Provence Part 1: Uzes-Magnifique Marche!

Bonsoir mes amis!
I just got back from a wonderful weekend in Provence with my Sweet Briar Program!  The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny and high seventies.  We visited three cities in the south of France and Pont du Gard, a Roman Aqueduct.  Everyone had a blast!  We took a 7am train from Gare de Lyon Saturday morning and arrived 2 1/2 hours later in Avignon where we met up with our bus driver to head west to Uzes.

We arrived at the top of the town hill next to the "cathedral" (more of a church size).  Here is the lookout........

 I know it sounds silly, but I sometimes forget there is a lot more to France than Paris.  It's refreshing to get out of the city, and see some grass that I'm allowed to walk on!  The French countryside (by American standards anyway) is certainly "under malled".  We passed lots of farmland on our train ride punctuated by small villages that probably have looked exactly the same for at least 100 years.  When we got a chance to look out at Provence, it looked a lot like what I imagine Italy to look like.  I'll get a chance to compare the two in a few weeks!!

 Church at Uzes(pronounced U-sess, not oozes....)

Facade of the church



 Side chapel with painted ceilings

After a quick look inside the church, my friends and I headed to the market to find some lunch and have a picnic.  The market was in the center of town and it was HUGE.  Besides fruit, veggies, cheese, and meat, there were spices, purses, lavender, jewelry, salad tongs(made from local olive trees), pottery, quilts, soap and much more!  It was so much fun to wander around to look at what everyone had to offer, and to people watch.  Brace yourselves for some food pictures(that means you Aunt Barbara.  There can never be enough food pictures.).  

 Un homme avec la savon (Soap Guy)

I bought a little bag of lavender here.  It smells heavenly!

Jam Stand

The lady who makes all this jam and honey was nice enough to give us some free samples.  I think she knew she was making an investment because we all ended up buying some of her fantastic jam.  She wanted to practice her English and we wanted to practice our French so we had a bilingual conversation.  I opted for confiture de la fraise et la vanille (strawberry-vanilla jam).  It tasted like summer.

 



 Spice Stall

We could smell this stall before we actually saw it.  There was curry powder, peppercorns, chilis, vanilla beans, dried oregano and basil and bien sur............

 HERBS DE PROVENCE!

I bought a small jar.  Herbs de provence is a blend of savory, fennel, basil, thyme and lavender.  Why did I buy these herbs you ask? Because who knows when I'll have the chance to buy herbs de provence IN PROVENCE again??  Seize the day mes amis, and the markets.

After assembling our respective lunches (I had falafel, hummus, strawberries, and some salted caramel nougat)  and buying a box of wine to share, we headed back to the lookout for our picnic au soliel.  The food was absolutely delicious, and made even better by the atmosphere and the delightful company.  The strawberries were the best I have ever had.  I believe these are some of the first local strawberries in France.  They tasted like sunshine, happiness, and rainbows.  Not cardboard.  Those Provencal strawberries will be the benchmark for all other strawberries.     

My friend Moira and I enjoying the best strawberries ever. 

After lunch, we headed back on the bus to head to Pont du Gard, the Roman Aqueduct.  Check back tomorrow for more Provence posts!!

Bisous,

Allison