As I mentioned in last week’s blog posts, I was on vacation. Vincent and I were invited by a couple that we know from Paris, he’s American, she’s French, to their house in the Luberon region of Provence.
We took the TGV from Gare de Lyon to Aix Provence, a three-hour train ride, and traveled with another couple who are mutual friends with the couple in the Luberon. I have only been to Provence once before about ten years ago to Egalieres, near Saint Remy, so this was a new part of Provence I had not been to before.
We rented a car at the station with air conditioning (Thank god, because the first few days in Provence were scorching, in the mid to high 90s Fahrenheit) and drove about 50 minutes on mostly, single lane, country roads. We passed lots of farms and vineyards, with verdant green pastures and on the horizon, there were mountains.
We arrived in Puyvert, a postage stamp of an ancient village and besides the city hall and a school, there was no commerce or stores except for a pizza restaurant, which was closed.
My friends had just moved into the house less than a month ago, and they were eager to show us their new showplace. The entrance had an arched dark wood door, and once we were inside, we walked down a gravel pathway. The stone house has three levels and was built in the late 1600s. A few feet down the path on the right was a stairway with about six steep steps and to the right was an enormous guest room suite, larger than my living room in Paris. A flight of stairs in the guest room led to an extended loft/ bedroom.
On the left of the stone stairway is the upstairs living quarters which included a largescale living room with high ceilings and a giant, stone fireplace, a kitchen and pantry, and the master bedroom suite. On the third floor there were three, small quaint, guest bedrooms. The highlight of the upstairs is an outdoor terrace with gorgeous views of the garden and pool below and extended view of meadows and mountains.
Eggplant and chickpeas with fresh thyme picked from the garden
If you continue down the gravel path at the entrance, there are two guest bedrooms, and a cozy, outdoor, covered nook with a banquette covered in colorful fabrics and pillows. The extra goody on the main floor was another full kitchen, or what is called the summer kitchen, where we cooked all of our meals.
I saved the best part of the house for last: the swimming pool and extended garden. To me there is nothing more inviting than a dip in a swimming pool in the summer heat and this rectangular pool was more than inviting with its refreshing water. It was surrounded by a number of towering and formal cypress trees. The long garden path had a pond with fish in it, a few lavender bushes at the end of their bloom, many other lush plants and bushes, and section growing black bamboo.
Our very loose schedule was we would visit a market or village in the morning for a few hours before it became too hot outside and then coming home to swim in the pool, relax in the shade, play cards, read, and nap.
We mostly cooked lunch and dinner at home using the fresh produce and products we bought at the food markets and roadside fruit and vegetable stands including fragrant melons, succulent peaches, creamy, handmade goat cheese, black and green olive tapenades made locally, fresh figs, Moroccan merguez sausages, and killer, beefsteak tomatoes.
We had long dinners while drinking local rosé wine and watching the sunset turn into the blue hour. One evening there was a magical full moon shining from the clear sky. It was great to spend time catching up with our friends who we hadn’t seen in months because of the Covid-19 restrictions.
My next few blog posts will be about our visits to the wonderful, nearby villages and sights, so stay tuned for more about Provence.
This parking sign was embedded in the tree!
This is the old fountain where residents would wash their clothes
The glass cabinet is a lending library
I am happy to have the prolific author John Baxter as my guest on A Bite of Paris. John has written many books about Paris including The Most Beautiful Walk in World, We’ll Always Have Paris, and books about the neighborhoods of Paris. Montmartre, Saint Germain des Pres, and Montmartre. John has also written two books about food in France, The Perfect Meal and Eating Eternity.
John and I had coffee outdoors at the pastry shop and café, Gerard Mulot, in Saint Germain des Pres.
Please watch the video at this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpPCLR-6ACg
For more about John and to purchase his books go to https://www.johnbaxterparis.com/
Please share this video and don’t forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel.
