Le Sénanque Abbey (10/05)

We also stopped at the iconic Sénanque Abbey that is located just outside of Gordes. A familiar image seen in many a calender, travel book, and postcard, it is famous for their stunning lavender crops and prosperous honey bees.

We unfortunately missed the height of lavender season, but were able to see the plants that would produce the tranquilly fragrant flowers next year. There was still a hint of lavender in the air, so it wasn't all bad.

Images of Gordes (10/05)

Not far from Roussillon was Gordes, a beautiful, ancient hillside village. There was a carnival on the day we were there, so once we got past the music, bumper cars, games and carnie food, I got to see exactly why people flock to Gordes.

Any village with olive trees growing throughout is alright by me...
especially when it's also surrounded by vineyards...

and has dogs roaming solo...

Market Day at Coustellet (10/05)

Sunday was market day in Coustellet, a town not far from Roussillon, so we decided to go and explore. I have to admit we were slightly disappointed when we first got there. Parking was insane - so we expected an amazing market, only to find what looked like a flea market with a few food stalls. Don't get me wrong, a French flea market is a shopping dream come true, but at that point of the trip I was limited in packing space and we wanted produce, cheese, and bread. There was a good olive stand, spice stall, and baker whom was nearly sold out. We decided to split up - so J and I had a good wonder around. My in-laws quickly found us as they had just discovered that the main part of the market was across the street, hidden behind the buildings on the main road. This all made sense: all of those cars, there had to be some place for everyone to go! The market didn't disappoint. By the time we got there some of the vendors were packing up. There were still loads of stands with autumnal produce: root vegetables, pumpkins & gourds, apples, squash, potatoes... you get the idea (sadly, I didn't take any photos). There were also stands with home made jams, honey, local wine producers, and my favorite: the nursery stand. It was really hard for me to walk around knowing that I couldn't buy an olive or fig tree to take home. They were so healthy looking and were really reasonably priced.
It was also hard for me to pass up some more of my favorites: rosemary, lavender, and violas. I was in absolute heaven, and if there is one place on earth that has all of my favorite things: it is truly Provence.
To make matters worse, I spotted this Citroën HY. Now I was in seventh heaven. Ever since I first spotted the Citroën 2CV in "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown"; many, many years ago - I have had a fetish for Citroëns.
It was hard to tear myself away, but lunch was calling. As I walked away with images of owning a vineyard (complete with olive and fig trees, of course, oh... and obviously tons of lavender and rosemary) and driving to the market in my Citroën HY to sell my wine - and probably jams, chutneys, etc... we were off to find somewhere for lunch. The first thing we spotted was this pizza van...
Now if you didn't know (and I didn't), the French LOVE pizza! I have never in my life seen as many pizza establishments as I did in France. Annecy was over run with them. Literally 4 on every corner. Even small villages that we had driven through had several pizza places. Where the UK have fish and chip vans (that you don't actually see all that often, in comparison), France has pizza vans. We even spotted on outside of Roussillon called "Pizza Chris". Bizarre. Anyway, as curious as I was to know what sort of pizza would come out of one of these vans, we had been walking all morning so obviously deserved a sit down meal. And a glass of wine. Obviously. We were in Provence after all! We found a cafe with tables out front, and chose a nice sunny spot for lunch. My first course was a bacon, leek, and goat cheese tart. Wash down with a nicely chilled glass of Provençal rosé.
This was followed by tagliatelle with roasted chicken, tomatoes, and aubergine. Ah, what a way to spend a Sunday.

A Local Bar for Local People ~ Roussillon

This was the beautiful image that greeted us as we went out to dinner. The street was lightly illuminated and the sky was a deep blue.
This is how the street looked after dinner, and several drinks later...

