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September 14th, 2009

More lavender and an amazing lunch in the South of France

On Friday, I showed you some lovely photographs of the gorgeous lavender fields in the South of France.  I wanted to share some more of that area's beauty with you and tell you of a fabulous inn and restaurant that we stopped at for lunch.  La Bastide de Moustiers,  located in the village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie is owned by the famed chef, Alain Ducasse, who bought the building in 1994 and transformed it into the charming place that it is today.  The kitchen is run by Alain Ducasse trained chef, Wilfrid Hocquet who changes the menu daily according to what is available in the vegetable garden and at the local market.  Needless to say, we enjoyed a most delicious meal.

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1 Michel Mane, me, two of the lavender producers - Mr Cervera and Mr Paul, and Jean Pigozzi

2 This ancient distillery to extract the oil from the lavender is no longer functioning. It is a very good example of the kind of machinery needed to do this task.

3 I was pretending to be the distiller.

4 These giant steel vats are used for heating the lavender blossoms.

5 This is an old plow once used behind horses in the lavender fields.

6 Michel with a handful of real French lavender

7 More rows of this incredible plant

8 We took off by helicopter to go to La Bastide de Moustiers, Alain Ducasse's restaurant in the nearby village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie.

9 We flew over more acres of groomed wheat, sunflower, and lavender.

10 The restaurant was all we had hoped for - rustic, beautiful, and delicious.

11 the pottery unique

12 We sat under an arbor and drank delicious wine, tasted incredible olive oil, and ate heavenly food.

13 There were beautiful handmade pottery plates.

14 Baby lamb from a neighboring farm was served along with braised farm vegetables, harvested from the restaurant's garden.

15 The lamb cut like butter.

16 This plum tart was served with lavender-infused ice cream.

17 There were wonderful homemade pastries.

18 Classic, yet the best of the best

19 We were showered with great things - meringues, cannelés, apricot pâte de fruit, and the cookie of the region made with lavender and honey.

20 I just wished we could stay longer than one day in this paradise.

21 The cheese service was exquisite.

22 The home baked breads were unusually good.

23 The gardens were full of fragrant rosemary, lavender, thyme, and scrumptious figs.

24 The helipad was conveniently in walking distance of the restaurant.

25 I was sad to leave but so happy to have seen this place.

26 And the ride back to Antibes was quite spectacular.

27 Again, the amazing lake

28 And the limestone mountains

29 Breathtaking drop-off cliffs

30 Beautiful cloud formations

31 Such vistas

32 It's hard to believe this is not heaven.

33 More rivers, cliffs, valleys, and canyons

34 Farms appeared at lower altitudes.

35 And suddenly dense clouds and lots of fog - a storm perhaps?? I hope not!

36 The visibility dropped drastically in a few moments.

37 But, we emerged from the clouds and soon saw the Mediterranean Sea and all the villas below.

38 And back home safely at the end of a wonderfully interesting day.

Posted on September 14th, 2009 in Friends, Gardens, Travel | Permalink |

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