Here is a first note about the pleasures of food and drink one can enjoy during a motorcycle tour with Unicorn Adventures or some of its competitors.
Riding on fantastic curvy and twisty roads around great places and sceneries is one thing but it should not be forgotten that in the evening it is time for the “plaisirs de la table” (enjoying a nice meal).

Today we will focus on the Provence as all 2006 Unicorn Adventures tours start from there.
The Provence is a fantastic region of France, borded on one side by the Mediterranean sea, on another by the Alps and the French Riviera, and by the Languedoc Roussillon (visited during the “Mediterranean Coast” tour). This position guarantees fresh fish and great sun a great part of the year and thus wonderful food and drink!

Listing all of the various dishes one can find would take pages and pages! For that reason we will only list 10 of them:

• The Aïoli (try to say I-O-LEE): an olive oil based mayonnaise with crushed garlic (try not to breath in your helmet for 10 minutes after having had some) which is a great sauce for fish and vegetables.
• The Anchoïade (try to say UN-SHWA-I-AD): mashed anchovy in olive oil and garlic (same as above), a nice mash for vegetables and salads.
• The Tapenade is a mesh made of black olives, anchovy and capers mixed with olive oil and spices. It is especially delicious on fresh or toasted bred.
• The Pistou Soup (Pistou is a classic French sauce, made by pounding together basil, garlic, oil and sometimes cheese) very rich in vegetables (cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots …)
• The Salad Niçoise is a very refreshing salad that you will enjoy during lunch under the sun on the sea side, or to start dinner (depending of the salad size). It is made of cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, bell peppers, eggs, black olives, anchovy; wil some olive oil, garlic and basil spread over.
• The Bouillabaisse (try to say BOU-YHA-BESS) that you will have to taste! It is a soup made of, at least, 5 different fishes (rock fishes): conger, rascasse, grondin, monkfish, saint-pierre, hake to which little crabs (called “Favouilles”) and potato slices can be added. The soup resulting of the cooking, is served aside the fish to “wet” it. It comes with bred and delicious sauce called “Rouille” (say RUY) made of Aïoli (see above) and red peppers (personal advice: get the rouille on the bred you will let damp in the soup…hmmmm).
• The Ratatouille (say RATA-TUY): a mix of vegetables (courgettes, eggplants, tomatoes, bell pepper …) cooked in olive oil with some garlic and Provence herbs. It is a very common side dish for meat as well as fish and complements subtly rice (try that in Camargue with the locally produced rice).
• The Tian (say TEE-YAN): vegetables gratin cooked in a plate called the Tian.
• The Daube (say DOUGH-BA): more a dinner plate as it is quite heavy compared to the previously listed dishes. It is made of beef slowly cooked in red wine with onions (with some clove), herbs and garlic. The cooking lasts a full day and the Daube should be served the day after, as it is more tasty after a second cooking. The side dish will mainly be made of pasta.
• A last Provence dish is called the 13 desserts and comes only at Xmas, which you won’t experience during one of our Unicorn Adventures motorcycle tours , but you can read more here.

All those delicious plates deserve of course a good drink! But always after the ride!

It is always nice to start with a Pastis! Made of anise and alcohol, and served with fresh water and ice cubes it is THE drink in the south of France! You can also find some variations around it like the “Tomate”: a pastis with a bit of Grenadine syrup, or a “Peroquet”: pastis with mint syrup, or a “Mauresque”: a pastis with orgeat syrup. Luckily the Route des Crètes) you will find a famous and very bright white wine, slightly iodized to the perfume of Provence (wines: Marsanne and Clairette for 90%, Ugni Blanc, Sauvignon, Bourbelenc).
Higher up the Coteaux de Pierrevert following some specific rules (at least 2 vines, with less than 70% for the main one, the vines being: for the white wine: Ugni blanc, Grenache blanc, Clairette, Marsanne, Roussane and Picpoul; for the red: Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Oeillade and Terret Noir).

Moving towards Italy here comes Bandol and its “Bandol” wine. Stored in oak barrels for more than 18 months and with at least 50% of Mourvèdre vine, this wine can easily be compared to the Bordeaux or Bourgogne. The vines are: for the white wine: Bourboulenc, Clairette and Ugni Blanc, and sometimes sauvignon; for the red wine: Mourvèdre, Grenache, Cinsault, as well as Syrah, Carignan,Tibouren and Calitor.

The “Côtes de Provence” can be found in a square from the Luc to the Esterel mountain and with a from Hyères to Fréjus/Saint Rahaël on the sea side. Thanks to a great variety of soils and climate a great variety of wines can be found, most of them being Rosé (84%). The vines used for the Côtes de Provence are: For the red vines : Grenache, Cinsault, Tibouren, Mourvèdre and Cabernet Sauvignon, for the white vines the following vines are used, Rolle and Sémillon which tend to replace the Ugni-Blanc and the Clairette.

At the foot of the Sainte Victoire Mountain one will enjoy the “Côte de Provences – Sainte Victoire”, name that only the red and rosé wine can have. Produced from the best Côtes de Provence parcels this wine will be refreshing and dry, with a red fruit taste, as a rosé, whilst being complex and subtle, also with a red fruit taste, for the red wine.

As you will have noticed the Provence has many treasures, from its sceneries, to its dishes, not missing the twisty roads under the sun with Unicorn Adventures !