It was still fairly early after dinner, and J wanted to go explore the night life of Roussillon. We went out the front door, to the left, towards a nightclub. They were playing very loud techno music - not a type I would consider cool - Eurotrash would be a more accurate description. Now I know that the drinking age is way younger in France, but the first few people we spotted looked around 14. Or am I just getting older? When the ambulance pulled up to this "Restaurant by Day - Nightclub by Night" establishment to tend to a girl who looked more like she should be working on book reports, we decided to have a quiet drink at the bar next door to the house, to the right...

When we walked in, it looked like a safer bet. There were still people dining in the back, and the people at the bar looked our age. Now I should tell you that by day, Roussillon is completely overrun by tourists. By night it dwindles down to a few, but is mainly inhabited by the locals, which explains the reaction when we entered the bar: Everyone looked at us like it didn't occur to them that someone out of the clique at the bar might possibly enter. This was far too amusing to walk away from, so we stepped up to the bar and ordered our drinks. Service from then on was pretty much non existent. We were given our drinks and there was a minor to-do about shutting the door so no one else would wonder in. We took our time drinking in the atmosphere and the fact that we were having a drink in a small bar in France, as opposed to our local watering hole. It was very dimly lit, there was a wide screen television which was playing the National Geographic channel - something about a ferry that had sank in the '80s, listening to various jazz and blues legends like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and the likes. And even though we were not accepted as part of the bar group, their laughter and warmth towards each other really seemed to emit throughout the place. When we were finished with our drinks we had to call attention for the bill. The reaction from the man behind the bar was almost Oscar worthy - like he had totally forgotten that we were even there - despite the fact that we were only 5 feet away. Now did I really need another drink that night? No, but it left me with a memorable evening.

... and this was a more accurate vision of the street that night as we were leaving.

Dinner at Le Clos de la Glycine, Roussillon (10/04)

We had a very indulgent dinner at Le Clos de la Glycine on our first night in Roussillon. The hotel was around the corner from La Colombe d'Ocre, so driving wasn't an issue. The staff were so welcoming and friendly and the menu was superb. With courses chosen, we sat back to enjoy the view of the illuminated ochres out the panoramic window in the dining room. They had an outside terrace for dining, but it was a little too cold that night, so we stayed indoors.

We were promptly treated to a plate of salmon sandwiches, chilled tomato and basil soup, and a lovely dish of spicy olives. This was followed by an onion stuffed with mushrooms. I had never thought of stuffing an onion before, so really enjoyed this unusual dish. After the first bite I felt an idiot for not thinking of it before. The flavor of the mushrooms cooked in wine with rosemary complimented the mellow taste of the roasted onion so well that I was almost sad when I had finished. That was until I saw the next course:
My next course was a lovely medium-cooked pork with a mushroom, rosemary, wine reduction. This came served with Braised Endive Gratin. The Endive Gratin was also a first for me, and left my head swelling with ideas on new ways I'd like to try cooking vegetables.
Then the ending: dessert. This was not a disappointment. I had a poached pair, some chocolaty/melting ice cream thing pictured on the left hand side and in the middle: my favored MACARON!!! It was a lovely chocolate macaron with a heavenly deep, dark chocolate ganache in the center. If I could have a plate of those now, I could never want for anything else...

Le Clos de la Glycine

Place de la poste – 84220

Roussillon - France

Tél. +33 (0) 4 90 05 60 13 / Fax 04 90 05 75 80

E-Mail: mailto:le.clos.de.la.glycine@wanadoo.fr

Le Chats du Roussillon

Roussillon by Day

Roussillon is probably my favorite place on Earth. The colors there are amazing, so bold and so vivid that you almost feel like you're walking in a dream. The narrow, winding roads are my perfect vision of a French hillside village. It has so much history and character. The deep red ochres add to the surreal atmosphere. There are cats roaming free throughout the village. As you walk around you'll find fig trees, olive trees, rosemary, lavender, and even grape vines growing amongst the houses. If you could make a place on Earth based from my dreams, it would be Roussillon.

Please revisit this post, I will be adding more images of Roussillon as I work my way through my photos.