The Yard

There's nothing better than drinking caffeine out of a bowl & Aggie & I have decided we now only drink coffees as big as our head.  It's who we are & how we're rolling these days.

 

 This particular morning we were chatting excitedly about lunch in a few hours, when our heads came up for air that is.  Felt like petits cochons but it didn't deter us.

 Today we're walking to the 11th for lunch at The Yard, 6 Rue de Mont-Louis.  We'd read some really good reviews & just had to try it.

On the way we stumbled across this gorgeous little boulangerie, Le Moulin de la Vierge. Even though we'd just had a coffee as big as our head & were off to lunch, we couldn't forget about dinner - we like to be prepared.  If you hadn't guessed by now we're easily distracted.  2 Mille Feuilles, without icing of course, tucked away safely in le sac & we were off to the 11th.  

 

  

On arriving at The Yard we had to remind ourselves we were still in Paris as the exterior looked more like an English farmhouse.  However when the waitress greeted us with a friendly bonjour & a big smile we knew we were in Paris.   The place was chockers & we were lucky to get a table outside which was perfect as that's how we roll.

This place was so us, friendly staff, small, limited menu, & just had a really lovely feel about it.  

I won't even try & describe the food, but rather let the photos speak for themselves.  The only thing I will say is when dessert was delivered we accidentally bumped the table.  Both our eyes must have been on the custard tart as we both exclaimed at the same time "It wobbled like a fat lady's boob".  If it hadn't been for the other diners we would have done the girliest of squeals & clapped our hands in glee, however we've learned not everyone gets as excited about food as we do & we try to be considerate.

It truly was the smoothest, creamiest custard I'd ever tasted & if they had have put the rest of the tart in front of me I would have polished it off tout suite!

 

 

 

 

 This may be my all time favourite Paris meal to date!

We left The Yard feeling not overly full, but nicely satisfied & had big grins on our faces the whole way home. To this day I'm not sure if it was entirely to do with The Yard or the anticipation of Mille Feuilles for dinner. x

 

   

Round 2 - Ding Ding

Waking up Saturday morning I was very excited to be heading out to get our double cafe cremes to takeaway, or as I like to refer to it "Round 2 with Geoffrey".  

Geoffrey & I had a history.  Week 1 in Paris I would go in to order our take away coffees in French, Geoffrey would respond in English & it just went on & on with neither of us budging.

I'd had 2 weeks prep in Provence & was looking forward to our next bout. 

On the walk there Coach Aggie was prepping me the whole way..."Are you feeling confident? Will you buckle under pressure? How are you gonna play it? Are your hammies tight?".  We'd done everything we could & the time had come...I was going in.

Coach waited outside as she thought it may have been uncomfortable to watch & just a little embarrassing.  I was cool with that...less pressure.

The minutes ticked away & I kept glancing outside at Coach.  She had started to pace up & down the sidewalk...she looked worried.

Time to make my grand exit... 

I stepped outside, playing it cool.

Didn't have the heart to tell her Geoffrey wasn't working, so just smiled sweetly for the camera.

In some strange way it just wasn't the same without Geoffrey there.  As we walked off with our coffees in hand, I hoped he wasn't off work on Post Traumatic Stress leave as our last encounter had been, well, stressful.

Speedy recovery if so my friend. 

Take care. x

Madam Bling & Her 3" Heels

After bidding au revoir to Petit Henri at Avignon we boarded the TGV for Paris.

We were excited to be heading "home" & pulled out our baguettes & roast chicken to celebrate.  Unsure why but I only buttered one side of my baguette, maybe subconsciously I was trying to be good, but who was I kidding? I quickly spread the other side too.  I use the word "spread" loosely as I've learned on this trip that I just tend to plonk & chew.  We ate & then promptly fell asleep, missing most of the beautiful countryside.  We were in Paris in no time at all.

Admittedly we had shopped a little, OK quite a lot, during our 2 weeks in Provence, however I wouldn't have said we'd added over 6kg to our cases...each!  This is without what we'd loaded into our lady bags, plus another bag full of all the essential food items for the train.  We're absolutely crazy chicks at times as our essential items included roast chicken, veal, cherry tomatoes, lemons, salt, Earl Grey tea bags (our Liverpudlian Snow Angels would have been impressed), chia seeds, coconut oil, butter, green beans, cheese & a bottle of red.  If for whatever reason our train had gone into a lockdown situation we would have been able to adequately feed our carriage for 2 days.

Leaving the train I seemed to lose all motor skills (again) as for the life of me I couldn't haul my case up the stairs at any point in time.  OK in fairness to myself I could do a few steps but then the food bag would somehow wedge itself between my armpit, the lady bag & my case & there just wasn't any room to manoeuvre to actually lift the damn thing.  Basically I'd just get stuck, not move at all, & hold up the traffic.  Fabulous.

