Author: khsabatier

We chose Colmar as our next long stay several years ago when we visited in the late Fall, and the Christmas decorations were just beginning to come out.  (We’re here for 3 weeks – from mid-December until January 3.) It seemed then like a perfect place to spend the holidays, and it has definitely been that!  The feel of the place is certainly French but with a lot of German influence.  The half-timbered houses with their pastel stucco make for a charming city that, at least for Christmas, is largely pedestrianized.
                       
We found a great Airbnb that has the biggest kitchen so far, and a garage(!) which is essential during the time of the Christmas markets when the town is packed with tourists.  Our host even left us a Christmas tree!

The Christmas Markets are the draw this time of year and Colmar is certainly decked out for the holidays.  Our apartment is within 100 yards of one of the five markets in Colmar. The weather was very cold at first but has gotten progressively warmer with Christmas in the 50s! Lots of looking but, sadly, no buying…no room in the suitcases for ornaments.
    

Alsatian cuisine bears a strong German influence.  Lots of sauerkraut, potatoes, smoked meats, sausages and onions with names like Choucroute Garni, Baeckeoffe and Roesti.  We’ve also enjoyed Tartes Flambée, which is essentially a very thin crust white pizza with (you guessed it!) sausages, onions, lardons (bacon to us).

Our Christmas dinner (at home) was Poulet aux Riesling (Coq aux Vin made with Riesling instead of Burgundy). Kathy did  a fine job of recreating a local specialty.
There are also lots of sweets available to tempt Rick’s sweet tooth…things like nougat (Kathy likes this, too), gaufré (waffle), crepes, and even churros!

Berawecka is an Alsatian fruit cake that is good by itself or as a ‘cracker’ for foie gras. and Kugelhopf is a lighter cake with some fruits in it that is fabulous with ice cream!  Kathy’s favorite treat is Vin Chaude Rouge …think piping hot Sangria …great to warm your insides on a cold day.

We’ve visiting many of the surrounding towns – Ribeauvillé, Riquewihr, Kaysersberg, Éguisheim, Niedermorschwihr, Hunawihr – all charming and many with their own Christmas Markets.

We were also able to get in a few tastings (Dopff & Irion and Albert Boxler) and a wonderful winery tour at Hugel in Riquewihr. We’ve been enjoying the local Reislings and Pinot Blancs, and the Crémant d’Alsace (sparkling) is delicious!
    

We took the train into Strasbourg one very cold day after their Christmas markets had closed.  Used the tram and buses to get around – plus our feet, of course.  It, too, is a charming town with lots of history.  We weren’t able to visit the Alsace Museum, unfortunately…closed on Tuesdays… but did see the impressive Cathédrale de Notre Dame with its amazing Astrological Clock, and the delightful area called La Petite France that encompasses three canals and many bridges.

One final trip out was to a marvelous castle – Château du Haut- Koenigsbourg – 2500 feet up on a ridge of the Vosges Mountains. Once parked, we walked up to the castle that looks like a fortress from the outside but like an Alsatian village on the inside. It was started in the 12th century, rebuilt in the 15th century, and completely renovated 100 years ago.  The painted ceilings and stone work are impressive.
     
Every room in the living quarters contains a ceramic stove for heating. (They were not on that day!) Each is more beautiful than the last.  And in the garden was the most unusual Christmas tree we’ve seen so far…composed if moss, pinecones and other garden debris mounted around the trunk of a large deciduous tree.
                          

We’ll be heading south soon and are hoping for some warmer weather.

 

We’ve seen a lot of Christmas as we’ve traveled in France this December.

We began seeing Christmas decorations go up in Narbonne in mid- November, but the lights weren’t turned on until Dec 3.  There was a small Christmas market on one side of the Canal de la Robine and, on the other side, a sort of carnival midway with rides of all kinds.  I’m not sure that a Haunted House (Le Chalet Hanté) fits with Christmas but who am I to judge??

In Arles, the streets were lighted subtly.  Their Christmas tradition that was most impressive was a display of the work of Santonniers (les crechists). These are artists that make miniature scenes of village life, including créche (nativity) scenes.

