We decided to take a little break from St. Tropez. We woke up this morning. We packed a bag just in case we wanted to spend the night, and off we went. The concierge at Byblos suggested a little place in the mountains of Provence, two hours north. It was a lovely drive on serpentine roads. Not roads you would want to drive at night, and so our decision was made. We would spend the night. We knew the place would be to our liking.
A Bastide is a country farmhouse in the Provence region of France. And that is where we ended up. This one was built in the 17th century. They had only one room available and so it was kismet. They asked me to check the room to see that it was to our liking. It was lovely. The bathroom was scrumptious. We dropped our one little bag and off we went to the Terrace for lunch.
Lunch consisted of a fabulous brioche baked with Parmesan. We had a green salad.....greens were from the garden. We had a tomato and vegetable melange salad, also from the garden. A superior orange melon with prosciutto. There was another hot bread served with fabulous local olive oil and sea salt. A board of local cheeses. And a cold crisp bottle of Montrachet. For desert a scrumptious brownie made with salty peanuts.
After a short nap we were driven to view the lavender fields. There were only a few left as we are in the harvest season. Luckily the ones that remained were magnificent. All my life I had wanted to see the lavender fields of Provence. Today, on our 33rd anniversary, we saw them. (It was an accident that we were here on our anniversary. While we were lunching, we received a text from our children wishing us a happy anniversary. This is the 33rd year in a row that we forgot the date.) After the lavender fields, we were driven to the town of Moustiers Saint-Marie. Not 15 minutes later did we call the hotel and ask them to please come retrieve us. The town’s architecture was medieval and beautiful. It overlooked a gorge with rushing water 400 feet below. The people and the shops were awful. It was all tourists and T-shirt shops. What a pity.
We scooted up to our room, changed into bathing suits, and went down to the pool. The pool was pretty. The setting serene. We laid under an umbrella and read. The temperature was over 105°. Thank G-d there was a pool. We ended our pool time at 8pm.
Room. Relax. Showers. Dinner. The only problem with this property, is that it is owned by Alain Ducasse. This is his home. He visits a few times a year. None of that is the problem though. The problem is his menu. They offered us a menu for lunch which was very limited. So we created our own lunch. Since there was nothing in town that was of interest, we decided to have dinner at the hotel. We came back to check out the dinner menu and it was the same menu that they served at lunch. And if you stay here tomorrow, they have the same menu for lunch. And if you choose to stay tomorrow night, they have the same menu for dinner tomorrow night. And so it goes. Since we got hysterical, they asked us what we would like prepared and we gave them our menu. They could not have been more accommodating. We desired a garden tomato with onion and Parmesan and balsamic salad. Fresh pasta with a fresh tomato sauce. Filet mignon, medium rare, with fresh garden peas and artichokes. All was absolutely perfect. The only negative of the entire dinner was the truffles that they shaved on the steak were terrible due to the fact that they were too early in the season.
Desert was hardened chocolate with vanilla ice cream. Delicious. The service was incredible. The food was beyond delicious. The setting was magnificent. It is a one night and done. We learned tonight that is what most guests do. They heli in from Monaco or St. Tropez. There is a heli pad on the property.
We will have breakfast and be back on the beach in St. Tropez by noon.