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I've been in Maussane since August 1st, so there are still a couple of weeks to cover before I am up to date, but this afternoon's blog is about stuff. I get a lot of comments and questions about travelling for such an extended time  through France with a large pet, as well as queries what do I actually do for the weeks I am on my own and so on. What do I do?!?!? I tour!!!! All day, every day until I get to Maussane!

We've been coming to France for a few summers, and this one marks our ninth at the Villa Jasmin, where the way we enjoy it best is to share it with friends. We always get a bit of time on our own mixed in with our visitors, and I am never ever happy to leave here. I spend the first two weeks prior to coming to the Villa J on a road trip, and have done now for many, many years.

 For seven of his 10 plus years, Finbar The Legend travelled with me, and now his successor,  Hanley, is here for his second Euro-jaunt.  Packing for six weeks for dog and woman-who-likes-options-in-her-closet-and-can't- survive-without-a-suitcase-of-books, is a challenge, plus the heat here is intense and has to be factored into planning. Hanley alone weighs 75 pounds, plus crate, plus his suitcase containing several weeks of dry cereal  (Lyall arrives later with more cereal to last the trip. Yes, they have dog food here, but do you really want me to go into details about Hanley's dietary/health history? Trust me, schlepping the right food is much much better than coping with six weeks of the wrong one), treats, leads, about 10 squeaky tennis balls, brushes, collapsable bowls. If you have been following this blog or FB, you know that I love to hike, so that means striking out into the morning before the heat gets too much for the hound, and here you need to do your homework and find a water bottle like this one, which clips onto my belt or waistband and makes me feel less guilty about dragging the boy off on what can sometimes be 12km or more:

Life-saving water bottle

And while I am on the subject of water, here is a nifty thing my friend Jane Osler put in my Christmas stocking a few years ago:

She found it at The Gourmet Warehouse. Even though at most French restaurants and cafes the dog is presented with a bowl of water before I am given anything at all, there are times you need this amazingly simple, yet fantastic thing.

And still on the subject of water and packing, and I am almost embarrassed to share this (but I know I must because there have been witnesses), one of the things I had to pack was:

Yes, a life jacket for the dog. The only Irish Water Spaniel in the world who won't go into the water unless it is a calm lake. We tried and tried last year to help Hanley cool off, but whereas much of his predecessor's legend came from his love of belly-flopping into pools, plunging into fountains (some embarrassing moments there), leaping into an  inflatable above-ground pool (more embarrassment, but thankfully no damage), running through and sitting on sprinklers, Hanley would have none of it and while we splashed and gamboled he would sit in the poolside shade and pant. I was determined to get him in this year, and while he may not like it much, once he's in he's fine - and cool, hurray! He's no Finbar, but he's much more comfortable than he was.

Electronics and gadgets used to interest me a lot more than they do these past few years, but I have become very fond of my iPad Mini and was using it quite a lot to take photos until one day, quite recently, it fell into the wrong hands, and in a near-suicidal attempt to return to me, it flew out of those wrong hands and into the road. It still functions, but sliding my finger across the screen is becoming dangerous. A paperless paper cut, if you will.

I'm not naming names, but someone here isn't allowed to use the Mini except under strict supervision.

Another gadget that I am enamoured of is the Jawbone UP bracelet: this is a wearable I learned about from Aliya Reynolds. This bracelet is tracking my every move, so to speak: it is a pedometer, a calorie counter (I don't use that application - yuck), but more importantly, it is tracking my sleep patterns. Over the years I have become a terrible sleeper owing to an accident many years ago and several subsequent years of trauma-drama. Not going into the years-long saga as that would be boring, but suffice to say, as I was on what turned out to be a slow road to recovery, Mother Nature decided I wasn't being tested to my limits and decided to do what She could to slow me down. Many, many years later, with all the other damage resolved, I still find it difficult to slip comfortably and remain in the arms of Morpheus for more than a few hours at a time. The UP band is giving me useful feedback on how long it takes me to fall asleep each night, how long I am sleeping deeply/lightly, how many times I get up in the night, how long I remain in bed once I am awake....and charting it on a trend for me. It is doing the same with my exercise: when you register your goals you learn that the average person would be doing their cardio health the world of good if they  were to take 10,000 steps a day: like an idiot I promptly set my goal at 15,000, which is very hard to do in the average day. For example, yesterday I spent most of the day here, only walking into the village to buy a few essentials, walk the dog a couple of times, but not far - and I only managed 2,525 steps. So this morning I was determined not to let another day like that slip by, and hiked 16,233 steps, or 7.5 miles. Uphill.  So the UP band is working as a great incentive for me, which surely can only improve sleep. There are more options attached to this thing, but these are the only ones that I am interested in at the moment.