We arrived in Lyon on the final day of the annual Fête des Lumières.  Talk about lights! This was an impressive, and crowded, festival of lights that took in many of the main areas of the city, celebrating Christmas and the feast of Notre Dame de Fourvière.
                            

Of course, we’ve seen Christmas trees for sale in each city.  And lots of live trees are used for decoration around the towns.  One thing I’ve noticed is that each tree comes with a ready-made stand – an X or circle of wood or a mount made of a larger piece of wood. And none of these seem to allow for watering the tree as we’ve always done.  I guess it’s cold enough for the outside trees to survive anyway!

The center of Beaune is filled with lovely pedestrian streets that are, of course, lighted for the holiday.  The shop windows are also tastefully and beautifully decorated.  And the flowers on the street!  Hard to imagine that they are so lovely when it’s this cold!

Now we are in Colmar – a Christmas paradise! During most of our recent travels, we’ve been aware (and happy) that we’re there in the off-season.  Well, not here.  Christmas is THE time to be in Colmar!  There are no fewer than 5 Christmas markets in different sections of the town and the streets are crowded with people who, like us, decided that this was the best place to be at Christmas. I’ll share more about Colmar in a later post, but here is the Christmas version in pictures.

As for our Christmas shopping…we did much of it on line and all of it WAY in advance.  Every child and grandchild has received a present and, we trust they’ve been kept hidden until next week. We’re giving each other the gift of this adventure and asking our children to give us the gift of their time when we return to the States in March.
I did buy one trinket to decorate our Colmar house – a paper garland that fits right in hanging from the stairs…  And – one special Christmas gift – here is a picture of Owen’s stocking – stitched lovingly by me, carrying forward the tradition begun by my mother (and appreciated by all of HER grandchildren…)
   

We wish you all health and happiness this holiday season.

Well, we’re on the road again (isn’t there a song about that??). We are evolving a pattern of choosing one area in which to spend an extended time just about every month. October was Paris; November the Languedoc; December is Colmar; January will be Tuscany, and February will be Barcelona (now you know the plan, come join us!!) In between each of these destinations, we take a road trip where we spend a few days in several  places along the way, sometimes scouting them out for future long stays and sometimes just using them as a stop-over.

So now we’re on our way to Colmar, and our first stop was Arles, an ancient Roman city in Provence where Van Gogh produced the bulk of his work (187 paintings!) in only 2.5 years. Throughout the city, there are replicas of his works in the location they depict, and tourist shops sell postcards of his paintings. But when we visited the Fondation Vincent Van Gogh, there was only ONE of his paintings on display! The rest of the museum was taken up by works of a single artist who was apparently inspired by Van Gogh, but it was hard to see the connection.


Our Airbnb hosts in Arles were the BEST!  The house was like a miniature of our old Patterson Park House – wine cellar in the basement (stocked with local wines!), well-equipped kitchen on the ground floor, bedroom on the second floor, and a bonus room with a wonderful terrace on the third floor.  We felt so at home that we’ve made plans to return there next October for several weeks.

In addition to the Van Gogh (?) Museum, we visited several monuments of note in Arles.  Probably the most impressive was the arena that dates from Roman times and still hosts bullfights (but in France, they don’t kill the bull; the razeteurs pluck ribbons from the bulls horns as their prize).

Our next sop was Lyon.  Our apartment here was TINY but functional.

We were in town for the last of the 3 nights of the Fête des Luminéres that happens around Dec 8 every year.  Because of the bombings in Paris last year, it was cancelled.  So this year it was even bigger than before. We met the couple seated next to us at dinner and learned, through them, that the Metro had been closed making it difficult to get to the site of the Fête.  They offered to drive us and bring us back, so how could we turn that down??  [I hope that we would be so gracious to some newcomer to our town…]

Lyon is set on the banks of the Saône and Rhône Rivers and its neighborhoods rise high on all sides.  A number are reached most easily by funicular and our apartment in Croix Rousse was thousands of stairs above the center city (easy enough to descend, but you really wanted a Metro to take you back!). Even the walking street was named “Montée!”


