Monday, August 16, 2010

Awesome Auvergne - to discover for sure!!

I know I know, I have not been very active on my blog, but hey, this is summertime, our busy time, and our guesthouse full full with lovely guest from far and wide despite the terrible weather!

We did however take a small break early June to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary.

Instead of going off to some far exotic destination, we decided to discover a bit more of our lovely Auvergne region. The first day, a rainy meander brought us to our first great discover: Les Glycines, a delightful restaurant hidden in a tiny village, with the best organic home produced Salers meat ever tasted! And this thanks to: http://www.lefooding.com. Whenever you are visiting France, do look at this great website to find great hidden treasures!
The Salers with it's delectable 'Aligot'



Their write-up about Les Glycines:

Les Glycines
Le bourg
15400 ST ETIENNE DE CHOMEIL
T 04 71 78 32 62

Cuisine fouchtra
Catégorie
Terroirs, fruits de mer...
Horaires
Tous les jours, de midi à 13h30, le soir sur réservation.

Organic wine, slow-cooked veal, curled aligot, lots of attention… All that for a small price...
Jean-François Pécoul finit de servir un coup de blanc (bio) aux habitués du comptoir, abandonne l’épicerie un instant et remet sa toque. La salle de restaurant est confortable et fraîche, même quand le soleil tape sur le vieux relais de poste. Au menu « touristique » de l’été, à 15 € (entrée, fromage, dessert et cuvée du patron comprise – un petit saint-pourçain tout frais), un coufidou de veau bio aux girolles mariné pendant des heures, et un aligot qui s’enroule autour de la fourchette et fond sous la langue. Quant à la cassolette d’écrevisses, elle arrive avec une serviette assortie qu’on vous attache avec amour autour du cou, et qui pourra resservir pour le sandre au Noilly Prat et la terrine d’agrumes maison, dont le secret de la texture est bien gardé (au menu à 25 €). // C.T.

In particular, I've been so impatient to discover the Eco-Lodge and Spa of the Lac du Pecher, our stop for two nights. 

 Landscape around the lake with the Eco-Lodge and Spa in the distance

Laurence and Daniel both worked in Megève in the tourism industry for a long time and took the plunge a couple of months ago when they took over an Auberge on the decline and turned it into a beautiful 'Eco-Lodge and Spa' situated on a remote lake, called the Lac du Pecher in the Cantal region of Auvergne.
Lucky for us a mere 2 hour drive away!



Not lucky for us the weather, but despite the rainy days we had a wonderful time.

A warm welcome from this couple who has been taking car of the restoration of the 12 rooms and the environs on this beautiful lake. We were treated like royalty and our room was delicious and cosy.
 View from our room onto the lake

Such a pleasure to sit in the jacuzzi overlooking a beautiful landscape and taking time in the sauna - total luxury for us always running around looking after others.

And they managed to find a young chef who is out of this world! Inventive and creative and delicious and beautiful to look at!!!!!!!!! He uses local products in particular

Olivier had as a starter, fresh asparagus rolled in Auvergne ham on blond lentils from St Flour.

My beetroot soup was wonderful and then we had rolled lamb with a divine garlic crème!
(Infuse your garlic in milk, boil it together and then mix with egg and bake in oven 'au bain marie')


The desserts apart from begin delicious, was also spectacular!




In a nutshell, sharing with you two days far to short at this lovely adress:
L'ecolodge du Lac du Pecher!


Life is about sharing


Bisous
Lynn
ps will get my act together and let you know all about our evening spent at the Michelin star restaurant and hotel of Serge Vieira! Also in AUVERGNE!