Woke up to a yummy brekkie hanging in a basket outside our door in the morning. Freshly squeezed juice, yogurt, a variety of breads with cream cheese, jams, french butter and chocolate spreads, oh and the hot chocolate did not disappoint!

Road trip to Arles! Headed for the Boulevard de Lices and Boulevard George-Clemenceau for the Saturday market.

Lunch at Lou Marques, right where the market is.

The house-smoked salmon was really good; not overly salty, retaining the sweet firmess of the fish.

The scampi risotto was surprisingly really yummy! Couldn’t get enough of it!

Headed back to Avignon after lunch to check out the famous (or infamous!) Palais de Papes, or papal palace. This place is a must-see because it is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe (and a UNESCO World Heritage Site).

 

We had planned to have dinner at the famous Christian Etienne’s, but it was fully booked for a wedding =’( so we headed to Hiely Lucullus (a much further away second choice) for dinner.

The cheese selection was superb, and I couldn’t get enough of the stuff! This is France after all, famous for its cheese. Love!

The olive oil ice-cream dessert sounds stranger than it tasted, although it was still a little more exotic than I like my desserts to be.

Morning in La Banasterie. I love how the entire house is decorated in a warm, colourful, cosy style. (And I want those lamps and the side table it’s on for my own place!)

The La Banasterie courtyard. The weather was beginning to get nice and warm – break out the shorts and sandals!

Drove out to Saint-Remy-de-Provence for the day, in time to catch a street festival, and a bullfight!

Lunch at L’estagnol. We just randomly ducked into this place as we were starving, and it turned out that the food was pretty good!

Did the 5km hike up the hill to the asylum where Van Gogh spent his last years. It was really sunny and hot by this time, and we were pretty much drenched by the time we reached the Van Gogh Museum. The place was like a welcome respite though; its concrete walls and proximity on the top of the hill meant it was cool and quiet at the top.

We went into the actual bedroom where Van Gogh stayed in; that was his impression of his room above. I found it really cool that we were able to look out of his window into the actual field that inspired a few of his works.

Van Gogh’s impression of the field that was his room view.

We finally ended off the day with dinner in St Remy’s La Maison Jaune, a Michelin starred place. Service was very…hurried.

Loved the attractive-looking hors d’oeuvre platter (I know it’s strange to use the word ‘attractive rather than ‘appetising’ for food, but look at how cute and colourful it was!); it was a nice, fresh start to the meal, between the parma ham, tomato soup and egg, a good balance of tart and salty.

The prettiest execution of a prosciutto starter I’ve seen!

I actually ordered chicken breast as my main; I usually hardly ever have chicken unless it’s deep-fried, breast meat, and I’ve no other choice, but it came recommended, and I know the French generally do their chicken well (hello, coq au vin!). Although nowhere near a coq au vin dish as it was done really lightly, it was lovely; delicately flavourful, without that awful ‘chicken taste’ that plagues a lot of white meat dishes done cleanly (main reason why I don’t favour chicken).

Dessert was a berry soup that was a much to tart for my liking (or consumption!). Berry fans may feel differently though. =)

Last night in Avignon! On to Marseilles next…

Watch out for my last three posts on my French adventure!

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