Scattered around the grounds were medieval weapons and illustrated plaques describing defense strategies and punishment in les Baux. You were thrown from the top of the hill if you tried to invade le Chateaux de Baux de Provence. In September there is a reenactment of an assault on the chateau where men dressed like soldiers of the middle ages actually use an ancient catapult contraption.
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After Les Baux, we were privileged to go to a very special house for lunch. During the 10 minute drive to Saint-Rémy, we passed several flocks of sheep, which was unusual because they were unattended. In Provence, they still have trained bergers, or shepherds! We turned down a road in Saint-Rémy and guess where we were? We were right in front of the mental hospital that Vincent Van Gogh (or Van Gogg, as they pronounce it here) checked himself into after cutting off his ear following an absynthe drinking binge with fellow painter Paul Gauguin. The hospital is shown below. They had pictures of Van Gogh's works next to the trees he painted. It was amazing.
And right next to the hospital, mais oui, was the most exceptional house I have ever been to. It belongs to a man named Lolo.
Lolo is an impressive man of 85. He cooks a two hour lunch for 40 CEA students every year. This house has been in his family since the time of Louis XIV, the Sun King. In fact, he has the deed to his house with the official mark of the Sun King on it in a cabinet - it should be in a museum! The truly sad thing is, the entire house will be a museum soon. Lolo never married and has no children. He is the last of his kind.
This is the adorable Lolo - three kisses with him!
Our lunch started off with apertifs, which are intended to wet your appetite. I indulged in a pastis. To pour your drink, you fill the little bulb at the end of the bottle with pastis, about one and a half ounces worth, and pour it into a cup. Then, you add five times as much water (Vivienne's orders) and voila - pastis! Emma is demonstrating in the photo below.
Each group of six people got one bottle of red wine and one of rosé. The meal started with pâté - and yes, this adventurous blogger tried it! And you can't just try a little in Provence - you must try a portion. There was pork pâté, and some kind of small bird pâté as well. They were very good by French standards. Then there was an olive omelette. It was brown, because the black olives were crushed up and added to the egg - SO GOOD! I had close to three servings and wiped my plate with bread. I used to think green and black olives came from different trees, when in fact the black olives are matured green olives, and you can't just eat them right off an olive tree - they take almost two weeks to prepare. Olive season is very nearly over in Provence. [The olive trees are much smaller here than in Greece, because not too long ago there was a devastating frost that killed all the olive trees in Provence! Or killed them all above ground I should say, because olive trees are eternal and the roots endured the frost and the trees eventually grew back. They have grown to a good size but are still small.] After the omelette, we ate Ratatouille! The eggplant in it was excellent and I was surprised to learn that the recipe was vegetarian. The next course was lamb with green beans. I did try the lamb but didn't like the taste. We finished our meal with some camembert cheese. Lolo has at least six dogs that I was able to count, and I fed scraps to them the whole time. At my table I talked to the assistant program director, Sarah, who is English and lived in Monaco for 25 years.
Two years ago, Lolo decided to uproot the lavender field behind his house to plant olive trees. When Vivienne asked him why he took on a job that required such intense manual labor, he told her that without doing the things you love in life, you might as well not be living . And so, at the age of 83, he planted 100 olive trees.
Lolo's house was built near a quarry; consequently, it smells like fresh clay (and a wood fire) all the time. Everyone in the area gives Lolo their old farming tools and he has a fascinating and eclectic collection of equipment, including a very old wine press and ladders for picking grapes and olives. Lolo is leaving everything he owns to the town of Saint-Remy when he passes, but I now understand why Vivienne says the town will never be the same once he's gone. He's prefectly charming and his life is so well preserved and old fashioned. I really can't believe we were there, eating a lunch he personally made for us, sitting next to a giant armoire from the 10th century! C'etait incroyable (unbelievable).
Today was by far the best day I've had in Provence. Tonight I'm meeting some of the girls at O'Shannons for a drink because we can sleep in tomorrow for the first time! And I will find out after the Aix scavenger hunt which level of school I'm in and my class schedule. After that I can begin to plan my weekend trips. I haven't been terribly homesick, but when it does enter my mind, it is usually at night. I still haven't adjusted to the time difference so its difficult to fall asleep and I just think of home and start to miss everyone. It's been difficult but I'm putting everything I've got into pushing forward until it gets easier! They say the first 2-6 weeks are always the hardest.
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