France trip, Jul 2007 - Sunflowers

Provence is not just about lavender. There are a fair few sunflowers fields too.

Did you know that the sunflower only orients itself to the sun when it is young? When it gets old, it would face whichever direction it pleases.

By the time we were leaving Provence, many of the fields were filled with dying sunflowers, looking totally disoriented!!

My new hair brush

For a long long time, I have been using SP's hair brush. It is a red plastic hair brush which serves its purpose and I was not fussed about it.

A few months back, we heard about the Mason Peason hair brush. It is produced by an old English company which have been making hair brushes since late 1800s. It is supposed to gently massage the scalp and polish (whatever that means!) the hair. It is handmade so it is very pricey. It is certainly the most expensive hair brush that I have heard of!

Recently, SP has again heard good things about these English hair brushes so I decided to treat myself. I got the brush today. The brush is made of boar bristles and it has a nice rubber cushion. I like the feeling of brushing my hair with this brush. It is very relaxing and comforting. I think it helps to divert my attention and helps me to distress!

Hopefully, it will also fulfill the promise of beautiful, polished hair.

France trip, Jul 2007 - Chez Bru

There were some misunderstanding at the one Michelin starred 'La Petite France' earlier in the day and the restaurant was closed when we arrived. As such, we missed out on trying this new Michelin-starred restaurant. As a result, we had high hopes for this two Micheline-starred restaurant.

The establishment is actually a bistro. It is located next to the intersection of two main streets of a small town and the tables spill out onto the pavement. We had a table indoor, which we preferred anyway. I have never been a fan of eating with my body facing the traffic.

Our aperatives arrived promptly. However, the waiter diluted SP's Pastis so much that it has became almost tasteless. SP wasn't a happy bunny to start off with. On the other hand, I was enjoying the appetisers of jambon and cheese cream with bread sticks. (There were also some aubergine cream, but I am not a fan of that family of vegetables)

We went for the degustation menu, hoping that it would give us some variety. Sadly, the restaurant doesn't do matching wine by glass so we were forced to order by the bottle. This turned out to be one of its main weaknesses! The wine recommended by the sommelier was terrible and the wine connoisseur (i.e. SP) on the table was rather upset even before the food arrives!

Leek soup (cold) and tomatoes and shrimp & crustacean butter on toast. It is not that special.

Tuna with foie gras and wasabi sorbet. It is a little fishy and we suspect that the fish is not perfectly fresh. I couldn't taste the foie gras at all. Neither can I taste the wasabi. I guess the olive oil is a bit too strong.

Ravioli of some sort with summer truffles. Summer truffles are not aromatic as their winter cousins. The flavour is also somewhat weaker. The soup/sauce tastes very delicious nevertheless. I wish there were one more ravioli with more sauce!

Roasted lobster, beans sauce and morelles & very very little of soba noodles. I love this sauce. It is thick but not too rich. The lobster was also quite nice. The portion is tiny though.

Pigeon with foie gras-tasting sauce. This is not bad. SP likes this because it is deboned and the meat is not overcooked. The sauce is very rich, but the mash potato is a bit ordinary.

Cheese for SP: Banon, Pepper and Corsica. I don't understand why he ordered the soft cheese, because he never like it. Anyway, the Corsica cheese is the best out of the three.

Cheese for me: x, y, and Rocherfort. I focused purely on the Rochefort. This is the proper stuff, not the kind made with pasteurised milk

Creme brulee with forest berries. It is so-so. It is not creamy enough and the sweetness was not consistent. It is kinda weird.

Post dessert petit fours type nibbles.

We were most upset by the price of the bottled water @ 10 euros each. It must be the designer bottle.

Overall, the food was only so-so. There are only a couple of dishes which I really like. The rest is kinda ordinary. The dessert was a disaster!

Would I recommend it? Absolutely not. Unless someone else is paying, of course! hahaha

France trip, Jul 2007 - Small towns and villages in Provence

I love the small towns and villages in Provence. The fact that we decide to return to Provence rather than going to a new place says it all.

I find the towns and villages to be traditional, beautiful and peaceful. It is very relaxing just to take a stroll around town, or sit at a cafe to watch the world (slowly) go by.

