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Ramblings of a Polymath (more like a ferret) & His S
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Location Date Paris 1502578800 Chantilly 1502233200 Versailles 1502233200 Bonnieux 1428620400 Roussillon 1428620400 Orange 1428534000 Vaison-La-Romaine 1428447600 L'isle-Sur-La-Sorgue 1428361200 Gordes 1428274800 Fort Buoux, Provence 1428188400 Ansouis 1428102000 Cassis 1427929200 Lourmarin 1427842800 Aix-En-Provence 1427756400 Aigues-Mortes 1427414400 Arles 1427328000 Uzes 1427241600 Sete 1427155200 Saint-Remy-De-Provence 1427068800 Avignon 1426982400 Maussane-Les-Alpilles 
1426896000 Marseille 1426809600
Marseille was completely inhospitable this morning. If anyone can assure us that there are any must see's in Marseille, you have three weeks to make a case otherwise we will give it a miss.
I had bought TomTom maps for France, so we had no problems picking up our hire car (a Peugeot 308) and driving the hour to Maussane le Alpilles. Hertz have a newish policy that you have to bring your receipt for petrol when returning the car or they charge you for a full tank of petrol. They varied it in our case; it hadn't been cleaned and only had a half tank of petrol ... not a good start.
In drizzling rain, we made our way to Maussane le Alpilles which is the center of the main olive oil producing region in France. I say this is the real Provence because Marseille, while the second largest city in France and possibly the most cosmopolitan is such a contrast to everything more than 20 km from the coast.
On the way, we passed a derelict farm house. In it's day it must have been truly spectacular and pretentious. The dual sweeping staircases at the front of the house are only usually seen at the front of chateau and in this case, completely out of proportion. They were almost the complete width of the house.
What a surprise is Maussane les Alpilles.I'll post photos when the weather is better. The main street through the middle of town is a couple of kilometers long and only wide enough for two cars to pass traveling slowly. We were amazed at how many restaurants, boulangeries and patisseries there were as we followed Tom's instructions to our cottage.
Our hostess speaks no English and Ches had to phone her to let her know we had arrived at the electric gate. She hung up on the first call and Ches called her again 5 minutes later. This time her son, who has a little English answered. He sent mum around to meet us, open the gate and take Ches on a tour of the cottage issuing instructions and advice. It was all French to me.
By this stage it was 1.30 and Ches asked about lunch in town; "tout de suite" was the answer. I think that meant "pull your finger out",but my French is non existent.
We've arrived at Italian restaurants/cafes at 3.00 pm and they have served a seven course meal for lunch when no one else was there except us. In France we've had the door slammed in our face at 1.30 when the place was half full.
Cafe de la Fontaine, along with 6 or so other restaurants, have seating inside as well as in the square. The waiter dodges traffic between the restaurant and the collection of tables huddled under umbrellas, with the rain drizzling down and the gas heaters fighting a loosing battle against 9c. Cafe de la Fontaine had around four couples seated and all others were deserted and the waiter welcomed us and went to a lot of trouble to find a table close to a heater and without rain splashing our legs.
There always has to be a 1st lesson to be taken when in France. It seemed like a good idea to share a "sausage for entree and then a vegetable soup for Ches and Filet Mignon de Porc for Gavin. A 250 gm salami and half a baguette wasn't what we expected and then following that with a huge bowl of soup and another half baguette and the pork dish was far too much. We brought half the salami home for dinner. The pork dish was probably the most interesting. Cooked in a stock with root vegetables "sous vide" , it was served with chips (that puffed up and were hollow; have no idea how they do that ... but brilliant), and the vegetables in a small bowl of the stock. Perfect on a cold wet day.
Around this point, seated with my back to the heater, I reflected on the name Cafe de la Fontaine and said to Ches "I wonder what happened to the fountain?". She just pointed over my shoulder at the massive edifice that is the fountain!
By the time we finished at 3.00, we realised that all the shops would be reopening at 3.30, so we dashed home to unpack the car. Back in the main street at 3.45, we checkout the minimart for basics (milk etc), the Traiteur for cheeses and pate, and one of the Boulangerie for a seeded baguette and Paris Brest (choux pastry filled with coffee cream and icing ... OMG).
