Something we forgot to include in the last installment of this blog were some of the Provençal Christmas traditions we enjoyed.
The Christmas season begins on December 4th, the day of Sainte Barbe. This is the beginning of the Calendale, which isn’t over until the Chandeleur on February 2nd. The tradition is to plant le Blé d’Esperance (the wheat of hope) on December 4th. We found our seeds in the Librairie-Presse de St. Rémy. Not quite up on every detail, we planted only one bowl of seeds instead of the prescribed three! The plants are to be placed in the family crèche – along with the santons. But, having no crèche, we placed our near the window. The tradition states that if the seeds germinate and grow by December 25th, the harvest will be a good one! Happily, ours germinated nicely, so we are anticipating a harvest of many good memories! In the Provençale language it is said “Quand lou blad vèn bèn, tout vèn bèn”. When the wheat goes well, everything goes well.
The other tradition we enjoyed was Les Treize Desserts, the thirteen desserts. On December 24, Christmas Eve, the tradition is to celebrate with Le Gros Souper, which is paradoxically, a modest meal, followed by midnight mass. In different areas of Provence, there are different traditional dishes for this modest meal – celery, omelette, garlic soup, snails spinach or cauliflower. After mass Les Treize Desserts are enjoyed, the only sign of abundance on Christmas Eve. As you’ll see, we did not have a Gros Souper, but we did have the Treize Desserts!
We were excitedly awaiting Benjamin and Rachel’s arrival in St. Rémy on Dec. 23rd. They were flying in to Paris, spending a couple of days there, and then taking the TGV down to Avignon- 30 minutes from us! The first glitch occurred about a week before their departure. SNCF (Société Nationale de Chemin de Fer) notified us that the train from Paris to Avignon was cancelled due to the Grèves Nationales – nation-wide labor strike. They reserved a car and planned to drive down and take the train back. But, no! A few days later, the other shoe dropped. The return train trip was cancelled! That meant they would lose 2 entire days of their six day visit with us. Everyone was disappointed.
Then mid-day, Dec. 23rd, Ben called from the road and said they were planning to stop at Tain-l’Hermitage, a town renowned for its Côte du Rhone wines, about 90 minutes from us. Did we want to join them there? A hard yes! We were in the car and on our way in a flash!
Tain-l’Hermitage is located on the left bank of the Rhone river, about an hour north of Avignon. It is a notable wine-producing commune. Red wines are produced from Syrah and the whites from Marsanne and/or Roussanne grapes. The economic engine of the town is powered by the wine production and tourism. As you drive into town, you are surrounded on all sides by terraced hillsides covered in grapevines. The sight of castles and forts, vineyards and the mighty Rhone is a stunning combination – even on a cloudy day!
We convened with Ben & Rachel at Maison Chapoutier, the vendor of Chapoutier wines, an internationally recognized wine producer. We had hoped to visit the caves, but reservations were required, so we did our wine tasting at the shop and purchased a few bottles.
Then on to St. Rémy for apéros, dinner and a walking tour of our little town. And home to get settled and prepare for Christmas Eve!
Chez Harrison, Christmas Eve is The Big Day. No Gros Souper for us! We usually host a group of friends and family for a big holiday feast. To keep the tradition, we planned a feast that was conceivable to prepare in our tiny kitchen – a foie gras for the first course (which we purchased at Bar Tabac des Alpilles, one of our favorite restaurants), a rack of lamb with Romano beans and sweet potatoes for the main course, accompanied by some of Sam’s amazing rolls. For dessert, we purchased a tarte aux poires – pear tart – from Patisserie Hache – oh yum!
Alas, glitch number two: Just as dinner preparations commenced, Benjamin started feeling ill. He managed to do his part in preparing the rack of lamb. And he ate some dinner. But soon after that, he was laid out flat by a wicked stomach bug. It wasn’t a restful night for him and he was not feeling great when Christmas Day dawned. He managed to get up to open gifts, went back to bed while we ate breakfast and re-emerged for the stockings. But he was one sick puppy. And sleep seemed to be what he needed. So Donna, Sam, LuLu and Rachel headed out for the traditional Christmas Day hike. We walked out through St. Rémy on Avenue Van Gogh to the Asylum St. Paul and the mausoleum and Triumphal arch of Glanum. It seems if one is going to get sick at Christmas here, Christmas Day is the day to do it. Nothing is open, there was nothing to do and nowhere to go. We were all nervously monitoring our stomachs, but Rachel, Donna and Sam seemed to escape any adverse events. We were all content to just relax!
