Taste: The South of France: A Third Year of Visual Visits to Roussillon

By Salley J Robins

Not a travel guide! These adventures with you are our personal adventures. This is that year in review of all the good moments we spent and the wonderful food and wine we tasted in the South of France.

You & I met all those years ago when blogs were young. We shared stories & laughs. Now it's time for you to return to my Catalan village so you can taste some local delights and a few of my homemade adaptations of French dishes. This is no cookbook but I will share what I know. Visit Roussillon and you will find that what I said all those years ago is still true, the door to the south of France is open! Allons-y! (Let's go!)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Salley J Robins
• Release date: Dec 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005320577

Salley J Robins

A writer who loves bringing readers into her world. A storyteller, poet, and amateur photographer, Salley writes with passion. She adores travel and sharing the good things in life. Currently based in the South of France, her unique voice speaks with enthusiasm about the culture, history, and people of the region.To preview that Taste of France you will find a blog and a few stories on her website. However, she also enjoys writing in a variety of styles which include YA sci-fi, adult fantasy and surprisingly - an adult steamy novel - Never Say Kiss me to a Frenchman! under the pen name of Lascivia Bené!Her eBooks-only "South of France" books are visual visits designed to welcome readers right into her sunny village on the Côte Vermeille. A historical-fiction-fantasy book about life with the California Indians in Yosemite delights readers of all ages. For the ten-to-twenty group as well as the young-at-heart, she delighted in creating a trilogy of sci-fi adventures set on Mars. Arthurian Legends of Avalon inspired her two Adult Fantasy/Sci-Fi novels.As she edits her 11th novel, she draws on the experience of nineteen years of life in France to solve a mystery and warn her readers that one must "Never Say Paint me to a Frenchman!"

Book preview

Taste – The South of France

collioure view over pretty street.JPEG

A Third Year of

Visual Visits to Roussillon

Salley J Robins

Skysongs Books

Copyright © 2022 Salley J Robins

Book 3 – in the Series: Visual Visits to Roussillon

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Text and images copyright 2022

All Rights Reserved

ePub Edition January 14, 2023

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Thank you for purchasing this book. No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.

Cover design by: Skysongs Books

Let the Adventures Begin!

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Avant-Mots (Before words)

Where is Roussillon?

January -A Visit to Château Planères

February - A Soup to Warm Your Soul

March - Go Wild Asparagus

April - Buy Bunyettes from a Village Bakery

May - Herbes de Provence & Salade Tomate

June – Ooh Là Là, Les Olives!

July - Jours des Salades Estivales (Summer Salad Days)

August - Catch the Golden Sun in a Jar

September - Roast Those Red Bell Peppers

October - Quiche - it’s Not Just Egg Pie

November – Giving thanks for Tarts!

December - A Taste of French Christmas - Pain d-Épices

Après – Mots (After-words)

About the Author

Further Works by SJ Robins

List of Photos Shared in this Visual Visit

Dedication

Dedicated to the memory of the man who inspired me from the day we met - my husband, best friend, and chef divine.

He changed my life when he asked me to leave everything behind and fly off to France.

For that, his encouragement to write, and our happy life of 35 years, I am forever grateful.

The author is grateful for the blessing of this life made possible by J.S. - the man who believed.

Cheers to those we love!

**Photo credit Karrie Barron copyright ©2018

Acknowledgements

To my readers, friends, and loyal fans, you are ever in my thoughts as I write.  I love sharing the joy of being alive with you. When I see beauty, my first thought is to make a note or take a photo with the intention of sharing it.  But it has not been as easy to do for a few years. Some of you need no explanation as to why there was a long lapse between the first two in this series and this third book because you followed my blogs and knew what had happened.

The view of the Alberes from my Catalan village in the south of France.

Eight years ago, the man who asked me to accompany him to live in France was diagnosed with an incurable cancer.  That year and those that followed disappeared in a strange nightmare.  Afterwards, writing became impossible for some time and although he had asked me to continue when he was gone, it took a long time before I could.  My readers encouraged me to try. It was too painful to continue sharing real life, so I put aside the blogs and journals and wrote fictional novels instead. What great fun! I have so many stories in my head it will take a lifetime to write them. However, an inner voice knew that what I wanted to do was to share the joy of the everyday with everyone.

Join my for a coffee at the Bleu Citron! I'll happily set the writing aside.

With his spirit inside, the support of friends, the love of family, and the passage of time, the years have healed me.  New friends have come into my life and I sense that one book has closed and new adventures have begun.  At last, I can continue these stories about the joy of living in the south of France.

There is one aspect of French life that is to be savored – their remarkable cuisine, the regional flavors, and the presentation of dishes, even in everyday life.  A striking element of French culture is importance of sharing the good life with others – especially those we care about.  I am no superstar, no Verlaine, and certainly no French chef.  I’m just a writer of blogs, of songs, and books but most importantly, I am your friend.  Let’s share this incredible gift that is life.

The sun has come up - the new day is here.  Seize it and celebrate it with all your heart.

The sun rises out of the Med and sends the message - take this gift of life and love it!

Avant-Mots (Before words)

It’s that time again!  You have landed in the south of France.  Ill meet you at the beach in Collioure for coffee and well enjoy that amazing view.  But I don't live there even if it may seem that way from my photos and blogs!  Follow me inland a few miles to my Catalan village of a thousand souls who welcomed me like family over 19 years ago.

Come on in to my American-French kitchen.  I’m so glad you are here.  I know, it’s been a while.  Yes, you are right, it’s been renovated!  Now it is more French than ever.  My life has changed in ways I could never have predicted back when we first started sharing these adventures in Book 1 – Plein Sud (Due South) so many years ago.

The counter space is limited but the love is endless!

Life may not be a tranquil river, but it is still beautiful and you are just as important to me as ever.  This year, we’ll share the simple things that make life good, take a few little jaunts, and share the joy. I mentioned in the acknowledgements how my life has changed and although it wasn’t easy, please believe – as I do, that life is good – because you are here and so am I.

This is no cookbook of regional dishes.  This is about the foods and flavors of everyday life as only you and I can experience it.  The sun is shining, the view is marvelous, allons-y! (let’s go!)

It’s time to taste the south of France!

Where is Roussillon?

The name is now an echo of a long rich history rather than a place, for modern times have decreed that our region now fits under the umbrella name of Occitanie.  But we know that's just bureaucracy. You'll find us in the south of France, not far from the Spanish border along the shimmering edge of the Mediterranean Sea.

View of the Med from Puig de las Dainas

My French partner and I will be happy to greet you!  I live in a tiny village of a thousand people with an épicerie, a bakery, a pizzeria, and a post office!  But I’m only five miles from the beach at Saint Cyprien and twenty minutes from the Spanish border, so I think it’s pretty ideal.  My partner lives in Argelès-sur-Mer, a bustling tourist destination set on nearly