Well, today dealt with the fruits of an earlyish trip to a
local fish market at Sanary Sur Mer (pics). 

On the menu we had :-

Anchoidade - and anchovy paste to serve with vege
'batards'/sticks,

aioli (Garlic Mayo) to go on croutons for the soup,

Brandade de Morue (Cod Puree), which could be served
as a whole dish like a shepherds pie but with fish,
whereas we just used it for an entree,

The main dish for the day being 'Bisque bouille safranee',
Mediterranean fish with sun potatoes, croutons and
aioli in a fish soup (aka bisque) - see pic.

I will say that cooking with a star chef is interesting -
he has high standards to maintain, and checked our
fish filleting etc for bones and such, before allowing
it to be used.
Another reason for this is we are not only cooking
for ourselves, any 'leftovers' are used to help feed
the staff of the hotel, and there's about 30 of them
(not all at once, on rotation/shift), but it wouldnt
do for us to inflict injury on them. I dont know what
they eat usually - ? leftovers from the restaurant
gastronomique or the bistro

To finalise our meal, we had a passionfruit sorbet,
with raspberry coulis, fresh raspberries in the leftover
creme patisierre from yesterday

Tomorrow, we can expect a somewhat simpler repast,
Aubergine Caviar, Stuffed onions, tomatoes and zucchinis,
followed by Lavender flavoured creme brulee

We had 5 'extra's in the kitchen today, 4 x Americans who
were visiting for the day, and an extra lady from the
local region brushing up on skills/learning a new recipe
or two - it seemed a little more cramped, but we all got
along, and from the Hotel/cooking schools pov, a paying
guest is a good guest (one of the reasons the cooking
school started was that the nearby car racing circuit of
le Castellet was closed down, and they needed something
else to keep customers coming, as well as the spa. )

Well, its a paupers dinner for me tonight

I'll sit here with my bread, cheese, some jambon (ham), and a
banana...

... What's the catch ?

Well, ok, I did have a 3 course lunch, all made by (us), and some
things like saddle of lamb we've prepped/marinated for Thursday

So, today, we made

Tapenade,
Fougasse (read onion tart), served with a light salad for entree, (see pic)

a stuffed saddle of rabbit, served with pommes fondantes (sauted
potatoes then finished in stock), and tatin de tomates (see pic),

then a 'croustillant', think like a thin wafer/brandy snap with thyme,
which we 'stacked' with raspberries and creme partissiere (see last pic)

So, ah, don't feel sorry for the bread/cheese supper I'm having ;-)

Tomorrow, its off to the fish-markets early, to procure fish etc for
lunch, two of the menu items are a cod puree, and mediterranean
fish with sun potatoes, croutons and aioli in a fish soup

Our chef/instructor, is Rene Berard (not Mr or 'chef', he uch prefer's
just 'Rene', no allo allo jokes please), a 1 Michelin star gent, who
has recently passed his hotel kitchen onto his son (but still keeps an
eagle eye on proceedings) - he loves teaching, and although we won't
graduate with a Michelin star, his recipes are going to go down well
I suspect at home (specially after Thursday when I've mastered lavender
flavoured creme brulee, Matt !!!)

Last bit for today - nothing is wasted - tops/tails of veges and the
lamb backbones are boild for stock, some extras - I think pig's ears
for gelatine, the tomato skins and seeds etc we didnt use .. mind you,
apparently the stock simmers for 8-12 hours !!!

Le viaduct de Millau

Just returning my thoughts here for a second, and posting a pic
of the viaduct, one things strikes me as quite 'odd' ... Why spend all
that money on such a structure (one has to pay a toll to cross, at the
northern end, €6.40 for a small car) and then put squat toilets in the
viewing/history area's amenities !!! Aaaarrrrgghhhh I should have
listened to Dom and Berts instructions on such, they being familiar
with the concept from Nepal ...

Actually, I didn't actually, well, need #2, which was lucky, but ....

