Getting There is Half the Fun

On the way to Cadaques

On Sunday morning we got up earlier than usual and were on our way to Cadaques by a little before 8:00 a.m.  There was little to no traffic which was very nice for John who was doing all the driving.  And, it's a good thing because the scenic routes are 2 lane narrow and winding along with up and down.  It is less than 200 km to Cadaques but it seems much farther because of the roads and slow going for those not used to these highways.  However, we were in no hurry and enjoyed the beautiful changing scenery along the way.  Our route is shown below:


View Larger Map

It was almost 1:00 p.m. when we finally arrived in Cadaques.  We couldn't find the hotel right away and so we just parked where we could and decided to ask at another hotel which was right across the street from where we parked.  Turns out we were only two short blocks or so from the Hotel Ubaldo which was on a little narrow street.  We walked over and checked in.  It was nice to be able to converse with them in Spanish.

View From Our Room

The official language is Catalan but everyone seemed  to be able to speak Spanish too.  We were shown our room which was fine with a nice view and then discussed parking with the desk clerk (it was included in the hotel rate) because we didn't think we could leave the car on the street all night.  She asked us how big our car was - medium - and said that we could park in an underground garage nearby and she gave us a remote to open the door into the garage which turned out to be across the street from where we had parked the car on the street.  Actually, once you get acclimated, you find that Cadaques is fairly small with one main street of a couple of blocks ending at the bay. 

After settling in, we walked to the waterfront and checked out the various restaurants,, selecting one somewhat at random.  We ordered the menu of the day which was Galician style pulpo (octopus) as a starter, Paella de la casa and flan for dessert along with a cold glass of Catalan beer.  The pulpo was perfectly fresh and tender - sliced over a layer of potatoes with a spicy dressing over all - we enjoyed it very much.  The paella, however, was just o.k.  It was not nearly as good as the paella we had from the market last week.  And, the flan was a disappointment - it was the tasteless "Jello" kind - not like good Mexican flan.  However, the ambiance and view of the bay were very nice. 

Galician Pulpo

Paella 

After a leisurely lunch we walked around to the other side of the bay/harbor along with the rest of the tourists.  Yes, Cadaques is a tourist destination for sure with not a lot to do but overall is pleasant.  We pretty much spent what was left of the day doing nothing.  Salvador Dali lived here for a while but when I looked it up I found that his former home would have been worth a visit but was closed on Mondays.  Oh well.  We had a  little snack for supper (from the bakery - we are so bad!) and had a good night's sleep.  

Monday morning we walked down to the waterfront again to find breakfast - they seem to just have coffee and sweets for breakfast in Cadaques - no real breakfast menus that we could find so we had cappuccino and churros at the bakery cafe. It was delicious and quite enough.   

The hotel lady told us that there would be a market in the morning and it turned out to be right down the street from the hotel.  Since I love to go to markets - not necessarily to buy - just to take in the sights, sounds and smells, we agreed to take a look.  The Monday market consisted of mostly clothing items, jewelry, some shoes, baskets and then down at the end - the sausages, fruits and vegetables.  We walked the entire length and boughr a purse and a small African basket and of course, took pictures.  One of the stalls was filled with flamenco clothing - costumes for little girls - even little flamenco shoes as well as costumes and shawls for adults.  I have always wanted to take Flamenco lessons - even started once until the teacher disappeared from San Miguel after the second class.  I did read something about another teacher in town so I may just start up again - I even have the shoes. You're never too old to dance.

Flamenco booth in the market

 Since there was really nothing else to do, we packed up and hit the road. (Well, there were some tourist water activities - boats to rent - sightseeing cruises - but not really of interest to us on this trip). We took a different and easier route to Perpignan so that John didn't have to deal with the extremely narrow and winding roads on the coast going home.  From there we headed onto the same road back to Magrie.  Fortunately, there was not much traffic. The day started out cloudy and foggy but turned beautiful by the time we reached the Perpignan area.    We didn't make any other side trips because we didn't want to take a chance of being out on the highways after dark.  We stopped for lunch in a little village along the way and I had a hamburger and fries while John had an omelette and fries - it was pretty much a sandwich and pizza place so there wasn't much choice.  However, the french fries were outstanding - probably fried in lard!  And, the hamburger was also very good.  It was a nice little break.  It was very close to a river gorge that was recommended but Christine but you have to walk on a narrow trail on a cliff and we just weren't up to that on this trip.  Although, with all this talk of food, we should really be doing more hiking.  Maybe I'll start today. ;-)     

                           Links to pictures:      PICTURES Part 1                  PICTURES Part 2

And by the way, when you click on the pictures link you will see a button on the right above the collection of pictures in the album that says SLIDESHOW - that is the best way to view the pictures.  

