St-Remy de Provence

Wednesday, 13 June

After leaving John and Marianne, Pete and I once again put our trust in our friendly GPS gal.  She's had many names thrown at her along the way, most of them unrepeatable, but 98% of the time she gets it right.


So we arrive in St-Remy which is a small but v trendy village in the Bouches-du-Rhône area of Provence.  There was a bit of a stuff up with the hotel we were due to book into so they sent us to their other hotel.  It was a bit of a blow, because the original hotel was right in centre ville close to everything.  Great views out the back for this four star hotel.  The hotel they plonked us in to was 10 mins walk from town but it was a five star hotel at no extra costs.  So far so good.


The Vallons de Valruges was really good.  It had a 1 Michelin star restaurant there, but it was a bit too rich for us and all the clientele were older couples (sorry John and Marianne) and Americans.


Our first meal was at Le Bistrot de Marie and recommended by the hotel desk.  It served really good Provençal food and we sat outside under the grape vines on a warm balmy evening.  We drank vin rouge and laughed with the owners as we bumbled our way through the menu.  The great thing is; no English menu translation, you're on your own.  We didn't ask for much explanation, just curious to see what we'd end up with.  And it was all delightful.  Not lots of seasoning but heaps of à l'huile d'olive.  My main came with a potato bake.  Unexpected and one of my favourites.  I must admit, I pretty much make mine like theirs, so hopefully I'm doing something right.  Here were our choices:


Me

• Entree - Chichoumaille recette gitane legumes confit (wee pot with eggplant and tomatoes).
• Plats - Souris d'agneau braised avec purée maison à l'huile d'olive (lamb and potato bake)

Pete

• Entree - Petite fillets de sardines 
• Plat - Cannellonni cuit à l'ancienne dans son poelon, brousse de brebis, épinard, oignons confit, coulis de tomate, emmental, soupçon de créme légè 

We shared a scrummy raspberry dessert.  Yumbo.  And again, really reasonably prices.  I think this cost around €60 which is about $75.  Not bad for all the food, a bottle of plonk and a couple of beers.  I love the strong Aussie dollar.

And then there was the 15 minute walk back to the hotel that may go to some way to balancing the calorie ledger.  (Doubt it).

My aubergines (eggplant)

Pete's sardines