Marseillan

Marseillan

Situated between vineyards and the Med, Marseillan is a fishing port on the banks of the Thau Lake and its shellfish farms. It is the last stopping point between the Med and the port of Sete.

We are here based on the recommendation of our friends, Liz Eglinton and Gene O'Neill of the beautiful Te Whau Lodge on our little island of Waiheke. Liz and Gene are serious Francophiles (spelling?) who make an annual pilgrimage to Marseillan, to play host to up to 10 guests in this beautiful part of the world. Can't for the life of me think why they would want to come back here every year...

We had organised to meet up with Susan and Dr Frederic (Chris's cousin and our hosts from Montpellier) at a restaurant, Chez Phillipe for lunch at 12.00pm. Only an hour away, we set off at 10.30am to make it on time. Only an hour way yet we leave for a 12.00pm reservation at 10.30am? But that's an hour and a half? The Austrian in me always arrives early and needs to factor in anything that could possibly lead to a tardy arrival.

So after sitting around for half a bloody hour waiting for Susan and Frederic to arrive, we sat down for lunch. Today's 3 courser was an extravagance - 28 euros per person. As those of you that know what it costs to eat in France and in this region in particular, you will realise that for 28 euros for 3 courses, you can expect a pretty good meal. Details below. Salivate at your leisure.

 Presse de chevre frais aux courgettes, tapenade et pignons grilles et son petit cake aux olives

Daurade roti aux pousses d'epinard et aux champignons sur une brandade
 parmentiere et cremeuse a l'anis

Moelleux au chocolat avec caramel sale et glace caramel

C'etait tres bon! Translated this means it was choice bro.

The rest of the day was taken up with a visit to Noilly Prat. Those of you not in the biz, may not know but Noilly Prat is, in my opinion, the best vermouth on the planet. Chances are that if you walk into any bar in the world or were allowed to walk in to most kitchens in the world, you would find a bottle of Noilly Prat. Susan had organised a Presitige tour and thanks to a hook up from Liz and Gene (thanks SO much) our tour was conducted by the boss himself - Jean-Louis Mastoro. It was fascinating. Noilly Prat comes in 3 varieties - the green one or Dry (the most popular and found every where), the red one or Sweet (only available in Marseillan and in the USA for Manhattans apparently) and the yellow one or Ambre (only available in Marseillan and a few select specialty stores). Jean-Louis invented the Ambre. I won't bore you by going into the production process but it involves 3 different wines that sit outside in the sun in barrels for a year. Each bottle takes a year and a half from start to finish. Interestingly, the other really famous vermouth (Martini) is owned by the same company. Jean-Louis said these is no comparison.

Ben at Noilly Prat. 300 bottles apparently

Barrels in the sun

We finished up yet another fabulous day and headed home about 5.30pm. It had been a few hours since lunch so our minds quickly went towards plans for dinner. We decided that we would eat in and that a simple pasta carbonara with a green salad would be quick and easy. Carbonara - pasta, lardons of cured bacon, onions, parmesan, salt, pepper and egg yolks - no cream necessary. Finish the dish by tossing through the raw eggs and you have your sauce.

Tomorrow - market day. Breakfast then hit the market for supplies (did I mention its 10m from our door?) then a nice quite day at home. Maybe read a bit then another wine tasting later?

One final thing to add then I will let you go. When we had nearly finished eating our meal, Jamie was polishing off the rest of the salad and kind of squawked as she hit the bulk of the dressing at the bottom of the bowl. She said "Wow, acidic. I'm crying Tears of Acidity" I instantly thought that there must a song title in there somewhere...