Au Revoir France

Well, so much to report since my last entry. So busy with visitors, things to do, food to eat, wine to drink....I'm sorry to say I'll have to add pictures later as my camera cord is packed, so words will have to suffice.
Where to begin??
We continued on our eating/sightseeing journey of Provence.  I really think we have done Provence proud.  We have been everywhere in this area.  Highlights were seeing roman ruins at Glanum (St. Remy de Provence) capped off by an amazing lunch of lamb and ratatouille.  We mistakenly went to the wrong place, which turned out to be a fantastic mistake.  AND they sat us in the 'local' section because they thought they recognized us! Bien Sur!! FYI, we will be throwing in French terms for many months to come, so get ready.  Spring has sprung in Provence and blossoms are on all the trees.  Incredible to believe there was snow here a few weeks ago, but we should be used to sudden weather change, being Canucks.
Our German friends arrived on March 19 with their two kids, aged 3 and 1.  It was so great to have a full house, and I don't mind saying some good distraction.  Don't get me wrong-I adore my family, but after travelling for a month with just the four of us, some different conversation was in order, even if it was half in German.  Aaron is fluent, so they morph in and out of German and English.  They are maybe the kindest people you've ever met, and being with them is easy. THEN their son got sick....and cranky.  All of a sudden I thought that having a 7 and 10 year old is wayyyyy easier than 3 and 1.  We felt for them, but they are great, easy parents; and of course it passed.  The kids all went to bed between 8 and 9 and we sat down to many an evening of wine and food by the fire.  I have asked many times on this trip if life gets any better than this, and it just continued.. We spent 9 wonderful days with them, laughing, drinking, and chasing our kids.  Aaron did an exchange with Matthias' family as a teenager, so I think it was surreal for them to see each other with their kids.  By the end our kids were saying Guten Tag and their kids were saying Good morning, so they must have had fun.  They played with each other, hit each other and behaved as regular kids. (o.k most of the hitting did not, thankfully, come from my kids, but really, if a 10 year old hit a 3 year old, it might be serious cause for alarm.)
Mid way through their visit, Aaron's brother Richie and his girlfriend Beth arrived for 5 days.  It was in celebration of Richie's 30th and it was (really sorry here) the icing on the cake.  Not only are they so easy to be with, it was a blast.  What do you think we did?  Hint: Hiccup.  Ok. kidding (a bit) we took them around the area like seasoned locals.  On the big day, we went to Cassis again, for a gorgeous day on the boardwalk and stopped for rose/sea urchins/ oysters for lunch.  Then on to a boat ride to see the calanques (sort of inlets).  We were all sitting in the front of the boat when they told us that we would be soaked had we stayed there.  We moved but watched a father and son get completely tsunami'd by the waves.  Big birthday dinner at home with a cake ordered by me ( in French!!!) from the local bakery.  So fun. When they all left, its never been so quiet.
We have spent our last 3 days alone returning to Chateauneuf du Pape, Isle sur la Sorgue (where we had the restaurant experience of France) and walking our beautiful village of St. Didier.
We sit here now, about to go to bed-we have to leave at 6 am tomorrow to travel to Nice, return our car and head home.  We are looking forward to home, friends and family but are so sad to leave behind what has become 6 weeks of memories, dreams, love and friendship.  I couldn't have asked for anything better and I know we all share this.  Liam went to bed never wanting to leave.  So......until we see you all again, Bonne Soiree!
We left Canada as the family with dreams of France and we return as the family with a part of France etched in our minds forever.  And our butts.  We really need to exercise.
Thanks for joining us!