On the morning of the 26th, Ben was feeling pretty chipper. We had reservations that morning for the Van Gogh Starry Night exhibition at Les Baux. This is an exhibition of Van Gogh’s paintings projected on and moving across the walls of an abandoned quarry. The scale and accompanying music really takes you out of yourself! We had been here previously with Sam’s cousin Rick and his wife Nancy, but the second experience was equally as breathtaking as the first
You can get a sense of the scale of this exhibition in the middle pic on the right. The music included everything from Janis Joplin to opera to blues. It is an absolutely stunning experience!
Next on to Maison Hache in Eygalières. This is a restaurant run by Christopher Hache, a chef who earned his first Michelin star at Hotel de Crillon in Paris, obviously no slouch! He decided to move to Provence with his family in order to spotlight and celebrate the agricultural products of the region. And really, who wouldn’t rather be in Provence full-time? The SIL of our landlady is a server there and the word was that it should not be missed. So we were happy to share it with Ben and Rachel. Everything we were served was fabulous, from sea bass filet to venison to the rabbit. All prepared with finesse and beautifully plated. The pièce de résistance for Donna was the chocolate soufflé. Really just over the top! We are awaiting the Michelin stars to be awarded on January 27th and look forward to seeing M. Hache’s name on the list!
Lunch at Maison Hache. Will Chef Hache get his star? We vote YES!
After lunch we moseyed over to Le Paradou, another tiny Provencal village, known for its Musée des Santons. As mentioned in the previous post, when Christianity was banned after the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror in 1794, the faithful needed to find ways to practice their religion without getting caught. And Christmas being the important celebration that it is, they searched for a solution that would allow them to acknowledge the birth of Christ without seeming to do so. Santons had been a part of the Provençal culture for hundreds of years. These were clay figures, usually modeled on folks in the village – the baker, the butcher, the farmer, the printer, housewives at a market, etc. So folks used their clay figurines to create village scenes – along with a little Nativity scene in one corner. The most amazing santons are handmade and really look like people you might expect to meet in the village. They come in varying sizes from about 2 1/2 to 12 inches tall – some are taller – and dressed in typical Provençal clothing, carrying the tools of their trades. There are shops and houses and barns and bakeries that make up the villages along with children and animals. Nowadays, most santons are machine made, but there are still some artisan santon makers around. Vintage santons are really quite glorious!
Les Santons à la Musée des Santons au Paradou.
On the 27th, we decided to start with Glanum, the Roman ruins outside of town. It was fun to share with Ben and Rachel. We had a glorious, cold, sunny day to wander around this glorious pile of stones!
Next – a bucket list item for Rachel and Donna – a visit to Gordes, a Ville Perchée! The view of this beautiful little village, teetering on the top of a hill, overlooking a beautiful valley, is stunning. After so many years of looking at pictures and yearning to visit, Rachel and Donna were both elated to be there!
From Gordes, we decided to head to Roussillon, about a 30 minute drive through the countryside. Often called “The Colorado of France”, Roussillon is famous for its red cliffs and ochre quarries. Coming upon the village, with the brilliantly colored houses and the striking red and yellow cliffs contrasted against a vivid Provençal blue sky, was almost breathtaking! We strolled around the picturesque maze of narrow streets and squares. The ochre facades of the houses varied from deep red to orange to bright yellow created a cheerful ambiance. We were all captivated.
After a bit of a wander about town, finding most shops and restaurants closed, we headed back to St.Rémy, stopping for apéros at Bar Tabac des Alpilles. Then home to cook the ENORMOUS cassoulet that had been aging gracefully in the frigo since yesterday. Donna had prepared all the components before Ben & Rachel’s arrival and then assembled it, allowing time for blending all the flavors of pork and duck and beans and sausage. It took a committee to get it into and out of the oven – the 8 quart Le Creuset dutch oven was full to the top! But it was worth the physical labor, because the cassoulet was delicious! Of course, there was TOO MUCH! We had enough for a meal for 4 and then several meals in the freezer for us to enjoy later!
Bright and early the next morning, Ben & Rachel got in the car to head back to Paris. Thanks to the grève, with many families on the road following la fête, a drive that should have taken seven hours, took eleven hours! Tant pis! It should be said that despite only having Benjamin & Rachel here for four days instead of seven, and despite Ben being under the weather for one of those days, we had a glorious visit. And we are missing them like crazy now!
And, we are missing you all like crazy, too! The only really hard part of this trip is missing our friends and family. We feel so enormously fortunate to be able to have the opportunity we have. So we are sharing it with you on this blog, but it would be so much better in person!
By the way, Sam would like you to know his Twitter handle is @SamuelAhr.
Love to you all,
Sam, Donna & LuLu
December 2019
LuLu's Outta Town 