Picnic in Provence @ Domaine Roche-Audran

I love my job !
Especially on days when my office looks like this… Blue sky, amidst the vineyards, great food, excellent wine and all that under the hot Provence sun. I cannot imagine a better place to bring friends, family or customers together.

Top collaboration

Everything described above, became my “office” on a perfect September Tuesday when I was taking pictures of this picnic in Provence. My talented friends Sigi and Vanessa, the owners of Maison d’Anvers in Valréas, who are excellent cooks and hosts, were planning, cooking and baking for a few days to prepare this gorgeous, delicious and romantic picnic dinner for a group of 17 Belgian and American friends and guests, at this fairytale venue, Domaine Roche-Audrane in Buisson. I had the pleasure of not only tasting all the food, but also documenting all the beauty with my camera.  Many thanks to Vincent Rochette, owner of this fabulous wine domain, for inviting me to participate in this memorable event, and thanks to Sigi and Vanessa for making it all happen !

Caveau

Upon arrival, we had a wine tasting and the friendliest of greetings along with an explanation at the caveau of Domaine Roche-Audran. You can click on each image to enlarge…

On the way Up

While Sigi and Vanessa were carefully preparing the beautiful picnic table, Vincent walked us to his exclusive spot on the estate overlooking the vines. Not another person in sight, except for a few distant vineyard workers.This place is simply Awesome !

Upon arrival

When we first arrived, we could hardly believe this was only for us. The picnic consisted of several home made dishes with pure and fresh ingredients, cracking fresh bread, cheeses, grapes, etc. etc., all delicious and of course in combination with a selection of the sublime red and white wines of Domaine Roche-Audran.

The dishes

Now, I will let the pictures do the talking…

Enough (we thought) 🙂 But we ate it all…till the very last bite ! Sooooooooo yummie !

Zen-time

It was so peaceful we spent hours there, even with the rather warm weather on this day.  Bottles of Visan, César and many more rounded it out perfectly. What can I say, beautiful people, grownups and kids, even our dog Diesel had the best time / drink of his life ! 😉

On the way Down

Late afternoon, we made our way back down to the caveau. We were on such a high after the picnic, it was just perfect. Most of us purchased some wine and went on our merry way. Some of us were staying at the beautiful Maison d’Anvers, and others like us had to drive back but it is worth it in itself. Spectacular scenery mixed in with charming people and fine wines.

Booking info

This picnic is NOT to be booked at the wine domain itself but through Maison d’Anvers. During your stay there or independently. For contact and price information, you can click here where you will find their multilingual website ! And do not forget to like their two pages on facebook ! Click here for the Maison d’Anvers B&B and here for the Bistro Maison d’Anvers ! 

The end

To have spent a gorgeous afternoon, with excellent food and wine, and peace and quiet after the chaos of daily life, I say ‘santé’, smoke a cigar and till next time !

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