Cazenove's Castle

Last week, Nick, Sarah and I spent the weekend in a castle! We joined a group of nearly 40 people from our church on a retreat to an area of France known as Les Cevennes. About a 2 hour drive west of Aix, Les Cevennes is in the Languedoc Roussillon region and is also the name of the mountain chain located there. The area has lots of history, most of which I won't bore you with, but there are a few interesting facts worth knowing. Some of the largest Protestant populations in France have lived in this region. This was a place of widespread protestant persecution over a period of several hundred years, particularly during Huguenot times. Chestnut trees were a big crop here here prior to and again in the 15th century and was the main crop in the area. Apparently, it was the staple for the poor and persecuted..they used chestnut flour for making everything. Also, the origin of the later wealth of the Cevennes in the 19th century was due to the silk industry. “Magnagneries”, silk worm breeding houses, can still be found dotting the countryside here although we didn't see any.



Our trip began late Friday afternoon, when we all met in downtown Aix to load into cars and caravan to the castle. The two hour car ride took us past the larger cities of Arles and Nimes over the mighty Rhone several times and finally off onto windier, rural routes until we reached our destination. As we arrived after dusk, we wouldn't fully appreciate our location until the next morning. Arrival time was busy but cheerful as we unpacked cars, food and supplies. Monsieur de Cazenove met us at the front door and warmly welcomed our group. He is a handsome 86 year old with sparkly blue eyes. He lives here alone in a separate part of the castle. He generously opens his home to the church twice a year. Once inside the grand foyer, we all had a tour of the place and found our assigned rooms. Ours was a corner room, with a double bed and mattress for Sarah. There was a lovely fireplace, now boarded up unfortunately, with huge gold mirror above it. A writing desk and chair we under one shuttered window. We looked out the window and there was a gargoyle hanging above our heads. We could imagine Jane Eyre or one of the Bronte sisters living right there. Everyone went around to raiding the armoires in the hallways, grabbing any and all blankets and quilts to make the beds warmer. Here Sarah is making herself a warm, cosy bed.






The living room had a fabulous fireplace in which we were anxious to build a fire ...



Nick helping set up the dining room for dinner...

After we all finished our house opening chores, we sat down together and enjoyed a delicious simple, but hearty, dinner of white bean soup, bread, fruit and cookies.

Later, we moved into the now warmer(notice I did not say warm!) living room for card games, singing and reading. Then for some it was movie time and for other heartier, warm-blooded souls there were night caps and late night partying in one of the towers.

We woke up Saturday to mostly overcast skies and a bit of drizzle.....cold and raw and we weren't sure whether it was worse inside or out. Basically, I never took off my coat the whole weekend....the first night I slept with my gloves on! During breakfast, despite the weather we were all still determined to go on our day's outing. While we waited for everyone to get organized to leave, Nick walked around the property and took these photos....






Happily, the rain let up and by 9:30 we set off in our caravan formation once again. It was only about 15 minutes to our starting point. As you can see the area is pretty rugged...

As we made our ascent, the steep climb led us up to a huge cave in the mountain. We were told that this cave was used by Protestant Huguenots as a place of worship during their time of persecution during the 16th century. Judging from the steepness of the climb, we had a hard time imagining worshippers making this trip on a weekly basis...especially women in long skirts with babes in arms!

When we reached the cave it was difficult to see how deep it went into the mountain but a shout into it let you know it went WAY back.

We had a few flashlights but we really happy to discover some torches, left behind by another group, just inside the opening which helped really illuminate the space. It was ENORMOUS!


All the way in the back was a giant pool of very cold water. We honestly felt like we could have been in a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean!! Was Jack Sparrow going to jump out from behind one of the walls?!? Hidden behind the pool of water, for those who dared to scale the wall to see, there was a Huguenot cross carved in the wall. I will never forget the way our acapella voices sounded singing "Amazing Grace"....it was goose bump material.

The hike back down was comical. It seemed even steeper than the ascent and with the ground still slippery from the morning rain, we had to hang onto tree branches like monkeys in order to lower ourselves down the narrow trail without slipping and falling. Fortunately, we all made it down with nothing more than muddy, wet shoes and dirty clothing.

Sarah resting with hiking buddies, Rebecca and Abbey....

Our friends Dom and Hilary...

Next stop on our day's itinerary was lunch in the nearby town of Anduze.

This town has reportedly the largest, but certainly not the prettiest, Protestant church in France...

This fountain with it's colorful tower looked like something straight out of Candy Land!

We enjoyed wandering through the town....but were all very happy to arrive at the restaurant. We were hungry!!

