Bouillabaisse. For our last meal in France, we drove to the village of Les Goudes on the outskirts of Marseille to have this glorious bouillabaisse. You must order at least a day ahead, because it is prepared especially for you, based on what is caught the morning of your dinner.

But let me back up…

I’d read up on Marseille before our trip, but without the local savvy of Brigitte and her family, we wouldn’t have known about — much less experienced — L’Escale and its bouillabaisse. So, I’m happy that I can let my readers know about it in the same way that we were so lucky to have our hospitable friends in Provence introduce us to it. They also helped find an automatic rental minivan that seated 7 (a rare gem that eluded my search) and arranged other pre-trip logistics. I wish that my French language could be as skilled as their English, but I can say “merci beaucoup!” and know that I’m speaking for the rest of my family, and Chad, as well.

So… back to the restaurant… Or rather, this luxurious view from our outdoor table…

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I started off with a delicately floral Violet Kir Royale. And I love the glass. It’s somehow ripe.

Bouillabaisse is usually served in two stages. First, the broth is brought out and poured over bread that you rub with garlic and spread with toppings, such as rouille.

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It was so good that we had two servings of this. You would expect that such a soup that takes all day to prepare will taste of the ocean, but that expectation didn’t prepare me for the flavor. It tasted more of the depths of the ocean — a rich, yet elemental flavor that, obviously, goes beyond “earthy.”

And then, the fish themselves (with potatoes) were served, as pictured first above. Full of the freshest fish imaginable from the Mediterranean, it speaks for itself.

Mi-Cuit de Chocolat. I liked the intensity of chocolate in the middle of the plate, and the opportunities to contrast it w/ either frozen or whipped vanilla cream at your leisure.

We also had perfect Profiteroles, with this piping on the side of the plate… which vindicated all the piping homework that we had in culinary school…

For more about bouillabaisse — including a California approach to it — see this LA Times article.

When we were in Provence, we spent an afternoon in the gorgeous hilltop village of Gordes, which faces the Luberon.

We arrived around lunchtime, and came upon L’Artegal.  The restaurant was full, except for this sole charming table behind the restaurant that they were willing to set for us.  So, we took it.  I appreciated having our own peaceful lunch in a restaurant that was at full capacity.

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Salade Landaise - Mesclun, Sauteed Potatoes, Smoked Duck Breast, Duck Gizzards, Foie Gras. This is the kind of salad that people come to France for.  Lightly dressed, and a treasure trove of salt, smoke, acid, buttery crispy potatoes, fresh greens, and a wealth of duck.  The duck gizzards were delicious –  even though I thought that they were some kind of toothsome mushroom at first.

Lamb with Herb Mashed Potatoes. The lamb was very fatty, but tasted good with the herbs and jus.

Sorbet with Tuiles. Hm… those tuiles are burnt.

Panna Cotta with Fruit Coulis. This had a nice full vanilla flavor and I believe a mirror glaze was on top.  I could have sworn that this had ricotta in it, but we were told that it was just cream. A ricotta panna cotta would be a great idea, though… if only it didn’t sound so silly to say out loud.

Strawberry Melba “a Notre Facon.” We came across quite a few melbas “a notre facon” in France, and I liked the different plays on them — and this was no exception.

On the way out, we happened to pass by the bar, and when I saw an assortment of intriguing liqueurs, I remembered that I like intriguing liqueurs … so I ordered…

Melopepo. Cantaloupe and Almond Liqueur. I liked the alcohol and almond tinges to the flavor of cantaloupe so much that I bought a bottle of it at a shop next door.

P’tit Bleu Pastis. Anise-flavored, obviously, and very smooth. Chad was a big fan.

Fleur de Figue. The floral flavor was almost astringent in this, although it was very sweet. I was just barely able to finish it.

One of the greatest surprises while visiting Chateauneuf du Pape was this excellent chocolaterie. Chocolate doesn’t usually spring to mind when thinking about Provence, and that’s too bad. This chocolate passed my most criticial chocolate tests: it melted smoothly and dissolved into pleasing notes of flavors. I find it difficult to describe chocolate, and especially to be able to differentiate the flavors in words, although the differences are obvious when you taste chocolates one after the other. My most common complaints of a chocolate would be an astringent flavor and a curdled sort of melting quality. Bernard Castelain has none of those problems.

I was also impressed by the variety of chocolate available — with many different percentages of cocoa, different origins, different fillings, different shapes. There’s a large sales room to show all of them off, and samples for just about everything. Here is a site that sells some of their chocolate bars, so you can get an idea of their variety.

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These are champagne truffles… which, of course, means cognac. These were my favorite. I also liked the cork-shaped “bouchons” flavored the same way.

Second favorite, these rocks. There was a bright flash of flavor from the coating — something creamy and approaching citrus about it.

Almond Paste with Coffee. I liked this candy bar-like style.

Coated Almonds.

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St Domingue, Equateur (from Ecuador), Tanzanie.

I was too full from lunch that day to get any pastries from Riederer, so instead, I just took a ton of pictures…

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First of all, I’d like to thank Brigitte, Jean-Claude, Caroline, and Vincent for their gracious hospitality in Provence. They went out of their way to make sure that our family experienced the best of the area, and we are all extremely grateful. They will be to thank for all of my posts (and beautiful pictures) featuring Provence…

Bechard is the oldest bakery in Aix en Provence, having opened a century ago. I tried a few things on the afternoon that we went, but as you’ll see in the pictures, I barely scratched the surface of all they have to offer… and I didn’t even take pictures of the breads and chocolates that they had in the display cases that lined the other wall of the salesroom. It’s a beautiful bakery, and worth seeking out to marvel at.

My favorite was the pastry on the upper right, which had alternating crispy and creamy layers full of a rich chocolate orange flavor.

The baba au rhum was also very nice, if a bit moist. That was good, though, b/c I had no utensils, and it had to be eaten jello shot-style.

The Figue had something like a custard wrapped in marzipan, and was also good.

Glace pumpkins! That still amazes me, and I wonder what they’re like.

Aix is known for Calissons. They’re traditionally made of ground almonds, candied melon and orange peel, and sugar sandwiched between a wafer on the bottom and royal icing on top.

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