Les Baux de Provence is a picturesque village about 46 miles southwest of our house in Sablet. The village sits on an elevated site with ancient houses and ruins of a castle perched on top overlooking plains to the south.
The village is classified as one of the "Plus Beaux Villages de France". The beauty of the village and surrounding Alpilles, a small range of mountains, makes Les Baux de Provence a very popular place for visitors all year long.
The name Les Baux refers to its site, in Provencal, a baou is a rocky spur. Bauxite, a rock with high aluminum content, was mined extensively in the area but by the end of the 20th century, all the Bauxite was completely extracted.
The area surrounding Les Baux de Provence is known for production of high quality olive oil. The olive oil pressed from this area is labeled AOC Vallee des Baux, an area covering about 4,250 acres in the heart of Les Alpilles.
We headed to Les Baux de Provence on a beautiful day, albeit fairly cold, typical for a winter day in Provence to find hand made pottery for our daughters at Shirley's favorite pottery shop in the center of the village.
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| Les Baux de Provence |
We headed to Les Baux de Provence on a beautiful day, albeit fairly cold, typical for a winter day in Provence to find hand made pottery for our daughters at Shirley's favorite pottery shop in the center of the village.
While our favorite local restaurant, Le Bistrot du Paradou was open, we decided to try a new-to-us bistrot called Bistrot de l'Aupiho a little south of Les Baux off the D27 in the direction of Maussanne-les-Alpilles.
The Bistrot is located at Domaine de Manville, a 247 acre property with 5 star hotel, 18-hole golf course, spa, Michelin starred Restaurant l'Aupiho and the aforementioned Bistrot de l'Aupiho.
We were seated on a covered terrace with plenty of ventilation as we prefer during time of COVID. We had dressed to be outdoors, but before too long, some diners fled to the interior as they found the terrace a little too cold.
Bistrot de l'Aupiho does not offer a typical 2 or 3 course menu at lunch so you choose from a nice selection of a la carte offerings. At night, they do offer a 3 course "Menu Decouverte" but everyone at the table must choose this menu.
For our lunch, I chose a red wine from a local domain called Mas Sainte Berthe which I knew was located at the foot of Les Baux de Provence. We have not been to this winery but as the wine was very good, we will put it on our list of places to visit next time we are in the area.
It is rare to find simple green salads on menus in France. Sometimes the chef will prepare one if asked. But usually, green salads on menus are accompanied by a protein, not usually cheese. So we were really happy to see a list of "Extra Sides" on the Bistrot's menu that included a Salade Verte (green salad).
The list of "Extra Sides" also included French Fries so we ordered a plate of those as well.
What follows are pictures of our main courses and desserts.
We did not take cheese but did take note that the Bistrot's cheese selections come from Lou Canesteou, our favorite cheese shop in Vaison-la-Romaine.
After our lunch, we walked into the village and discovered our pottery shop was closed. Oh well, at least we discovered a nice new bistrot where we will return on future visits.
Le Bistrot de l'Aupiho
Route de la Terre-des-Baux
13520 Les Baux de Provence
France
+33 4 90 54 40 20
www.domainedemanville.fr
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