heading to the coast dahling

Looking for a night away? At home that might be Toronto but here it is the Cote d'Azur, bien sur.  We wanted some new scenery and thought what better way to do it than head to Monaco.  This was primarily to take the kids to the Monaco Aquarium, which we'd heard so much about, but also to check out the coast towns.  After a 2 1/2 hour drive down (not bad at all), we arrived in the small, very rich and picturesque town of Monaco.  Neither of us have driven into this town before.  Take my advice in this area and take the train if you can.  It wasn't SO bad, but in the summer must be crazy.  We navigated the marina full of P-Diddy type yachts (although no sightings) and found an underground parking lot underneath the aquarium.  The museum itself was great.  Lots of tanks with really cool fish-a favourite was the dynamic duo of the goby fish and the blind shrimp.  The little goby fish stands guard while the hardworking blind shrimp digs a shelter for them both.  A beautiful relationship.  Hazel and Liam had a good time trying to figure out who might be the goby fish in our family.  We never figured it out as all of us fancied ourselves the little shrimp that could....this outcome to be reported later.  There was life size models of sperm whales and giant squids which were really cool and the museum is in the most beautiful locale.  There was a soccer field at the foot of it overlooking the ocean with kids having a game in their lunch hour.  A little different than playing beside the Avon, but, hey...every spot has its own beauty.
Then we left Monaco for the coastal drive to Nice-not very nice (ha) as it was so congested.  We got to our hotel (the kids think it was awesome to stay at a 4 star-but in Europe this is waaay different than home) which was fine, but the selling point was an indoor pool.  Great for blowing off steam at the end of the day.  After a swim and clean up, we headed into Old Nice for dinner.  We read on trip advisor about a restaurant called Oliviera where you taste olive oils during dinner.  It was FAB.  The wife cooked dinner-as it turned out for about 20- while the great host (husband) served and poured little dishes of oil from all over Provence.  It was amazing!!! The tastes were so different and unique. He gave us one and challenged us to tell him what fruit it tasted like. I like to think its my sommelier training at work (or the fact that I'm not that evolved) but I got it as an unripe banana.  We all had a great time.  Liam had fresh linguine with pesto and Hazel had ravioli with tomatoes.  Aaron ate braised rabbit with pappardelle noodles and light broth and I had a housemade lasagna.  All outstanding.
The real treat was the next day.  The weather has changed! This is what Provence is supposed to be like-the Provence of movies and books.  It is sunny, warm and the masses are flocking to be seen.  We drove a different way home to check out Bandol and Cassis.  Bandol was first and we drank a glass of rose looking at the ocean and the kids found a charming seaside 'clown' who twirled plates on sticks with them for ages.  We tried to get him to come home with us, but he was busy, so he said.
Onwards to Cassis. Ok...if anyone EVER has the opportunity to go to Cassis, run-or swim.  It is so great, its hard to say.  We walked the port full of the beautiful types (funnily more guys than girls) and settled in to enjoy some of the season's best-fresh sea urchins.  You get them on a platter, split in half.  Use a little spoon, scrape away the gritty stuff and underneath lies these beautiful little orange strips of heaven.  It tastes like the sea but a bit sweet.  Both the kids tried them.  Hazel was a bit more enamored than Liam, but  the effort was there!
What an awesome day. I talked before about getting a place in Lourmarin, but it might be closer to Cassis-not right on the shore, but close.  We'll just have to liquidate. Everything.   Including our clothes.  But I hear its warm in the summer.
The big news once we got home was that British Airways is on strike for the 3 days prior to us coming home.  We are flying Nice to London and then London to Toronto.  The long haul flight to Toronto is safe but the one from Nice to London is in jeopardy.  At this point we're not too worried as there are plenty of ways to get to London from here and we'll get a refund if they cancel, so we'll wait it out.  Worse comes to worse, we'll just have to stay here.  I'm pretty sure there are worse things.  When I looked at the web site, it said that flights might just be running with less service on board.  When I was relaying this story to Aaron and the kids, I said "they might need to run with less..." and before I could answer, Hazel said "fuel??"
Funny thing is, she didn't seem concerned even though the answer was "less chicken".  Oh to be 7.

Back at the house and scarily starting to feel like home.  We ended the night with an amazing round of 'who can lick the oreo cream out of the cookie the fastest'. Liam won. We still have no class, even in France.

Whats with these Canadian drivers???

