in 1923, as an internationally recognized term for reporting distress. It is the anglicized spelling of the French m’aider, which means help me. Mayday move Patrizia’s Ford!

Whither the weather?

The first two days here were good for jet lag recovery, what with almost continuous rain. As I one-finger type, it is Friday, and this morning was beautiful with a warmer wind and abundant sunshine. Serge said that after ten days of rain, the Canadians brought good weather. We wish.

Prescription Meds

We did bring all of our respective prescriptions. However I have a new script for glaucoma. Oops. Left it in the fridge in Toronto. So Plan A will be to ask Shoppers Drug Mart to email a copy of the original prescription. According to Connexion, an online publication for expats in France, French pharmacies may, at their discretion, fill prescriptions written elsewhere.

There are two other plans, but we shall see how A pans out.

The bell tolls…

Living next to a church comes with some baggage. The bells toll every hour and half-hour.. Thank heavens they don’t use the 24 hour clock. Even so, you just get one bong on the half, so if you are having trouble sleeping, you wait until the hour chimes in.

It is most annoying at 7 (morning or evening) because at five after there are more bells to summon us in from the fields. And then more after that.

Today, rather dismal bells just after 10:00 AM. There was a funeral, and they toll for a long and melancholy time. The hearse was parked n front of the church. Maurice respectfully kept his distance. Most of the folk were locals because they were walking home after..

Just gives one pause.

Winding down

This week has probably been Judy’s best of the last six. Her mobility has improved along with her outlook. We are packing a lot into the last few days. Yesterday, October 25, we lunched with the Groovers at Baragnas in Saint-Siffret. Their food is consistently good. It is owned by a young (parenting) couple, but parenthood, along with a dwindling clientele, has forced the decision to close and sell. Too bad. It is in a converted school and has a great atmosphere. But that’s business. They will rise up, likely in Uzes where there is more traffic (and competition).

Today we ventured to Chateauneuf for a final seasonal lunch hosted by Max and Véro. I finally figured out how to park in the free lot right under the restaurant

It only took about four years. Tourists would never find it as there is no signage, but it has space for about twenty cars. Best kept secret in the village, so don’t blab, please?

As usual, the food was outstanding. Judy opted for the house burger, rare, with fries. I splurged on the Ann Fertuck special, steak with gnocchi, topped with morels and foie gras’. I have sinned big time. Along with a bottle of Chateau de Cosme, a terrific Gigondas from a vineyard dating back to the fifteenth century..

Tonight, tartine, or toast with melted cheese and ham. Good sub from pizza. We found a bakery in a town on the way to Chateauneuf, and her bread is astounding. We may have to move there.

Or, maybe just potato chips. It was a big lunch.

Promised Land

Well, that’s what Serge calls it. He and Patrizia have been bugging us for a few years to sell our garden (generous title) plot under the chestnut trees. We never go there, and nothing will grow except chestnut trees. Which are dirty and disgusting.

So tomorrow we’re off to Bagnols in the afternoon to meet with the notaire to get the deal rolling. We will still have the right to go through the property to access our parking. Which we never use.

Serge calls it the promised land. To me it’s just a place to rake chestnut leaves and the grenades! (Chestnuts).

While we are in Bagnols, there may be some shoe shopping and looking for eyeglass frames. Not much in the way of retail support this time around!

Grignan

It’s a nice drive, with lots of lavender fields. Unfortunately, lavender season is reserved for those who can take the summer heat. The town is small and pretty touristy, but worth a visit for lunch. There is also a good wine shop but gosh, we don’t need any!

We usually go to l”étable for lunch, because they offer some traditional Provençal dishes that we haven’t seen elsewhere.

Grignan cancelled

Well, they didn’t. We did. Judy decided that another field trip was not necessary. So I did some shopping at Intermarche and stocked up on cat food to help Aka over the winter. Maurice is having no trouble scrounging meals, and I do believe he is porking up.

He looks a lot smaller from the top of the stairs.

Time change

Oct 29 at 3 AM we turn the clocks back an hour in France. So, Tuesday morning in Marseille, we sort of get a bit of a sleep in.We have been super lazy in terms of getting up, but Oct 31 we will be off to the airport at about 8:00 AM The good news for us is that it only a ten minute shuttle. Then drag the bags and encourage Judy! She hates this part.

