Delicious Days - Vaison's "Rencontres Gourmandes"

They really would have deserved better: just as Vaison's Gourmet Weekend "Rencontres Gourmandes" opened yesterday so did the sky and sent torrents of rain - and it is still pouring today. A real nightmare for the owners of all those beautiful and very lovingly decorated stalls of  organic "Produits du Terroir" - local delicacies. They had hoped to promote (and sell) their produce in front of Vaison's town hall and put together tasting platters meant to be eaten inside the hall where long rows of tables were set up. Why the organizers hadn't thought of providing a marquee from their tents to the hall is anyone's guess. After all it does rain in Provence and if ever there is a rainy season here this is it...

Waiting for customers - the Wine Bar

For decoration only - this one is made of salt dough

Handmade delicious organic baguettes and  fougasses

Mme Diglé promotes her husbands famous olive sausage

Eggs fresh from the farm

Sunday lunch anyone?

The prettiest stall of all

Olive Oil - the Gold of Provence

There is nothing much to harvest in our kitchen garden anymore these days - some tomatoes, a few lost raspberries and leftover grapes but our olive trees are dripping with fruit. It looks like we'll have an extremely good harvest this year and I can't wait to pick them, bring them to the olive mill and then get my very own "Gold of Provence". For that is what our precious olive oil looks like - liquid gold!

What a Lovely Summer - Cooking in Provence

Just a small collage (click on the photo to enlarge) to show what fun we had at Cuisine de Provence this summer. A big "Merci" to all the lovely people who came to visit us in Vaison la Romaine and cooked up a storm.