Best way of buying food is doing it straight from the local farmers, that is why I simply LOVE going to the organic market in Paris every weekend. Truly the highlight of my week.
Imagine how happy I got when Jim and Claudia asked if I wanted to join them to the marché de Riez on the Saturday morning? With Claudia‘s latest bargain, an old shopping cart with a grinding sound (great to have if you lose one and other in the crowded market) we took the car in direction to the village Riez.
Forget about superpolished, waxed apples, perfect shaped tomatoes or onions without any traces of soil…in a market you find fruits and veggies in all kind of colours and shapes, there is nothing called perfect and what they all have in common is that they all taste delicious, they smell good, and they have been fed with the love of the local farmers, could you ask for more?
Marché de Riez, every Wednesday and Saturday 08h00-13h00 – Place du Quinconce
Photos taken with my Fuji Finepix x100s
Fresh onions
Cherries
Onions
Artichauts
Verveine
Tomatoes in all kinds of shapes and colours :-)
Tasty apricots
Happy “marchand”
Dried lavender
Jim and Claudia buying organic veggies
honey from Felizia Pozzoni in La-Palud-du-Verdon
honey from Felizia Pozzoni in La-Palud-du-Verdon
Fresh baked bread, without chemicals or pesticides
Homemade cakes
Le petit-déjeuner (breakfast) at La Vudèle was such a wonderful treat that I still dream about all the delicacies I was served. In the morning I was waken up by swallows and sparrows singing outside my window..how neat wasn’t that? The drilling and banging outside my building in Paris had been replaced with birds singing to me. I loved it and for the first time in months I felt relaxed when I stepped out of the bed. When walking down the stone brick stairs from my room I was thinking about the homemade bread I was about to have soon. The evening before, Claudia had teached me how to make a no-knead bread with sourdough, she mixed the ingredients, sourdough, flour, salt, water and left it during the night in order for the dough to rise. Further she explained that in the morning she would bake the bread in a covered pot……
The table on the terrace facing their garden was set up with so many yummie treats I felt like a spoiled princess and was even worried about how to try everything without exploding?
I had one glass of fresh pressed orange juice, one glass of lavendar infusion, a cup of tea (6 different teas to choose from as you can see in the photos) , honey from Felizia Pozzoni in La-Palud-du-Verdon, Claudias homemade peanutbutter and pâte à tartiner au chocolat (read Nutella….irresistebly delicious!), butter in the most cutest shape I’ve ever seen, fresh faiselle (fresh cheese made of Goat milk), fresh fruitsalad decorated with fresh mint from their garden, boiled egg (from happy chickens from Regine & Bernard in Bras-de-Asse) and so ofcourse the sourdough no-knead bread! Straight out from the oven, crusty and perfectly soft inside…I was in heaven :-) And not to forget, one morning Jim sang the famous egg-song that I never had heard before, “How do you like your eggs in the morning” (Dean Martin & Helen O’Connor) but that I had read about in one of the reviews they’ve had..and that I had kindly asked about to hear :-)
Their breakfast was really one of a kind, organic and homemade with lots of love. Do I need to mention I’m still craving for this breakfast? One thing is for sure, I would love to return next year :-)
La Vudèle – Provence
Photos taken with my Fuji Finepix x100s
Different types of organic tea
Different types of honey from the area :)
Have you ever seen butter in this cute shape?
Fresh fruitsalad topped with mint
Let me introduce you to the most simple bread that even YOU can make at home, the no-knead bread! Prepare it in the evening and bake it in the morning, fresh homemade bread has never tasted better ;-)
All time favourite on the table….
Claudias homemade pâte à tartiner au chocolate, read homemade nutella at it’s best!
Enjoying a slice of fresh no-knead bread with butter and faisselle
Faisselle
A bonus when staying at La Vudèle is that they offer a table d’hôtes, meaning you get a 3-course dinner with the hosts. Something I definately made sure before my arrival that I was very interested in having :-)
The first evening Jim proposed me a very delicious basil dessert wine he had made. Together with the handpicked marinated olives (did I mention Claudia and Jim have got over 200 olive trees?) from their own olive grove .