It’s been fun chatting with you all this fall.. But not really looking forward to leaving this! Enjoy the rest of 2023. Yikes!

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.

Too much wine?

There is a saying about “everything in moderation, including moderation”. That is open to a class debate, so choose your side and weigh in. It is easy to find box wine at the supermarket, which is fine to quaff if you don’t feel like opening something special, or distinctive.

Last Sunday, Thanksgiving Eve (Canada) Serge and Patrizia came up for apéro. Serge brought a champagne which went well with our curated selection of treats. In addition to small dried sausages, there was foie gras de canard – duck liver pâté. Sounds better in French. Onion confit, duck terrine, and tapenade (black olive spread) to go with the local baguette. There were also smoked salmon wafers and mini wraps. Nobody went hungry.

The champs disappeared fast and Judy lobbied for red wine. Serge suggested that we have something good! Very subtle.

Gosh, it just happened that we had some Pierre Usseglio resting in the safe.

https://www.domaine-usseglio-pierre.com/en/

It was so good that Serge had to walk us through the whole ritual of wine evaluation. The robe, the bouquet, the taste (does it linger?): the finish, etc. It was a winner, so we had a second bottle. Oh my…

Sad to say, it isn’t carried by the Ontario wine censors, and it is hard to find online for shipping to Canada. Guess we will have to replenish at the domaine.

But there is more to evenings in Tresques than just enjoying the company of neighbours. There is….

What’s My Line?

If you are of a certain vintage, you may recall this program from the fifties and sixties. Four celebrity panelists try to guess what a contestant does. There were some pretty crazy callings. Counting worms, getting blown up, making eye glasses for chickens, producing cow back scratchers…and those were just some of the normal ones.

A celebrity guest normally closed out the program, and the panel was blindfolded. These were big names from show business, sports, and business.

The panel regulars were Dorothy Kilgallen (syndicated columnist and journalist), Arlene Francis (actress and TV hostess), and Bennet Cerf (author and founder of Random House publishing). Rounding out the roster would be a celebrity like Steve Allen, Joey Bishop, Otto Preminger, or Arlene’s husband, Martin Gabel.

More about Bennet Cerf in the next edition.

The moderator was John Charles Daly, who could stretch a sentence into a L O N G paragraph.

There were over 700 episodes, and the program has its own channel on YouTube. For anyone with IQ over ?, it it much more entertaining than most of the loud dreck available for streaming or network programming. Even if this sounds pretty strange, it’s worth a peek. And it’s free!

Réal Life What’s My Line

Last Sunday we had lunch at Grain de Soleil in Goudargues. We had been a few days earlier and really enjoyed it. So I made a reservation Saturday.

When we arrived, there was no record of our call, but they found us a nice table on the terrace. The guy who seemed to be in charge didn’t really appear to know what he was doing, and fumbled around with some other tables. A couple of guests were getting ticked off, but everything worked out fine.

Judy had a duck burger; it was the closest we could find to Thanksgiving fowl. The taureau tataki was my choice. It is like carpaccio but marinated, very challenging to cut yet delicious.

The host came to chat and apologize for the slow service. When he found we were Canadian, he wanted to know more. Turns out he used to live in Toronto, and confessed it was in Forest Hill.

What’s his line? In addition to waiting on tables now, his CV includes a stint as the president of Ford Canada. He also opened Ford plants in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Asia. His son bought the restaurant a year ago, and Alain Batty (great name!) « helps out » by waiting on tables and babysitting grandkids. He said that there was a lot more customer service in the restaurant business than being a business executive.

He is also on several boards, and teaches at the Schulich Business School in Toronto. Would never have guessed!

That was Sunday. In a couple of days, we would be off for a vacation-in-vacation at Le-Grau-du-Roi, on the sunny Mediterranean coast. Report will follow!

.

Judy is not her most mobile self, but has discovered that if she gets up and moving, things improve. However, the chauffeur-Sherpa dogsbody gets to do about everything. In sickness and in health – a noble vow when you are twenty-something. It’s a bit different a half century on when reality clicks in!

To use the notwithstanding clause, notwithstanding all of the above this is still a great place to be. (Did I use that right?)