We also visited the awesome Basilica Nôtre Dame de Forvière.  Pictures couldn’t capture the beauty of this church!

Lyon is a very foodie town, but we were there such a short time that we opted to save our food experience for the drive from Lyon to Beaune.  Guy Lassausaie is a Michelin 2 star about 30 minutes north of Lyon AND they are open on Monday!  We made a reservation for lunch and had a fabulous meal with impeccable service.

Our final stop was in Beaune, in the heart of Burgundy. Out gîte was a compact but functional space in ground floor of centuries old home about .25 miles outside the Beaune ring road – too far for walking in the bitter cold weather.

Fortunately, Beaune has numerous free carparks around its periphery.  We spent some time searching for the TI and finally found it right across from the Hôtel Dieu staffed by a lovely and helpful young lady. With her help, we 0ver-scheduled ourselves for the day and a half we had for touring.  We visited the only remaining mustard factory in the region (a great tour where the guide accommodated us in English even thought tour was technically in French, the Hospices de Beaune, and a tour of the cellars at Bouchard Aîné et Fils.

Next stop is Colmar.  We’re ready for cold weather because we’ve had a fair amount of it in Lyon & Beaune, and we’re really ready for Christmas.  Colmar should provide both.

 

Between our three bases – Durban-des-Corbieres, Paraza and Narbonne, we’ve spent more than 5 weeks in Languedoc-Roussillon.  It’s been a real change from Paris, but a lovely stay.

We made a short foray north to Béziers on a rather cold and windy day.  We made it to the TI (Tourist Information) just before they closed for lunch and picked up a map that was somewhat helpful and a booklet that was in English but told us no useful information at all!  We visited the impressive cathedral and grabbed a sandwich before heading to our next stop.

We did find one other thing worth a photo in Béziers, though – a mural on the side of a building that really made you stop and look.  Are those guys really out on their balconies painting on this blustery day?!

We continued south of Narbonne to Peyriac-de-Mer and then around a body of water (a very large ‘pond’) to the lovely hilltop town of Bages. Along the way we encountered a partially closed road with this sign:
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I pulled up Google Translate on my phone and found that this meant “Road Flooded.” There was not a lot of traffic so we decided to press on…figuring we could always turn around.  We saw evidence of recent flooding (wet grasses washed onto the road), but the only water we had to ford was quite shallow.  And, while I was taking this picture, a car coming from the other direction made it through just fine!

Bages was worth the trip.  It is a small village (aren’t they all?) that crawls up a hillside at the edge of the water. We found a place to park and walked to the top of the town where we had a view all the way to Narbonne (about 5 miles away).

A remarkable sight was this sundial atop the old port into the city.  Still accurate today!

On a rather rainy Monday afternoon, we ventured about 10 miles out of Narbonne to an ancient Cistercian monastery – Abbaye de Fontfroide, built during the Middle Ages and saved from ruin by a wealthy person who bought it and restored the abbey and its wonderful gardens.  It is still in private hands and very well-maintained.  It’s also one of the few places that is open EVERY day (even Monday)!

One remarkable note was this stained glass window, one of several made in the 20th century from fragments of ancient stained glass windows, mostly from churches in northern France that were bombed during the First World War.

On November 29, we celebrated our 14th (!) wedding anniversary.  Hard to believe we’ve been married that long.  We’re both grateful that we share so many common interests, like wine & travel, even while we continue to argue about politics.  We enjoyed home-cooked Duck a l’Orange that night – delicious!

Finally, we had a chance to see our new friends again before departing.  Joanne (from Durban) came for lunch when she was in Narbonne for a massage and, on our last day, Marie-José and Harry invited us to Paraza for lunch – their incomparable moules & frites!  What a nice send-off!!

We’ll now undertake another short road trip – Arles > Lyon > Beaune – on our way to Colmar, where we’ll be for Christmas. Stay tuned…….

