We started our food-venture in Aix-en-Provence, where our first meal was steak tartare (me) and beef carpaccio (Josh). The meal certainly didn't help fight jetlag, but we went to bed early at least enjoying one delight France does decidedly better than the US (not overcooking meat!).
The next memorable meal was at a local brasserie in Place Verdun. Here, we ate lamb (also delightfully rare), served with a sampling of fresh, sauteed produce from that morning's market (carrots, onions, eggplant).
Chez Nino, a small Italian restaurant recommended to us by a friend living in Aix, proved to be quite an experience. Josh switched to Italian when speaking with the owner, which triggered the owner's elderly Sicilian father to wander over and speak to the whole party in Italian, who politely smiled and nodded as Josh frantically tried to translate some story about the Black Madonna. (We later googled it to figure out what the hell the lovely old man was talking about!) I had the softest gnocchi I've ever had, smothered in a pesto gratin. The little potato puree nuggets melted in my mouth.
By far, the best meal of the trip and candidate for "Best Meal of All Time" was at Maisouneta in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the town famous for the prestigious wine of the same name. This wine had been somewhat of a family inside joke for some time because every time Josh pronounced it, he did so with the most serious attempt at a French accent. This trip gave him great practice hearing the locals pronounce the name, and the family just couldn't wait to go to the town of repute. Maisouneta is a small restaurant off a side street in the center of town. When we arrived, we preferred to wait a few minutes until two small parties cleared out of the outdoor seating. One of these couples, upon leaving, made sure to tell how incredible the food was--already a good sign. The true winner of the meal, and a testament to local dishes and flavors, was the duck in honey, lavender, and other Provencal herbs. The lavender flavor was pronounced but surprisingly not overbearing (I wonder if locals ever get sick of the smell of lavender, considering it is everywhere!).I'll end on two notes: worst meal of the trip and surprising (and unsurprising) favorites. By far, with epic proportions, the worst meal of the trip was at a restaurant with pictures of the food on the menu (never a good sign) in the middle of the most touristy strip of Avignon (also not a good sign). The "Caesar Salad" was described in the menu as having tomatoes and mozzarella, and came with the worst tomatoes France has to offer; it would take hard work to find tomatoes this bad! The cheese looked more like provolone, and the whole thing was inedible. The fish ordered smelled seriously funky, and was dry as a dessert. We motioned the waiter over to try to describe the state of the food in our limited French, and finally said "C'est terrible!" Not only did he try to argue the quality of the fish, but he charged us for it, along with the dessert that never came!
Not to leave it on a bad note, I will end by saying my surprising find, and my unsurprising (but delish) find. Pizza, surely influenced by the region's proximity to Italy, is amazingly good in Provence. Try the quatre frommages (four cheese) pizza from basically any self respecting pizza joint. Unsurprisingly, macarons are friggin' amazing. They are so good, I could eat them every day for the rest of my life. I want to die and go to macaron heaven (was practically there in France). They are made with almond flour and a little goop of creamy goodness inside. They come in almost any flavor, from noisette (hazelnut) to all kinds of fruit. They even come as decadent as truffle with fois gras inside. Don't try it, it's gross.
