Strawberry Festival in Carpentras - Fete de la Fraise

It's the Strawberry time of year again. Market stalls, supermarkets will look like this - and on restaurant menus, Fraise de Carpentras will definitely be one of the desert choices ...

Fraise de Carpentras or Strawberries from Carpentras are well known and very much a favorite in Provence and throughout France. 

 As you drive through the countryside here, you will see the long dome shaped green houses that have been protecting the fruit during the cold weather.  

On the road  from Carpentras to Pernes les Fontaines, the rond point in the village of Velleron .....

 

You know that you are in serious Strawberry country when a nearby Rond Point (Roundabout),  displays a "geant fraise" decoration.

 Next Saturday, April 21st , the City of Carpentras (about 20 minutes drive from Sablet),  will host its annual Fete de la Fraise or Strawberry Festival.  This year's guests of honor are.... la fraise de Wepion .. Strawberries from Namur in Beligum ... accompanied by their growers!   All day long, beginning at 10am and ending at 8pm,  visitors both adults and children alike will take part in the festivities which will include ........

The parade of the Confrerie de la Fraise (Confraternity of the Strawberry), who devote themselves to the preservation of the quality of the fruit from this region....

Clowns,  make up artists and art projects for the children ...

Gastronomie .... lots of strawberry snacks, wine tasting (of course!),  and a Strawberry Tarte Competition!

Patisserie cream on a flaky crust, topped off with loads of rich red strawberries from Carpentras! Yes .. this one's a winner.  #1 

More place winners ... again from a previous year ... yum! Wish I could be there.  Does #10 look like little strawberry cornets with some kind of yummy filling? Wonder what the filling is? Perhaps cream cheese "perfumed' with local lavender honey?

Since I can't be in Provence for the Fete de la Fraise this year ... I will just have to have my own celebration with one of my favorite strawberry recipes ... Pavlova with Strawberries

like this one... this is one of my favorite and easiest recipes (and definitely make ahead friendly!)

If you are in Provence on April 21st - and would like to visit the Fete de la Fraise you can find more information at:  http://www.carpentras.fr/decouvrir-carpentras/temps-forts/fete-de-la-fraise-2012-1497.html

Tous au Marche - Let's all go to the Market!

 It was getting close to vacation time - only a few weeks away.  Back to Sablet and Provence.  Time to start packing and getting all those, “before we go” jobs done.  Start with the suitcases ….. yes they’re ready to start ….. wait a minute …. What’s this in the zipper compartment on the outside of this one?

    Dated Lundi 21 Juillet 2008 (Monday July 21 2008 ... 2008 ... really?), is a Sud Vaucluse edition the daily newspaper La Provence, carrying a front page headline and large color picture beckoning, Tous au Marché (everyone to the market).  It invites readers to take a tour of 120 markets in the Vaucluse, every day of the week in different towns and villages.   As I read on, this article and just the thought of the Provencal markets makes me feel good – always filled with characters and good natured stall holders who  love talking with and getting to know their customers.  They’re always ready joke with you, to share a recipe or make sure you know the best way to launder that table runner to keep it looking beautiful.  They love to know where you are from, and what really surprised me was, how many had visited the US – amongst the most common reactions – “love san Francisco – very European”  “Las Vegas is amazing ”  “New York – formidable”.

    Each vacation, we try to get to new markets in towns and villages we haven’t visited yet.  It’s a great way to start your sightseeing tour – with a true flavor of the local scene, lunch at a outdoor café or perhaps even better, pick up supplies for a picnic, followed by an afternoon of exploring and sightseeing. I must admit though that we have developed some favorites. They have become “old friends”.

    Usually arriving on a Saturday afternoon, amongst the first items of business for us is Sunday morning at Isle sur la Sorgue market, followed by an outdoor lunch at Lou Nego Chin (old Provencal for “the swimming dog”) – a small restaurant on the banks of the River Sorgue. Are we really such creatures of habit?   It appears so!  The market gets crowded in the summer, so go early.  There is a great little breakfast café on the rue du Docteur Taillet,  as well as outdoors at the Café de France opposite the Cathedral  - not too far from the scene of “the doggie voleur.”  

Oops!  Mustn’t forget – stop by Lou Nego Chin and reserve a riverside table for twelve-thirty.  Now ….. Spices, fresh produce, maybe a freshly cooked chicken for dinner, cheeses, olives and charcuterie (where’s the stall holder who told me that he’d never be able to afford a new truck, if I was only going to purchase one coil of saussison?  – better go back and see if the new truck materialized) …. Mon pauvre mari makes trips back to the car – lucky we discovered a great parking area not too far away that always seems to have free spots.  Time to check out what’s new at the market this year – linens, what’s new in pottery, don’t forget the artisan made soaps, olive wood items, fabric (absolutely the best place for furnishing fabrics) , anything at all!  I’m in my element here –  must have been a stall holder in a previous life!

                                        

     The morning passes quickly, with way too much fun.  It’s time to meet our friends at the restaurant.  One of the most comforting,  yet surprising  things is that the stall holders at the market, owners and staff of restaurants very rarely change, so it’s nice to go back to old friends.  Lunch is going to be fun  – we’re meeting friends who have come from the other side of the world.  Under a large shady umbrella, watching the ducks amble down the river, it’s time to relax with an aperitif and check out the menu.  As As the bells of the Cathedral chime one pm, the market starts to unwind.  Stall holders packing up their narrow tall vans into which disappears everything that made up the stall – tables, umbrellas, merchandise and anything else that was used. The food is great – as usual – the Soupe de Poisson is still great …… and I just can’t resist their Ile Flotant for desert.  Am I really such a creature of habit? 

                                               

      Before we know it – it’s nearly three – most of the day spent with old friends -  The friends we have lunch with, the friends at the restaurant and the Market itself – definitely an old friend.  Let’s walk back to the car, put the top down and head back to Sablet ….. ..
After all, we have more “can’t be missed” old friends to visit during the week ……
     

       Tuesday in Vaison la Romaine ......... early Friday in Sablet and then on to Carpentras     ......…. Just for starters.