Lately the sky (during the day) has been the brilliant blue for which Provence is justifiably famous. Today the temperature is 32 or so (non, Les citoyens des États Unis, it is not freezing!) but it s a dry heat. Whatever that means.

All is well with the local livestock. Maurice is keen to get going in the morning whenever I am. When the door opens, he emerges from his nest, has a big stretch and yawn, and then waits impatiently for breakfast. There is a new addition to our neighborhood.. Titus is a young tabby who lives across the garden with Marie-Alice and Emanuel (two doctors) and their kids.

One is learning to play the recorder, with mixed reviews . There are a couple of melodies that work, but today she tried Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious which was challenging for her and me.

Serge and Patrizia

…had us over / down for lunch last Thursday. These are serious events. We took a bottle of champagne which got us started with Patrizia’s leek and lardon quiche.

Patrizia puts on a great spread for a lunch al fresco. I didn’t know that the little silver cup was for olive pits. Patrizia was amazed.

That would have been plenty, but then we moved on to salad and shrimp risotto.

By 2:30, the sun was penetrating the shade and we had to go inside for dessert. Our hostess had prepared wonderful poires belle-Helene with homemade chocolate sauce. The pears were perfectly poached, and so were we. Need a nap…

More Maurice

He advised us that we were running a little low on his meals. We had to stock up on packages of wet food and Catisfactions, treats that he loves..mostly.

He can be a little fussy and definitely does not like wet food containing veggies. Can’t argue with that!

On Sunday we lunched with Véro at Le Petit Gourmand in Connaux. Judy had a giant salad which Véro helped her to (almost) finish. Véro ordered a fish dish, and I had parilla of seafood. This consists of a grilled fillet of whitefish, shrimps (messy), and the biggest seiche I have ever had.

Seiche is cuttlefish, and this baby was between a tennis ball and a softball size wise. However, it tasted better than either I would guess, since I haven’t eaten many sport orbs. But it was cooked just right and merits a repeat.

We had dessert. Killer sorbets and a chestnut meringue for Véro.

When we dragged ourselves home, I let Judy off by the church and parked the car. When I came back I found her in what amounts to a necking session with Maurice.

He thinks she feeds him?

That was Sunday

Monday we met Peggy and Bob at Bistro Montcaud for the second time since we arrived.

The property is contemporary and elegant, the menu is very interesting, and the service is first rate. We had the menu de marché which on this day was smoked trout, pintade, and a dessert with about 16,000 calories. I have never seen Judy give up on a dessert! Just three courses, with wine, and we still stretched it out to over two hours. We can’t even watch a movie for two hours.

Agriculture

Enough about food, you say! What’s happening in the hood?

Things keep changing. Here is the evolution of some local vines between 2014 and now.

Thé vendange this year looks it will yield like more concentrated berries thanks to the heat and lack of rain. But what do I know?

Here the harvest has started in some places. But things are changing. What was an apricot orchard last spring is

And these were vines.

Based on what is happening locally and, I think, throughout France.

There is (sigh) too much wine.

Stay on the edge of your seat for more news from Tresquenadiens!

We flew from Pearson at 5 :00,PM, September 17. The flight was just over six hours, thanks to huge tail winds. According to the pilot they were over 100 mph, which is mighty fast.

There was a three hour layover in Amsterdam, and the lounge was pretty comfortable. The airport service crew is a very accommodating group, much better trained and service oriented than those at Pearson. The flight to Marseille was scheduled for 9:58 (!): but there was a hitch. The gate involved stairs down to the tarmac, and then a boarding staircase. Not in Judy’s playbook.

So…we were loaded onto a ground vehicle which is used for service staff and loading meals, supplies, and mobility challenged passengers. Here is a stock image of one.

The service was fantastic, and four crew helped us out.

We arrived on schedule at Marignane airport, zipped through baggage pickup, and were helped to the Hertz rental location. Called Giselle at the Renault office, and she brought the shuttle to take is to our car, a Renault Clio.

Our two bags are, to quote the B52’s, as “big as whales”. With some contortion, they were loaded with no room to spare. Overpacked? I do believe that would be correct.

Heading north on the A7 is just over an hour to the exit at Orange, from which we switch to south on the A9, and then onto regional roads to arrive in Tresques.

