A visitor's journal
Dory
Kanter, an artist and author (Art Escapes, published by
North Light Books), was a recent visitor to Bello Visto. She kindly
agreed to share excerpts from her travel journal here.
Monday
Steve
[Dory's husband] and I hiked from Roussillon to Gordes. Roussillon is
where the famous Provençal pigments come from--they're part of the soil
there. Steve bought me an assortment as (another!) early birthday present.
The
walk was about 7 miles and very nice--pretty, and well marked. The coolest
thing is that a sweet dog adopted us on the way and shepherded us, going
ahead of us to scout out the path and even guiding us around a couple
of muddy spots. He'd wait for us to catch up, then move forward again.
When we came to a road, though, he sat on his side of the road and watched
us till we were out of sight; that was clearly as far as he was supposed
to go.
We'd planned the walk with the help of the guidebooks and maps we found in the library at the house. It's a really useful collection of materials, just about everything you could want to know about Provence. The owners also created a loose-leaf notebook with tips about the local restaurants and shops, sights, markets and events.
When we got home we relaxed at the wonderful pool and Steve made his citron pressé. Dinner was Tunisian sausage with peppers and onions, a salad, and some of the good Cairanne wine.
For the Bello Visto readers, let me add a word about the kitchen. What I love--apart from the dishwasher--is how many dishes, glasses, serving pieces and cooking utensils there are, and how high their quality is. That's so different from a lot of rental houses. It's like cooking and serving at home, but at home you can't go outside and see this view. There's a whole shelf of cookbooks too. Another thing I like is the house policy that when you arrive, all the staples (seasonings, flour, sugar, condiments, laundry soap, etc.) are there, and guests replenish them as they run low. That's so much nicer than arriving to an empty larder and having to buy everything from scratch.
Tuesday
Tuesday is market day in Vaison la Romaine, about fifteen minutes
away. It goes on for blocks and blocks, not just food--though the food
is great--but all sorts of stuff, including clothes. It's also a fine
place for people-watching; the guy and his dog on the right were part
of the fun. We checked it all out, then had outstanding crepes for lunch
at La Fleur de Sel. We also paid a visit to the Payrerol patisserie,
which has to be about the best pastry shop I've ever encountered. Steve
had a private conversation with them while I waited outside. I'm playing
dumb, but I think there's a pastry from Peyrerol in my future for my
birthday on Sunday.
Back in Cairanne, w
e stopped by the Belvedere wine shop and tasted
half a dozen local wines. The fellow who minds the store is really knowledgeable
about the wines and very helpful. We picked up a couple of our favorites
and brought them back to the house. Though it's certainly possible to
pay more, we've found a number of excellent wines that only run about
6-10 euros a bottle, which seems quite reasonable.
For dinner we went up the road fifteen minutes to Villedieu. There's a restaurant there called La Maison Bleue that has tables outside in the town square, next to a lovely fountain. They're known for their pizza, which was wonderful. The whole experience just couldn't have been nicer.
Wednesday
We
walked down the hill and bought croissants and brought them back and
had them with coffee on the terrace. It was so pleasant I just spent
the morning there reading and enjoying the beautiful view. For lunch
we went to Saint Roman de Malegarde, which is five miles up the road
and barely qualifies as a village. But it has a neat little restaurant
called Chez Claudette that serves a three course lunch with wine for
something like 7 euros, a huge bargain. We decided to walk back, an
easy stroll past some of the vineyards that surround Cairanne.
I did a painting this afternoon of the view out our bedroom window showing our little balcony and the houses and vineyards we see. On a more mundane note, I did a couple of loads of laundry in the washer and dryer at the house. It's so convenient having those appliances handy, a huge improvement over the situation at hotels.
We made dinner from food we'd picked up in Cairanne on the walk back from lunch, along with some delicious cheese (Saint Marcellin) we bought yesterday at a cheese store in Vaison. After dinner we watched a DVD of "La Vie en Rose," the movie about Edith Piaf's sad life; Marion Cotillard won an Academy Award for her performance as Piaf. It seemed like a perfect movie to watch in France.
Thursday
A quiet morning at home by the pool, and some charcuterie for
lunch
at the poolside table. In the afternoon Steve and I drove around some
of the close-by villages at the foot of the Dentelles--Seguret, Sablet,
Gigondas and Beaume de Venise. Strolling around Seguret, we found a
couple of nice art galleries, and in Gigondas on top of the hill, a
collection of contemporary art at the Hospices. We couldn't pass up
some wine tasting in Gigondas and Beaume de Venice.
For dinner we sauteed some chicken breasts (in France the chicken is darker and more flavorful) and served it with potatoes au gratin and a pear tart. With the tart we had a bottle of wonderful Muscat we found in Beaume de Venise, a real treat.
Friday
We took a road trip to Aix-en-Provence today, about an hour and a quarter away. It's an actual city of 140,000, and while it's all very manageable, it makes me treasure even more the peaceful and relaxed pace of Cairanne. Cézanne spent most of his life in Aix, and his last atelier is open to the public. We enjoyed seeing many of his possessions placed there as if he'd just stepped out of the room. We also did some shopping and had a Vietnamese lunch.
We took the slow way home through beautiful pristine country roads. The almost total absence of traffic is a terrific change from what I'm accustomed to. At dusk we stopped in the magnificent hill town of Venasque for a light dinner and to enjoy the superb views.
Saturday
Today
is market day in Ste. Cecile les Vignes, a town just a couple of miles
from Cairanne. The market is a block or two in length, mostly fresh
food (vegetables and fruit, meat, seafood, cheeses, breads, pastries)
and clothes. While exploring a church courtyard in the town, Steve decided
to practice his downward-facing dog yoga position. Fittingly, this piqued
the curiosity of an actual dog.
In
the afternoon I did some reading and painting. We took a few minutes
to visit the Domaine Galuval winery in Cairanne, where the very gracious
owner let us taste several wines. We also enjoyed the art gallery next
to the tasting room; the owner's wife is an artist and manages the gallery.
We made dinner at home from local food we'd bought at the Ste. Cecile market and wine we picked up at Domaine Galuval--terroir at its best.
Sunday
Today is my birthday. For most women of a certain age, birthdays pass with little notice. I am not one of those women.
We took another short road trip today, to the Alpilles, a mountain range (part of the Luberons) about 12 miles south of Avignon. In addition to the rugged and beautiful scenery, there's a cavern (actually an old limestone quarry) in Les Baux de Provence in which they project Van Gogh paintings onto the 40-foot high walls and the floor, accompanied by music. The paintings are all around you, on every surface, a truly immersive experience. It's called the Cathedrale d'Images, and while it may be pop culture, it's great fun.
On the way back we stopped in the charming little town of St. Remy de Provence. There just happens to be an outstanding chocolatier there which we felt obliged to visit, and it would have been churlish not to sample the wares.
The high point of the day, however, was the birthday dinner Steve and our friends made for me once we were happily back in Cairanne. (While they prepared dinner, I was on the phone with our children in New York and Los Angeles, courtesy of the super-cheap Skype connection that the house's high-speed Internet connection makes possible.) We feasted on Champagne aperitifs, amuse-bouche, Caesar salad a la Steve, magret de canard with Port wine sauce, risotto, haricots vert, an assortment of cheeses, and (the pièce de résistance) a gateau of lavender, lemon and chocolate from Peyrerol in Vaison. To be with my wonderful husband and good friends in such a delightful place was everything this birthday girl could have wished for.
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