France 3

So, here we are, 2 weeks into our stay in France, in one way it feels like we live here now, in another it seems like we just arrived! Week 2 has been packed with eating & exploring, as is our want! Dominique had bought a couple of kilos of mussels so I knocked up my take on Moules Marinières, always a bit of a challenge doing a classic French dish when in France, and staying with a very good cook, but there were no complaints!

Sal & I also drove over to Saint Marcellin for some shopping and had an explore of the old centre of the village and found a cute little cafe. It was only 11am but everyone was taking either wine, beer or coffee, so not wanting to stand out from the crowd, we had a sneaky vin blanc each. The glasses were gorgeous! (zoom in for the detail!) We also met a delightful woman who sat at the table next to us, she had good English and was a local resident so we had a very pleasant discussion. She had also visited Sydney so I think that helped.

I did another bbq with the local Scotch Fillet and got the timing better this time, Sal knocked up a yummy veggie salad and we finished with poached pears with cream, the peaches are just sensational here, so much flavour! The girls were also preparing pavlovas for a meal at more friends of Dominique & Arne’s, Guy & Snezhana. They also have a pool, so we headed over in the afternoon for a swim and then dinner.

Their pool is solar heated which made it perfect for us tropical visitors! I enjoyed a new taste, blueberry beer by the pool and then we retired to their beautiful garden for dinner, an entree of fresh local tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella followed by bbq kebabs with an amazing baked potato dish that Snezhana made, then a plate of local cheeses before the amazing pavlovas created by Dominique & Sal. All in all a very pleasant evening!

I picked up a nice looking chook at the local boucherie, (butcher), it didn’t look anything like a chook you would buy in Australia! Obviously totally free range, and as we later saw when driving around, indeed they do raise them free range as the photo of them under the walnut plantations show. Dominque roasted the chook in the traditional French style and it was amazing!

We also went up to Saint Marcellin to see a friend of Dominque & Arne’s, Jean-luc, play guitar at a cafe, to our surprise it was right next door to the cafe where we had enjoyed a glass of wine a couple of days ago! The music was great, the boutique beers very tasty and our friends Gigi & Jean-Claude were also there.

Our next adventure was a trip up into the mountains, Montagne De Lans, these are the chalky cliffed mountains that run to the south of Grenoble and are the backdrop for the garden here where we stay at Le Sabot. The road up through the gorge to the plateau was challenging to say the least! Overhanging rocks, very narrow, winding and huge drops on one side as you might expect for a mountain road!

The village of Villard-de-lans is on the plateau and is a major town supporting the ski runs in the winter. Its very pretty and enjoyable to walk around, it was very busy on the day we visited as it was the Sunday of a long weekend and half of Grenoble had driven up for lunch! We had a wander around and a nice simple lunch at a local restaurant.

Sal & I went for a drive to visit a specific roadside bar & restaurant for lunch, and on the way we visited Chateâu de l’Arthuudière which is a very historic building dating back to the 1300’s!

“The first written testimony of the existence of the strong house dates from 1345. Construction of a round tower in the 13th century, to which was added a rectangular tower at the beginning of the 14th century. Construction of the west wing in the early 16th century. The estate was burned in 1580 by the Huguenots. André II de La Porte undertook the restoration of the castle around 1590, including the first floor of the north wing. The monumental staircase and the rearrangement of the east wing, date from 1680. In 1726, transformations were made to the castle. At the end of the 19th century, the round tower was raised by a polygonal brick volume, covered with a terrace. The eastern wing receives a white limestone base and the corner chains are taken over. In the 1950s, a fire destroyed the east wing.”

“The Arthaudière was originally a strong house founded in the Middle Ages that saw three families succeed each other: the Arthaud, the La Porte and the Marcieu.

The Arthauds being the first owners of the strong house, the castle inherits its name. Period: 13th century until the beginning of the 16th century.

Then came the family of La Porte. Period: 16th century to 19th century.

It took the La Porte family five hundred years to give the castle the appearance we know it today.

Five centuries to transform, as their fortune grew, the modest stronghouse of the Arthaudière into a prestigious castle.

During these five centuries they distinguished themselves in the service of royalty, which repeatedly hailed their actions and courage. They were rewarded by Louis XV who raised their lands to the rank of marquisate in 1729.

Five centuries to become one of the most influential families in Dauphiné, so that their last member, Joseph Nicolas de La Porte, could claim the titles of Marquis, Field Marshal, Knight of the Order of Saint-Louis, Knight of the Legion of Honour, Commander of the Sword of Sweden, Saint-Maurice and Saint-Lazare in Piedmont.

Then came Marcieu’s family. Period: Mid-19th century until the end of the 19th century.Then came Marcieu’s family. Period: Mid-19th century until the end of the 19th century.

In 1893 the castle was sold to Mr. Cote, a Lyon banker, who had the brick rise of the tower built.

The owners then succeeded each other

Since the end of the 19th century, several unfortunate events have distorted the appearance of the Arthaudière: questionable elevation of the round tower, and above all, fire of the eastern wing in 1952.

The Castle was bought by the town hall of Saint-Bonnet in the 1990s and classified as a Historical Monument in 1991. Currently the Château de l’Arthaudière is in full restoration.”

After our historical wander we made our way to Bar des Copains in Saint-Bonnet-de-Chavagne, a quaint little village with a tiny restaurant run by Kristen, its basically patronised by local farmers and workers and has simple food produced out of its own garden with other local ingredients. Dominique recommended it as being the type of place we like to eat, and she was exactly correct!

The food was sublime, the entrée of paté with a simple salade of tomato & lettuce was amazing, the tomatoes so sweet and full of flavour. Loved the extra bread in a plastic bag with a knife stuck in it, true rustic! The main course was a dish of very long, slow cooked beef with an omelette with lots of fresh greens in it and topped with a bit of melted cheese. The beef was incredibly tender and tasty. Next up was a couple of hard, aged goat’s cheeses, very good and to finish a couple of blood orange sorbets. No menu, no ordering, we just sat at a table outside & Kristen brought us the dishes as required. She spoke no English, but brought out photos of her son who is 25 and living in Singapore, so we showed her photos of Kai and made connections without language!

(just a reminder, you can click on an image in the gallery to stop and start the slideshow or go thru it manually.)