It was hot, about 30, but nothing compared to the high 30’s since July.

It did not seem to faze Maurice, who greeted us at the 11 stone steps.

After changing into hot weather duds, we installed Judy in the boudoir, and I headed out for supplies at the Intermarché in Gaujac, about ten minutes away. It was clouding up and starting to turn to a gentle shower. By the time of checkout, there was a four alarm thunderstorm. Sat in the car to wait it out, but it kept coming so, wipers ablaze, I headed home.

As an irrelevant aside, here is a handy tip from golfer Lee Trevino. If you are caught in a thunderstorm on the golf course, hold up a one iron. Not even God can hit a one iron.

The roads at the base of the château were flooded, as was the Tave River. After an hour, the sun came out and things were back to dry.

The next day, our neighbour Serge said we should have come earlier; it was the first rain in Tresques since early summer. And now, the next couple of days look cool and wet. OK by us it’s lovely, shine or rain.

Still somewhat jet lagged. We don’t get the adrenaline jolt from travel like we used to. I guess it’s a combination of familiarity and age, but it’s not really a problem. Every time we arrive, something has changed, which to me is good. That means it is alive, rather than stuck in a specific point in time. Downside is, we are older. Tempus fugit.

Yesterday we stocked up on some frozen foods at Picard, a French chain. For Canadians, Picard is like M&M only much better in terms of quality and selection. May have some tonight.

Haven’t turned on the tv yet, may watch some streaming later. If we have CBC Listen on for music, we catch the news on the hour. Otherwise we can hear the chickens clucking down the path and the soccer practice on the pitch. Very therapeutic.

Bye for now. Stay happy, and enjoy good food and wine!

That just means think. I ironed some shirts this week and found the old Lands’ End shirt packing bag, so no problem there. Otherwise, as always, it’s deciding what stays here for fall.

Judy continues to improve. She is no ball of fire but the bouillotte (hot water bottle) is helping her back. On Wednesday we went to Uzes for lunch and to buy…pillow cases. Picked up some that would not appear in Linen Chest

There is something inspirational about shopping. Makes her forget the woes of back aches etc. Wine is good for that too.

Fête time in Tresques

May 6 and 7 were touted as the spring festival of Tresques. The poster promised all day activities for the whole family.

These events all sound quite exciting. I was keen on the concours de belote until I found out it was sort of like a euchre tournament. Apparently it is popular in France, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.

The aperitif concert was a non-event, followed by the abrivado bandido which sounds very Clint Eastwood. However it is a rather tame running of the bulls where people torment these poor cows. We missed it. As well as the concours de pétanque, which never happened. We can see the boules area from the terrace and nobody showed.

Lâcher de saucisses also sounds like fun, until you translate it into grilling sausages. There are various sausages out there, like white, dark, brown, skinny, etc. but it is hardly an event watching guys mucking about with sausages on a charcoal grill.

There was a pretty good band in the afternoon. We could hear them from the terrace. Thank goodness they didn’t sell tickets. The crowds were overwhelming.

We made up for the excitement of the Fête by lunching at Bistro de Montcaud on Sunday. The ambience, service, and cuisine are all first rate. This is an old estate outside of Bagnols, and it has been renovated to become a hotel and restaurant. Good for romance, families, and feeling good.

Yesterday our neighbours below invited us, along with Serge and Patrizia, for lunch at 1:00 PM. Judy asked me before we left “How long do you think lunch will go on?” “5:00 PM” was my answer, and I should buy a lottery ticket. Bang on!

We started with a couple of glasses of champagne. Geoff’svery capable regarding recharging the flutes. We started with a grilled red pepper salad. Anchovies, garlic, and olive oil dressed it. This was followed by salmon and asparagus done very nicely, finger-thick asparagus which is not easy to keep crisp. Next was a cheese course, reblochon and chèvre, with a green salad. For dessert, Nicola had a large tarte aux pommes from Marie Blachere, the local boulangerie chain. Geoff poured a dessert wine to round out the meal. Doesn’t sound like four hours, does it?

Now, you may be saying “How could that take four hours?” There were a few factors that came into play.

