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Heaven on a stick
I had my massage in the beautifully cool room under the left arch. It was a kind of inside/outside experience - bliss. €There was a little drama in our arrival at L'Autre Maison involving an impossibly narrow, winding lane, concern about side mirrors and an ultimately harrowing reversing exercise. As I suspect we were completely blocking access to his house, we were helped by a lovely old man who spoke no English but walked alongside the car until we were safely on the left fork in the lane, rather than the right.
I eventually pulled the car up at an impossibly gorgeous Mairie (town hall) in a little place which seemed too small to actually warrant having one. At once, springing down the steps came what looked like a nimble, red-headed Irishman. In fact, it was our very French host, Benoît. So much for stereotypes! The welcome we received immediately let us know something special was in store. Actually, we had never intended stopping on this side of France, but the weather forecast in the Pyreneès had been just rain, rain, rain, so I took advantage of a flexible booking and organised a few nights in the consistently sunny area around Uzes and Lussan.
Although we hadn't arranged dinner, we were asked when we arrived at 7pm whether we would like
Our lovely group
Benoit and his lovely wife Annelie, their son Nils and a very friendly Austrian couple who were also staying a couple of nights. to have dinner at the house. It did sound like a great idea not to have to go out again, but I was a bit worried about the lack of notice. Nothing seemed too much trouble, however, and at 7.30pm we sat down for an aperitif of peach liquer topped up with rosè, and some delicious home-made nibbles. We were entertained by scores of crazy swallows , who were making a huge noise as they flew in circles around and around the house opposite. They were behaving just like Border Collies! Apparently they do it at the same time every morning and every evening. It added to the local colour.
What followed was a 3-course feast, which we shared at the same table over wine and laughs with a gorgeous couple from Austria and Benoît's family - all for the princely sum of €22. We really felt relaxed and at home, and that is a hard thing for a host to achieve I think. In the course of the conversation over dinner, Benoît explained that he and Annelie had, until quite recently, worked for the Ritz Carlton chain of hotels. The quiet warmth and absolute professionalism shown to us
really stood out, so maybe it was his excellent training. The family had chosen to return to the area where Benoit had grown up to buy a house and raise their little boy, and if our experience is anything to go by they should do very well! We will certainly be back.
It was so nice to just walk upstairs to our lovely room after dinner. The next morning, church bells woke us and we wandered down the steps for breakfast. Benoit was waiting to ask what we would like. The wonderful baguette, freshly baked croissants and home-made jams were waiting on the table, and when Isabel said she'd like yoghurt with her fruit (Fresh peaches and apricots grown locally), there were questions about whether she'd prefer greek, natural, sweetened etc etc etc. It was simply amazing, and all done so quietly and without fuss.
As we'd already been to the lovely town nearby, Uzès, we decided to spend the morning exploring Vézénobre. We parked at the bottom of the hill and wandered up past a little school where the students were sitting at their desks. There was complete silence as we entered the village and we didn't
see another person until we got right to the lookout on top of the hill. We saw a great example of the restoration work Benoit had described the previous evening at dinner. In the past, people with money rendered over the beautiful stonework in their houses. Now, people are spending a fortune chipping the render off, re-filling the mortar between the stones and then scrubbing it back. On our way back to the car we bought fruit, ham and cheese at a little market, to eat in one of the cool rooms under the stone arches by the pool.
It was so cool and beautiful eating at the table, but the area just around the pool was hot and perfect for a little sunbaking and swimming. My afternoon snooze was interrupted by the arrival of another Isabelle, who had come to set up her massage table in a different nook by the pool and try to make some headway with my recalcitrant right cankle. (I know, OT friends, it serves me right for not putting a Ted stocking on my leg for the flight over). I had mentioned casually the previous evening that I should look for a place
to get a massage, and it was organised immediately with one simple phone call by Benoît. Just another example of being well looked-after at L'Autre Maison! Before we began, Isabelle made some charming comment about whether massage "to the point of pain" was ok or not, but anything she may have said after that was lost in a dreamy fog as I spent the next 90 minutes on the table.
Before we knew it, it was time for another delicious meal with our new friends, and tonight instead of duck it was magnificent guinea fowl baked with preserved lemon and wine, and an amazing pear and chocolate tart that I need the recipe for. Isabel and Nils kept us all amused, as did the stories of how the couples met. I had asked the Austrian couple how they met, and we all howled with laughter at the reply. It turns out, he is an investment banker with a passion for driving fast cars. She is a traffic policewoman. They met the day she pulled him over and gave him a ticket! Benoît and Annelie met when they applied for a job on the same day at the Hilton in
The gorgeous Nils
He and Isabel built 'paperback houses' together. Paris. It's a nice story but not nearly as amusing. We were all leaving the next day, and got great tips about good places to go that we never would have dreamed of going without the local knowledge. For Isabel and I, Benoît made a call ahead to a restaurant in the seaside town of Sete, which is about half way from St Jean de Ceyrargue to Molitg-les-Bains, where we'll spend the next few days. It will be nice to see the coast, but it was with more than a little regret we said our good-byes to our new friends in St-Jean-de-Ceyrargue.
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