September 24, 2026 Breakfast - Toast with jam and yogurt with plums. Lunch - Tonton Ju. Dinner - Sautéed Lamb riblets in caramelized onion and rosemary with medallions of zucchini, tomato, and eggplant baked in olive olive
We woke up at 5:30 to take Billy and Elaine to the train station to catch the train to Marseille and then to the airport for their flight back to NYC.
After we dropped them to the platform we drove back to the parking lot at the corner of Resistance and Portisol and walked the block to the bakery on the street leading to the center of town, when we arrived at 6:30 the lady was just opening the Bakery. We bought a raisin roll for me and a croissant for Suzette and a baguette.
We then drove back to the villa we were greeted by a lovely sunrise.
where we ate breakfast. I ate bread and jam with the raisins; the raisin Danish and Suzette ate the croissant and we drank coffees
Then I sliced a red plum and added 4 Mirabelle plums cut in half to a bowl of yogurt.
Around 9:00 we drove to Ciotat that turned out to be a dirty industrial town dominated by the largest ship yard in France.
We then turned back toward Bandol and drove along the coast back to St. Cyr Sur Mer. We were looking for real estate and St. Cyr interested us but it did not have a large commercial zone at the port like Sanaray. We drove to the local market that was tiny compared to the one in Sanaray, but adequate.for our needs, we bought two organic eggplants, green plums, a zucchini, and four types of figs.
We were trying to look at houses near the beach on our way back toward Bandol and Sanaray when we saw a sign for Calanque de port d'Alon. We took the road that led to a local park. It was 10€ to park below and 5€ in the parking lot by the pay booth. We paid 10€ and drove down a long narrow winding road to a parking lot in a relatively flat area and walked about 1/4 mile to the beach at the end of the calanque. The hills on either side of the calanque were steep and wooded but not as sheer or as deep as the calenques at Cassis just a few miles away and there appeared to be a small open air restaurant on one side of the beach.
We walked to the restaurant that had about twenty tables. It was a bit after 10:00 but there was already a party of six at one of the tables, so we took seats at a table at the end of the restaurant nearest to the water. Soon a large fellow with a red three day beard came over and gave us a menu and in broken English told us the kitchen was not open yet but we could order oysters. It was 10:30 so we decided to order oysters. There were three types of oysters offered and an item I had never seen before, a brown crab. We ordered 6 of the more expensive Gillardeau oysters and a brown crab, since crab is one of Suzette’s favorite foods. When we asked if we could drink our own wine the waiter said that the restaurant was owned by the Le Bastide Blanche Winery near Castelet and only served its wines. We were surprised because we had intended to visit that winery located near Castelet until the climb to Castelet was too daunting for me. I asked whether white or rose’ would be better with oysters and he recommended the rose’. So we ordered a bottle of rose’. It was a strong Mourvèdre driven rose’.
Soon the waiter delivered a tray filled with ice and six oysters and the crab cut in half appeared with wine and bread and told us that everything in the crab was edible, including the yellow and red colored parts. We ate the oysters first. They were deep welled similar to those we found in Cancale on the north coast of Brittany plump, chewy. with just a touch of brininess; a nearly perfect oyster.
When we asked the waiter where the oysters were grown he showed us a map on his phone of France and pointed to the southern coast of Brittany and told us the brown crab came from the same locale.
It was a challenge eating the crab, but we succeeded because, besides a cracker, knife, and fork, we were given a long handled thin tiny two pronged fork that could reach all the crevasses inside the crab’s claws and body to grab the meat.
It took me 1 1/2 hours to eat the crab. By 12:00 the restaurant was nearly full. I was amazed that we had found a popular, wonderful restaurant in such a remote location. Going to remote less touristy locales has now led us to the three best meals of the trip, Le Regain in Cadierie d’ Azur, Chateau Olive and Raisin in La Fontaine, and Tonton Ju at Calanque de port d'Alon. The map information for the photos identifies the restaurant’s location as La Pointe Fauccioniere.
After lunch we drove back to Sanaray. We had decided to sauté lamb chops in caramelized onions with the baked eggplant, zucchini, and tomato dish we had eaten last week at Chateau Olive and Raisin in La Fontaine, but when we arrived at the butcher shop in Sanaray at 1:00 it was closed until 3:30, so we went back to the villa. I slept and Suzette walked to Portolis beach and swam.
When I awakened around 4:00 there was a magnificent five masted sailing ship moored in the bay in front of the villa. After some research, I determined that it was the Royals Clipper, the largest sailing cruise ship in the world.
At 4:30 we drove back to the butcher shop and bought three lamb chops and a small wedge of St. Nectaire cheese.
We then walked next door to a pastry shop and bought a Delice pastry, a pain au chocolate, and a croissant.
When we returned home we read until 6,00, when we began dinner prep.
I sliced 3/4 of the zucchini, an eggplant and a red tomato into 1/3 inch thick slices that Suzette laid in a baking dish and liberally doused with olive oil and herb de Provence and baked in the oven for about 45 minutes.
I sliced four or five small onions that Suzette then sautéed the onions in the olive oil left in the vegetable’s baking dish until soft and the added the three lamb chops and fresh rosemary from the villa’s garden and braised them covered until cooked.
I poured glasses of the Bourgogne 2022 Hautes Cotes de Nuits red Burgundy that was open and Suzette ladled a mound of the cooked vegetables on plates and added onions and a lamb chop and we ate one of the best home cooked meals of the trip. We ate dinner as the sun set and the Royale Clipper sailed out of the bay on its westward course.
After dinner I sliced rounds of baguette and laid butter, the St. Nectaire, the Beaufort, and the Banon cheeses on a plate and we ate a cheese course with a glass of the Burgundy Pinot noir.
Finally, I made a cup of tea and poured a small glass of Marc de Provence and brought the Delice pastry to the table and we ate dessert, chocolate mousse inside coated with chocolate with a swirl of hazelnut whipped cream on top and garnished with a cluster of toasted hazelnuts.
Of course, it was too much food and I woke up at 2:00 and ate a plum with yogurt.
The market turned slightly positive today and my portfolio ended in the green after two losing days.
Also I walked 4700 steps today as we explored Ciotat and St. Cyr.
Bon Appetit