We are almost 3 months into this adventure so it seems like a good time to reflect on some of the pleasant and no-so-pleasant realities of living in France.

Good wine is everywhere and it’s cheap!  We feel like we’re splurging if we pay more than $10, and often we can find a really nice bottle for under $7! Even on restaurant cartes du vins, prices seldom exceed $20.  We’re happy!!  And, speaking of restaurants, we’re getting used to the fact that no tips are expected.  The bill is service compris and waitstaff are thrilled if you leave a few euros in acknowledgement of an extraordinary experience.

It is easy to have Foie Gras every day! We’re learning, with pleasure, to differentiate between frais, entier, block, mi-cuit, paté, mousse and parfait…and haven’t yet found one we don’t love.  We’ve found wonderful mi-cuit (half-cooked) in the Narbonne market and have served it with sautéed apples, onion confit and, last night we had it served to us in a restaurant accompanied by a confiture du thé.  Yum!

Every boulangerie sells baguettes, but they’re not all the same.  We found the most consistent quality in Paris.  Elsewhere, some have crunchy crusts while some are more chewy (my preference); some are more dense while others are airier inside…bigger ‘holes,’ less bread (again, this is what I look for).  And, have I talked about the butter?!  We are spoiled forever by this demi-sel raw milk butter with actual salt crystals in it.  Have to figure out how to bring some home!

Many French take their primary meal at mid-day and EVERYTHING shuts down (except cafés and restaurants) from noon to 2 or 3pm. Children go home from school and work stops! and everyone, from bankers to construction workers, sits down to eat and have a glass or two of wine.  Most businesses close on Sunday and Monday; and restaurants close after the mid-day meal Sunday until Wednesday.  We’ve learned to plan for home-cooked meals Sunday through Tuesday and, if we eat out, make reservations for other nights, since many places (outside of Paris) are small and can’t take you without a reservation.

Who knew that I’d have to learn my ABCs all over again?!  While French uses the same letters as English, they pronounce them differently, which I found out while trying to spell out my email address over the phone. K_A_T_H_Y = kah_ah_tay_ahsh_eegrek.  You get the idea.  But, on the positive side, I never have to spell my last name when I make a restaurant reservation…everyone can spell Sabatier, and no-one mispronounces it!  Numbers are a similar challenge. Fortunately, most shopkeepers are patient when I ask them to repeat the amount due, or they just hand me a cash register tape when I look at them blankly. I’ve started to count my reps at the gym in French as a way of practicing, but my ear is not trained yet…

I always think of French women as glamorous and well-groomed.  And they are.  So why is it impossible to find a pedicure anywhere? There are plenty of hair salons – I’ve had my hair cut twice and been happy with the result – and a few lovely nail salons, but they only do fingernails.  I’ve asked women who live here and they just shrug.  Guess I’ll have to wait until we’re back in the States for painted toes!

One final thing that I miss is radio, specifically Public Radio. At home, Morning Edition played while I showered and dressed in the morning and All Things Considered kept me company while I made dinner.  Here, the radio speaks in French, of course, and even the music stations we find in the car are elusive. I do have an NPR News app on my iPad and I’m getting used to taking it into the kitchen with me.

Rick knew he would miss TV, so he planned ahead.  Most of our accommodations include TV, but we’re lucky if we have access to more than one English news channel.  Rick has found tricks to allow us to watch US television on my laptop. He moved his Direct TV box to his daughter Ginny’s basement and installed a Slingbox there that allows him to control the DVR from here! So the Redskins and the Terps games are recorded, along with the PBS NewsHour and several favorite series (Blue Bloods, Madam Secretary, Black List).  It’s almost like being at home, but the screen is much smaller…

Thanksgiving in France is just another day.  And, though there is plenty of fowl (chicken, pintade, duck, goose) in the markets, we haven’t seen any turkey.  We celebrated by taking a day trip to Perpignan and eating out at a little Italian restaurant around the corner from our apartment in Narbonne.  We gave thanks, even without the traditional meal, for our families and friends who’ve supported us as we pursue this (crazy?) adventure.