I love the fact that there is a fountain in almost all villages and town.

The water usually comes from a local spring. The water is very cold yet tasty! Spot the peach in the pool? SP put it so that it would become cold. He also put a watermelon in at some stage and it worked!

There are not excessive numbers of pigeons around the town. So instead of being a pest, the are kinda lovely,.

Some bigger towns will have monuments of their own. This octagonal chapel sits on the top of the hill at Forcalquie. The platform offers fabulous view to all directions.

Don't you think this photo looks like a painting almost? It is so beautiful!

Sisteron is another one of those amazing town! It is sometimes called the 'Porte de la Provence' (The Gateway to Provence) because it is in a narrow gap between two long mountain ridges. The almost vertical rock faces (in the photos) are great for rock climbing.

Random shot of an uphill path. It was so quiet.

Walking around at St Remy. It is an artist's town and there are many art galleries here.

What do you think this is used for? (answers below)

Flassan, with has less than 400 inhabitants. It has a great square and fountain. It is so picturesque!

French people love their bread. And they get their fresh bread everyday (Sometimes, twice a day!) And look at the moustache on the men's face! That's so French! :)

The village and town people grow all sort of things. This house has vines over their front door. Can you see the healthy bunches of grapes?

Some town has preserved their windmill, which is always a pleasant sight. We spotted this from afar and decided to drive into the town (Saint Saturnin-les-Apt). It turned out to be a very beautiful town with wonderful food. I bought a good amount of tinned foie gras from here (I cleared their geese foie gras stock!!)

Some towns just have a nice 'shape', such as the one in the photo (Gordes). Gordes is a rather touristy town. We spent more time here this time round because we wanted to walk through all the paths! We found that all paths eventually leads back to the town centre! Perhaps it is a good thing.

Here I am, looking through the real estate brochure to find a home for our retirement! Keep dreaming, JK! hahaha

Answer to the question above:

The area is the washing area for the village. This comes way before washing machine though!

France trip, Jul 2007 - Local markets

In the Provence region, there are a number markets everyday. There is usually a market within the distance of a 20 minutes drive.

SP and I visited a couple of the markets. I love the small town markets and we also stocked up on a number of French produce.

The Sault market, which has a history all the way back to 1515.

Lavender bouquets. Great for hanging.

Lavender sold by weight

Fresh veg


Sausages. We love the French sausages.


Cheese. This is not the supermarket stuff!

Roast birds. The French birds taste better than the English and Australia ones.

"Security guard" at one of the store


Summer truffles.



Ham. I love cured ham. It was too big to bring back to the UK though.

France trip, Jul 2007 - Vineyards

We have done a number of wine tasting during this trip. There are A LOT of bargains if you approach the small vineyards directly. It is a shame that we are leaving France by air. Otherwise, I could imagine SP dragging cases and cases of wine back to UK!

Nevertheless, we had fun tasting wine and speaking to the local producers. The wine region is also very picturesque:

Driveway to a winery.

SP with the vine.

A close-up of the produce.

A well, built in the typical Provencal way. It is no longer in use though.

Can you find me?

France trip, Jul 2007 - Simiane la Rotonde

During our stay in Provence, we stayed at a Hamlet in Simiane la Rotonde. (Technically, it is outside of the village but it falls under the village postal range.)

Simiane la Rotonde is a very quiet village. It is not touristy at all. The most touristy part must be the 12th Century rotunda. It is what remains of a château, which once belonged to the noble Simiane-Agoult family.

The rotunda is beautifully restored and it is the site for the ancient music festival. I am sure it will make an amazing performing venue!

From the outside. The building on the right is the rotunda. As you can tell from the photo, it is not exactly round, but polygon-shaped.

The viewing platform offers a great view to the lavender fields.

The rest of the village is very charming:

The house is a pottery.

If you enjoy painting or drawing, there are many beautiful spots on offer. The best thing is that there are not many visitors in this village. So you can paint/draw in peace and quiet.

Well, that is until a nosy photographer decides to take pictures of your drawings!

For more information:
http://www.simiane-la-rotonde.fr/