Day 19 - Aix marche again. Avignon. Cooking class

Aix again

We needed to revisit the Macaron lady at the Aix marche. This time, Mrs Chan took advantage of the occasion and grabbed some good tips from the lady (Caroline). Caroline was also surprised at the quality of Mrs Chan’s macarons after looking at the photos.

Again, we finished them in no time.

Went to a local Cave (cellar) and bought some Provence-famous Rose and white wines.

Avignon

This walled city was the home of the Pope many centuries ago. Our intention was to park our car outside the city wall, but somehow, we got ourselves INSIDE the city. Fortunately, the streets are not that bad and even managed to find a street parking spot.

Palais du papes (Papal Palace)

Notre dame next to the Palais

inside Notre dame

Pont de Benezet just outside the city wall

Cooking class and dinner at Les Carmes

This BnB is located near Le Thor (about 30mins from Avignon), owned by a British family. We got there early, so the girl at the reception (Annella) showed us the different rooms and their rates. We LOVED the Upper Tower Suite... it’s huge! And very nicely renovated and overlooks the courtyard and swimming pool. Cost = 150E/night including breakfast. Oh, and there’s a 2-person bath in the new Italian marble bathroom. See photos on their website.

The garden is “work in progress” but already looks fantastic – very “Provencale”!

The cooking class involved filleting a John Dory, making a Veloute (a soup-like sauce), and pear tarte tatin. Of course, we were only doing some bits and pieces, but it was a learning experience for us (esp Mrs Chan as she’s the cook). 2 hours of cooking class cost 80E for us. Chef James (son of the owners of the BnB) was trained in two 2-star Michelin restaurants, so we had confidence in his skills. He made everything from scratch – stocks, pastries, croissants etc...

Preping the John Dory

the making of the asparagus veloute

wrapping the pears with puff pastry on the tarte tatin

Between 6-8pm, we headed to a local farmers market at Velleron. They told us that only local farmers (i.e. within a few kms of Velleron) are allowed to sell there. So the market was filled with locals selling and buying fresh veg and fruit. I couldn’t resist in picking some fraise (strawberries).

Got back to Les Carmes by 7:30pm, and lounged near the poolside, followed by a nice glass of Champagne with Elderflower syrup and Escargots (snails).

Dinner service started with an Amuse Bouche of terrine of hamcock, guinea fowl with foie gras, served with marinated beetroot. This course reassured us of James’ skills, preparation and execution. The foie gras did not in anyway overpower the fowl and hamcock. The beetroot helped to balance the sweet/salty side of the dish.

Entree –

shredded duck leg confit with red pepper coulis and an oriental dressing (soy, honey, lime juice and fish sauce), topped with lettuce. I was a little sus about the “oriental” part, but the doubts disappeared after my 1^st bite because the food is unpretentious and smart.

Main course –

John Dory fillet (pan fried), served with hand-made linguine in an Asparagus veloute. All the natural flavours came out. Delicious.

Dessert –

Pear tarte tatin with Gorgonzola ice cream. Ok, we are not fans of blue cheeses, and so we didn’t like the combo. It was still more than edible as the cheesy taste wasn’t too strong.

The whole dinner costed us 35E/person, including 1 bottle of wine, the champagne/snails and coffee/tea.

I would highly recommend this BnB to anyone heading to Provence – whether to stay and/or eat and/or learn. Web: www.lescarmes.com. They are highly rated on Tripadvisor as well and summer booking is almost completely full according to Annella. I wish I found out this place earlier...