I bought it online from Future Shop, and I think it was $179.00

On the subject of electronics, one of the things the two solo weeks gives me is the occasional early evening, thanks to weather, usually. This summer I was confined to quarters by torrential downpours in Beaune, but it gave me a chance to read and to watch shows I download through the year. I would tell you what I've been reading, but then this blog would wander into a book review and while it is tempting, I don't want people who know there are other things I should be spending my 

downtime' on, knowing what I was doing instead of those 'other things', nor do I have the time - I can barely keep up with  blogging what I am eating, never mind what reviewing my reading list!  Suffice to say, I am not exaggerating about packing a case of books, and don't even talk to me about e-readers: I get it, I just don't want it! But to give you some idea: over the nine Augusts we've had at the Villa Jasmin I have read a number of books in a wide variety of genres. I always try to pass them along to visitors but quite a few get left behind, and for some reason my landlord has saved them all on a table in the upstairs hall. I'm not sure why, perhaps he likes the idea of being able to offer his English speaking friends a book, or maybe he just likes the way they look, but here is what I would guess are about half the books I've read over the 8 and a half Augusts:

Movies I've watched this summer: during the big storm in Beaune I watched Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire in Funnyface. I had never seen it and it was just perfect for an early, rainy evening. A few days later I watched In the Loop, a British movie a friend recommended for my summer downloads: it was TOO TOO FUNNY! Like West Wing on steroids, or Veep to the power of ten, and I heartily recommend it. I was laughing like a loony and had to pause it a few times :)

TV: well, on this I am a bit slow: I didn't know The Office had ended, or when, but I downloaded some final episodes and enjoyed them both, though what I am really excited about is Luther, another Brit show with a central character I find very, very compelling. I've also downloaded Scandal, though the first episode didn't do much for me. No more time for watching things now, though. I have too much happening back home I need to work on, plus this %^$* blog I've committed to.

And, finally, the last but most important gadget has to be the GPS, or "the marriage saver" as OMBO likes to call it. The one I'd had for many years went on strike when I landed in Frankfurt, so getting to my first hotel was quite a bit of 'by guess and by golly', thus when the very kind person at the front desk offered to have someone get me a new one from the local burg, I jumped at it, and oh, what a relief!

And before I sign off, this would be the appropriate place to say a HUGE thank you to Matt Ion, for helping me along the blogspot pitfalls.

Next post: All Maussane, all the time! Right now, it is time to have a cooling off swim and then head to the village for dinner: I must re-focus all my energy on Eating for Canada!!

Queries? Objections? Corrections?

Please post comments and I shall endeavour to improve.

Installment V

At two plus weeks behind and now that 'Provencal Paralysis has set in, it will be a challenge to remember all that I have eaten for Canada, but on a 36C day without a breath of a breeze, it seems a good time to sit down with the laptop and try to bring this blog up to speed.

I left off at Beaune, from whence I travelled to my first stop in Provence, Valaurie. It was about 3.5 hours, so I enjoyed several stories by David Sedaris en route. In many of his tales he talks about the years he and his partner Hugh owned a house in Normandy. They also lived in Paris, so Normandy was their bolt hole in the countryside. He had the funniest essay about his relationship with his Paris dentist and his periodontist, and I was in stitches as I drove along the Autoroute du Soleil. He talked about entertaining visitors in their rustic Normandy cottage, and about the village that is so small they don't have a daily or even a weekly local paper, but a monthly, and how, inevitably, everyone is featured in it. I was reminded of an earlier work of his where he tells the FUNNIEST story about trapping mice at their cottage, and I think the title of that essay was 'Nuit of he Living Dead' from "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim", which I listened to a couple of summers ago and it left me with sides sore from laughing and tears running down my face.

Ah, the Autoroute du Soleil, how I love you: once I join that motorway I feel relaxed and happy that I will soon be in my favourite part of the world. This year I broke my journey at Valaurie, which is near Grignan, (one of last summer's stops), in the Drôme district. I arrived at my hotel, Le Moulin de Valaurie, which is beautifully situated about 25 minutes off the motorway, surrounded by fields of sunflower and lavender. It is a bit isolated and very pretty, with a large garden and very substantial, simply yet elegantly decorated, rooms. I was shown to one with its own outdoor terrace and access to the garden, which is always pleasing to someone travelling avec un chien. Lunch was another pot of yogurt and an apple in the car en route, so when I arrived I was more than ready to sample the hotel's alfresco dining, and it did not disappoint. the menu is quite nice, with lots of vegetarian but not much in the way of fish options. I enjoyed a lovely eggplant appetizer and for my main course I ordered the pintade (guineafowl), which was served hot and fragrant with garden fresh herbs, honey and preserved lemons. I kept things modest for the cheese course, sampling two local chevre before moving on to a chocolate concoction I found unremarkable. The service was very polite and efficient, but lacked any warmth. But the hotel and the meal were very affordable, and in a gorgeous setting, a lack of warmth in the service and reception can be forgiven. Below are some pictures of Le Moulin de Valaurie.

Awoke energized the following morning and headed off through the sunflower fields toward the elevated village, but did not take my camera, so no photos of the glorious fields: use your imagination! The village was about 2km away and no monument or ruins to regard, about 500 people.....but I only saw about 4 of them that morning :) Back to the hotel for a light breakfast of the usual French continental variety.

Here is a bone I have to pick with France: I don't drink coffee, never have, but when I am here I occasionally order a chocolate chaud, but without exception everywhere I go it is served to me with boiling water and a sachet of cocoa powder. Now, wouldn't you think, here in the land of very serious coffee drinkers, that it would be served with hot milk? And maybe, if they really want to make it right, use melted chocolate instead?! How hard can it be?! So disappointing. Maybe I just don't stay in the right places!