Ok. I've been driving for at least, well, a few years...Aaron just a couple less (sometimes though, inexplicably if feels the other way around??).  I know it was bad luck to get our window smashed in Sarlat and that it had nothing to do with us, but a flat tire now too?  This was made all the worse by the fact that it happened at about 6 pm on the second night in a row spent out looking for firewood (at my insistence...oops). 
Lets begin at the beginning. On Sunday, we went to Isle Sur La Sorgue, land of antiques.  It was really bad weather (cold and rainy) so I think the market is not what it usually is, so we'll check it out again this week.  Anyway, we leave here after lunch and head to Carpentras, which is the nearest bigger town to us.  In Carpentras is an indoor playground (aptly called "Les Diablotins") so we figure that we'll spend a bad day letting the kids run off some steam.  They had an awesome time and we were struck by how kids language has no barriers.  They both made friends and played happily for two hours.  During this time, a snowstorm started.  Yes, you heard me and you can all gloat.(Although its gone already).  A serious amount (ok. a foot, but thats serious for Provence) came down.  This made us (by us I mean Aaron) nervous driving around inexperienced French drivers-although we saw no evidence of problems.  I suggested we stop at a gas station to look for firewood to make a cozy fire at home.  Well.....a few gas stations later and no firewood.  A silent drive home.
Monday we awake to our garden covered in snow.  Look at earlier blogs to see the garden with no snow.  We were literally wondering what was up.  Not to be outdone by a bunch of French people caught unawares, the intrepid Canadians bundled up ( it was only 0) and headed to Avignon.  We toured the Palais du Popes there-an immense castle in the centre of town where 13 popes lived before going back to the Vatican.  Has anyone ever seen pictures of these guys?? They all look like crusty, sour old men.  Well, after an hour in the Palace, I can see why.  Lovely as it was, it was FREEZING.  It was so much colder than outside and the cold stone floors seemed to shoot a frozen arrow upwards through the body.  We were the only people touring some of the rooms.  Actually, this is a big plus of visiting France at this time of the year.  Everybody tells us how packed it is in the summer.  Parking/driving/lining up/not finding a restaurant would make the whole thing much less enjoyable.  Just when we thought we couldn't get warm again, the tour came to an end in what do you thing?? A wine tasting!!! Can you believe our luck?  It turned out to be one of the best wine tastings we've ever done.  In a beautiful stone room  representing all the best vineyards in Cotes du Rhone.  A Great sommelier led us through it and we came out warm, satisfied and happy.  Nothing like wine to make you warm inside.  One great experience led to another and we went to a little tucked away wine bar  for lunch down a laneway (sound familiar?)  that had been suggested by a fellow Chefs School grad.  We just ordered some C.D.R. from the area to drink and ordered plates to share: A charcuterie plate, warm bone marrow to spread on toasts (amazing) with salad, Gratin of brandade-served warm which we told the kids was a "mashed potato cake", and finally cooked ham a cheese "sandwich".  All those who work/have worked in restaurants, picture this: we showed up 15 minutes before closing and were the only table.  Imagine how nice the service was.  We ignored it, ordered a second glass of wine and enjoyed every moment.  What a great day.  How about topping it off by looking for firewood?  At this point, its about 5 pm and most of the snow has melted leaving puddles everywhere.
I was driving towards a gas station and going under speed limit, go over a pot hole filled with water which punctures the tire.  OMG, WHAT THE HELL??? I can only credit past experiences in our almost 12 years of marriage, but we kept our cool and drove (very slowly) the 2 km back to our town and stopped on the edge of the village.  We called the rental company (again) and they had a towtruck to us in 25 minutes.  No charge.  Towtruck driver is so nice.  Its dark at this point, so I walk the kids home and then go back to wait with Aaron.  We get our spare tire on and make it home, stopping at the local pizza place to bring home dinner.
The next day we need to go to any Renault dealer for a permanent tire, so we go to the little one right near us.  No English.  I told them the pneu (tire) had gone......kaput??? This seemed to do the trick and we waited while they dealt with our rental company/insurance.  While we waited, they got out books/ crayons etc. for the kids (soo nice) and then told us to go eat lunch and come back.  We drove up to Gordes again, because its so stunning, and had a simple lunch.  On our way back to garage, the rental company calls and tells us the garage won't have a new tire and rim until the next day so they've arranged an alternate car for us.  When we arrive at the garage, there is a taxi waiting for us (all paid for) and they take us to our 1 day rental.  Amazing service just seems inadequate.  We now have our car back (which we call Paul, because that's what we've set our GPS to.  He has a New Zealand accent, which provides many opportunities for amusement.  Hazel has it down).  Anyway, what could have been a bad situation was handled expertly and we were on our way.  Whoever said French people were jerks never met the people we did I guess.  Or else we look really pathetic and they just feel sorry for us......
Today was another great day.  We went to Les Beaux de Provence and St. Remy de Provence.  These are towns that have attracted many a famous face.  Philosophers, writers, artists... you name it.  And now the Linleys.
Just outside St. Remy is Glanum, a Greek-Roman village where the ruins remain.  There is an archway that linked Italy to Spain and is in remarkable shape.  This was of great interest to the kids and was quite amazing to see.  The roads are lined with vines on one side and olive trees on the other.  We stopped for some olive oil on the way home.  Pretty cool.
Another famous resident of this area (at least in his most mad years spent at the asylum) was Vincent Van Gogh.  He painted many pictures of this area and you can see it in the rocks and landscape.  His painting "Nightime in St. Remy" echoes the area perfectly.  This kind of fascinated the kids (especially Liam) and he read anything he could about him.  What 10 year old boy wouldn't like the story of a genius artist who cut off his ear, lived in an insane asylum then killed himself in the end.  Some kind of hero.

