Avignon Food Tour

We met our guide, Zarah, outside the Palace of the Popes, to start our tour. We were a group of twelve, an American family of five, anther American couple from Maryland, a couple from Düsseldorf in Germany and the three of us. It has turned out to be a lovely day but very windy - Le Mistral was in town. What was particularly nice about this tour was that Zarah included some wonderful historical stops combined with the delicious food of the region.

Our first stop was Chez Lizette, a lovely old bakery in a beautiful little square or “place”. To be considered a “place” there are certain criteria that need to be met: - there has to be a church nearby, there must be at least one large tree, there needs to be a water source and the shutters need to be the same colour. It is amazing how many there are that meet the criteria in Avignon. At Chez Lizette we tried their olive fougasse (a type of bread) and a caramelised onion one. Both were delicious. We also got a shot glass of muscadel, a sweet white wine.

Our next stop was Les Halles (the market), where we visited Serge Olives. Here we tried whole garlic cloves that had been pickled in brine for a year (which have a mild and slightly sweet taste), an assortment of black and green olives, some black olive tapenade, an almond and garlic spread, and some roasted almonds with sea salt and another with paprika. The market was a hive of activity full of wonderful fresh produce and a range of other delicious foods.

Our next stop was Le Festival ‘Comptoir Gourmonde’, our venue for lunch, which was a large slice of Quiche Lorraine, salad and a glass of local wine. The quiche was absolutely delicious.

We then made our way to our next destination, L’epicerie de Genette, where we had dessert. There were many options: - Ian had Pear and Chocolate tart, Katie had Chocolate cake and I had Framboise tart. I believe my choice was the standout - it was absolutely amazing. We then walked down towards the river to our last stop, Maison Bremond, which was full of products from Provence. We tried lavender syrup, nougat, honey, and pistachio paste. My only regret is that I didn’t purchase any pistachio paste as it was so delicious and I haven’t seen it anywhere since.

This was an excellent tour that combined the history and highlights of the city with food.もっと詳しく