The proprietor of La Rocaille took all 39 of us down into an appropriately cave-like room where we had a really great and very affordable lunch . The meal, served family style included many courses. We started with an antipasti plate of salami, cornishons and olives and endless amounts of fresh, chewy bread, next came a rustic terrine of homemade pate, then we had a huge bowl of fresh salad greens, sliced onions and radishes with a nice tart dressing, then a fresh herb omelet followed by steak, fabulous pommes frites. If you had any room left after all of that you had a choice of ice cream or tart tatin for desert and the rich coffee came with a savory piece of dark chocolate. All this for 8.80 euro per person, not including drinks. Too bad we don't live closer!Here we all are...taking up 4 tables!

After lunch we went to another little nearby town to an old chapel built in the 12th century. We all welcomed the chance to walk around a bit more..some even did the 1 1/2 hour hike back to the castle to work off a bit of the lunch!

Sarah and Rebecca picking flowers....


for a beautiful bouquet...

Back at Monsieur de Cazenove's chateau, the late afternoon gave way to thoughts about dinner! Tonight we were making Tartiflette for 40! Maybe you saw my blog entry on Val d'Isere where I gave a detailed description of this delicious potato, ham and cheese dish from the Savoie mountain region of France. Dinner prep was a lot of fun. Several of the university students took part and learned how to make the tartiflette, homemade salad dressing, s'mores in the microwave...

and how to drink scotch...

and how to make vin chaud(hot mulled wine)!

It was a really great dinner and after dinner fun of movies, scavenger hunts and another rooftop party for the brave and warm blooded. Pirates of the Carribean 2 was showing in the diningroom....fortunatley no duels were re-enacted with any of these swords hanging on the wall!

Sunday morning we had breakfast, some sharing and singing time in the livingroom by the warm fireplace and then it was time for an all hands on deck clean up. It's amazing to see what an energetic group of our size could accomplish in under an hour!! Before we knew it, the place was clean, we were eating a stand-up "American"(defined as "quick") lunch and we were saying goodbye to Monsieur de Cazenove. Here is our merry group with our smiling host at the center.




As we drove down the road from the castle, we took these last few shots of the area.... truly a lovely, quiet part of France which we are glad to have visited.

Heavenly Val d'Isere

Last week Sarah's school had a mandatory, school ski trip for 5 days... only in France?!? The school's 6th-9th grades all went up into the pre-French Alpes to the town of Le Lauzet. They skied at a nearby area called Pra-Loup. Nick and I thought we'd take advantage of just being the two of us and go off on an adventure... I thought it should definitely include skiing!! Given the warm, dry winter here, we searched for high altitude skiing and found both Val d'Isere and Chamonix fit the bill-- each being over 3500meters. Val d'Isere was closer and we had the recommendation of a nice, little hotel which could accommodate us so Monday, January 29, off we went! It sure is easy to travel "a deux"!

Although Val d'Isere is just 6 miles from the Italian border, in order to drive there from Aix, the fastest way is on the Autoroute which takes you west/northwest up to Grenoble(about 2 1/2 hours) and then north/northeast through Albertville(home of 1992 Olympics) and east/ southeast on into Val d'Isere. The route is practically a circle! From the time we turned east/northeast at the town of Valence, about an 1 1/2 hour drive from Aix, we were driving through the enormous Isere River Valley. At Valence, the Isere joins up with the mighty Rhone. The whole area is a wide, flat plain flanked on either side by large mountains and massifs. There is lots of agriculture here and there were also old looking factories along the river banks. By contrast, when we arrived at our destination, the space between the dramatically high mountains is minuscule-just enough room for the charming town of Val d'Isere! Bottom line, it was a gorgeous, but long(5 1/2 hour) drive with wonderful scenery along the way and a sweet little village to welcome you at the end.

As you approach the ski area we were at once impressed by the enormity of it all! The first mountain you pass is Tignes which is connected to Val d'Isere. One San Francisco writer put it this way: "Val d'Isere is the center of the Espace Killy. The Espace stretches from Val d'Isere to Tignes, over nearly 40 miles and seven Alpine peaks, to heights of more than 11,000 feet. Most of the 186 1/2 miles of trails are intermediate, and many of them are wide. They're groomed, too, serviced by lifts that range from an old-fashioned tow rope to a high-speed funicular. Experts gather here, of course, for steep drops, hairpin turns, miles of off-piste, powder-filled bowls. Because of the latitude, most of the ski area is above the tree line, so the vistas are wide and far-ranging." We just couldn't get there fast enough!!


