a little bit of france on a monday

le st urbain, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

last june, i traveled to france with my camera, photographing for a magazine.

(those adventures are yet to come!)

on this trip, i made several new friends, one being the lovely melanie, from france atout. this woman knows france inside and out, from the heart of montmartre to the smallest of vignobles in the quiet countryside.

she is sympa. 

comepletely sympa:)

and this week, five months after guiding newbie me through the french countryside in a van with seasoned writers and rainy skies, melanie once again introduced me to regions of france previously unknown to my non traveled being, managing to completely captivate me within minutes. 

a lunch celebrating the french regions of Gard, Ardeche and Vaucluse was where she ( with the help of lysianne, clemence and cecile )  led me this time, through a delicious offering of the specialties of the region, accompanied by Inter Rhone wines, at a charming off the beaten path restaurant, le st urbain. 

a little bit of france in montreal.

a natural fit, of course.

 of course, no meal would be complete without fresh artisanal bread, made in front of us, at the restaurant's sister bakery, la bete a pain, dipped in virgin olive oil and topped with a sprinkle of fleur de sel ( salt ) from Gard. and of course accompanied by mulsum, a roman wine. 

 a roman wine? not french? well, this part of france is resplendent in roman history. 

pardon? 

really. from spectacular amphitheatres ( like the one in Nimes ) that host concerts to this day, to aqueducts, like the spectacular Pont du Gard, the countryside is rife with well preserved monuments from the roman age.

and this historical surprise is just the beginning...wineries, fields of lavender, beautiful gorges and even donkeys 

( yes, donkeys )waiting to be discovered. donkeys. how can i resist a draw like this?

and so, after a moelleux des marrons and a sip of muscat des papes, i decided. that is it. 

it will be france next summer for our family. history for the older kids, donkeys for the youngest and wine for us...now...where to start...

i am sure melanie will guide me well:)

we have been talking about traveling to france for ages, since alex took his first steps in paris, over three years ago. it is time. i will be exploring where we will be heading for the next few months and then once we are there? sharing all the fun that is traveling with a family. 
feel free to share your experiences in france with me. 

paris, musee d'art moderne, 2009