December in Provence

Christmas marche’ at maison dora maar

 What a beautiful time leading up to Christmas! It is calm here in Provence. Each weekend there are Christmas marchés in each village now illuminated with festive lights and decor. L’église de Goult was filled with the voices of classic carols of Christmas in French, Provençal, and English. a few weeks ago was the Dora Maar Christmas Marché in Mènerbes. There were artisans of food, fashion, jewelry, sculpture, florals, pottery, fabric, just to name a few. All brilliantly organized by Ruth Ribeaucourt and Victoria Templeton. This year the magic began Friday evening with champagne and piano music. I started my Christmas shopping here, supporting these talented local artists.

I went with some friends who were owners of an atelier in Mènerbes for years, restoring furniture and creating custom furniture finishes as well as selling high-end fabrics and antiques. This beautiful atelier now is the home to the chic boutique, La Vie Est Belle.

Afterwards we headed across the street for drinks at the cozy Cafe du Progrès. We toasted to the spirit of the season, beginnings and endings, and our strong friendships formed here in Provence . 

I finished my Christmas shopping (except for what I will make for the Veille de Noël) in Isle sur la Sorgue last week. A beautiful cold day to visit some of my favorite passages with brocante as well as ending the morning with brunch at the tea room, “Soeurs Appy” . It is such a pleasure to be in this cozy tea room where you can dine in a cours by entering through stained glass doors into a room with a glass ceiling giving you the feeling of dining sur la terrace. They make everything including the breads in their tiny open kitchen. For me it had to be the muffin with eggs, truffles, caramelized onions, and a bit of mache salade .

So now we enjoy the week.. seeing friends , taking walks, meeting in the cafe for a coffee..  and looking forward to sharing the dîner du réveillon de Noël with those we love.

Joyeux Noël 

Beth
PS .. a few pics from my evening walks in my village

The season of the Mimosa in Provence

Bonjour à tous from Provence 🇫🇷

It is the first week of February, and the sky is blue on these winter days. It is the season of the mimosa, which starts flowering along the Côte d’Azur during the last of January until March. The fragrant yellow flowers are a symbol of winter in Provence and the first to bloom in the new year, with a joyful message announcing spring or « printemps » is just around the corner ! They are now in every marché. Mimosa festivals  can be experienced along the French Riviera from Saint-Maxime all the way to Grasse, the famous village for the world’s perfumeries.  The fragrance from mimosas is used in perfumes, soaps, and even baking, but the cut flower industry is the biggest reason for its cultivation. Close by is the Tanneron Forest, painted yellow this time of year with all the wild mimosas. It is the largest mimosa forest in Europe! Viva La France 🇫🇷 

And so it begins this year in Provence, with the cutting of the vines, some of the fields that were planted last year will be rotated this year. On my walks, I can sometimes mark my distance by the field of carrots, then turnips, then after the beets. But it is always changing from year to year so next year might be something else planted or a different sequence. 

After the mimosa this month, will come the first blooms of the almond trees. Their pale pink  blossoms are short lived but mark another step closer to spring. When March arrives , everything changes like the backdrop in a theater !

I love these last months of winter when each evening the sunsets are getting a little later with their showy pinks, oranges, and blues …the village smells of fires from the chimneys where many houses still depend on the fire for heating . It is quiet ..even the cafe is closed for a couple of weeks. Getting outside for walks to see the earth changing its clothes into a new season is magnifique ! 

À bientôt.. bon février ! 

Beth

Bonne Année de Provence 🇫🇷!

Bonjour et Bonne Année de Provence 🇫🇷! 

I arrived home from 2 weeks in the US spending the holiday with for the first time in a long time..all 3 of my children ( and the grandchildren) and also a few days with all of my siblings, my brother from LA and sister from Asheville. I have beaucoup des bons souvenirs to bring back with me. Today I woke up to the Provençal sun beaming in my south- facing window with the view of the Luberon. Magnifique ! It is January 5, a very busy day for all the pâtisserie chefs in France. Today, all over France, the French will be placing their orders for their Galette des Rois to pick up tomorrow for the feast of Epiphany ( the 12th day of Christmas) to mark the end of the festive season . Christmas Eve is all about oysters and foie gras, January 6th is about Galette des Rois ( King Cake). It is a frangipane tart made with pâte feuilleté ( puff pastry), butter, and ground almonds.. In the south of France, you might be eating a brioche -style galette with candied fruit. I find the French love tradition to celebrate seasons as well as marking days in the year to get together with family and friends. Celebrations and feasts seem to be a priority in their lives. On January 6th each year to celebrate the feast of Epiphany, which is when the three kings turned up to give gifts to Baby Jesus, the tradition is to eat this galette usually with a verre de champagne or Cidre ( de Normandy). 

The tradition of eating the galette dates back to the 14th century. According to tradition, the cake was to draw the kings to the Epiphany. Interestingly during the French Revolution the name was changed to “Gâteau de l’égalité “ because it was not a great thing to be a king at that particular time in history! 

The Galette des Rois has a very old protocol that is followed. The youngest child has to hide under the table as the galette is being cut. He or she tells whoever is cutting the cake who will receive each piece. Whoever receives the fève ( word for bean and I still have French friends who use a fève in their galette) names their king or their queen, who gets to wear the crown and be the boss for the day. Before, in medieval times, the person who received the fève would have to buy the next cake and many times he or she  would swallow the bean so as to not have to buy it! In 1870, the fève was replaced by a variety of figurines made out of porcelain from Limoges ( now most are plastic 😢).  Always a piece of the cake  is reserved for someone who might pass by knocking at the door ..someone that is poor and begs for something to eat. This is called “la part de Mon Dieu ( God’s piece) or “la part de la Vierge”( the Virgin Mary’s piece). 

What are you doing tomorrow January 6th? Maybe just a normal work or school day ? Most everyone in France 🇫🇷 will have their cake ..and eat it too! At the Élysée Palace, an enormous galette ( 1.2m in diameter) is made for President Macron. Just a note, the artisan pâtissier is not allowed to put a fève in this galette ( for obvious reasons! ).

J'espère que vous passez une bonne fête demain ! 

Bises ,

Beth