One good thing came out of it though.  We've told the kids they are to be called "Van" and "Gogh" since their ears are painted on half the time anyway.  One point for parents everywhere.

its market day in provence

Today was a big market day around here. Wedon't have a colourful basket yet to tote our wares, but plans are underway. Vendors everywhere. I think I mentioned before about a customer of ours giving a very detailed description of things to do in the area. She has been bang on about everything. Yesterday we went to the gorgeous town of Lourmarin on her advice (where Peter Mayle now lives). It is so stunning its beyond words. Its in the Luberon region, which we didn't really know, but if anything makes one want to move to Provence, that is it. Little stone town, beautiful cafes and shops everywhere and a lazy way of life. On the way out we found a great "wine cave" where we bought some treats and went on our way-not before eating a lunch of omelettes and rose out on a terrace. Investigated some real estate opportunities. Only 200,000 Euros will have us toasting Peter Mayle in neighbourhood get togethers. Lotto 649, here come the Linleys. We're now trying to figure out if its legal to work all summer and pull our kids out of school every year. Stay tuned....
Today it was market day in Uzes. The grapes even smell purple....
Ok I think that was Tuscany, and not in winter, but still. So much fun. Tonight we will dine on oysters (3 euros for a dozen!!), monkfish tails,  fresh sea urchin-will be a first eating right from the shell and we bought a roasted chicken from an asian vendor stuffed with noodles! Sigh. Our only problem will be to choose the wine. It's the end of truffle season and they are the size of a small child's head! Seriously.
Then it was home for a game of petanque. We have joined the legions of elderly Frenchmen everywhere by taking a glass of wine outside the house and playing petanque, which we have to keep reminding ourselves not to call bocce. The palino is now called the cocchonet, but basically the rules are the same. Liam and Hazel played us and won, legitimately so they get to choose the treat for movietime tonight. We get British BBC on satellite so we're all watching Agatha Christie's Poirot tonight. Quite a change from our usual Saturday night!
Soon enough every Saturday night will be filled with " don't worry, you'll make the show..." and " freshen your drink guv'nor?" Can't wait.
A bien tot!

