Tuesday, March 31, 2009

st. remy





After the cathédrale des images, we went to st. remy. This is a little town where VanGogh lived - he was admitted the the psychiatric hospital here! I went and visited it - it was the most beautiful hospital I have ever seen! He painted some of his most beautiful works there.

The most amazing part of our trip was that we had lunch at a troglodyte farm house. This really old man named lulu opens his house up on Sunday for lunch. This is not just any lunch, but a Provencal sunday lunch - it lasted three hours! First of all, lulu's house was amazing. It was carved out of rock and his front yard was full of olive trees that he planted. His house a gift from his family before him - the deed of his house was signed by Louis XIV, the king who created the Versaille palace. He was really an amazing person to talk to - he welcomed us by saying how much he loves the generosity of Americans, and how it is thanks to us that France exists today. He cooked all of the food by himself for 40 people - and he is 86 years old! He loves cooking and of course talking.

The food was delicious, to say the least. First, we had this really yummy country pate that was dried and smoky. Next, we had olive omelettes, which looked strange because they were brown but very tasty. And I cannot forget to mention superfluous amount of wine - rose and red. The next course was ratatouille, a specialty of Provence which is just cooked veggies in a tomato sauce and olive oil. The main course was lamb with green beans - I don't think I've ever eaten lamb before but it was delicious! Then, of course we had huge helpings of cheese, there is nothing better to finish your meal with. Except that wasn't the end! For dessert we had strawberries and coffee, perfect for a spring day.

It was so nice to sit and spend so much time with friends just talking. I am vowing to use less minutes on my cell phone when I return to the US and more time face to face! After lunch, we walked around beautiful st. remy and lazily layed out in the grass basking in the sun. It was a GREAT day! I wish you were all there to join me!

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