A Return to Provence

Those who know me well know I love Provence. So I’m excited to be back in the south of France for the first time in nearly eight years! I met up with my friend Cheri from Tucson in Marseille last Friday, and we drove to L’Isle-Sur-la-Sorgue, about an hour north of the city.

En route we stopped at the charming hamlet of Eygalières, where a leisurely stroll took us to l’Aubergine for a lovely lunch.

I had a delectable, cool gazpacho with a surprise scoop of basil gelato in the middle to start, then gorgeous fried fleurs de courgettes (zucchini flowers) stuffed with herbed ricotta.

And of course, rosé! Which I didn’t drink, because I was driving 🙁

Our apartment in l’Isle (which I’ll call it from now on to save typing) was in a great location steps from the main pedestrian street along the river, with its shops and restaurants. Clearly the place had only recently been fitted, as the appliances were modern and we had A/C in both bedrooms and the kitchen/living area. But the owner had assured us we would have to climb only 12 steps to the apartment, but there were, in fact, 24 — and in a spiral, at that! The other challenge was parking, but I’ll save that for another post!

After settling in we went exploring, stopping to pick up the essential wine and cheese we’d need for cocktail hour.

We capped off the day with some luscious briny oysters.