wine, wine, wine

Settling into the new house is amazing. there are 2 working fireplaces for chilly nights, although we haven't needed it yet. Everyone feels more at ease here. I shudder to say this village is like a Peter Mayle novel, but.....it is. The fridge is the size of a minibar fridge at home because we shop daily. There are any number of markets to choose from in the area on any given day and we have an amazing butcher and baker in St. Didier. Yesterday Hazel really strolled down the street with a baguette under her arm! She has a book called "Monsieur Saguette and his baguette" so she was fancying herself a character. I stopped short of giving her a beret. We have just explored the area. Yesterday poured with rain when we went to Avignon, so we will go again to see the Palais des Papes and the infamous Pont. I know my kids are going to sing the song right on the bridge, which I'm sure has never happened before.
Today was wine tour day. Get ready for this: In one day, we drove and tasted at Vacqueyras, Gigondas, Beames de Venise and Chateauneuf du Pape!!! I'm sure you couldn't do this during season as the roads and every degustation would be crazy, but today, I swear we were the only tourists in Vacqueyras which was pretty cool. I think it brought it home to both of us. Seeing the soil, the vines and tasting where the wine is made makes a huge difference. Not to throw in a wine term, but look it up if you need to : it is the definition of terroir. Especially Chateauneuf du Pape-seeing the stones that the vines are planted around was awe-inspiring. The wine was fantastic everywhere and people treated us very well. At Chateauneuf, the woman stayed open an extra half hour during her lunch break for us to taste!! We came home laden with wine. Tonight we will drink wine, eat cheese and charcuterie for dinner and steam some artichokes we bought at the market. I found an incredible hilltop artisanal bakery that I will visit in the morning. This weekend will be filled with markets. Famous food market in Uzes on Saturday and the world famous Isle Sur La Sorgue on Sundays. It is only 20 minutes from us, so I think we might go every week. Filled with food stalls, antiques, homewares etc.
exercise is taking on a whole new meaning. The only exercise we've been getting is raising the glass! The kids are being great! They were amazing sports for the wine tasting-the most hilarious thing is that there is a playroom in most of them. In France they REALLY want you to drink. Or maybe they are the most understanding parents ever. They know that after driving around, for kids there's nothing better than toys/books/bright things and for adults there's nothing better than booze of any colour

french mechanics and the darkness

a


First night at the house a resounding success. We get unpacked and make dinner for the first time in 2 weeks. This is really an amazing thing. Some people eat out every night. We have eaten out for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for ages and its time to stop. Kind of ironic for people who own a restaurant. Although in our case, I hope people come to Bijou for food they can't make on their own. Not all food in France is great. If you take it for what it is, you'll be fine, which is what we tend to do-at home and abroad or you'll never enjoy a meal out again. But....(and we noticed this in Italy also), once you get into a region of Europe, every restaurant serves the same thing. And I mean EXACTLY the same thing. So, if you have a good meal of say, chicken gizzards, duck confit etc. one night, do you really want to eat it again the next night? and the next? No matter how good it is, it gets old. Parents: we complain at home of every kids menu being the same-burger, pizza or chicken nuggets. I must say at least here its Jambon, burger or nugget poulet. If your kids don't like jambon (ham), don't come. It's everywhere. good thing my kids are old enough to eat 'regular' menu things and fortunately, my kids have been schooled at the "We love anything pig" institute.
So, today, was the day to get the car window fixed. We get a call to be at the carglass place at 4. We decide to make it a day of visiting hilltop towns. We drive up to Gordes (the edge of the cliff beside us has an infinite drop, which has the boys in the car turning green) which is stunning. The most beautiful view of Provence. Its 16 degrees here today!! We eat lunch outside in Roussillon and then head towards Carpentras to get the car fixed.
Ok, mechanics in Ontario don't speak English that well, let alone in the French countryside. I mean not a word. What is it about being in a foreign country that makes one lose all the brain cells? and I mean us, not him. I mean its his country after all. He speaks no English, and we speak no French. We manage to get that they have ordered the wrong window and the new one will be in on Thursday. He is nice as he has to count off the days of the week for us. We KNOW the French days of the week, but he speaks soooo fast that we have no clue. I am telling him the license plate like this: A as in Avignon. L as in-and, if you can believe this, I can't think of anything else, but La La La. So I'm telling this French guy "L as in la la la..." What do you think his after work beer conversation was about??
We'll return on Thursday. I'm a little afraid and I might purposely wear a low cut shirt.
Tonight during dinner, all the power in the house went out (we blew a fuse, but it took us a bit to figure that out and where it was) with the stove on and washer. We had a rousing game of pass the ace and then sat down to a dinner of roasted chicken stuffed with truffles (the huge truffle was bought in Sarlat at the market for peanuts! only 2 weeks left of truffle season!!), salade verte and roasted fingerling potatoes with truffle jus. The mechanic can kiss my a**
tomorrow is our dinner of only French conversation allowed. I'm curious to see if the kids get sick of it and go to bed first or we do. Either way, as my daughter and Miley Cyrus like to point out: "It's all about the climb"
Bonne Soiree

