Round 2, fight! Bright and early; view from the chateau balcony in Bordeaux.

Road trip! Left Bordeaux for Albi, but with plans to explore Toulouse before nightfall.

 

Cassoulet is a speciality of Toulouse, and we searched out this place that does a wonderful version of it. Rich, warm and flavourful comfort food.

The shape of this building in Toulouse reminded me a little of the Flatiron building in NYC. Not as tall, but prettier. New Yorkers, you may beg to differ!

On to Albi! Stayed at St Antoine. It’s like the accomodations just get prettier, and prettier. =)

Dinner at L’epicurean was a real treat, and a close fight for being one of my favourite meals on the trip. Exquisite without pretension. The amuse-bouche served with our apéritif were the best I’ve had, both on this trip and in general. Especially tasty was the french bread served with a smear of cheese and a piece of fresh sardine. More, more!

The fresh sardine was divine!

Pork belly, ahhhh. So sinful, but so good. Done just right, and lovely balance of sweet-savoury flavours when paired with the apple slices.

The next day, en route to the Pont du Gard, we just happened to stop off (starving!) in Carcassonne for a late lunch. Found a little cafe next to this photogenic castle; I should be a movie director(heh!) for later I read that this served as the exterior of Nottingham Castle in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Lunch was a light, simple, but very tasty affair. Very French. Heh.

This grilled eggplant tart was scrummy! And the french bread with cheese was so simple yet so satisfying.

Lamb skewer.

Trout flavoured with a salty, preserved meat (some form of cured sausage; I think it was salami). An interesting combination that worked – the two nicely balanced out each other. Presentation not the most appetising, but them this was just a small cafe and not some Michelin starred place.

 

Simple chocolate cake served with a side of fresh cream.

We drove into Uzès, then the Pont du Gard.

It was spectacular! Not a UNESCO World Heritage Site for nothing. =)

Then drove on to Avignon, where we’d made a booking to stay at this B&B, La Banasterie. We picked it as it is opened by a couple of chocolate lovers; the place supposedly smells of chocolate, they leave fine chocolate in your room and around, and the morning hot chocolate that comes with the breakfast package is said to be really good. I’m a chocolate lover myself, so…

It was amazingly hard to find though! Despite being good with directions, AND having GPS in the car, we kept missing the spot. This is because Avignon is not a car-friendly city (love that, actually!); roads are barely wide enough for 3 people to walk abreast. Not only are roads narrow and curvy, they are all one-way, and signs are also not very visible. We were also attempting to find the place in the dark of night, a place marked by an inconspicuous, small, blue door. To make matters worse, Avignon is a walled city, which means that every time a turn or place is missed, it means going out of the city gates, circling its walls, and coming back in. Arrrgh!

Starving by the time we located the place and checked in (the owner was a little upset with us at first as he was waiting for us to arrive before going out for his dinner), we asked around for the nearest place to get our own dinner (more like supper). In France, places don’t stay open for dinner 24 hours or even past 10+, so thankfully we found this cute posh-backpacker little place caled L’epicerie; it was walking distance from La Banasterie, and right outside a church.

View from our table. So nice. =)

The food was really good, and portions were pretty huge, perfect for hungry travellers!

The hall and dining area in our unit in La Banasterie. Simple and cosy, but no one cared that night; we were exhausted. Off to bed!

Filed under: Uncategorized by jadeseah