A gourmand weekend

The word gourmet was something I learned at a very early age. My mother had a subscription to the magazine thusly named that was devoted to food, culture, and travel. Although I might not have been able to read the words, there were plenty of pictures of delicious looking meals served in exotic locations to keep me interested. On Sundays we were often treated to a special lunch created from recipes found within those pages. One of our current neighbors used a similar-sounding term, gourmand, to describe our experience last week at a restaurant and an overnight stay in Narbonne. She insisted that it was not an insult despite our association of the word gluttony with it.

Continue reading “A gourmand weekend”

Who’s hungry?

The name Michelin used to accompany us on every vacation to France from the US because we always brought the guidebook for the city that we were visiting. If we were going to rent a car then we’d need the map to get us from Paris to that destination. Eventually it was more efficient, although considerably heavier, to pack an atlas that covered all of the roads in France. Although we never consulted it, we knew about the Red Guide for hotels and eateries and who hasn’t heard of the famous Michelin stars awarded to outstanding restaurants? That’s why I was surprised when it wasn’t that “celestial accolade” mentioned in the newspaper article saying that three chefs in our département were “at the top of the ranking of the best restaurateurs in the world.”

Continue reading “Who’s hungry?”

Preixan day trip

Circular Preixan from the town’s website

It’s been months since we’ve gone anywhere further than a 30-minute walk from our front door. In February we were in Florence just before Italy closed its borders and France started a 2-month lockdown when no one could be more than 1 kilometer (half-mile or so) from home. Once travel was again authorised it was initially limited to essential, nearby trips only until the summer vacation season arrived. With that as background we jumped at the chance to go out to lunch with friends Sally and Larry to a village about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Carcassonne. The drive down there may have only been 15 minutes but it was literally the change of scenery that we needed. Continue reading “Preixan day trip”

Into the countryside

Treats for the bees: Mediterranean scrub

Hardly a weekend goes by when there isn’t a festival in town that features locally grown and/or produced food products. Local artisans are proud of the work they do and the Mediterranean climate generally cooperates to provide bumper crops as it has done in this area for over 2000 years. We don’t have to wait for a fête, however, since we can just walk to the Saturday market and find everything we want, either just picked or freshly prepared. Olives were cultivated by the Greeks and then the Romans when they settled here and since the trees can survive for centuries there is still an abundance of the oils, tapenades, and even beauty products made from this durable plant. Sometimes it’s fun to travel outside of the city to the source of everything we see on display at the market and that’s exactly what we did last week when Sally and Larry suggested that we all pile into their car for “Last Chance Wine Tasting of 2019”. Continue reading “Into the countryside”

Caunes-Minervois day trip

The gorge from the quarry

Earlier this month we wrote about an order for a marble column that King Louis XIV had placed in 1670 that was finally being filled. It was/is destined for the Palace of Versailles where the majority of the red marble already in place there came from a quarry about 30 minutes northeast of Carcassonne. Inspired by that story, our friends Sally and Larry, who had already been to that area suggested that they take us there to see just how beautiful the mountaintop views are. Sally said, “In half an hour you will be amazed at how different the landscape becomes.” and she was right. Continue reading “Caunes-Minervois day trip”

Scenic route to Clermont-Ferrand

Lecoq Park entrance in Clermont-Ferrand

Our motto might be, “If there’s a train station there, we’ll go. If it’s via a scenic route, we’ll go there twice just to take in all of the views from both sides of the train.” In the case of Clermont-Ferrand, a city in central France that’s been inhabited since prehistoric times, we didn’t even have to backtrack because we went up one set of tracks (la ligne des Causses/de l’Aubrac) and came home on another (la ligne des Cévennes), both of them colored green on the map to indicate journeys not to be missed. In store for us were tracks clinging to the cliff sides, wide gorges with rivers below, tunnels, castles, a viaduct built by Gustave Eiffel in 1885 and a dinner reservation that first evening at the most popular restaurant in town. Continue reading “Scenic route to Clermont-Ferrand”

Beaune day trip

The hospice well

With a title like “Wine Capital of Burgundy” how could we not visit the city of Beaune (sounds like “bone” in English) especially since it’s only 18 minutes by train from where we were staying in Dijon? In the US we were big fans of public television, PBS, and especially travel videos from Rick Steves which is where we got our first glimpse of what this part of the Côte d’Or region had to offer. Thanks to YouTube, portions of those recordings are still available so with our memories refreshed it was time to see for ourselves why a famous New York City newspaper wrote an article entitled, “Seduced by Beaune in Burgundy”. Continue reading “Beaune day trip”