Vacation Rental: La Maison du Bonheur

You will feel right at home in this provençal stone house set in the village of La Capelle-Masmolène, minutes from the Pont du Gard and Uzès. The abundant activities in the area will keep everyone busy and happy, from canoeing to wine tasting to art galleries and more. Or if your idea of the perfect vacation is to relax while reading a book in the shade and listening to the humming of birds, then this house is ideal for you. Come discover La Maison and it's perfect setting for friends and family to enjoy a vacation in the South of France!

La Maison

sleeps 7

4 bedrooms

1 bathroom with shower

kitchen, living room, dining room

outdoor dining area

barbeque, hammock, lounge chairs

sheets and towels included

cleaning service included

no smoking, car required, secured parking for 1 car

Weekly Rates Saturday to Saturday:

2010

High Season 07/03-09/04 850€

Mid Season 09/04-10/02 750€

Low Season 10/02-11/06 650€

2011

High Season 07/02-09/03 950€

Mid Season 05/28-07/02 & 09/03-10/01 850€

Low Season 04/02-05/28 & 10/01-11/05 750€

please email us for more pictures and information dominiquecachat@gmail.com

Five Great Restaurants: Uzès

Table de Julien Place de la Mairie 30700 Saint Maximin Just five minutes outside of Uzès and well worth the drive. This restaurant is owned by a young, local couple whose fabulous food and excellent service, make for my favorite restaurant. The menu, which often includes foie gras, is limited, but changes regularly and is never disappointing. Ideal for special occassions. Reservations are recommended, especially during the high season. Indoor and outdoor seating.

Les Terroirs 5, place aux Herbes 30700 Uzès www.enviedeterroirs.com If you have ever been to Uzès in the summer, you know that it is a mad house. This restaurant has the perfect spot for outdoor seating on the Place aux Herbes and it's often hard to get a table. When you do get a seat, you will enjoy fresh salads, tartines, and tapas. A great wine selection is offered on the menu or in the gourmet shop inside the restaurant. Outdoor seating only.

Du Chai d'Uzès 54, Boulevard Gambetta passage Marchand 30700 Uzès Best place for wine, small dishes and great conversation! This small, lively wine bar, owned by Thierry and Valérie, has an extensive choice of wines by the glass or you can choose a bottle from the wine shop and pay a 7€ corkage fee. The wine shop is connected to the bar and wines are sold at the prix des caves. Small dishes include charcuterie platters, local cheese, stuffed grape leaves and pâtés. Indoor and outdoor seating.

Le P'tit Coffee 24, Place aux Herbes 30700 Uzès Tucked away off the beaten path of the main boulevard, this restaurant is the perfect place for a light lunch and a view of the Place aux Herbes. Menu includes a salad niçoise topped with pan seared tuna, local goat cheese served with perfectly ripe figs and tartare-frites. There is a nice beer and wine selection. Outdoor seating only.

Millézime 6, Boulevard Gambetta 30700 Uzès www.restaurant-millezime.fr A young Parisian couple has found the right formula to keep customers coming back to this restaurant. A large menu selection of provençal style cuisine combined with a laid back atmosphere, open 6 days a week. This restaurant is perfect for an outing with friends or an impromtu dinner. Always busy, fun and it won't break your bank. Indoor and outdoor seating.

Weekend de la Truffe

Every January in Uzès, the Syndicat des Producteurs de Truffes du Gard, organize a weekend dedicated to those precious black diamonds we call truffles. The weekend begins Saturday with an evening gala and grand feast of 100% truffles. The menu is prepared by several Michelin starred chefs, Jérôme Nutile, Restaurant Le Castellas in Collias and Olivier Douet, Restaurant Le Lisita in Nîmes.
Sunday is La journée de la truffe, a day you can't miss! Starting early in the morning, truffle farmers set up tables displaying their dirt encrusted truffles they have found the days before. Inspection lamps, scales and bundles of cash spread across the tables gives the air of an illegal activity and adds excitement. The market is open to the public and the people arrive in masses ready to purchase. The price per kilo this year was set at 1000€ which makes calculating your purchase easy. For example a truffle that weighs 30 grams would cost 30€. There are plenty of other truffle products to be purchased as well, including truffle butter, truffle goat cheese, truffle brandade or even a hot, truffle omelette, but it's best to wait for the giant truffle omelette prepared by the Syndicat des Producteurs de Truffes du Gard at noon. Just before noon, is the truffle auction. Several truffle farmers donate a truffle, which are blessed at the Messe de la Truffe held at La Cathédrale d'Uzès Sunday morning. Every year the money from the auction goes to the La Cathédrale, but this year for the first time, the priest announced the money would be donated to Haiti. With five truffles, they raised 1250€.













Five things to know about truffles:
1. Truffles with a thin layer of dirt around them conserve better. The down side is that you are paying a bit extra for the weight of the dirt.
2. You need approximately 10 grams of truffle per person to make an omelette or risotto.
3. Perfectly round truffles are most likely found in sand and may contain more water than a knobby shaped truffle found in rocks.
4. You can preserve an unwashed truffle in the refrigerator for about a week in an air tight container.
5. You do not have to peel a truffle. When you are ready to use your truffle, lightly brush it, run it under water and let it dry. Thinly slice or grate before adding to a dish.

Uzés... a town less traveled

Uzès is a small town on the edge of the Languedoc Roussillon region, 30 minutes west of Avignon. Rich in architecture and religious history, Uzès could be visited over and over again and never get old. The small town is also home of one of the most beautiful markets in the South of France. Note that I do not say Provence because Uzès is not in the region Provence. I know there are a thousand markets in France and everyone claims to have the best, but I honestly think this is one of the best and biggest in the area. It sprawls throughout the cobble stone streets of Uzès, but the main market is in the Place aux Herbes which is what makes it so magical. If you have only visited the Place aux Herbes during the market, it is well worth it to go back on an off market day and sit in one of the outdoor cafés and take it all in. It is the vision people have of the South of France and you will be living it!

The Wednesday morning market in Uzès displays many produits du terroirs, regional products and specialties. Cheese, olives, wine, olive oil, fruit, bread, herbs and so much more. The other day I found a creamy goat cheese, produced in Uzès, that made me want to pop open a bottle of red wine immediately, even though it was only 10am. In France, no time is too early wine, which is one thing I love about living here! If you are heading out for a day of discovery, I would definitely recommend stopping by the market to pick up the goods for a picnic. There are picnic spots at almost every tourist attraction in the area or you could stop on a back road in the middle of sunflowers and vineyards. A must do while visiting Uzès!

The Saturday morning market is a grocery store, department store and florist all wrapped in one. You can find clothes, jewelry, linens, pottery, flowers, plants and all the produits du terroirs. You can spend hours wandering the streets filled with market vendors so get there early to give yourself enough time and to avoid the main crowds.

Besides the markets, there are numerous restaurants, wine bars and outdoor cafés to discover. Uzès is touristic, but less than the villages in Provence that only come alive in the summer when the tourists arrive. Uzès lives year round, buzzing with tourists and locals, including many expat English and Americans. If you love Provence, I promise you will love Uzès and everything it has to offer.

Uzès is in the Gard(30) department of the Languedoc Roussillon region, which seems to be less traveled than it's neighboring Vaucluse(84) department in the Provence region...or at least for now.

Uzès Market: open all year round with July and August being it's busiest months
Wednesday Market 8am-12pm: foodies who prefer a less crowded market
Saturday Market 8am-1pm: there is something for everyone, but get there early if you don't
like being a human sandwich