We are now settled into our second long-stay Airbnb in Narbonne, France on the rue des 3 Pigeons. We’ll be here for 3 weeks.

Narbonne is a medium sized city (huge by comparison to where we’ve been the last few weeks!) that is near the Mediterranean coast in southern France. Our apartment is ideally located within walking distance of everything, including a wonderful indoor market that is open every day (but only until 1:00).

If you’re lucky enough to snag a stool, you can even have lunch inside the market – charcuterie, shrimp, baguette, and, wine (of course!) – but only on a day when you haven’t had much breakfast!

The apartment is bigger than where we stayed in Paris, but not as well-equipped. We improved the kitchen by buying a small skillet and sharpening the knives with this handy tool that we bought on our Spring trip to Japan.  It doesn’t take up too much room and I knew it would come in handy!!

We enjoyed returning to Perpignan.  The drive from Narbonne is less than an hour and mostly highway.  This town (as I mentioned in an earlier post) is close to the Spanish border and evidences a lot of Catalan influence.  It is also home to the most enthusiastic Tourist Information office we’ve found, and has extremely helpful signs that not only tell you what direction to go but how long a walk it is to the next sight.

The most important sight in Perpignan is the Palais des Rois de Majorque – Palace of the Kings of Majorca. This part of France was once part of Spain and the center of the Kingdom of Majorca.  The castle is impressive and the history is so interesting.

On the way back to Narbonne, we stopped at the Fortress de Salses built by the Spanish king Ferdinand to protect what was then the northern Spanish border. (Roussillon was part of Spain until 1659.) This impressive structure was built in less than 10 years and housed 1500 soldiers and 100 horses.

Another day trip took us to Collioure, even farther south and right on the coast.  It is a beautiful town, that must be bustling during the summer. The foundation of the church is actually in the sea and its belfry doubles as a lighthouse.

The homes are colorful and the flowers are abundant.  I had to take a picture of a lavender ceramic drainpipe that has a face with an open mouth at the bottom!!

In the last few days the winds have been strong and mostly from the south. I don’t know if that accounts for the dramatic skies we’ve been seeing, but they are remarkable.  I had a hard time choosing among the many pictures because they are all so beautiful!
 

 

We have been busy as we continue to explore Languedoc-Roussillon.  The people we’ve met here are fond of the place they have chosen to live and they describe it as “the REAL South of France.” Most people outside of France think first of Provence when they conjure up the South of France. Languedoc is less fashionable but more authentic than Provence, according to the locals, as well as Rick Steves.  Once we’ve had a chance to do our own comparison, we’ll decide if we agree.  But I will say that we’ve been so impressed with the friendliness and hospitality of those we have met.

Our explorations in the last week or so included a 2 hour drive northwest to Albi, located on the river Tarn.  It is a lively city where most of the structures are built of brick, rather than the stone we have seen so often.  The cathedral, which looks rather like a fortress, is the largest brick church in the world(!) and has a remarkable interior that is best appreciated through the use of an audioguide. Next door, in what was once the bishop’s residence, is the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec that contains the world’s largest collection of works by the artist – from his early paintings of horses to the more familiar posters of Parisian chorus girls. It took us a few hours to see it all.

Between the museum and cathedral is a lovely formal garden and a beautiful view over the river.

Our host, Harry, has taken us on several drives through the countryside to places we appreciate so much more because he is with us. He is an excellent driver on these narrow twisty roads.  Rick, too, has become quite skilled at negotiating the roads (despite occasional gasps and squeals from his terrified wife in the passenger seat).
One of our recent forays into the countryside with Harry took us to Rennes-le-Chateau where, some say, there is treasure – and maybe even the Holy Grail – hidden.  This place consists of a church and residence where a legendary priest named Bérenger Saunièr lived.  He and the legend figured in Dan Brown’s book, The DaVinci Code.

The drive to Rennes was beautiful, with some spectacular views (those windy roads get you to some high places!).

