A week in Vaison

[jonathan]

My week in the Viviani's apartment (as recommended by @Amy and @Steve R.) begins, just a week from today. (Yes, I do tend to leave the detailed planning rather later than many folks round here...) I'll be picking up a car from Avignon TGV and (as in my solo Luberon trips a few years back) am looking for recommendations for good-value lunches in the area.

I've browsed through Steve's Chowhound report, Amy's blog, and the two years' of @Roz 's blogs and wonderful photos, so I've got a few ideas already - but I'd welcome any further thoughts.

In the recent cafés thread, Roz mentioned her favourite brasserie in the central square - is it the one next door to Festival Café, or another one?

 

[Amy]

Give Collette and Jean Claude a big kiss from me! Just you in that big apartment? I'll be on the next flight!

 

[Anne]

Oh small world - my mother and I spent a week in Jean Claude and Collette's apartment in April 2013! They are wonderful. I don't know if they'll remember us from so long ago, but tell them Anne and Margaret from Nova Scotia Canada say hello.

One of the unexpected delights of our stay in this area was stumbling upon the wine museum in nearby Rasteau - website here - and enjoying our first ever wine tasting experience. We're not connoisseurs by any stretch of the imagination but the woman who welcomed us was so gracious and didn't once make us feel foolish for knowing very little about wine. It was a real treat. The museum itself is quite fascinating too.

 

[Pauline]

A few years ago we did a day trip to Vaison and had an excellent vegetarian lunch at a restaurant on the main square. I think it was vegetarian at lunch, but maybe not in the evenings. Can you let me know if it is still there?

 

[Ann]

Two of our favorites in the area are Du Verre a l'Assiette (http://www.duverrealassiette.com/) in the Gigondas main square -- sitting under the plane trees on a sunny afternoon is almost too idyllic -- and Le Tourne au Verre (http://letourneauverre.com/) in Cairanne, both good value for the money. And of course there's Roz' find, the Friday night dinner at l'Arbre a Vins (https://larbreavins.com) in Vaison, where the main course is 15€ and dessert 5.8€, and wine is offered at Mathieu's cost. If you want to splurge, I'd recommend Le Bistro Du'O, route du Chateau, in Vaison, and Coteaux et Fourchettes, route de Violés at the intersection of D8and D975, south of Cairanne, which offers a 3-course lunch for 26€. Have a wonderful trip, Jonathan -- we've spent almost 7 weeks in nearby Sablet over the past 4 years and will return next year.

 

[jonathan]

Thanks, Ann, for those suggestions - I'm travelling by train, so will be looking to buy a few bottles of wine: the Cairanne and Gigondas places are definitely of interest (as, of course, is Mathieu's Arbre).

Pauline, I'll look out for that place, and take a photo of its menu if it's still going. Amy and Anne, I'll pass on your greetings to Colette & Jean Claude. Amy, it's a shame Boston is on the wrong side of an ocean: there's certainly plenty of space, by the looks of it! And, thinking of travelling distance/time, I'm really enjoying the fact that our new home is rather better connected than Stroud was. For the return journey, I can get on a TGV in Avignon at 12:51, arrive back at St Pancras at 18:06, and be home for supper by 7

 

[Pauline]

And, thinking of travelling distance/time, I'm really enjoying the fact that our new home is rather better connected than Stroud was. For the return journey, I can get on a TGV in Avignon at 12:51, arrive back at St Pancras at 18:06, and be home for supper by 7

Wow! That is convenient. From Dorset it is 30 mins by car then 3 hours by train just to get to London and that is if Southern trains are running! Do you change in Paris or is it direct to Avignon?

 

[jonathan]

On the way down, I'm changing in Paris, because it gives me a bigger range of available times - and I'm then stopping in Lyon for 3 nights because, although I've driven through the city on lots of road trips, I've never actually visited.