(The only reason I can think of is that they are easier to clean)

The foibles of following a gps

Ok, so, on the way here, 'Karen' (aka GPS B*tch) requested
I take a route that was illegal (I went through 2 small sections
of road that I shouldn't have, but after being in a car that long,
wanting a bio break, tant pis (too bad) !)

So today, I took my other gps, and backtracked, to trace what
should have happened, and it seems Karen was a tad 'eager' -
had I followed the scant instructions from the hotel, and not
eyeballed the gps so much, I would have made it - ah well, c'est
la vie (or, put another way, 'putain !')

(Think of 'putain' as being french for the Australia 'bvgger')

Ttfn, time for some pain, fromage, jambon (lunch) that I picked
up on my stroll this am (when in France ....)

Phew ...

Was just about a victim of network death - my nokia cs-10/roaming
sim connection wasn't going anywhere, that seemed attributable to
2 issues

1) The device drivers (loaded from the cs-10 usb stick) didn't like
windows 7/64 bit
2) This is a lousy 3G area (stuck up high on a hill)

Ok, so, the solution, tricky - get a wifi pass from the hotel, valid
for 24h/200mb, download new drivers, apply ... So far so good, now,
try the stick again - now Orange Fr 3G seems to be there, until the
wind blows, so the device/sim is set up, I'm at the mercy of the
wind it seems (bvgger that, I'll use day passes from the hotel as long
as I can - they seem to expect it, which is jolly sporting of them)

Oh, of course, the driver d/load used 64mb of my limit for the day,
so I'll have to be judicious with todays posts ...

Although Im a bit further south than where I'll be cycling
next week, the days seem to start the same - sun up circa 7,
by 9am the coolness of the night is rapdily being heated off,
then into scorching afternoons, then cool late evening. I
hope the afternoons are a little more moderate from a
cycling pov, I'll have to wait till I get back to Avignon -
?2-3 hours drive, to see if there's a varioation in the
temperature/cycle, there ....

Made it

Talk about epic drives ... Made it to little town perched on
hill (Bastide/fortified town) where accom/cooking classes are
 - gps made me do some illegal turns at this village, but what
the heck - 8 hours drive !! (Ok, 2.5 was a side trip to the
Viaduct de Millau)

I've decided no ducks will die for me tonight - they might not be
so lucky tomorrow night.

So I'm starting with

1) French vegemite - tapenade - now, usually I don't eat olives,
but this is good !
2) a chevre bruschetta, with figs, mushrooms, and lettuce heart
3) then moving onto boef (ok, something has to die !) with
sauteed potatoes, and a carrot/mushroom/?onion roast

MMmmmmm

On the road again ...

Well, after a day plodding around new and old Carcassonne,
and along the Canal du midi yesterday, its 'on the road for me'
today - heading to La Cadiere d'Azur, on the (other) side of
Marseille.

Not being able to print at the last hotel, means I'm very
reliant on 'Karen' (my gps persona, aka 'le gps bitch'), a
'France Sud' map, and a rough list of autoroutes to take.

Running repairs I've had to make to the rental car - I should
have told Avis that the numberplate was becoming unstuck
 - at the risk of p#ssing off the french police, I've used some
super glue and as close to gaffa tape as I can find ...

Topping up the beasty (Peugot 207) with diesel as I go

So on with the show - let's hope the next installment isn't
'I'm lost" !!

Guilty pleasures....

I never seem to get the time to read (non work) books/material - hence, while Im on
holiday, its a great chance to catch up on some reading. So, I bought "The
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"/Stieg Larsson with me ...

MMMmmmmm, (almost) better than chocolate

No ducks were harmed ...

In the making of my meal tonight ...

(Ok, I lied - one cannot make fois gras de canard or magret (grilled to us common/non french
 folk) de canard  without a few ducks being sacrificed) (*1)

... Do I feel guilty - hell no !!!! ... Do I feel full - ah, burp, yes, as full as a goog, yep, that's me, un gros gourmand !