On our way back from Rennes, we stopped in Termes, another of these small, beautiful villages that seem to be everywhere.  In this one, there was water flowing through channels on the roadside, apparently from a mountain spring.

One interesting note related to all this driving up and down mountains…  My tendency to get carsick (and need to premeditate with Dramamine) seems to be gone!! I’ve even been riding in the back seat (when Harry was driving) and haven’t had a problem.  Now, that would be a great condition to ‘grow out of,’ wouldn’t it?

On November 11, Veteran’s Day, it seemed that every village we drove through was gathered at the local war memorial to honor the citizens of that village who had ‘mort pour France.’ In one village, they were flying not only the French flag, but the British and American flags, too.

On many monuments, the names of the fallen soldiers are carved, and there is often a Sabatier among them…

We experienced the first problem with our car this week – a flat tire! Fortunately we discovered it just as we were leaving our Chambre d’Hôte (Bed & Breakfast) for a day’s excursion.  Rick and Harry changed the tire in the driveway while I called the Peugeot emergency assistance number.  They instructed us to take the car (and the bad tire) to the closest Peugeot dealer, which happened to be about 10 miles away.  There we were given an estimate to replace the unrepairable tire and Peugeot paid the whole tab!

As you would expect, we are drinking and enjoying the local wines.  Two are worth noting. Blanquette de Limoux is a sparkling wine made around the city of Limoux.  The story we were told was that Dom Perignon was  a monk an abbey near there and noted the methods they were using to produce this wine.  And, the locals say, he stole the idea and carried it with him when he moved to Champagne.  The wine is very good…with more fruit than many sparkling wines, but not quite a Champagne, in our opinion.

The other wine is a red blend – Messaline Rouge – that we enjoyed for its taste AND for its racy label!  Apparently, the winemaker was forbidden from exporting it to the US unless he agreed to make a different label (aren’t we such prudes…)

I’ll end here with two beautiful pictures – of the recent full moon and a sunset the next day. Ahhhhhhh…..

Our current location is the small village of Paraza, on the banks of the Canal du Midi that connects the Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans across the south of France. Much of this area was once part of Spain and contains walled cities and castles that were strongholds during the 11th & 12 centuries during the Crusades and the conflicts between the locals, the Pope and king of France.  As in other parts of the region, the vegetation is surprisingly tropical and colorful, especially for November!

Our exploration of the area has taken us to two remarkable medieval cities, Minerve and Carcassonne.  Both have been well-restored and are remarkable building feats when you consider both their location and the time in which they were constructed.  Minerve is carved out of a canyon that can be reached on foot and the leads to a cave through which the river runs in the Spring.

There are no cars (and, on the day we visited, very few people, either). But we’re told that, in warmer weather, the town is teeming with both locals and tourists who come to walk the ramparts, explore the cave, and enjoy the loveliness of the village.

Carcassonne is more well-known, and larger, than Minerve.  Since we are here in the off-season, we haven’t had to wade through the hordes of tourists who visit here in warmer months.  As we walked the ramparts and rooftops, we understood why there were so few of us there.  The wind is so strong that it blew our hats off onto a nearby rooftop! (And, over Rick’s protests, I climbed over a railing onto the roof and retrieved them…)

The WIND has a name. It is called la tramontane, (the Languedoc equivalent of the Mistral in Provence) and it comes from the Atlantic to the Med through this valley between two mountain ranges, the Pyrenees and the Montagne Noire. It has been quite strong for several days (some gusts are enough to make you hold tight as you climb the stairs or walk up the street).  We are breaking out our layers as we try to figure out what will keep us warm enough to keep on exploring.  One thing we did not bring, and don’t need here, is an umbrella!!