Parking is typically French. Sections of the footpath have painted blue lines which designates parking. No matter which direction you are traveling, you aim the car at the blue, mount the curb and switch off the engine ... you're parked. I was.
Ches decided that "nesting" was called for, so we returned to the cottage to unpack into the very generous dressing room so that we have actually moved in rather than just camping for the week.
Watched Ireland demolish Scotland and Half of the English French test, spent an hour trying to connect to the internet using French instructions, had a light dinner and fell asleep in front of the TV.
I had bought TomTom maps for France, so we had no problems picking up our hire car (a Peugeot 308) and driving the hour to Maussane le Alpilles. Hertz have a newish policy that you have to bring your receipt for petrol when returning the car or they charge you for a full tank of petrol. They varied it in our case; it hadn't been cleaned and only had a half tank of petrol ... not a good start.
In drizzling rain, we made our way to Maussane le Alpilles which is the center of the main olive oil producing region in France. I say this is the real Provence because Marseille, while the second largest city in France and possibly the most cosmopolitan is such a contrast to everything more than 20 km from the coast.
On the way, we passed a derelict farm house. In it's day it must have been truly spectacular and pretentious. The dual sweeping staircases at the front of the house are only usually seen at the front of chateau and in this case, completely out of proportion. They were almost the complete width of the house.
What a surprise is Maussane les Alpilles.I'll post photos when the weather is better. The main street through the middle of town is a couple of kilometers long and only wide enough for two cars to pass traveling slowly. We were amazed at how many restaurants, boulangeries and patisseries there were as we followed Tom's instructions to our cottage.
Our hostess speaks no English and Ches had to phone her to let her know we had arrived at the electric gate. She hung up on the first call and Ches called her again 5 minutes later. This time her son, who has a little English answered. He sent mum around to meet us, open the gate and take Ches on a tour of the cottage issuing instructions and advice. It was all French to me.
By this stage it was 1.30 and Ches asked about lunch in town; "tout de suite" was the answer. I think that meant "pull your finger out",but my French is non existent.
We've arrived at Italian restaurants/cafes at 3.00 pm and they have served a seven course meal for lunch when no one else was there except us. In France we've had the door slammed in our face at 1.30 when the place was half full.
Cafe de la Fontaine, along with 6 or so other restaurants, have seating inside as well as in the square. The waiter dodges traffic between the restaurant and the collection of tables huddled under umbrellas, with the rain drizzling down and the gas heaters fighting a loosing battle against 9c. Cafe de la Fontaine had around four couples seated and all others were deserted and the waiter welcomed us and went to a lot of trouble to find a table close to a heater and without rain splashing our legs.
There always has to be a 1st lesson to be taken when in France. It seemed like a good idea to share a "sausage for entree and then a vegetable soup for Ches and Filet Mignon de Porc for Gavin. A 250 gm salami and half a baguette wasn't what we expected and then following that with a huge bowl of soup and another half baguette and the pork dish was far too much. We brought half the salami home for dinner. The pork dish was probably the most interesting. Cooked in a stock with root vegetables "sous vide" , it was served with chips (that puffed up and were hollow; have no idea how they do that ... but brilliant), and the vegetables in a small bowl of the stock. Perfect on a cold wet day.
Around this point, seated with my back to the heater, I reflected on the name Cafe de la Fontaine and said to Ches "I wonder what happened to the fountain?". She just pointed over my shoulder at the massive edifice that is the fountain!
By the time we finished at 3.00, we realised that all the shops would be reopening at 3.30, so we dashed home to unpack the car. Back in the main street at 3.45, we checkout the minimart for basics (milk etc), the Traiteur for cheeses and pate, and one of the Boulangerie for a seeded baguette and Paris Brest (choux pastry filled with coffee cream and icing ... OMG).
Parking is typically French. Sections of the footpath have painted blue lines which designates parking. No matter which direction you are traveling, you aim the car at the blue, mount the curb and switch off the engine ... you're parked. I was.
Ches decided that "nesting" was called for, so we returned to the cottage to unpack into the very generous dressing room so that we have actually moved in rather than just camping for the week.
Watched Ireland demolish Scotland and Half of the English French test, spent an hour trying to connect to the internet using French instructions, had a light dinner and fell asleep in front of the TV.
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