Friday, July 20, 2007

Le Clos de la Violette

Just North of old-town Aix is the only Michelin starred restaurant in the area, Le Clos de la Violette, sporting two stars. (http://www.closdelaviolette.com/) Stri and I went there for dinner on Wednesday night and had the six-course menu for 130 Euro each.

Ambiance
We ate at one of about 15 tables on a pleasant patio, surrounded by a nicely manicured garden. The shades, clearly needed for the hot sun at lunch, were retracted, and the temperature was perfect. The restaurant itself has that modern yet traditional (or is that traditional yet modern?) quality that bespeaks money and taste.

Service
Excellent service, ready but unobtrusive, met the standard for establishments at this level. I didn't detect any pretention or haughtiness, which was, obviously, welcome.


Food
We felt that by picking the tasting menu, we'd get the best feel for the restaurant's abilities. An amuse bouche of deep fried crab and a little onion tart were tasty, and, as it turns out, atypically simple. Every remaining course was aesthetically pleasing, but often verged on having too much going on, leading to a lack of focus, though the effort was clear.

The one unpleasant surprise was the fish course. In all of our experiences at restaurants of this caliber (probably 20-25 actual Michelin stars worth, if that is any kind of criteria) we'd never before had a course we didn't like and didn't at least want to finish. (Getting too full to appreciate later courses is always a danger at restaurants at this level.) The fish course was too intensely fishy for our taste - though I acknowledge that others might like it. Still, we both were surprised at how far from our taste it was, especially given our appreciation for fish in a great many guises (though I am the only one of the two of us who likes anchovies, but this was fishier than any anchovy I can recall having.)

All in all, the food was excellent but not exquisite.

Wine
A list modest in length, but contained selections that showed real value. We had a white burgundy that was truly excellent - great minerality, nice acid balance, and excellent flavor, for less than 100 Euro. We had a year 2000 Grand Cru Bordeaux from a house I'd never heard of before, that was also less than 100 Euro, and I was equally impressed. The one defiency of the list is that they don't have any 375 ml bottles, which means either not getting good pairing, wasting good wine, or getting toasted. In contrast, the French Laundry in California has an amazing list of 375 ml bottles which leads to great pairing and comfortable consumption.

Value
We ended up spending just under 500 Euro for dinner for two, and while that is clearly stratospheric on one level, it was half what we spent the last time at the French Laundry. But there was clear room for improvement, too. So while it was a good experience, even great in areas, it wasn't at all transcendent, and that is what I generally expect spending this amount at a restaurant of this caliber. Still, the potential is there and I would hope that improvements in focus will occur and yield the results merited by the effort they are making.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Best Beach Near Aix-en-Provence

We've tried four beaches in driving distance from Aix.

Cassis, while a cute little village, has a pretty limited, rocky beach. Nonetheless, it was crowded. Close to Aix, it is the default choice when you want to go somewhere that has a little shopping, decent restaurants, activities (boat rides to the Calanques), and a beach. To sum up: Cassis is the close-to-Aix, multi-activity destination.

Bandol is pretty much the start of the French Riviera, and while a little further away, the contrast with Cassis is clear. The water is bluer and the whole town's emphasis is on the beach and beach culture. Parking is tight (as it is everywhere on the coast) but doable. The beautiful long beach is full of people, but there is room for everyone. Parking is paid, but available. To sum up: Bandol is the sophisticated, beach only destination.

Les Lecques (the beach part of Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer) is in between Cassis and Bandol, and has a very long, sandy beach. It is more family oriented than Bandol, though certainly still diverse, and feels a little more like a "local's beach" than Cassis (touristy) or Bandol (holiday destination feel). To sum up: Les Lecques is the diverse, local place to go.

St. Croix is a beach to the west side of Marseilles (nearest small town is Sausset-les-Pins -- take D9 to D49, left as soon as you cross the railroad tracks on Routes des Bastides, follow the beach [plage] signs.) We learned about St. Croix from a family in Luynes we befriended because our children attended the same art school there. This one rates as truly a find. There are only locals (and mainly Scandinavian tourists staying in the nearby camp ground) split between two nice white sand beaches. We got there about 10:30 am, and there was free parking with a bit of a walk and paid parking (2.2 Euro) that put us just steps from the beach. The beach on the right as you face the water biases slightly toward the teen, and the one on the left biases toward family, bit each has a mix. Both are delightful, with great sand, pretty water that stays shallow for a long ways, and enough space to feel comfortable (though still somewhat crowded -- this is no secret from the locals.) Our two youngest were able to walk out for many yards in the water safely, and enjoyed the small waves and clear water. You can rent umbrellas and pedal boats, and there are a couple of restaurants and snack bars on the bluff above. This is clearly the best family beach we've found. To sum up: St. Croix is the best family beach in driving distance from Aix-en-Provence.

About this blog ...

My family is spending six weeks in Aix-en-Provence, France, in an apartment rented in the oldest part of town. I was surprised at how little guidance I could find online before our trip, so I thought I might record my experiences to help you, my anonymous reader.

That makes this more of a "citylog" than a "weblog" but "ylog" is unpronouncable and "clog" has other meanings, so I'll stick with blog.

My wife, Stri, and I have three girls, six, seven (and a half!), and fifteen. We live in Northern California.

Need I say that these are my personal opinions (and certainly don't necessarily reflect those of the girls, though I'll mention their thoughts when appropriate) and that I have no undisclosed connections to anything I mention?