Vide-Grenier

We have seen the hand written sign at the entrance to Magrie for a week - "Vide-Grenier September 15 Tourreilles".  It took me a while to figure out what a "Vide-Grenier" is but the Internet came to my rescue once again - flea market or garage sale.  I also found it listed on a French web site on the Internet and, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, it included a display of old cars.  The village was just up the hill from Magrie - we could have hiked up there if we were much younger and fitter but we aren't so we drove.  It was a tiny village with several tables scattered about outside a few homes with their old stuff from the attic on sale.  The cars were all similar - colorful French - VW Beetle looking vehicles.  Here's a picture:

We walked the whole village in a matter of minutes, looked at all the tables, took pictures and bought a couple of old small Coca Cola tin reproductions of signs for a few Euros - they will easily fit in the suitcase.  Charming village and friendly people all around.  In fact, the French people we have met and interacted with throughout our time here have been very, very nice and friendly even though we can't have a conversation.  Bon jour, Merci, Tres bon, etc. go a long way along with lots of smiles.

Now I will pack a few thing for our trip tomorrow to Spain.  Au revoir!

Oh yes - here are more pictures of the little village of Tourreilles.

Foie Gras and More

Well, did the title of this post get your attencion?  I'll explain further on in my post today but first, we had at least two days of cloudy and sort of rainy so we didn't go on any major excursions. Even the outdoor cats decided these were indoor type days.  

A View from the House on a Cloudy Day

Dinner Wednesday was the duck fillet I mentioned in my last post.  Since I had never cooked a duck filet before, I looked it up on the Internet and it was really quite easy. You cook it in a hot skillet skin side down to render the fat, then flip it over and finish cooking to medium rare (or rare).  I roasted eggplant slices and some red and yellow sweet peppers.  We added some french bread from the Boulangerie truck, a slice of our favorite purchased dessert of Vianetta and had a lovely dinner.

Finished duck breast

Dinner is served

Ice Cream Dessert

 Now is a good time for a few remarks about food which is so important here in France.  It is about the ingredients, of course.  The daily markets are wonderful and the big supermarket, LaClerc, is also pretty wonderful with great selections and everything very fresh.  They have very much embraced the availability of many organic products.  But, going to the store is quite overwhelming compared to shopping in San Miguel - to see so many things - some that I am not sure what they are since I don't understand much French.  And, how much can two people eat?  As it is, we have a very small breakfast at home and if we eat lunch at home - it is very small.  If we eat a meal out at lunch, that pretty well takes care of our appetite for the rest of the day - other than maybe a very light snack at night.  We walk through the markets and I want MORE - but know we will never be able to cook it and eat it all.  Too many choices - cheeses and sausages, olives, a few unusual vegetables - I want to try them all but it is not to be on a three week home exchange. And, I'm not even going to talk about trying to keep the weight under control.

Winery vineyard above Magrie

Yesterday, as planned, we returned to the winery/vineyards up the hill - the day they are supposed to be open for visiting, tastings and wine sales.  The sun came out and we headed up in the mid afternoon.  As we pulled into the parking area next to the house, a dog welcomed us with lots of watch-dog type barking.  But, no one was around.  There was wine fermenting in a big tank right next to the parking area - I could smell the yeast.  The dog barked and barked and finally disappeared but no humans came out so we went back home.  Above is a picture of one of the vineyards next to the house:

Now - it is Friday and the sun is brilliant once again but the air is much cooler - a beautiful day - a breeze and fall like.  Our plan was to go to town (Limoux) for the market which we showed up for too late last week and then to have lunch in one of the restaurants on the square.  We strolled around checking out everything but only bought some green beans for tomorrow's dinner.  Lunch starts at noon here and is usually finished by 2:00 - we learned that when we tried for lunch a couple of times after 2:00 and nothing was available.  So, at a few minutes before noon, we looked at menus posted outside the several restaurants on the square and found the one which appealed to us:

Their specials of the day were: starter and entree for 12.50 or starter, entree and dessert for 16 euros.  We went inside to eat because of the cigarette smoke in the outdoor area - (what a shame).  The waitress took our order and the feast began.  We both chose - here goes:  Creme Brulee au Foie Gras.  Yes, controversial, I know but foie gras (duck or goose) is a speciality of the area and if you read up on how it is done, it has become more humane. It is a very important gastronomic product of France and has been around for a very long time.  Anyhow, the dish presented to us was fantastic.  What can I say?  We enjoyed every single mouthful from beginning to end.

