A month in Provence : Pt 1 The Adventure Begins
Beside the park, we discover, the L’Ancienne Auberge, the site of the first restaurant started by the family Blanc. We have lunch in this attractive Bistro.
We discover the Blanc family also have the beautiful Chateau D’ Epeyssoles situated on 12 hectares of magnificent forest, flowers and overlooking a huge reflecting pond. This facility is for large gatherings, parties and conferences. The G7 conference was held here.
There is also, a Blanc vineyard and winery, Domain DA’zenay, 30 minutes away, a cookware and gift shop in town, Le Saint Lauren seafood restaurant, on the banks of the Soame river across from Macon, and another in Bourge en Bresse.
“Help! We are being held Captive by George Blanc!” (And his excellent food)
Our last evening in Vonnas we experienced another memorable meal in the 3 star restaurant and we meet the famous chef and have a picture taken with him. He and his wife are very personable and welcoming hosts. This gourmet stop on our way south has been very worthwhile and we would recommend it highly.
Too soon it is time to leave, so on this beautiful sunny Saturday we wend our way south to the ancient village of St Siffret. We arrive around 4:30 in the afternoon and move into the huge villa,“ Maison L’Horloge, the house of the clock. And a huge clock it is! It is housed in a tall clock tower attached to the house and bongs loudly each half hour and counts the hours on the hour. After a while, one of us states, “ I wish that bloody clock would stop” We are to rue these words, for soon we will get what we ask for. But that is another story.
The house has a huge dining room, living room, small kitchen 2 interior courtyards one with a swimming pool, 6 bedrooms and three bathrooms. However the furniture has much to be desired, being of flea market quality and 3 legs fell off the bed in the master bedroom as we were making it. Most of the light bulbs are burned out and there is a lot of clutter about. It is a shame as the Villa itself if so beautiful.
Julie and Peter take it upon them selves to redecorate, moving extraneous junk to an empty bedroom. We are later to be called minimalists by our annoyed landlady. Also, as is usual in
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