Dinner on a Provencal farm

One of my favorite things we did was dinner on our last night.  We went up the mountain to Le Castelas in Sivergues.  The drive was a little hairy, but definitely worth it once we were there.  It was just getting dark as we got to the farm, which is a working goat farm.  

While the 2 men working didn't speak much English, we made it work ok.  We were greeted with a pitcher of sangria to enjoy outside while the sun set - that translates into any language!

For a long time, there was just 2 other couples there and us.  We all retreated inside with a beautiful fire.  

They just have a set menu each night, based on what's fresh in the markets and on the farm.  We started with all of this food!!  Pate, proscuitto, wonderful rustic bread, roasted red peppers, roasted fennel, and a pitcher of house wine. 

Dinner was roasted lamb.  It was amazing - the setting and the food were both fantastic.  Then they brought this huge platter of different goat cheeses, served with herbs and lavendar honey.

As we were enjoying the cheese, we got to talking with the 2 other couples who were there, and a big group of about 15 people came in for dinner.  They also have guest accommodations at the farm, and the big group was staying the night.  They were old college friends who get together a couple of times from all over Europe a year with their spouses and children - what a fun tradition! 

Desert was a simple apple tart, and the remainder of our house wine.   

The simplicity and authenticity of this restaurant was fantastic.  It's definitely an adventure to find, and very small and special. It was a fantastic last night in Provence! 

Our night in Montpellier

After a great week in Barcelona, on Friday morning we went to the train station and hopped on a train heading north into France.  Trains are really a fantastic way to travel, especially long distances in Europe.

We arrived in Montpellier early that evening, and found our hotel right away.  It was only a few blocks up the street from the train station.

Tiny, but clean, and very convenient - but with one 1 electrical outlet in the whole place!!  At the door.  1!!  So, laptop, iPad...hair dryer, etc...1 outlet.  At the door!  

This was the view out of our little balcony.

We putsed around town a little bit, taking in the sights and beautiful sunset.

There was a small outdoor market going on in the main square, just across the street from our hotel, and the streets were just bustling.  We walked through a nice indoor market and did some window shopping.

After our little tour of town, we were off in search of a Spanish/French tapas place M had heard about.  On the way, we saw this....

The place was packed, and good ol' Mexican sounded perfect.  We squeezed in at the tiny bar, and made friends with the cook.  He was from Mexico, so we knew it was going to be good.  Luckily he spoke pretty good English, and I was pretty up to speed with my Spanish at this point, that we had a nice little chat.  A couple of beers and some delicious, fried and fresh Mexican food later, and we were happy campers.

While the night life was bustling, we decided to head in early.  We were both coming down with bad colds, and needed to get some rest (especially after our all night adventure trying to work the washer and dryer in the Barcelona apartment!).

We stopped by the store to grab a few things, and I found heaven.  Or just a huge WALL of Nutella.  Can you hear the choir singing??

 Early to bed and early to rise, we had a big Provincial Saturday morning market to find!