Creme Brulee Foie Gras

For the main course, I chose the 2nd choice on the menu which I was not sure what it was but I knew it couldn't be bad.  It turned out to be a lovely piece of baked white fish with a little Hollandaise sauce on the side, along with steamed potato slices and a gratineed tomato half. (I looked it up when I got home and it was pollack).  John chose the house moussaka and it was quite different from what he is used to (my moussaka receipe) but after a few bites he pronounced it to be quite good.

Fish entree

Moussaka de la casa 

Well, needless to say, we are both members of the clean plate club and so moved on to our desserts:

Carpacchio of Pineapple

Strawberries with cream

We happily wound our way through the old town back to our car.  I suggested maybe an excursion to a nearby village this afternoon but we stopped at home to deal with a little laundry and further excursions for today were not on the menu after such a satisfying meal - we needed to rest and catch up on the Blog. (By the way, leave comments if you wish - that way I know someone is reading all this).

MORE PICTURES HERE IF YOU WISH

A Couple of Days of R & R

After our trip to Mirepoix, it's time for a couple of easy days in Magrie for R&R.  I made my Leek & Potato soup - no recipe - just cooked up some leeks, garlic, carrots, potatoes, added a little purchased vegetable veloute, threw in some seasonings and pureed it all.  It turned out to be quite tasty and went well as a starter to our salmon dinner.  (And, leftovers for lunch tomorrow). 

We decided to check out the winery up the hill - friends of our hosts:  Alain Cavailles.  We headed up on foot and it was not far at all but emphasis on the UP and it was early afternoon and hot in the sun.  When we arrived, we were rewarded with beautiful views of the countryside and town below.  Unfortunately, the sign said that the visiting day for the winery is Thursday - so we will go back then.  The road continued up but not for us on foot - too hot  - we headed back down and got the car to go to the top where there were more vineyards and more views. 

After our little drive up the hill we checked out the other supermarket in Limoux, found a few inexpensive wines - at the rate we consume the wine, they have to be inexpensive.  Tee-hee.  I also spied a duck filet which called to me. (aka: boneless duck breast).  There seems to be an abundance of duck around here and it is something we rarely have back in Mexico so I'll check out how to cook it on the Internet today and let you know how it turns out. We do enjoy duck but I can't remember the last time I had any.  I might even include a picture if I remember to take one.  

This morning was cloudy and a bit rainy - a good thing for this very hot and dry spell they have had here - and a day for more relaxing and looking up stuff on the Internet as well as being entertained by the felines.  Marcel is sound asleep on the desk next to me as I write. 

I asked our hosts if it would be permissible to drive into Spain with their car - the answer was no problem at all and they suggested a little fishing town on the Costa Brava in Catalan, Spain called  Cadaqués.  I looked it up and knew that this would be an interesting place to visit and it is only a 2 1/2 hr drive from here.  After consulting with John, we agreed to spend one night there.  I immediately booked a hotel online and we will leave early Sunday morning - returning on Monday afternoon.  I am very excited to be going to Spain, one of my favorite countries, even if it is just an overnight excursion.

AND HERE ARE MORE PICTURES.

Mirepoix - Market & Lunch

It's Monday and market day in Mirepoix, a medieval town to the west and slightly north of us.  The town has just over 3000 permanent residents so it is small but it seems larger with all the visitors.  We heard a lot of British English spoken in the market and some of the vendors seemed to speak a little English when we were stuck.  Who can blame the Brits for coming here with its lovely weather, lower prices and relatively close by?

Half-timbered house on the square where the market takes place.

 Our drive to Mirepoix was easy with beautiful scenery.  As compared to closer to Magrie, there seemed to be fewer vineyards, more hills and grassy valleys.  As we rolled into town we again had to figure out where the market was and where to park. Actually it was easy to find the market (now we know that they always seem to be in the village square) but not easy to park, as usual.  However, the town was not that large and we just drove a few blocks away from the town square and found a spot on a narrow side street.

St. Maurice - built in 1298

The market was quite extensive compared to yesterday's in Esperaza with some of the same vendors as we saw yesterday but lots of others too.  There were again beautiful fruits and vegetables, cheese, sausages, clothing - mostly new - hats, shoes and much more.  We did not actually need much - we were there just to walk, look and take pictures.  We did buy some potatoes, an onion and two palmiers.  The market wound around two squares next to the hundreds of years old church, St. Maurice.

The square was lined with cafes and restaurants so at noon, we wandered around and picked one sort of at random but with a nice sounding Special of the Day. We didn't even find out the name of the restaurant.

The tables outside were pretty well filled with coffee drinkers (and smokers) so we sat inside and ordered the special.  It was a veal stew in a white sauce with mushrooms and carrots with basmatti rice and a very fresh salad.  The sauce was delicious and the veal was beautifully tender and tasty.  At 9 euros each (includes tax and tip) - we thought it was a great value for a nice lunch - which to us was more like comida.  Our supper later at home would be cheese, bread and wine. 

