We are “en Provence!” What else can I say?
Nothing else matters! Never mind the 2 ½ hour delay in taking off from Montreal, the 90 minute baggage delay at the airport carousel, the 102°F temperature, nor even the, “we have no reservation for you” at the Avis counter at the Marseille airport. We are en Provence, we have all our bags, and we have a car.
Landing in Marseille at 2:15 PM and waiting for our bags, it was well past 4 PM by the time we pulled out of the airport. We have travelled enough to know flexibility is important. We were clearly too late for our originally planned bouillabaisse lunch in old Marseille, so we headed north to our B&B, Le Mas Perreal, in Saint-Saturnin-les-Apt, our home for the next seven days.
Our old Garmin GPS worked well and although I missed several turns off the multiple roundabouts, we arrived at our B&B where we were warmly greeted with two cheek kisses from both our hosts Elisabeth & Kevin Widrow.
This is our 7th visit to Le Mas Perreal; our last visit was in 2018, but it seemed like it was just like week. Everything was as beautiful as we remembered, and then some.
We did not have a dinner reservation and we struck out calling several restaurants where we’d previously dined, so we drove to nearby Rousillon and got a table on our first attempt at l’Escalier, a small restaurant with a terrace that overlooks the heart of this incredibly beautiful village. My iPhone had died, so I have no pictures to share, but our meal exceeded all our expectations.
Starting with a full bottle of rose from the Domaine Mayol, we shared pate de foie gras, followed by beef tartare with roasted potatoes for me, and a mixed salad for Joni that included m a variety of humus like speads, tapenaude, melon, goat cheese from Banon on toast, foie gras, and a tomato tiramisu that was unlike anything we’d ever eaten. We closed the meal with a coffee and three small sweets including a mouse au chocolat. Oh la la.
Returning to our B&B, we were so tired that we didn’t bother to unpack; flopping right onto bed and falling asleep immediately.
All in all a wonderful first day; Vive la France!
5 comments:
Sounds like you had quite an adventure getting there.... hopefully ours will go smoother... the biggest problem may be our layover at JFK, if our departure from Raleigh is delayed... like you say we will need to be flexible.... Enjoy that heat!
Paul and Pam
I'm buckled in and ready for the ride!
travelling is more and more of a challenge/struggle
. Glad you persevered!
Glad you made it, we are looking forward to vicarious thrills while you two experience the real thing!
....Nat
Wow! Keep the posts coming! Makes me remember early travels in Japan, and great food in out-of-the-way places.
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