Claudia was so kind sending me the reciepies of the meals she had done so here we go. As a starter, the first evening she had made a very tasty soup, flageolet soup, made with fresh sage from their garden, fresh sarriette (savory) and thyme also from their garden. Together with peeled tomato and flageolet beans she had let it simmer slowly for 30 minutes, then let it rest in order to let the flavors absorb and then turned on the low heat for 15 minutes. It was served with hand-picked organic olive oil (olive oil made with olives from their own olive grove), balsamic vinegar from Italy, fresh grated parmesan cheese and topped with alfalfa sprouts she had let grown a few days before my arrival :-)
The main course was a crêpe with a Provencale twist! The crêpe was vegan (only flour, milk and salt) and it was filled with slow-cooked seasonal vegetables in their hand-picked organic olive oil and the sauce it was accompagnied with was made of a soycuisine sauce and red wine (and not lavendar that I thought when I saw it’s purple colour ;-) ).
The dessert was a yummie and refreshing lavendar sorbet that Claudia had made and that I totally fell in love with.
Accompagnied by wonderful hosts, magical sunsets I enjoyed this dinner very much and the very interesting subjects we were talking about. I slept very well that evening :-)
La Vudèle – Organic holiday in Provence
Photos are taken with my Fuji Finepix x100s
Jims homemade basil dessert wine!
Olives de Quinson – hand-picked olives from Claudia and Jim’s olive grove
Very tasty flageolet soup made by Claudia!
Crêpe with a provencale twist!
Refreshing lavendar sorbet topped with rhum
Magical sunset in the surroundings of La Vudèle
Fields arround La Vudèle
Magical sunset behind La Vudèle
Magical sunset
A few photos of some cute buddies or insects, if you prefer calling them that, I was seeing on my way when having a walk around La Vudèle in Provence. Enjoy!
Photos taken with my Fuji Finepix x100s
La Vudèle, the name of a small area close to the village Quinson but also the name of the house where I was staying during my holidays in Provence. In the photo above you can see the century-old farmhouse in stone, La Vudèle, where I had a complete retreat surrounded by wheat, oat and lavendar fields…in place where time passed by slowly and where I felt very much like home :-)
I’ve passed by Provence several times, but I’ve always dreamt of going there for holidays and see the purple lavendar fields from a closer view. Since I’m very much into environmental friendly holidays and organic food I was head over heels when finding La Vudèle, a beautiful old stonehouse owned by the adorable couple Jim and Claudia.
After an almost 3 hours of travelling with the TGV train from Paris I arrived at Aix-en-Provence where I took a bus (2,5 hours) to the village Riez. In Riez Jim had offered to come and pick me up with his car which was very nice as there were no other communcations in getting to their house.
When we arrived I was warmly greeted by Claudia and the cute message on the charcoal board, see photos below ;-) She kindly showed me around their house and the beautiful guestroom were I was staying. The queen-sized bed was dressed in certified organic cotton sheets and so were the pillows and comforter. The mattress was made in natural latex, the en-suite bathroom with a walk-in Italian shower was with a ecological faucet. Claudia and Jim had made sure to create a very cozy yet eco-friendly and organic guestroom which really impressed me :-)
First day, Saturday, Jim and Claudia let me join them at the market in the village Riez. As it is one of my favourite highlights in Paris I was happy to see how the market looked alike in Riez and to chat with the local producers who were selling fresh veggies and fruits straight from their grounds. Around lunchtime we went for swimming in the pool and for a light lunch, meaning crusty fresh baguette from the market, delicious cheese and yummie tomatoe…before plunging in the pool again :-)
In the afternoon I had a walk around the area of La Vudèle and in the evening Jim and Claudia had proposed me to join them to a restaurant of their friend to meet all their other friends. Live music and very friendly people, it was indeed a lovely evening spent in Provence! On Sunday, I went for hiking..walked to the village of Quinson and then found my way to the Gorges du Verdon… Will share my photos in short ;-)
La Vudèle – Organic holiday in Provence
Photos taken with my Fuji Finepix x100s
Stairs to the guestroom where I was staying
Typical window
Bienvenue à la Vudèle Solli – what a nice way of beeing welcomed :-)
Beautiful stone wall in the guestroom
A welcoming note next to my bed
Adorable Mimie, she acctually let me pet her but as soon as I brought up my camera she was more interested in catching bugs showing me her great skills ;-)
The fields surrounding La Vudèle
The fields surrounding La Vudèle, I could walk here for hours, inhaling the fresh and crisp air and even barefoot..for grounding/earthing..best meditation ever!
Claudia and Jim, wonderful hosts at La Vudèle!
Lavender fields
Live music and dinner at Paris London Café at Esparron de Verdon in Provence
Hiking along the Gorges du Verdon