Serge and Patrizia are big fans of American tv from the 60’s or so, and anytime they can get people to sing, they are on it. So Judy began, on request, with the theme of Zorro. It was sung several times during the afternoon, and was a source of unbridled laughter. Then we broke into Mary Poppins “Supercalif…..” which caused Geoff to sing and trip into his choreography.

Then it was joke time. I have not told the tale of Oli Swenson for several,years and had to redo the punchline. Had to explain to Patrizia what a Fokker was, versus its homonym. It was well received, if not well executed. I thought Nicola was going to collapse.

Judy told her timeless loss of virginity “legs fell off” joke. It’s a winner and if you haven’t heard it recently (maybe you forgot it) she has good delivery and timing. It is hard to tell jokes across cultures.

Serge provided the classic Churchill “Yes, I am drunk, madam, and tomorrow I will be sober, but you will still be ugly.” This is apocryphal but still a good line.

There was a Welsh joke from Geoff, in what I guess was a version of a Welsh accent. The telling was funnier than the punchline, but that happens a lot.

Then we started singing the Zorro song some more. It is infectious.

Judy managed to climb the 26 or so steps back to our terrace. Serge had pruned the branches from his acacia tree which were encroaching on the staircase. It was very kind of him but he admitted that his real motive was to avoid a personal injury lawsuit. We will have to keep that in mind for future.

Friday lunch was back to Maisouneta in Chateauneuf. It is the only restaurant we visit where the owner knows who I am before I even say the date. It’s partly due to the fact that I use the same script every time, and also my funny French accent. Who cares ? We always get a good table, good meal, and good wine!

Getting ready for the journey to Toronto. Clothes and meds are organized. Packing Sunday should take 15 minutes. We will leave lots of stuff here for September, which can’t come soon enough.

Signing off until whenever!

Les Tresquenadiens

Getting back to paranormal

After 50 plus years, we can’t recall a time when we both have been so darned sick. Today Judy said that it is now the best she has felt since around Christmas, and last fall was no delight after our October COVID bouts. She felt lousy for much of the cruise and had no appetite. When she had the night sweats during the last two days, all of the bedding was absolutely soaked. Same when we got to Tresques, but it all settled down a few days ago and she has slept well. We are both hacking up mucous but stocking up,on Exomuc, which breaks things up.

We will be bringing several boxes back to Canada for stocking stuffers. You can check it out: https://www.mon-pharmacien-conseil.com/en/oily-cough/808-exomuc-200mg-24-sachets.html. You can maybe find it on Amazon too.

Jude was not alone regarding ailments. About two days into the cruise I could not flex my right leg more than about 20 degrees. It was the first cruise where the fitness facility was out of bounds for me. Getting off the ship a couple of times was quite painful, and geriatrics with canes and walkers kept passing me. There is a message but am tuning it out. By the end of the cruise, it was back to its regular self.

So, I am not an engineer.

After taking possession here almost nine years ago, the tv streaming in the petit salon has been spotty at best. I figured we just had to put up. We could watch a show for a few minutes, and then the spinning wheel. Very frustrating. But last night there was a bit of an epiphany. The wifi router, phone, and all the internet stuff were in the second bedroom. It is insulated by a stone and concrete wall about a foot thick. Could that be a problem?

Take a moment. This morning we (I) relocated all of the technical paraphernalia to the defunct fireplace in the grand salon. It isn’t pretty, but thankfully the cord was long enough. Will get a longer one tomorrow and tape it along the base of the wall. Anyway, it works and the Amazon Fire Stick and Apple TV are now getting mighty signals.

This is not Home Beautiful…

Maurice returns!

Guessing nobody believed me when I wrote that we saw him, and I had some doubts after five or so days. So tonight at about 6:30 I opened the door to do a kitty check, and the little tyke was on the stairs YELLING at me, in French. He has now had wet food and snax.

Last year his ears we’re looking a bit more healed, and now they are just mostly scarred. He is a very nice cat and pleasantly mouthy. More to come.

Dress shopping..

With Judy and her date scheduled to attend two weddings before our return to France in September, it is time to research the haute couture. Peggy, our personal shopper extraordinaire, knows a store in Uzes that may just provide the solution, at least for one.

Today is May 1, which is Labor:(sic) Day in France. Everybody gets a day off, with pay! Sounds very Trudeauesque, non? This started over 500 years ago and if you are interested, please research it. It has little to do with labour movements or anything contemporary.