After our leisurely lunch, we left the restaurant and saw that the market was already mostly finished and packing up.  We took a longer route back to the car, stopped on the street and had a chat with a couple of British ladies who were on holiday and headed back toward Magrie via a different scenic route   Along the way we stopped in Camon, a small fortified  village constructed around a Benedectine abbey that was founded by Charlemagne in 778.  (It is sometimes difficult to get a grasp of the age of things we see in Europe).  The remains of the abbey and chateau seem to be privately owned, include a hotel and restaurant but it was a pleasant stroll through the narrow walled streets, around the chateau and abbey and overlooking an old cemetery.  We then went up and down the short main street, stopping to share a Coca Light, finally heading towards home at a leisurely pace while enjoying the verdant landscapes.

HERE'S A LINK TO THE REST OF THE MIREPOIX & CAMON PICTURES.

Camon

Today (Tuesday) it started out cloudy but the sun is now out.  We still haven't visited the local winery so maybe that will be in store for us this afternoon.  We enjoyed our palmiers for breakfast, by the way, and they were delicious.  I'll probably made my leek and potato soup today if I'm not too lazy.

Visit to a French Country Market

Finally - we are going to visit one of the little country markets!  The feline lady of the house, Cachou, must have known because she woke us up very early by purring loudly on our bed.  Well, that is o.k. because it's best to go early to the markets.

Esperaza is only about 20 km or so from the house but we took the scenic road with the aid of the GPS - she gave us a few wrong turns but we straightened her out and drove right into the little village. We found a parking spot by the river and just followed a few obvious shoppers to the market.

All kinds of things were on sale: fresh fruits and vegetables, of course, meat, nuts, cheeses, olives, dried fruits, clothing, shoes, knick-knacks and more.  One of the first things we spotted was a man selling paella right from his gigantic paella pan.  It looked and smelled delicious so we thought that we would return and buy some on our way out.

The fruits and veggies looked lovely and oh my - the cheeses!  We stared at the cheese display for a moment and the nice sales lady offered us several samples ranging from very mild to more aged.  We decided on one and she wrapped it up for us and collected our money. I have no idea what kind of cheese it is - just that it is very tasty. We didn't need much but the leeks were so nice that I bought a couple to make some soup.  I also bought a beautiful eggplant  It was just so much fun to look at everything and take a few photos.  At the edge of the market were a couple of cafes full of happy people drinking beer or coffee and having a great time.

After circling the entire market, we headed back to the paella guy and bought a container of his creation which included chicken, sausage, mussels, scallops, shrimp and octopus.  All for 8 Euros and it was definitely  enough for two ample servings.

Delicious Paella

We took the main road back to Limoux and Magrie and it was almost as scenic as the scenic road.  I made a quick salad and we sat down with a bottle of Chardonnay for our Sunday dinner.  The paella was just as delicious as it looked and we ate every bit of it. The seafood was perfectly cooked and fresh and the rice was perfectly seasoned.  I believe it was as good or better than paella we have had in Barcelona and Valencia.  We may have to go back again next Sunday.    HERE'S THE REST OF THE PIX.

Back to Limoux and Magrie

PS - Below is the reason we did not buy any fruit in the market.  This is what we brought home from Christine and Pierre's orchard yesterday:

Just Hanging Out

Yesterday we were going to go to the weekly market in Limoux but we didn't get there very early and we were not sure of its exact location.  After randomly driving around for a while, we did not find it and there was no place to park so we went back home.  Later in the day we headed back to the city, parked on a main street and set off on foot to just look around.  We did come to the location of the market but they were already packed up and leaving.  However, we had a pleasant walk through the narrow streets of the old town.  We'll catch their market next Friday.  There are little markets all over around here and we have been advised that the one in Mirepoix is excellent.  We will get going earlier on Monday and try that one.  Tomorrow, there is a market in another nearby small village called Esperaza so we will go take a look at that.  I love local markets - there are so many interesting things to see and so colorful (and delicious).

Remember the men's quartet singing in the church in Carcassonne that I mentioned in my previous post?  Well, I found someone's You Tube post of them singing in the same location recently and the sound is pretty good so take a listen HERE.  The CD we purchased was recorded in the famous St. Basil's in Moscow and it is a beautiful recording - I've already copied it to my iPod.

Today we did a little grocery shopping at Leclerc and later will go back to the orchard to gather some plums.  And, we may visit a local winery.  In other words, we're just hanging out.  It is sunny and in the 80's.  I'm going to cook some lovely salmon we just bought at the store.  Bye for now.

Here's a link to more pictures of Limoux.