Sablet House

26/10/2026

This evening, we enjoyed a dinner of drinks and bites in our garden at home in Windsor, CA. Our French friends call a meal like this an Apéro Dinatoire. In France, this is an informal French social gathering that combines a pre-dinner cocktail hour (apéro) with a substantial spread of finger foods, small plates, and drinks that replaces a formal sit-down dinner.

Our "bites" included a roasted beet, arugula, and goat cheese salad, tomato bruschettas, crostini with caramelized onion with truffle honey over goat cheese, wild King Salmon bites, corn cakes with heirloom tomato jam, roasted piquillo peppers stuffed with safron, artichoke risotto, with a Basque cheese cream sauce, deep fried eggplant chips with truffle honey. Daughter Tricia made a great cocktail with gin, pear juice, simple syrup, and prosecco.

18/10/2026

We returned with friends to the Carrières de Lumières at Les Baux de Provence for the Matisse/Frida Kahlo immersive experience.

The images on this post are different than what I shared before. We even got a nice selfie together in front of a self-portrait of Frida Kahlo.

The images on this post show the 14 meter tall walls of the old Bauxite quarry where the art is displayed. You can also see some of the 70 video projectors.

If you are in western Provence, we think a visit to the Carrières de Lumières and Les Baux de Provence should be high on your list for a visit.

̇dakahlo

17/10/2026

After lunch in Lourmarin, we visited Roussillon and did a brief visit to Gordes and headed back to Sablet by way of the Sénanque Abbey.

Roussillon is a commune in the Vaucluse department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. It is classified as a Plus Beaux Villages de France (Most Beautiful Villages of France).

Roussillon is noted for its large ochre deposits found in the clay surrounding the village. Ochres are pigments ranging from yellow and orange to red.

17/10/2026

Friday morning visit to Lourmarin. Lourmarin is a picturesque village in the South Luberon region of Provence, France. It is officially classified as one of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France.

A market is held every Friday morning from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM, filling the village squares with material, local cheeses, lavender, olive oil, honey, crafts, and fresh produce.

The pedestrian only historic center is a maze of narrow, cobblestone streets, ivy covered, stone houses with blue shutters, historic fountains, and artisan boutiques.

We began our visit by sitting down for espresso's to fortify ourselves for the walk through of the market area.

10/10/2026

We made a Saturday afternoon visit to the Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge built in the first century AD to carry water over 50 km from near Uzès to the Roman colony of Nîmes.

It crosses the river Gardon near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard in southern France. The Pont du Gard is one of the best preserved Roman aqueduct bridges. It was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites in 1985.

09/10/2026

After the Matisse/Frida Kahlo program at the Carrières de Lumières, we drove to the village of Paradou to have lunch at our favorite Provençal bistrot.

As it was Friday, Le Bistrot du Paradou served their version of a Provençal aioli. The Bistrot serves a single menu every day, which incudes a starter served family style, main course, a huge cheese board, choice of dessert made by the Bistrot or ice cream, w**e, and coffee.

Dining at Le Bistrot du Paradou is the best experience, first because of great food with generous portions, second, the servers, they are friendly, funny, timely, break out singing on an occasion, the atmosphere, wood beamed ceilings, portraits on the wall, and every table filled with happy diners.

If you have any questions, we love Le Bistrot du Paradou. Shirley mentioned to one of the servers that she loves their Soupe au Pistou. He told her they serve the Pistou at night, but said he would try to get her a couple portions to go. Sure enough, they sent her off with 1/2 bucket of Soupe au Pistou "on the house".

09/10/2026

07/10/2026

Today was a very rainy day in the Vaucluse. So we ended our laid back day with a delicious home cooked dinner. There is nothing better than a meal prepared together with dear friends. Our menu included Sole Meunière, Joel Robuchon mashed potatoes, haricots verts, pan roasted Girolles mushrooms, and a mesclun tomato salad.

🇫🇷

06/10/2026

We made our semi/triannual visit to the Nespresso Boutique in Avignon to stock up on Nespresso pods. Yes, we are aware (one American man we ran into on the street kindly felt the need to make sure we were aware after seeing our Nespresso bags), that we can get them shipped to us at home in US. In turn, we let him know, they are at least 1/2 the price or less, if you buy them at the boutique.

A visit to Avignon is also a great chance to have a nice lunch, today alfresco, at La Grande Brasserie Bib, at Bibendum, a short walk from Place de l'Horloge. The restaurant is operated by Matthieu Desmarest of Pollen (1 Michelin Star) fame.

The weather was great for dining in the large courtyard, service was professional, and dishes were generous and delicious. We both really enjoyed our meal.

To begin, we shared a Sucrine lettuce salad with a hazelnut dressing and parmesan. For main course, Shirley chose the Spelt risotto, with parmesan cheese, wild mushrooms, and hazelnuts. I chose the Free-range chicken supreme with mushrooms and cream. We shared a side of haricots verts.

Desserts are presented tableside in a dessert trolley. Shirley chose the lemon tart and I, the chocolate mousse.

Despite the grand location, food, and restaurant pedigree, prices are very moderate. We can't wait to return.

04/10/2026

For lunch, we dined at Le Comptoir de la Mère Germaine in the center of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. We chose to sit at the chef's counter so we could watch the chefs work.

We chose the Pissaladiere from the starters to share. Don't be put off by the fresh anchovies. They were sweet, and not fishy like the anchovies we normally eat.

Shirley chose the Bar fillet with Pistou for her main dish. She loved the preparation. I chose the beef from the rotisserie. It was accompanied by roasted potatoes, zucchini, squash, and roasted oyster mushrooms. Excellent.

I finished with a chocolate fondant cake, very similar to a molten chocolate cake. It was the perfect finish for a chocoholic.

We eat here at least once everytime we come to Sablet and recommend you do too.

-du-Pape # comptoirdelameregermaine