Amusements

On the barge cruise last spring, Doug cruelly introduced me to Spelling Bee. This is part of the New York Times daily puzzle app, and if you enjoy puzzles this is a good one. It includes the Bee, daily Wordle, Sudoku, and the NYT crossword.

The Bee works as follows: you are presented with a circle of six letters surrounding one in the centre. Using at least four letters, come up with as many words as possible but they all must contain the centre letter at least once. Here is an example.

The daily Bee is published daily at 3:00 AM, EST. There is a guy named Steve G. somewhere in New York who has this finished every day by 4:00 AM. Please don’t ask how I know. He appears to be a Renaissance man or incurable insomniac, or both. Give it a try if you have nothing to do and lots of time to do it.

Signing off for now. Getting prepped for the shopping spree, lunch in Uzes, and apéro with Serge and Patrizia tomorrow.

Requiescat in pace – Orillia’s son

« There was a time in this fair land… » when we were privileged to enjoy the work of great Canadian songwriters, poets, and artists. The leaders like Ian Tyson, Leonard Cohen, and Gord Downey have been joined by Gordon Lightfoot. One can only hope that someday there will be a return of storytellers, musicians, and unforgettable melodies and lyrics.

Not holding my breath, though…

Judy has been coughing up a bunch of green and yellow stuff since last Tuesday. Seems to be calming down so we will take it one day at a time. Looks like there is an epidemic around here. She had severe sweats for almost three days; the bedding was drenched

Our neighbour, Jean-Louis, rapped at the door while Jude was chatting with Janis, so I made small talk. Extremely small, given my puny French. He just turned 70, so I could identify. Can’t believe how many of us are…..you fill in the blanks!

Speaking of denying age, while we were at the Waves Grill on the Marina, the hostess mentioned to Judy that my fly was not quite where it should be. That sends several messages, not the least of which is that my darling wife is not paying attention as much as the service folk.

Wednesday morning I have to take the car for an 8:00 AM appointment to sort out the warning lights on the dash,. Probably nothing but this is France. Who can say?

In case you are wondering, I checked my fly and all is good, or as good as might be expected. Will provide an update later, if I remember.

Garbage!

Tuesday is sac jaune night, when we all take out our yellow bags for recycling. It is the highlight of the week…we probably have over 100 bags ready to load up with plastics, bottles, whatever is allowed.

The trash disposal rules keep changing, but that’s what the bureaucrats are paid for. When we set up here in 2014, everyone had to sign for their own plastic bin with a number on it for tracking, I guess. For the units in the upper château, the bins would be placed by the church every Sunday and Thursday evening.

It was a pain hauling our bin up the eleven dangerous steps just for one bag of garbage. So I would take the bag up and add it to someone’s bin.

These bins will be obsolete by the end of 2023, and will be replaced with LOCKABLE bins, like this :

Today is Wednesday, so I got up at 6:30, shaved & showered, frittered around, and took the car in to the Renault dealer to see if they can fix the warning light.

So after a long hour, the guy said they had to order a part and it would be there by 2:00 PM. It’s almost noon now, so I will go back and perhaps get this mystery solved. Will let you know later in this edition.

Judy had a croissant and cup of Earl Grey with honey, and is continuing to improve. We should enjoy the terrace later today, soaking up the Vitamin D and listening to the neighbours’ coughs.

Fast forward to 2,00 PM. After a lunchtime snooze I was back at Renault right on time. The mechanics, staff and hangers-on were just wrapping up the two hour lunch and engaging in some banter. Good news: the part had arrived on schedule so by three I was on my merry way.

The guy who worked on our car looked like Prince (?) Harry’s double, but taller. Same red hair and beard. I may have to return to take a picture because I can tell you don’t believe a word.

We have now gone almost a week without a restaurant meal and it’s a bit tiresome. Judy has had no appetite but this afternoon I did whip up some delicious crunchy peanut butter on baguette toast. The oven actually serves as a surrogate toaster. Two out of three local pizza places were either closed or defunct, so after scouting the shelves at Intermarché the best option was prepared macaroni and teeny meatballs. Eeek!