Gare de Lyon was OK, but the 50 million steps at Chatelet are a nightmare.  Just when you think you're there & daylight is going to appear at any minute you then need to go down the stairs again, turn a corner & then have to climb up again.  It's a total tease.  All I can say is merci beaucoup to the 3 lovely Frenchies who helped me on 3 separate occasions.  Special mention to the 2 young guys who helped me initially & good luck with the physio as I saw one of you nearly rip your arms out of your shoulder joints on the initial lift.

I was over it, not physically as I'd barely done any lifting, but it was more the shame.  Rule No 4...you buy it...you carry it.

Thank goodness once I hit the street I was fine & I hauled that bad boy along like he was a 5kg lightweight.  We arrived at our apartment in the 4th arondissement in no time at all to meet our "greeter".

Hmmm where was she?  All we wanted was some water & a shower & I was praying she would arrive soon.  Voila...a woman appeared in front of our eyes, however I thought she was from the tanning salon 2 doors away.  She was tall, blonde, tanned (hence the tanning salon comment), had a bit of bling going on & was wearing some killer 3" heels.  We smiled at each other awkwardly, said bonjour & she then asked if we were her clients.  I didn't think so as after all we'd been in Provence for 2 weeks & I didn't think we looked pale enough to be in need of a fake tan.

Wrong again...this was our "greeter" who I will now refer to as Bling.  I'm sure she was a lovely lady but we got off to a bad start.  She'd been waiting inside, we were outside...eek we felt like naughty school kids who were about to get detention as she kept repeating that we should have been inside.  Seriously Bling get over it & move on...I just want some water & a shower!  Apparently easier said than done though as she was like a pit bull & wouldn't let it go.

Finally she moved on from the correct meeting point (apparently she was right / we were wrong)....to the shutters...& the lecture continued.  Make sure all shutters are closed when you go out as it's a very old building, the shutters are old, blah, blah, blah.  To be honest I couldn't tell you what came next as
my eyes were rolling back in my head by this stage.  Just want some water & a shower...not a lot to ask surely.

After some serious talk about not getting the white towels dirty with make-up (maybe a darker colour may have been a better option...just a thought) & to definitely not put our luggage on any furniture
we moved onto the wi-fi login.  We were instructed to get our phones, computers, iPads & she would log us on.  I raced downstairs to grab my stuff as I didn't want to miss the start of our "lesson" & get put in the naughty corner.  I made it back up the stairs in record time so all good.

My cockiness didn't last long as our next test was the front door key i.e. ensuring we could master the double turn (we were both to be tested). On arrival she'd handed us each a key & muttered something about make sure you don't lose it as it's an old building & we'll have to blow the door up  - it will cost you E120.  I was hoping something had been lost in translation as blowing up a door seemed a little OTT even for Bling.

I've gone to grab my key & broken out in a sweat as from the time it had taken me to go downstairs to get my phone etc for the wi-fi lesson I'd lost it.  OMG Bling was going to wring my neck...by now I was seriously sweating bullets.  I'm trying to mouth to Aggie across the table, but careful to be out of Bling's line of sight, that I was about to die, or at the very least wet my pants.  Bling was one scary individual.

Imagine my relief, as I'm just about to give Aggie the cut throat sign, when I spot the Eiffel Tower key ring on the end of the table.  I swooped in like lightning, grabbed it & shoved it in my pocket, possibly shedding a tear as I knew my life was no longer in danger.  Phew.

Regaining my confidence I went into the double turn lock test like I was wearing the Rocky Robe from Provence & knew I'd nailed it after the first turn.  Bling must have been impressed with us & confident we wouldn't burn the place down as she bid us farewell, saying have a good holiday & I'll
see you Friday.  Thank god we'd passed.

It was such a relief once Bling had left the building, as we finally got some water, showered & hit our terrace for some dinner.

Our view made it all worthwhile.  C'etait magnifique!

 

 

 

 

Bling you scared the bejesus out of me, but I only have the utmost praise for you in regard to wardrobe.  You rocked those 3" heels like a true professional, made all the more impressive considering you do it on cobblestones.  Respect madam respect.

   

  

Time to call it a day.

Curled up in bed ready for some shut-eye with the Eiffel Tower key-ring tucked safely under my pillow.  I wasn't taking any chances. x

Our Local - Rolling Distance Home

Packing up getting ready to leave a place is always a time of reflection for me.  On the one hand it's sad to be leaving, on the other it's exciting to be taking off on the next part of the adventure.

