Day 6-Thursday

I was up early and on my bike by 7 AM.  My goal was to ride into Saint Saturnin in order to pick up a copy of l'Equipe and a fresh croissant.  The ride into Saint Saturnin was very steep; I was certainly feeling my age, and my weight too.  Unfortunately l'Equipe had yet been delivered, but I was not not too early for the croissant!  The croissant was heavenly...still warm from the oven.

This doesn't look steep, but it "kicked my butt sideways!"

Today's breakfast began with Kevin’s incredible melon soup, without a doubt one of my favorite things about staying at Le Mas Perreal.  Fresh squeezed orange juice, quiche Lorraine, and a delicious assortment of pastries from the local bakery kept us at the breakfast table for nearly one hour.

Our destination for the day was the city of Arles, which is about 90 km to the southwest.  The route took us through more populated areas as well as many fruit farms including apples, cherries, apricots, and melons.  

We arrived in Arles around 12:30 pm, walked around the Roman arena and past the Roman amphitheater to luncheon reservation at Le Criquet, a small restaurant where Joni and I happened to dine several years ago and loved it.  Although our walk to the restaurant was not that long, the temperature was creeping up to 90°, so we were happy to eat inside and escape the heat.  When travelling in a group of six, reservations for lunch and dinner are a necessity, and that was obvious when we arrived since every other table as taken except ours!

Our meal was fabulous and our waitress, who we presumed to be the owner, could not have been more enthusiastic, welcoming, and helpful.  

 

Fish soup with on the side Routlle sauce (garlie mayonnaise), croutons, cheese & garlic

Artichoke carpaccio, lemon olive oil & condiments of the day

Lemon Meringue, iight cream, caramelized almonds

                             Fromage blanc au coulis de fruits ou au miel

By the time we finished our lunch, we realized we only had about two hours to explore Arles so we knew we would not be able to catch all the sites made famous by the paintings of Van Gogh, so we headed to the Fondation (sic) van Gogh which opened in April 2014.  

On our walk we passed the Café de la Nuit.  Just seeing the locales that Vincent chose to paint is thrilling.   The cafe was originally not painted yellow during van Gogh’s life.  The building was actually painted white, but appeared yellow in van Gogh’s paintings as a result of the gas lighting of that era. 

The Fondation Vincent van Gogh’s mission is to pay homage to the work of Van Gogh while at the same time exploring his impact upon art today. 

Joni and I have visited this museum several times and it is always hit or miss in terms of how many of van Gogh’s works will be on display and what other artists will be featured. 

Unfortunately only two of Vincent’s works were there, and the featured artist, Sigmar Polke, was not that appealing.  He was a German artist, 1941-2010, who lived in East and West Berlin.  His works were very dark and disturbing as illustrated by a ten minute black and white film of him hugging the Berlin Wall. It reminded me of the LSD scene from Easy Rider where Peter Fonda’s character hugs a tombstone in New Orleans. Polke’s work is certainly thought provoking, and what more can an artist hope to achieve.  Maybe we should return to study his work with more care?

Bill and Rosemary relaxed while waiting for the rest of us to finish browsing the museum.  The converted cocktail van was awfully tempting on this hot day.

A popular cafe at the bottom of the steps that lead to the Roman arena.

Returning to Saint Saturnin took almost two hours due to heavy traffic, so the six of us just relaxed, some napped, some did laundry, and some enjoyed the pool.   

Our dinner last night was in the hilltop village of Goult at the Carillion Hotel.  Again a repeat visit, and our loyalty was clearly reward.  There wasn’t one item in our dining experience that was not outstanding.  The setting, the layout of menu, the enthusiasm of the owner and her assistant, the wine selections, and of course the food could not have been better.

Amuse Bouche

Panfried duck foie gras - strawberry/basil tartar - buckwheat crumble

Yellow heirloom tomato gaspacho - spring vegetables salpicon - sweet pepper sorbet - chorizo bellota chips

Grilled veal steak - aubergine caviar (mouss) - chickpea fries - reduced juice

Roasted prawns with satay - tomato tatin - balsamic reduced sauce - roquette salad

Roasted duck breast cooked on skin - mashed potatoes with chive - reduced sangria sauce with raspberries

Mousse choco-lait - croustillant pailleté feuillantine - crème fouettée cardamome - glace pistache de Sicile

Several choices I did not photograph included: a selection of matured cow cheeses - green salad with grilled almonds,  the apricot tartlet which included: apricot cream, poached apricot with rosemary, and an apricot sorbet.

This was a fabulous meal, maybe our best so far!