Time to polish off a glass of red, raise à toast to Harry Belafonte, and wish you all a good night! Sleep well, and don’t forget that tomorrow is another day, just like today was.

After two weeks on this tub, Judy has yet to be on land, wet or dry. The ports have not been conducive for a stroll, with the exception of Funchal in Madeira. Nassau had all the young vermin from the Disney vessel, Azores not too interesting, Motril is a base for tours to Granada , and Alicante is just a great big port with no obvious redeeming qualities. So we remained on board, Judy reading voraciously and I was diligently cheating with the Times hard crosswords. Did you know that the city with the most Art Deco buildings is Miami? You did not!

Two nights before docking in Barcelona, Judy contracted a big scratchy throat and severe night sweats…soaked linens and loss of appetite. As comfortable as the cabins are, it is impossible to control the temperature; consistently on the cool side, and the bedding is just too heavy. With over one thousand passengers and mostly recirculated air, we all probably shared more than we wished to. The main dining room seats 438, so odds are good for viruses seeking new homes.

Nothing against Oceania but this is likely our last big boat cruise. Too many people, everyone comparing cruise notes, a narrowly sliced demographic, lots of trophy chicks…a floating retirement home. Yuck.

That said, the crew was great. All SE Asian, South American, or European, totally focused on great service, and happy to chat. They knew our favourite cocktails, even when we switched. Never knew I liked a Gibson. Uh-oh..

The best part of happy hour was the string quartet, Lastara. I try hard to avoid « amazing » but must take a pass here. These four exceptional musicians are from Kharkiv, Ukraine. Each is solidly grounded in classical but they have performed in rock groups as well. Go figure !

Flawlessly (how would I know?) they performed pieces by Mozart, Dvorak, Bach, the Beatles, Queen, and more than I can recall just now.

Apparently there is big demand for music scores for string quartets. Could have fooled me.

Dîna Kononova is the cellist leading the first and second violins, and the viola.

Dina’s home was hit by a bomb. They managed to get out, with kitty. Then bombed again. We are so fortunate to not have a neighbour like Putin. Although, if you just draw a line over the arctic, maybe closer than we may care…

Disembarked Thursday without much hassle. Waited until the hordes got off and then caught a taxi to pick up our car near the Barcelona airport. The directions provided by Renault were somewhat sketchy, but our driver (from India but who spoke Spanish) managed to find the obscure pickup location.

We have a teal coloured Renault Arkana. Add two esses and voila, a US state. I shall pass. It is very comfortable, and I might figure out what all the dashboard indicators mean someday. Not today.

Judy seems better tonight, after lasagna and some Rhone wine.

Tresques is still a delight. Since we moved in (!) the boulangerie has changed hands three times. This is the best incarnation. The épicerie is a mystery in terms of how it survives. It is like Costco in a very small space. She has fruits and veg, wine and beer, smokes, meats, comics, cat food, magazines, batteries, various personal hygiene products, lottery tickets, propane tanks, mustard, milk, eggs, and a bunch of other stuff. Everything except chicken noodle soup, which is what I wanted!!!

So far, a dearth of philosophy in this epistle. I hope that you were not offended by the diversion away from the joys of travel. It was just that being dropped into a boatload of peers (not pee -ers, but maybe) was pretty weird. But it’s not quite over. Given the theme of the passage of time and its inevitable outcome, can you come up with the relevant tunes of Joni Mitchell, David Clayton Thomas, Terry Jacks, and Phil Ochs? Of course, feel free to chime in with your own faves, if you have any regarding this theme. I think you can post comments on the blog but please me nice. Remember who wrote and sang « I ache in the places where I used to play.. »?

Phil who? Hint: He wrote “Changes” in the 60’s, and the classic anti-military “Draft Dodger Rag”. If you haven’t heard it, check it out. Only the good die young.

It’s now about 7 AM here, Saturday morning. My turn to quietly play Spelling Bee and continue the Wordle run. Madame passed a fairly quiet night, so perhaps she will be up for ironing or other domestic chores. Doubt it…

Enjoy your day. Pretty sure I saw Maurice the cat when we arrived Thursday, so have stocked up on kitty food. Will post pics if it’s him!

You’ll hear more in a couple of days, after we do the sweat-soaked linens and some ironing. And laundry. And cooking. And….