Visit to Faucon and a delightful Lunch at Le Laurier Restaurant

Sorry, I have been a little distracted the last few weeks so I have not written for the blog. As some of you know, my wonderful mom, age 93 just passed away. Besides dealing with that, we have been working on a couple of deals at Chancellor Health Care, and Shirley hooked me on "The Good Wife" starring Julianna Margulies.

Truth be told, the little free time I have has been taken up watching the first ten episodes of season 1. The series focuses on Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies), whose husband Peter Florrick (Chris North), a former Cook County state's attorney, has been jailed following a very public sex and corruption scandal.

Alicia returns to her old job as a litigator (having taken 13 years out to be a stay-at-home mother) to provide for her two children. The series was partly inspired by the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal, as well as by other prominent American political sex scandals, like John Edwards and Bill Clinton. The writing and cast is wonderful. But I digress.

Faucon is another example of a village in the Vaucluse we discovered through a restaurant. Faucon is a small village (416 inhabitants) perched on a hill with a magnificent panorama of the Alps and Mont Ventoux. An ancient walled city, the houses were built with local stone which gives architectural unity and character to the village.

The Village of Faucon

We went to Faucon for lunch at Le Laurier Restaurant, a resto on my list of places to try since we moved to Sablet. There is no shortage of good restaurants in the Vaucluse so it took us a while to get there. Once in Faucon, we found the restaurant at the top of the village near a fountain at Place de la Chapelle.

Le Laurier Restaurant at Place de la Chapelle

Le Laurier Restaurant

Le Laurier has seating on the patio in front of the restaurant and on a covered terrace with protection from the wind. It was a cool day so we chose to sit in the small dining room.

The Interior of Le Laurier Restaurant

The chef offers a market menu with three choices for starter, main course and dessert, all for 26 Euros. The menu changes frequently based upon availability of local products, organic as much as possible. They adhere to the slow food philosophy.

For my starter I chose the "Terrine de foie gras de canard fermier, compotée de fruits du moment" (Duck foie gras with a fruit compote) for a 2 Euro supplement.

Shirley chose the "Velouté de petits pois printanier, bavaroise de chèvre frais de Aubres" (spring pea soup with fresh goat cheese).

I selected the "Croustillant d’agneau de Pays confit miel et gingembre, légumes de saison" (Slow cooked local lamb in pastry with seasonal vegetables), also with a 2 Euros supplement.

Shirley's main course was the "Poisson retour de criée, risotto de petit épeautre bio de Buis" (fish served over spelt cooked risotto style). This was one of Shirley's favorite dishes ever based upon all the little noises she made after each bite.

For dessert, we both chose the "Entremet chocolat et poire" (chocolate ice cream with pear dessert). Our lunch at Le Lauier restaurant was the culinary highlight of this visit to Sablet. We will be back again.

After our very good lunch, we walked around the village (see the pictures which follow). There were many pretty sights but I could not find much written about the history of Faucon so I can't tell you anything about what we saw.

The original date of construction for Saint-Germain church seen below is unknown. It was restored in 1668 and again in 1677.

Saint-Germain Church

There are lots of narrow streets with archways.

The medieval arch seen below overlooks the valley and frames a beautiful view of the north face of Mont Ventoux.

Medieval Arch

Remains of the Feudal Castle

The houses are built of stone.

The clock and bell tower of Saint-Germain Church

The clock and bell tower of Saint-Germain Church

Notre Dame des 7 Douleurs Chapel was constructed in 1644 and restored in 1850.

Notre Dame des 7 Douleurs Chapel

Memorial to the children of Faucon who died for France in World Wars

You can add Le Laurier restaurant to the list of very good restaurants in the Northern Vaucluse. I will try to do a better job of posting regularly as I love hearing from you with your comments and feedback. Have a great Sunday.

Le Laurier Restaurant
Place de la Chapelle
84110 Faucon
Tel: 04 90 46 55 54
www.restaurantlelaurier.com