Unlike last night where my head was sore due to travel etc, this time its due to beaucoup de
vin rouge

(*1) you don't have to come all this way for a decent meal of duck - just drop into 'Chez Bert',
and you'll be in for a surprise (and a better accompanying wine)

Interesting experiences

.. Driving in France - the toll roads 'peage' operate at tolerable speeds - 130km/h for example
- the first time I forgot how fast that is, was when I read 'plaza de peage 3000m' and all of a
sudden I was right on top of it (no, didn't disgrace myself)

More notes for intrepid travellers - on one stretch I found myself at an unattended booth, that
I didn't have enough euro coin for : Don't Panic !! If you have a credit card with a chip, use
 that (doesn't ask for the pin, but opens the barrier)

If you're wondering how the toll roads work, well, on sections, you go through a ticket gate,
that issues a ticket that you then use at a toll plaza or exit ramp - I had thought I was going to
avoid the whole lot and use secondary roads, but it seems I was overly ambitious/
underestimated the distances involved ....

ps .. Reversing out of toll area to check other options not possible with a sh#tload of pantechs breathing down ya tailpipe !

Pps .. Mildly amused at disdain shown by the french drivers for suckers (comme moi) who get caught/trapped in a slow lane - well, the french are nothing if not consistent in their disdain
 (I was going to use 'arrogant', but that's not quite it)

Full marks ..

To anyone who knows where this is (ok, there are some out there who know, since I said
"I'd like to visit xyz")

Normal blog service may take a while to resume - I'm having to post as drafts, then edit out the
 email disclaimer, so I've turned off autoposting for a while

Ttfn

Avignon (#1)

Arrived last night ... Was in severe danger of falling asleep on TGV and ending up in Marseille - but you can count on the timetable, if it says it will be in Avignon at 20:10, it will be (so I set an alarm for 20:00 and all was well)
Funny thing, getting closer to here I felt I was being watched - looking out the window I see the imposing profile of. Mt Ventoux leering at me - one day, I'll try again
Anyway, off to le petit dejeuner (brekky), then grab hire car and head south - a bientot !
(#1 - in the words of Arnie - "I'll be back" - this is just an enforced stop between 2 modes of transport)

Boring places I've been (see pic)

Alternate caption - close (to Paris) but no cigar
That's right folks, this is the TGV train station at Charles de Gaulle aeroport - not very inspiring - but if it saves me a trip into paris to catch the same train from a station there, I'll take - though the boredom waiting here may kill me first
Notes for the enlightened traveller - Aus credit cards (as long as they have a chip and pin) work in the green ticket machines - so I've already purchased a 'carnet' - book of 10 tickets for the metro (won't need them 'till the return trip, but nothing like being prepared (or as my brother would put it, 'anal' ... Sometimes I do wish I could just go with the flow, but I find mutha nature too unpredictable, as evidenced by recent curve balls she's thrown at me)
Ps. I also get a smug satisfaction at cruising through customs/immigration here, with little more than a nod from the douane (customs) police. :-)
<Next stop, Avignon>

Where's Lawrence ?

(As in TE Lawrence) - plenty of desert have I seen, no camels or such
This 'wing' of the terminal in Abu Dhabi has a large conical mosaic springing from one level below where I am, up to the roof - hard to give a sense of scale with such a small camera (b/berry)
Must leave it there - if I don't get to a loo I'll be doing a Lawrence of Arabia myself, "take no prisoners !"
Next flight hop - 8.5 hours

For the record

That was Roger Federer I saw, heading to a gate, one solitary escort ... Doesn't look impressive from here

And so it begins ....

What was supposed to be 'the Lancaster boys do France and Italy' went a bit askew....
So on the redo, Dom has already had 2 weeks of fun and is currently working in London, I'm at Syd airport waiting for Paris via Abu Dhabi (and thence to Avignon), and dad, one of my best mates, well, I'm gonna try dead hard to get him to Tuscany, Bordeaux next year, even if I have to re-mortgage my soul to the devil
So, watch this space for more broadcasts
Ps ; special mention goes to Outdoor travel, Bright, Victoria (Yvette, Sue, Martyn) - I know I havnt thanked them enough for salvaging/turning a bit of a schmozzle into an escape