Love Grows on the Grounds at La Peetch Alongside Delectable Herbs
When Chris and I got married at La Pitchoune we decided to opt out of traditional table decor and opt-in for something we knew we would re-use post the wedding. Our Friday market day flower vendor, Theirry–who Magnolia is obsessed with because he gives her tiny bouquets as presents every week he sees her–brought us over 200 potted herbs and a literal truckload of flowers.
We lined the center of the table with dozens of sage, rosemary, lavender, thyme, oregano, and bay leaf pots. Wrapped in burlap, and brightly colored ribbons. The miracle of all this? Before he made his way to our weekly, local outdoor market; he just drove his truck to our venue. (The venue was the house we lived in at the time…A small house next to Simone Beck’s original Bramafam. Julia and Simone spent much of their time there together before Julia built La Pitchoune just a stone’s throw away.)
A refrigerated truck is a silly thing to see bumpily bumping up our rutted, unpaved driveway. But bumpily bump bump Thierry did, and let us have the pick of the proverbial litter. We chose the prettiest pots, the ones that smelled the most magnificent, and the ones we wanted to see more of at La Pitchoune. Because we knew we would plant them later.
The most abundant table decorations were that of rosemary and lavender. Not so much for their aesthetics, although lavender definitely did outshine the others in the ‘pretty’ department’, but rather for their ability to scent a space. I had this vision that the entire dinner table would smell just like the South of France smells, or the way I at least imagine people to imagine the south of France smells.
And after the ceremony was said and done, we had a pizza, pool, and herb planting party. All our family and friends picked a pot of herbs and planted it in the garden. This means, to this day? We can see the love our family has for us sprouting on the terraces at La Pitchoune. Which always brings me joy when walking through her terraces.
Recently, two of our wedding guests (and my across-the-street neighbors while I was growing up) came back to La Pitchoune and gleefully said ‘I remember planting those!’
There’s a fun thing about how legacy plays into a property like La Pitchoune, considering it began as Julia Child’s legacy, where she and Simone Beck wrote much of their 2nd collaborative cookbook. And then it was Kathie Alex’s home for Cooking with Friends in France. And now it’s not really my home, but a spiritual home of sorts for cooks from around the world.