On the way back, I'm taking the quicker route: Avignon - Lille, where you change (at the same station) from a TGV to a Eurostar, go through UK customs (all of this is scheduled to take 38'), and on to London.

 

[Ann]

Jonathan, the cooperative cave in Gigondas is just across the square from Du Verre a l'Assiette. It has a good selection and fair prices -- definitely the place to go if you want to buy a bottle or two.

 

[Roz]

My week in the Viviani's apartment (as recommended by @Amy and @Steve R.) begins, just a week from today. (Yes, I do tend to leave the detailed planning rather later than many folks round here...) I'll be picking up a car from Avignon TGV and (as in my solo Luberon trips a few years back) am looking for recommendations for good-value lunches in the area.

I've browsed through Steve's Chowhound report, Amy's blog, and the two years' of @Roz 's blogs and wonderful photos, so I've got a few ideas already - but I'd welcome any further thoughts.

In the recent cafés thread, Roz mentioned her favourite brasserie in the central square - is it the one next door to Festival Café, or another one?

Jonathan the brasserie is called Le Comptoir des Voconces and it is just to the left of Mathieu's L'Arbre à Vins, as you face them. Regarding Mathieu's Friday suppers, I suggest you go to the link above and sign up for his email list. That way you will know by Tuesday (when he generally sends out the emails) what Friday's menu will be. If it appeals to you, reply to the email to reserve. He is very popular and the reservations sell out pretty fast. Ann and I have just stayed on his list because we love seeing (and drooling over) what he is cooking every week.

You will definitely want to get ice cream at Leone's, the artisan glacier on Place Montfort. And I'm sure you know about Josiane Deal's cheese shop, which is considered the best in the area.

We thought the Comptoir des Voconces had the best coffee we found in Vaison, but it also has some good values on its menu of the day. We enjoyed lunches there a few times if we stayed in town. Here's a photo of the Comptoir terrace and the menu du jour. (Voconces, by the way, derives from the Roman name for residents of Vaison, if I'm remembering correctly.)

 

[Roz]

One other thing I forgot to say: We asked Mathieu for his favorite boulangerie in Vaison. He told us it is Le Fournil du Pont Romain, which is on the Grand'Rue -- and we agreed that it was very good. The best patisserie, though, is Peyrerol, on Cours Henri Fabre.

 

[jonathan]

Thanks, Roz - lots of useful info. I'm glad to see Peyrerol is open 'tous les jours' during the summer months And good to know about the best boulangerie: a pre-breakfast stroll to pick up a fresh baguette is one of my French holiday rituals.

Yes, your blog (and other sources) have already put that fromagerie on my radar: if I'm eating out well at lunch, then some cheese, a little charcuterie, and maybe a tiny tarte from Peyrerol, will suffice for my evening meal.

 

[Steve R.]

First of all, please also say hello to Jean Claude & Collette from Steve & Ginny as well.
Second of all, spend as much time as you can in that cheese shop! There won't be many times that a place that great will be that close and accessible.
Thirdly, Jean-Claude & Collette are a great resource for all the goings on around town. They hesitate to push their way in with unsolicited advice but, if you are clearly interested, they know everyone.
Have a great week.

 

[chachalaca]

I can second Ann's Cairanne suggestion of Le Tourne au Verre!

 

[Ann]

Steve R., have a wonderful time in Sicily. Laura, how is the trip going?

 

[Steve R.]

Ann: thanks (did I mention we were going to Sicily here somewhere or have you been browsing my other CH posts? If so, go back 3 years for the most recent stay on Oahu -- we used to "borrow" our friends' condo in Waikiki (Ala Wai) pretty often and stay for a month when they were in Europe - unfortunately, they've now moved).

 

[Ann]

Steve, I confess -- I've been browsing your other CH posts. Did you ever make it up to the North Shore while you were on Oahu?

 

[Steve R.]

Ann: sending you a "conversation" separately so we don't hijack this topic.