Postcards from the Lot

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Wrapping Up Our Last Week in La Belle France.

May 27th - May 31st, 2019

The last week of “my birthday trip” in France!

Monday ... I needed some “city life” as in some retail therapy but not really looking for anything or in need of anything.

We headed to Carcassonne to a large shopping area on the outskirts.

Here we found the largest as in massive Carrefour (grocery store) I’ve ever seen.

It was inside an indoor shopping mall with many interesting shops.

And of course this happened today ... Monsieur Honey got himself coiffed.

I had hoped to get myself pampered with a cut however it looks like I’ll be waiting until I get home.

Normally, when we are in France each city, town, village has several coiffures.

Late last week I had asked Sylvie at the Vival where she gets her hair cut/ styled.

She told me Montlaur does have a “coiffeurs à domicile” ... that does both men and women’s hair and she comes to you.

Anyway time has slipped away ... so I’ll wait until I’m back home in Canada.

Some pretty bling in the jewelry store window.

The grocery store was massive with a great selection of goods!

You’re sure to find a Rosé you like here ... so much selection.

The cuts of meat are so different to what we are use to / familiar with as the children of butchers.

Both Monsieur Honey’s and my father were butchers in their day.

These charts hanging in the meat department of the supermarket might be helpful and also make for interesting conversation with my brother who is a meat cutter (recently retired).

Tuesday was an at home day ... we visited Jean Louis the butcher and we were in luck ... fresh made « Friands » were in the showcase. Delicious!

These are similar to meat pies. I’ve already searched for recipes, there are several varieties with different fillings.

The ones we enjoyed were made with fine ground beef, mushrooms, parsley, herbs and a light gravy/sauce in puff pastry.

We purchased a couple to have for our lunch today.

Wednesday ... date night at Bourdasso, if we are ever in the area again we will definitely add this to the must do list!

See separate post “La Bourdasso Cucina Italiana” posted May 31, 2019

We shared lots of laughs about my birth “day” that turned into the birthday “month”of celebrations.

It was an amazing night in a beautiful setting with great ambiance, Italian aperitifs, delicious creative food and wine shared with my best friend.

Thursday ...was a holiday in France (Ascension Thursday).

We did a return trip to Narbonne.

There was much more boat activity on the Canal today, and an outdoor market lined both sides of the Quai on the Canal de la Robine near Les Halles. The city was humming. And the sun shone brightly!

Here some tourists walked on the 2000 plus years of history on the ancient Roman road ... “Via Domitia ”.

There was a large number of flower vendors today.

I hoped that I’d still be able to get plants for my gardens when I get home.

Jokingly I was going to ask the truck driver to deliver some plants to my home.

Friday - our last day of our trip! Some packing and preparing for our departure tomorrow.

We did make a reservation for lunch at Le Moulin in Trèbes.

I’ll be writing a separate post about our lunch on the canal.

The weather was absolutely glorious today and we enjoyed a later supper on the terrace.

I’ll be back with a few more posts over the next few days.

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Dining on the Canal du Midi

#moulindetrebes #canaldumidi #thegoodlifefrance #unescoworldheritagesite

Friday May 31st, 2019

Well it’s the end of May, the end of my birth “day” month and tomorrow we are heading back to “Home Sweet Home”.

I followed my usual morning routine checking the view from the bedroom window, it looked to be a promising day! The sky was blue and no clouds were visible over the rooftops and mountain.

Can you see the rays of sunshine and the swallows?

We did some packing and then headed off to Trèbes for a send off lunch on the canal at “Le Moulin”.

It was a glorious day with blue azure skies, bright sunshine and hot temperatures ... maybe “Mother Nature” & the “Weatherman” finally got it together.

I was treated to another trip beneath the plane tree canopy.

We arrived early in Trèbes in order that we could do a couple errands before lunch.

Today we were lunching along the Canal du Midi.

A bit of history from the Canal du Midi tourism site.

“The construction of the Canal du Midi is one of the major achievements of Louis XIV’s reign (17th Century).It is 240 kilometres long and links the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. This masterpiece of engineering, thanks to the genius of Pierre-Paul Riquet, is one of the prides of the Languedoc. The canal brought commercial prosperity to the region. Today, leisure cruises have taken over and the Canal du Midi has been a major tourist attraction since it was granted world heritage status by UNESCO.

Pierre-Paul Riquet

Born in Béziers in 1609, Pierre-Paul Riquet made his fortune as a salt tax inspector. He was thus able to acquire the Domaine de Bonrepas, near Toulouse, where he carried out numerous experiments to find a solution to the problem of supplying water to the canal at its summit at the Seuil de Narouze.

Having convinced Louis XIV and his minister, Colbert, of the commercial benefits of his project, Pierre-Paul Riquet embarked on his great enterprise which was to take 14 years. Riquet’s strong personality and perseverance enabled him to overcome all the obstacles encountered during the canal’s construction. Sadly, Riquet died penniless on 1st October 1680 without having completed his masterpiece, which was inaugurated soon after his death in 1681.”

Le Moulin de Trèbes is owned/operated by the Chef Pascal and his wife Sophie, both very friendly and personable.

We were seated at one of the tables nearest the canal on the terrace ... from here we could watch all the activity thru the locks.

Today’s menu was interesting and delicious.

Salmon tartare with a shiitake mushroom /coriander confit and brightened by the citrus smear from the aromatic “yuzu” ... a variety of lemon.

Mouthwatering delicious and beautifully presented.

Roast pork a top a bed of eggplant/ zucchini with roasted potatoes and a Parmesan/ olive oil sauce.

Yummy.

And the finishing touch to this wonderful meal ...

A pineapple (thinly sliced) salad with coconut and brown sugar crumble!

I will be making this one at home.

Light and just enough sweetness.

It was a perfect lunch date to celebrate our last day in France.

Thank you Pascal, Sophie and Anais for the delectable food and superb service.

The boats being lowered in the lock ... the water draining.

I’m thirsty ... said this puppy!

Tomorrow it’s hurry up and wait day on our way to “Home Sweet Home!”

Friday, May 31, 2019

La Bourdasso Cucina Italiana

Date night on the range where the buffalo roam on the plane tree lined road on the outskirts of the village of Pradelles-en-Val on the D3 not far from we are staying there is an interesting business/ most fantastic restaurant!

The owners from Italy visited this part of France a few years ago while on vacation; loved the scenery of the Corbières and not long after moved to the area.

The property was previously a wine cooperative for the local winemakers.

From the day we arrived at the end of April, we have driven by this farm field many times and I was intrigued by these massive buffalos.

Early on (1st/2nd week of May) there was a new addition to the family (herd).

We had heard good things about this restaurant and it was on my living list (not bucket list)!

We arrived for our appointed reservation at 19:30 (7:30 pm) and were welcomed by the owner/proprietor Fabio Antonini who seated us and explained that this evening was a special «Tapas Night Italian Style » ... small plates for sharing plus they could do a pasta if we wanted.