Photographs of the special lunch

A very special lunch...

Memorable dining in Isles de Sorgue

Today we were going to go to a near by town to see the Abbey and some heritage gardens but the girls had had their heads together and it had been decided to take me to this very attractive town built around rivers channeled through it and referred to as the Venice of Provence.
The difference was here the water was clear and running naturally.
I was taken to a Michelin Star restaurant on the banks of the Sorgue River and spoilt by Justine with a four course lunch with Max and her mother, and son Swan.
The setting was very relaxing and a most attentive waiting staff who were very know led able about the food options.
We had such lovely food served with local wine. Each course was amazing. I had to take a photo of each course to show how beautifully presented it was and original. The main course for instance was a most succulent piece of pork served with black pudding sauce, rhubarb and strawberries sounds odd but it worked.
With coffee there were little delectable morals to finish the meal, even though we had had dessert. It took me along time to process all that food.I did not eat until the following day!
We had a very long lunch, just as well I had got out earlier and walked around the river banks to see the famous bridge according to the song, Sur le Pont....and used up a few calories.
Later we had a walk around the town itself which had lots of arty exhibits and old heritage buildings dating back centuries.
There were a lot of antique shops along the river with garden staues, water features and objects de art that were very tempting.Just as well there is a luggage limit.
We had to be back in town by five so I could walk to the railway station close to Justine's place to catch the train. The girls packed me onto the right train and off I went to Marsailles.
The trip back to London was an easy one but it took a long time by plane, train and tube so it was after midnight by the time I reached Number 10. Louise had waited up for me so it was a nice reunion at a very late hour.....

Another day in Paradise. .....

The attractions of Avignon continue. The weather is still very hot and about 34 degrees. Abde was busy painting and doing up Justine's interior rooms so they are undergoing a transformation. He has also plastered the bathroom and the hallway and cleaned out the pool.

We spent a lot of Tuesday hanging out at home, watching Abde work while sipping tea on the outdoor courtyard and discussing what might be a good show to go to.
By the time decisions were made there were no tickets left for that one but we did manage to get seats for Monsieur Choufleuri,a French farce deemed to be suitable for non speaking French persons to enjoy.

We sorted out my train tickets to get to the airport on Wednesday and then had a wander around some of the festival displays.

One installation captured my interest. It was a requiem to the lost sock. Everybody has them!!! They even had a sack hanging at the bottom corner for donations to re-unite the lucky ones.

Anyway the play was great .I could understand little as it was all in French but it followed the farce format so you knew the goodies and the  baddies and the father rejecting the suitor etc but what was so good was the music and acting.A top performance and very skilled, a delight to watch.
Justine had a friend, Max coming for dinner so we had Quiche Lorraine, a very French dish and Justine made a cherry dish, Choulet I think it might be so again we ate well and talked until late.
Max is an interesting young woman, once married to a Morrocan but now single with a very handsome son,Swan who was also captivated by Pokemon.I see a cartoon in the ODT so it must be the craze at home too.Max is American but schooled in France and she and Justine are going to run English speaking classes in the new term.

Arty Avignon

It has been a lovely end to my European journey.It has been very special to spend time with Justine,Augustin and Abde in this timeless city.
Justine lives on the edge of thee old town city walls,close to the train and rail station and within really easy walking distance of the Pope's Palace and other historic sites.
The day I arrived mid afternoon was hot and windless and we walked into town for lunch at a pop up restaurant site in  private home.The annual Avignon summer festival is on here and the city goes into theatre mode. There are pamphlets and posters everywhere advertising all the different performances.
Tourists and French traveller's pour into the city so locals rent out their houses and go off for a holiday to escape the crowds.

Restaurants spring up and people from street theatre groups,music and dance acts hand out leaflets as you walk along the streets inviting you to attend their performance. Some are performing in the squares and cafes as you walk by. It is all very colourful and frenetic.
Sadly most are in French so I am left clueless.Justine thought we might be able to go to a dance or music event tonight.
We enjoyed a lovely lunch in this restaurant run by a friend of Justine- she  knows so many people in the city as does Abde, we are stopping and greeting people as we walk,three kisses on the cheek is the custom. I had a jamon and melon dish which was light and lovely for the temperatures.

Justine took us to a her favourite haven a five star hotel where she and a friend meet for tea or a wine to unwind. It was lovely and we sat in the lounge off the terrace and enjoyed cold drinks and some snacks provided by the management.He invited us to go downstairs to look at an exposition they were sponsoring in the cellars.It was a display of dead skeletons and parts of animals arranged in sculptural designs,not my thing but as Justine said it reminded her of Robert when he wanted to be a taxidermist and kept dead animals in the freezer! Poor Liz!

Later we explored around the Pope's Palace and up to the gardens that overlook the city.The craze here is Pokemon Go and Augustin and Adam were enjoying all the action.The craze is so established that when Justine and Augustin went out yesterday to get him a remote battery connector so he could still play on holiday they were sold out.

I call him the Pokemon boy!!! We dropped him off yesterday to go and stay with his grandmother near Nice and then to go sailing with his father.
Justine and I went off and had a lovely lunch in the square at St Remy a place Chris ,Rachel, the Boyes and I visited in 2008.I did not expect to come back so a treat. 

We then went to Les Baux where we went to the  Carrrieres De Lumiieres to see the Chagall Exhibition in the cave like  the Van Gogh one years ago.
It is the most magical experience to walk around in this huge limestone cave with images unfolding to music above ,around and under your feet.It is hard to explain but it is powerful emotionally.It is so cool inside too compared to the sizzling temperatures outside. We were going to go back to St Remy to walk around the shopping area but Justine tripped as we were walking back to the car skinning her leg so we decided to head back home and get it dressed.
Later that evening friends came for dinner and Justine prepared a lovely meal of figs,roquefort cheese wrapped in jamon and grilled in the oven with salads.We sat outside under the grape vine until late eating and drinking a very nice wine with a mixture of French and English language floating around the table. 

Pinch me stuff.

The previous evening we had driven out to a beautiful rural retreat on a vineyard for a celebration party for one of Justine's friends in her Ladies of Avignon group. There were two hundred people there and their children had organised it for their parents to celebrate their 50th birthdays and twenty five years married.
People camped there and they had a swimming pool and the meal was laid out on tables under the stars.There were a mixture of Dutch and French people so it was very entertaining.I managed to have a lot of conversations with people despite my lack of linguistic skills. Later there was dancing and socializing until late into the night. The couple celebrating were wine makers so the wine flowed especially a delicious rose which was their specialty wine and beer-the Dutch took the beer preparation very seriously. 

This was an amazing night under the stars looking up at a mountain which glistens white at night because of the geology of the region.Mt Vetoux it might be.I need to check these spellings.
It was a very late night by the time we arrived home so I think I slept the sleep of the dead.