Our directions to Hotel Lauzes said to "look for the church" when we arrived in Val d'Isere....so we drove along the picturesque main street enjoying all the quaint restaurants and cafes. There were lots of people out walking; some in ski clothes still carrying skis others in fur coats and apres ski boots. Sure enough, we found the hotel right next door to this landmark Romanesque-style church and bell tower which were built in 1664. Philippe, the owner, and his sidekick, Bernadette, greeted us and showed us to our room. It was late afternoon, but we went out for a quick stroll around the village, chose a restaurant for dinner and rented some skis for Nick. We are accustomed to outdoor markets everywhere in Provence, but this was our first outdoor market in the snow! The vendors were selling everything from ski parkas to boots to leather hats, gloves and slippers, tons of non-chocolate candy, sunglasses and cheese!! This area of France, called the Savoie, is well known for it's mountain cheeses; two in particular are Reblochon and Beaufort. Here is a beautiful display....

The climate here, especially at night, was MUCH colder than what we have been used to in Aix. My hands were freezing!! After warming up by the fireplace in the little living room of the hotel, we walked several blocks down the main street to La Taverne Restaurant. We decided to have one of the Savoie region's specialties called tartiflette. In my opinion, it is one of France's best 'comfort foods'. Different valleys in the region have various methods of producing tartiflette and we are told there is probably more than one recipe per village! Basically, tartiflette is a casserole with just a few ingredients, most of which are readily available anywhere: potatoes, onion, smoked ham/bacon and cream but there is one crucial ingredient, Reblochon cheese, necessary to make the dish. We really hope it's not too difficult to find in the States. First, the cooked potatoes, meat and onions are layered in an oven proof dish. Next, the cream is poured over that and then the top is covered with the Reblochon and the whole thing is baked in the oven. Add a tart green salad and a glass of local wine...yum!!

The next morning, Tuesday, we got up in time to enjoy our French skier's breakfast at the hotel and hit the slopes. As you've already read, the ski area is huge and so we decided to take the advice of some skiers we'd met the night before and head for Glacier de Pissaillas, one of the highest areas at Val d'Isere. We rode the free shuttle bus for about 4 minutes up to a big tram, La Fornet. Riding the tram got us up on the mountain right away as we wanted to get high up on the glacier to an eastern facing(think sunny!) area to begin our day. Here is the view looking out of the Tram, back down into the valley ...

When we got off the tram, we followed everyone else to a chairlift which would take us up even higher...

Here Nick is standing pretty close to the top of the highest area you can get to on a lift....can you see how we are level with those peaks across the way?!? Near the top, at the foot of the bowl that descends off the glacier, you're in a pass -- the Col de l'Iseran, France's highest at more than 8,000 feet. We read that we were looking down on "the ancient trade route -- part of the Silk Road to India, where Hannibal crossed on elephants centuries ago. During World War II, mountaineering soldiers guarded it on skis; now in the summers, after a procession of snowplows opens the road each May, cyclists grind their way up in an epic stage of the Tour de France." We could not imagine trekking elephants through or riding a bike up here!! Hopefully, we can catch this segment of the Tours on TV this summer.

And now....we are finally going to ski!! It felt a bit strange to be skiing in an area with no trees, just wide open slopes that went on and on and on! It was a fantastic experience. Here are some more photos from the slopes.

This is probably my favorite of Nick's photos...

After many, many runs-there were no lift lines- we were hungry for some lunch. No hamburgers or bowls of chili to be found at this mountain! Sausages, pasta, hot soups, lamb stew, smoked salmon, cheese plates, fresh cheese with fruit or honey are the order of the day.... and please, don't forget the pastries! The sun was invitingly warm so we sat outside in these lounge chairs...

They were so comfortable we were tempted to lie there and sunbathe all afternoon...but, the slopes awaited us and off we went.

The high altitude, and this being our first day on the slopes all year, had us skiing back down to our hotel by about 3pm. We could ski within about 30 feet of the hotel... where we ran out of snow. After changing out of our ski clothes, we did another walking tour of the town and again chose a restaurant for dinner. Val d'Isere has lots of sports shops, some chic and some funky clothing stores, a grocery store, movie theatre, hotels and of course plenty of restaurants, cafes and bars.

Tonight we went to "1789", a small, cosy restaurant tucked off the main street. We felt right at home with the candle lit tables with pink table cloths and rustic decor all focused on an open fireplace where they cooked many of the entrees. We ordered another local Savoyard specialty. Unfortunately, we can't remember the name but think you cook raw meats on a little skillet that sits at your table. Kind of like fondue without the oil. We chose duck, poultry and beef. We cooked it to our liking and ate it with a variety of sauces; one was curry, one ketchup and mayonnaise and one aoli. The meal came with pommes frites and potato gratin(looked a lot like our tartiflette) and a huge green salad. After dinner, we strolled home enjoying the village by night....

While we ate some dark chocolate back in our room, we knew we would need a big day of skiing tomorrow! We are going to Tignes.



Recipe for Tartiflette
http://www.cuisine-french.com/cgi/mdc/l/en/recettes/tartiflette.html