A special La Roque Alric memory for me will be L'Acacia en Provence restaurant run by the amazing chef Joanna.  As if her absolutely delicious organic dishes weren't enough to keep us coming back for more, Joanna always welcomed us into her gorgeous little garden restaurant with open arms & a friendly smile.  Even when she had the closed sign up, if she saw us wandering past she always invited us in & said no problem if you want to eat I will cook for you.  To be honest if she didn't see us "wander" past the first time we'd just keep walking back & forth until she did.  If you hadn't guessed by now, subtlety isn't our strong suit when it comes to anything food related.

  My oh my we felt like royalty when she would turn others away (her staff hadn't turned up for the summer season yet so she was it, chef, waitress, the lot, which meant she couldn't take on too many diners), but would happily feed us as we were her regulars.  We always turned up starving to the point she asked us outright one day if we had a kitchen where we were staying.  Unsure if she believed us when we said yes.

The best part of the whole day was our trip home...about 25 steps to our front door & all downhill.  It was never a problem that we drank too much, but quite the challenge dragging a really full belly up steep inclines.  

Our standard line to Joanna after every meal was that we were off to roll home for a nana nap on our terrace.  She always smiled thinking we were joking.  She really didn't know us that well at all.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Joanna it was an absolute pleasure meeting you & our taste buds will be forever grateful.

A bientot. x

The Liverpudlian Hells Angels

In Le Berroux we'd discovered a Salon de The that did good coffee.  It was run by 2 ladies & included a little store selling all things Provence...soaps, perfumes, cushions etc.  As we both have shopping addictions we'd love to go for a coffee & have a wander through their store to see what goodies we could find.  Sounds lovely but we'd just start looking & before you knew it one of them would be behind you being "helpful" & "suggesting" what to buy.  In my mind I called them Roid 1 & Roid 2 as it felt like they were right up my bum whichever way I turned i.e. Haemorrhoid.  They were truly lovely, however we probably would have bought more if they'd just let us be.  Didn't deter us though as we kept going back.

On our last full day in La Roque Alric we decided to walk to Le Berroux for our last coffee at the Roids.  It was a beautiful day & we were excited to be going back to our quiet, peaceful "local" to sit outside in the fresh air.

We arrived just as they were opening up & got our favourite table under the tree.  Ah bliss.

But wait, what's this?  I heard movement to the side of me & turned around to see 3 leather clad guys walking our way.  Poop...bikers.  

Great we thought, there goes our lovely peaceful coffee.  We waited for them to sit down & be, well, boisterous, however you could have knocked us over with a feather when they ordered...wait for it...their cup of tea, being quite clear that it had to be Earl Grey. Bless.

Couldn't have been more wrong about our biker dudes as they were the loveliest guys & the perfect morning tea buddies.

Geoff was ecstatic when he got his Earl Grey & cold milk.

 

 

Turns out Terry, Geoff & Pete take a 10 day bike trip each year picking a different route & have been to some amazing places, Bosnia, Croatia, Spain just to name a few.

Aggie & I got the giggles as they were saying how the group used to be larger which made it harder to choose accommodation, pick restaurants to eat in etc as everyone had slightly different tastes / expectations which caused problems.  Needless to say they were on fire on this trip & loving themselves sick as everything was running like clockwork.  Turns out guys aren't that much different to girls at all...who knew?

It's always great meeting kindred spirits who get out there, enjoy life & be in the moment.

My favourite comment of the day came from Pete who had sat back & not said much (probably hard to get a word in with Terry & Geoff!).  The conversation was about a previous trip they'd taken when the group was larger & they'd ended up on a high peak in some snow.  Some of the riders chose not to get off their bikes, leave their helmets on & also their bikes running.  Pete said he just didn't get it as he loves to experience everything...see, hear & feel.  "I do everything...I even do snow angels" he says pointing his arms up to the sky.  OMG love these guys!!!

 Well it was time for our tough inked up guys to hit the road (Geoff had covered himself in ink from a pen that he'd gone to get to write down our blog details - he truly had it everywhere).  

Guys if the piece of paper with our deets made it back to Liverpool & you're reading this, thanks again for such an enjoyable cuppa in Le Berroux.

Au revoir Snow Angels.  Safe travels. x

 

Pain & Chocolat

I've named my thighs...Pain & Chocolat.  

May sound odd to some, but to Aggie it came as no surprise.  She's seen how quickly I can polish off a pain au chocolat for brekky most mornings...love em.  Being the professionals that we are, lots of research has again gone into finding the perfect specimen & copious amounts of pain au chocolats have been eaten.  The big news is...wait for it as it's Rule No 3...we will only eat them heated in the oven first.  Yep we've become quite the spoilt little princesses over the last few weeks, it's just how we're rolling.