So, in the car and off to Marseille - hurrah!

I had wanted a night in Marseille just because I normally only see it from the airplane as we take off or land, and though I've had a few dinners there, I've never really spent much time looking around and this is the year Marseille is the France Capital of Culture. Now, because the weather is very, very hot, and because I am staying in hotels and traveling with a dog who can't be left alone in said hotels, nor the car, visits to places like museums are out of the question, but still, I wanted to nose around and see what was up in MRS!

Arrived at lunchtime at my hotel, the Hôtel la Residence Vieux-Port. The hotel is on the seawall, or embarcadero, or whatever you want to call it, and there is only one space to stop and unload, which was done very quickly before I was sent down the street to the underground lot about 5 minutes walk away. Down, and down and down I went looking for a spot, then made a point of writing my space number down to avoid disaster the next day. The hotel could not be better situated, is modest but very up to date and well priced. When I was shown up to my room on the 7th floor I could hardly believe it - the view!!!

The heat was over powering, it must have been around 39C that afternoon, and as I gobbled a quick lunch at the cafe by the hotel entrance, the poor dog kept trying to get away from me to return to the air-conditioned lobby of the hotel. (He long ago figured out the electronic eye sliding doors so common here). I dragged the poor thing around for a walk, did a bit of shopping, but we both returned to the a/c relief of the 7th floor to recover and gawp at the incredible view.

But Bistro Baby is here to eat for Canada - and that is the main reason I opted for a night in Marseille: I adore bouillabaisse and Marseille is the HQ for the divine dish. We have always favoured Michel's in the Catalan for this fishy feast, but this time I was here to eat at Chez Fon Fon. I had a decision to make: the rest was 3 km away on foot, so would I (we) walk it or find a dog loving cab driver to deliver us there? Not a tough decision: I am a walker and I had read that finding this place was a challenge, so that meant I had to take it on. As the afternoon heat slowly eased,  Hanley and I walked from one end of the Vieux Port to beyond the other end, a gorgeous, stunning walk past thousands of tethered boats and yachts, huge hotels,  acres of beaches, thousands of tourists and then into the Catalan with all the seafood cafes and restaurants that make this area so alive and compelling. Tipped my hat to Michel's and kept walking as the road became more vertical and turning in directions away from the heart of the Catalan, and then, suddenly, I noticed the tiny passage (not a street at all) I had been watching for: into the shadows and down a very long, steep flight of stairs we went, and into.....

...a gorgeous but smaller version of Le Vieux Port. Like a pig hunting truffles, once I got to the bottom of the stairs I knew exactly where to turn and within moments was seated by a charming waiter in a delightful (air conditioned) room overlooking the wee harbour with a glass of champagne and  a large carafe de l'eau in front of me. Dog was grateful to see a bucket of water set down where he could reach it without having to move. A perfect start to what would turn out to be a meal well worth the effort it took to get there.

The wait staff were excellent recommending an excellent sparky little  Côtes du Rhone to accompany my meal and I eagerly awaited 'the presentation': this is when they bring you a basket containing all the fish going into your bouillabaisse, glistening and fresh as can be. The waiter had very subtly advised against an entrée as I had a very major plat to get through and I agreed with relief. As I waited for my dinner I enjoyed the view and watched as several small boats and their parties arrived and departed. I was charmed by one young couple, obviously on a date, who pulled up in a small motor boat, tied up,  wandered away, reappearing a few minutes later with a large pizza and a bottle of wine then casting off and into the harbour for a romantic sunset dinner cruise á deux.

And then - time for the main event!

Ohhhhhh..................it was too, too good. And unlike other places that serve this dish, here they return to you as they see your broth disappearing and top you up with more of the luscious, hot nectar. I was greedy, eating as slowly as I could manage  and it was no hardship to eat all the fish, a LOT of broth, most of the rouille, but had to declare defeat when it came to the potatoes. 

The sun started to set and the sky lit up with so many pink and orange hues........when I noticed my waiter had whispered up to the table to offer dessert :) "Do you really recommend dessert?" I asked the tactful garçon, "..and if so, which one?" He answered: "the chocolate, Madame, it is inevitable". Inevitable?!?!?! Well, if you say so, who am I to interfere with the Fates?

Thank goodness I had the 3 km walk back to the hotel, that's all I can say. That, and thank you, Chez Fon Fon: expectations surpassed.

And here are a few photos as I departed CFF and walked back to the hotel. There is one of the JFK Monument all lit in green, and another rather blurry one of a seaside bistro and the Vieux Port - my destination - beyond.

And so, to bed.

Next day: return to Maussane-les-Alpilles.

Falling behind

I Eat For Canada is still in France, but 2.5 weeks behind in her blogging. But I will get right at it and catch everyone up, pictures and all.....first I have to digest my wonderful Market Day lunch.....

Is MY face red!

Gawd, so many typos it is almost unbearable to read this. I apologize to the two or three people actually reading this thing and shall strive to do better.