Food in Provence (and elsewhere)

After a bit of a lie-in to recover from the efforts of the week, J. and I head back to Pézenas for more of an explore as we’d planned on our visit at the end of April. We leave our car at the hotel and head off into the town—a very short walk via a bridge over a wide dry channel with a trickle of a tributary to the Hérault running down the middle. We imagine what it would look like after a heavy rainfall.

After another beer and coffee, we wander along, half looking at the market, half following the green guide tour. We soon find the collégiale St Jean which, we are surprised to find, is playing churchy music. We listen for a while but plan to come back as the treasury is only open in the afternoon. The old narrow streets are full of boutiques and craft shops (we guess they make their money from tourists rather than locals); our attention is particularly drawn by the earrings at Terre et Plume. J. plans to return in the afternoon.

After a pleasant lunch at Chez Hansi, we complete our tour of the old town, revisiting both the collégiale and the earring shop, then head to the hotel for dinner, Gastronomicom homework for me and diary writing for J.

Over breakfast on Sunday we decide to visit the Abbaye de Valmagne, despite worries it will compare poorly to Fontfroide. We arrive to find that there is some sort of spring festival so the church, cloisters and grounds are full of various stalls. This makes the visit a bit difficult but it would be hard to miss the immense foudres that were installed in the (deconsecrated) church in 1820 and used to store wine until 1996.

We decide to skip the food trucks and manage to reserve the last table for lunch at the restaurant, to which we return after looking round the gardens (less extensive than those at Fontfroide) and vineyards (likewise, but actually there rather than scattered round the countryside…). Lunch is interesting. It seems someone has accepted a couple of large bookings and our waitress is somewhat pressed. Luckily we are not in a hurry and manage to order and be served aperitifs whilst we are waiting for the peripatetic menu; our neighbouring table is not so lucky. The standout dish is a shallot tatin which J. thinks I should photograph with the intention to reproduce at home.

Back to the residence for a siesta, supper, blog and diary writing and homework.