Chef Pascal & our other mill-mates

Aside from my travel-mates, I also had an incredible supporting cast of local critters that call Le Moulin Bregeon home! For starters, we have Mona, the mommy black lab and her twin 4-month old's Figaro (the brown lab) and Felicy (the white lab). Then we also had a friendly family of ducks, about 8 in total, that treated the stream outside the kitchen like their own personal lazy river. And then we had my arch nemesis's, is it nemisises or nemeni...anyhow... I was no fan of the geese. The five of them strutted around like they were the bees knees...not in my book they weren't!!! Those geese and I had a rocky start, but we learned to eventually respect each other's space and I like to think that I left with 5 new geese friends.

As for Chef Pascal...he's the man! The guy is the epitome of a rustic, French countryside chef. He loves his garden. He has ultimate respect for the local produce and livestock and he genuinely cooks with heart.

Every night Chef Pascal prepared a mutli-course meal for us, along with tasting wines for each dish...seriously...it was unreal.

First night's dinner: Cauliflower soup with chives and edible violets. Followed by a chicken braised in yellow cider wine accompanied by seasonal vegetables from the garden. Then a cheese course with fresh goat, Camembert, and Roquefort along with a fresh garden salad topped with walnut oil vinaigrette. Then finally a delicious fresh strawberry tart.

A brief word about the vegetables...while I was eating my main course, I tasted a carrot. It was no ordinary carrot. I guessed that this carrot was glazed in honey for a week and then roasted in brown sugar before service. I was shocked to learn that Chef Pascal simply pulled the carrot from the earth right before dinner and lightly salted it as it went into the oven. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this carrot single-handily taught me the value of farm-fresh produce and the difference that it can make in a dish.

Between the long flight, the incredible food, and yummy wine, I slept like a lil french baby.