Provence at last

Well, we have left the Dordogne area-land of truffles and foie gras. I never thought we could tire of foie gras...it is in everything, on everything, is everywhere. Literally. We even passed a foie gras outlet. Seriously. I guess for those who like their foie gras good and cheap. We had a hilarious dining experience in the town where we stayed for 3 nights-Sarlat. On the recommendation of our hotel, we went to Le Quatre Saisons. It all soured in the first 3 minutes. The Maitre d' asked Aaron in French if he had a jacket for dinner. I mean, the kids were wearing jeans, and who walks in with a 7 and 10 year old to a place requiring jackets with no reservation? Anyway, Aaron took offense and took an immediate dislike to this guy. He speaks no English-fine, we muddle our way through. This is molecular gastronomy in rural France. Little foie gras cubes inside cotton candy as an amuse. Hazel loves it as she is the adventurous eater. Liam spits it out into a kleenex, declaring it the most disgusting thing he's ever eaten. Although he also thinks meat and 2 veg is the height of sophistication.
We see many people come in and none of the men are wearing jackets, which serves to make Aaron angrier by the minute. The young girl who is a sort of runner spills the wine all over the tray while she tries to open the kids oranginas with one hand, holding the tray with the other. The food is huge, overcooked and really not good. Aaron thinks his parsnip puree is off. We make our way through and get the hell out. Liam declares that we are now calling it "Le Crap Saisons", which we all have a good laugh at. Aaron just about stops himself from writing a bad review online. The next day, we're driving in the car and it suddenly occurs to me that the poor bloody Maitre d' might have been offering to take Aaron's coat, rather than ask if he had a jacket. OMG. This changes everything. We really need to improve our French.
To top it all off, the morning of leaving Sarlat, stress is high as we (yet again) try to get our kids and luggage into the car. Liam has (yet again) food on his face and I take a kleenex out of my coat pocket to wipe his face. He screams at the top of his lungs in medieval Sarlat "MUMMY, THAT'S THE FOIE GRAS KLEENEX!!!!" He's right. Worst mother. Although Aaron and I laugh pretty hard when their backs are turned.
Onwards to Provence. Turns out it's not a 4 hour drive, but more like 6 because of all the windy roads. Not too big a deal. The kids were great and we saw the Mediterranean for the first time!!! We arrive in our town of St. Didier, which is more like a village, and turn into our laneway. It is pothole filled and looks kind of drab. Without saying it to each other, we are a little worried, i think. BUT.....it is stunning and gorgeous. Better than we could have hoped. Every bedroom is lovely with a huge bed, beautiful linen. The kitchen is amazing with all marble counters and huge stove. We are in heaven, maybe and we might not come home

dining in the dordogne

Ok.....
First blog of the six week trip to France with the 10 year old darling son and 7 year old sweet daughter. We are 2 weeks in. By darling and sweet, I mean monster and gargoyle (and we've seen many a gargoyle, so I can attest). We decided to leave our happy home in Canada for a six week trip to France to eat, drink and be merry. So far, so good. 4 days in London with family-awesome-; 4 days in Paris-busy, although surprisingly easy to navigate. Metro is so easy, its a dream. Just carry hand sanitizer for when daughter decides to lick the handrail during rush hour...
Food is our life, so, took the kids to Atelier Joel Robuchon which was a really bonding-type experience. Staff was so awesome, they even sent out their signature pommes puree-but only for the ladies...man-French men even know how to sweet talk a 7 year old!! North American guys, listen up. Lots of sights. Even awesome when we split up and Aaron (husband) took daughter (Hazel) to Musee de la Poupee (doll museum for anglophiles) and you can imagine how much time we spent talking about Poupee meaning "dolls". My son and I went to the catacombes. Ok....we waited in line for about an hour to walk down about 80 steps to see six million corpses from overcrowded Parisian cemetaries all stacked up, in the dark, with skulls EVERYWHERE. Really amazing. By amazing I mean creepy as hell. Has anyone seen the scene from the second Twilight movie where they are leaving the Italian underground and they see the tourists being innocently led into the tombs for a "tour" only to hear bloodcurdling screams on their way out?? That's what it was like for me. Darling son loved it. I couldn't get the hell out of there fast enough, but of course nodded and said " of course, sweetheart, isn't it amazing? Too bad Daddy was too chicken to do it..."
Left Paris for a seamless drive down to the Loire Valley. Gorgeous there. Incredible to believe that its so close to insanely busy Paris