Tails From Provence

Really, Snow?

Are you serious? Just when I manage to get back into gear and start working the horses again (they were good boys) you do this :

Now I have to collect the LSH from the airport which involves a drive over the Luberon. Ugh. Wish me luck.

Even Cookie doesn’t seem impressed any more.

Thank Friday it’s Lunchtime – Café du Cours, Reillanne

I will confess, that the Café du Cours is one of our favourite lunch spots. I’ve been reluctant to include it in TFIL on that basis – are we biased? I suppose we are – biased because the food is great, the staff are friendly, and it’s in a lovely spot looking over the square in Reillane?

Trying to stay objective anyway, here’s how our lunch went.

We were meant to go to Forcalquier, but the LSH was busy with work, so we needed to stay local. Ok, Café du Cours it is, we agreed.

We ambled up and sat down on the terrace in the sun, and quickly took our coats off. Oh yes. It was like a summer’s day, except for the snow on the roof of the church beside us.

They don’t do a menu du jour, as such, but they change their menu regularly.

For starters, I ordered the Foie Gras, and the LSH ordered the Velouté de Topinambour. Neither of us had a clue what that was, and when it arrived, it looked like a bowl of porridge.

Ever curious, I asked what it was. The chef told us that it was a vegetable that was used as a substitute for potato in the war, and then brought one out to show it to us – AH! Jerusalem Artichoke! I’ve never cooked it, and I don’t think we’ve ever eaten it before, but it was nice, I’d have it again. Rumour has it that it has some unpleasant effects on the digestive system – I can categorically state that these rumours are not unfounded.

I ordered the Foie Gras Mi-cuit au Calvados… yum. Sorry animal rights people, I love Foie Gras.

For our main courses, well there were Moules et Frites on the menu, the LSH’s favourite, so that was a no-brainer, while I orders Faux Filet… or Faux Filly, so definitely NOT horse, then.

The moules were big and juicy, the faux filet (it’s sirloin) was very tasty but could have been more tender… yeah, I’m nitpicking, just trying not to be biased, y’know.

For dessert, I’m watching my figure, so I had coffee, while he chomped his way through a Crème Brûlée – flavoured with thyme. OH BOY, does that work!!! WOW!

So, the ratings.

Service : ✮✮✮✮✮ (with a smile!)

Food : ✮✮✮✮

Value : ✮✮✮✮

Ambiance : ✮✮✮✮✮

I was mean and I knocked a star off for my tough steak… it would be 4.5 stars if I had a Half Star symbol.

Café du Cours is a very traditional French Café. It’s been there for years and years – in fact we saw a photo of the exterior which had been taken in the 1920s, and if you changed the faces and the clothes, it could have been taken yesterday.

What I’m trying to get around to saying is, if you’re going to be offended by a toilet like this :

make sure you go to the loo before you visit. Or else cross your legs. It’s worth the pain.

A Promise

There’s a feeling in the air, a hint of something coming. It’s not just me, others have noticed it too – there’s more activity going on, more people around, more of a bustle about the place.

I spotted this on a walk ten days ago, just before the snow fell :

Last week, I noticed that a certain dark bay horse is starting to do this :

and I saw a whole bunch of these guys sunning themselves, the same day :

The LSH thought this photo was insect porn, I disagree, I think they were just sunbathing.

Today I took the dogs for a walk along the ridge near Montjustin. I have to confess to having bought a retractable leash for Cookie, not something I ever thought I would do! It’s hard to see, but it stands out more clearly in the shadow :

She loves it. Apparently it tastes delicious.

(Such behaviour is frowned on. We’ve been frowning on it for 18 months now. I don’t think frowning is working.)

The ridge was just glorious. The dogs had a great time, and it was nice and dry so I didn’t have to worry about Cinny’s wounds getting wet and dirty. There were a few lizards trying to warm up in the sunshine, which both dogs thought was great fun.

There were loads of bees doing something very industrious at a puddle. Don’t ask, I have no idea. I just hope you can see them.

I saw a hummingbird hawkmoth – a live one, this poor sod died last week trying to butt his way out of one of our skylights.

I saw two butterflies, and managed to get a photo of one

I saw a booted eagle too, soaring high above the valley floor, level with me. By the time I got my camera out, he had soared right behind some trees. Typical.

I saw a hint of leaf buds on an almond tree