Anyhoo I digress as my tale today is about wardrobe selection / Chef Dave & a 9km walk.  Stay with me as it all ties in.

Today would be the last time we'd get to eat Chef Dave's amazing dishes on this trip.  I suspect by now he thought he had 2 stalkers as we'd eaten there quite a few times over the last week or so & I think we even told him we loved him.  Again things get lost in translation & I'm sure we said we love your food, but maybe we said we love you.  From the attitude of Corrine, our waitress, I suspect it may have been the latter.  I definitely felt there was some sexual tension between the 2 of them.  Pffft who knows.

Speaking of food this was yesterday's dish...again the gnocchi.  Just can't seem to get enough of that butter, cream, seafood & garlic!  Apologies, I just started thinking about it & had to pop in a pic.

Back to Pain & Chocolat.  

I'm a pants girl, especially when travelling as I like to boot up (I could seriously walk from Provence to Paris in them), however today I made the big statement "Might wear a dress".  Aggie nearly fell over & was unsure if I was serious or not.  

I just thought it would be a nice thing to do, make an effort for Chef Dave and all as it would be our last meal together, well on this trip anyway.  Admittedly the temperature had risen & it was going to be damn hot walking 9kms in long boots, but Dave if you're reading this, it was all for you buddy.

After all my pain au chocolat testing, not to mention a 3 course meal most days, I started to get concerned.  Had Pain & Chocolat packed on a few extra cms, would there be chafing, would Pain & Chocolat have some very up close & personal "intimate" moments together on this little outing?  These were the big questions.

To be honest I don't mind a challenge & I was willing to give it a red hot crack.  A little chafing wasn't going to stop me.

We got there in record time & was delighted as they had tables set up outside.  Oh goodie...all our favourite things...food, wine, outside under a tree.  Win/win.  

The menu today sounded more Italian than French & at one stage we  wondered if we'd actually walked further than we thought & ended up in Italy (after all our walking over the last few weeks we regarded ourselves as elite athletes so anything was possible).

 

    

 

 

Oh my, Chef Dave you've done it again.  Absolutely delicious!

Now here's the kicker...I don't eat red meat (not because I'm a wowser, my body just can't digest it) but I ate 2 meat dishes, yep 2.  Admittedly didn't eat it all, but a big merci beaucoup Chef Dave for upping my iron intake. 

 

All in all a lovely day.  The dress went well & Pain & Chocolat are getting along nicely, but keeping their distance from each other.  Fingers crossed it stays that way. x

 

The Pink & Blue Cafe

Petit Henri came in very handy when we needed to stock up on supplies.  We'd take off down the hill to Beaumes de Venise about 7.5kms from La Roque Alric & head to our coffee spot for a caffeine fix before hitting the boulangerie & supermarket.

 Looks can be deceiving as Lou Castelet's Bar & Brasserie didn't conjure up images of a great coffee, however being desperate one day we thought we'd give it a go.  Lou was lovely, unsure if his name was actually Lou but that's what I was going with, but could never understand why we always chose to sit outside under the tree even when it was cold.  He always played along though & would deliver our coffees, smile & depart. We called it The Pink & Blue Cafe as Lou always gave Aggie the blue cup & me the pink.  Aggie did pose the question one day "Does he think I'm a guy?".  Who knew what was going through Lou's brain...he didn't come across as much of a talker.

Driving into town on this beautiful sunny morning Aggie let out a squeal of delight as she'd spotted a market.  I was relieved as I thought I may have been veering over to the wrong side of the road & in danger of mowing down a pedestrian.  We were excited to say the least.  We had no clue what the market consisted of, but the bar wasn't high after only 3 stalls at our last attempt.  Our coffees would have to wait as the market was calling.

Oh my the produce looked good...

 

But the seafood looked even better.  I don't think I've ever seen such big scallops!  

Check out the bad boys below...photo taken after Aggie had done her magic with butter & lemon that night.  Oh mon dieu I wish we had have bought 16 rather than 8 as they were the plumpest, sweetest scallops I've ever tasted.  I possibly dreamt about them that night.

 

 

 

With our bags overflowing it was time for our date with Lou.  Yep it had been quite the morning, but our cafe cremes were calling.

 

Lou was nowhere to be seen, but would you believe our waiter gave Aggie the pink cup & I got the blue.

Maybe we'd been overthinking it & Lou knew all along Aggie was definitely a lady.  Just like us preferring to sit outside under the tree, Lou had his habits too.  

Love your work, you do a great cafe creme. x