But, when we come back at the end of a day, we are happy to return to our lovely dwelling at the Domaine Mediterranée, where our hosts, Marie-José and Harry welcome us and prepare fabulous dinners, with well chosen local wines, of course. In addition to being good cooks, they are excellent tour guides – providing us with maps, directions and advice for touring around the area and, sometimes, even going with us! (That’s Harry in the long coat in the pictures from Minerve…)

When we visited our friends, Tori & Ray, in Chicago last July, they put us in touch with a friend of theirs, Joanne Hurley, who now lives in Durban-des-Corbiers, in the heart of the Languedoc region of France.  We have been amazed by her generosity in offering, not only to share advice about exploring the region, but to host us in her home for a week!  Joanne and Apolo live in an old stone home in this small village.

We arrived here on Halloween and even had some trick-or-treaters come to the door. The house is cozy and warm and a lovely place to take things a little easier after our week on the road.

Apolo is a talented painter, who works all day long in the cave/studio below their home. We were able to see a few of his paintings on display at a local restaurant where we had Sunday lunch. These are two of our favorites.

We explored the village, the oldest part of which is built into the hillside leading up to the ruins of an old castle and a church. We visited the local market that, while smaller than the urban markets we’ve seen, had wonderful produce, a poissoniere, a fromager, and a purveyor of local honeys and essential oils.

We spent half a day in Perpignan, which we reached over a VERY narrow and winding road. I was glad that Rick was driving (!), but sometimes wished that his inner race car driver would slow down just a little bit… Perpignan is an interesting city rather near the Spanish border where the Caltalan influence is evident. The trees lining the streets include date palms and orange trees along with the chestnuts and other deciduous trees we expect to see. The canal that runs through the city is very picturesque as are the buildings dating back to the 13th century. We plan to return there in a few weeks when we’ll be staying in Narbonne, which is closer and eliminates the need to drive over the mountains.

We’re enjoying the wines of the Corbiéres region. Most reds are a blend (in varying proportions) of Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault. Heartier and more robust than the Cab Francs of Chinon, enjoyable and inexpensive. The whites are primarily Vermintino, Grenache, Marsanne & Roussane. As we drive through the countryside, the fall colors become evident, especially in the vines, in contrast with the evergreen hillsides.

Next we’ll head about an hour north to Paraza in the Minervois region of Languedoc.  More wines to try, more places to explore…

 

Our time in Paris is over and we’ve headed out to see more of the country.

We picked up our leased car and drove out of Paris on Monday.  I think I talked about the arrangements we’d made for the car in an earlier post, but it’s worth repeating.  Three French car companies – Peugeot, Renault & Citroën – have similar lease/buy-back programs designed for foreign travelers.  You can choose the model that works best for you and get a brand new car (our Peugeot 308 Diesel- standard transmission with cruise control and GPS – had 1.1km on it when we picked it up!).  You can lease for between 21 and 170 days; the first 21 days cost us $65/day and every day thereafter is $15/day.  Our 4 month rental (Oct 24-Feb 20) averages out at about $25/day. At the end, you just return the car and there is no obligation to buy.  All 4 of our small suitcases fit into the trunk and we’re motoring on…

Our first stop was Chinon, a medieval town in the Loire Vally.  We love the cabernet franc wines produced here and are having fun drinking the local product and exploring the nearby chateaux. We began at La Cave Voltaire (13 rue Voltaire), where Patrice, the proprietor and sommelier, shared five of his favorite Chinons.  He knows all the winemakers and talks proudly about the wines of the region. This is a place where all the locals seem to congregate in the evening. From what we could tell on the two nights we stopped there for wine & cheese before dinner, rue Voltaire is the busiest (walking) street in sleepy Chinon, at least this time of year.

We continued down the street for dinner to a quirky place called Restaurant-Musée Animé du Vin et de la Tonnellerie (12 rue Voltaire), run by an equally quirky fellow named Dédé.  There is no menu here.  He pours you wine, all you can drink – two glasses at a time from his specially designed pitcher, and serves you food – rillettes, and delicious bread called fouée that comes from his wood-fired oven along with white beans, salad and dessert, all for 19 euros!

The Loire Valley is well-know for its beautiful chateaux.  We had time to visit two – Villandry and Azay-le-Rideau. The latter was undergoing a major renovation so we were somewhat limited in what we could see, but Villandry was spectacular!! The gardens are amazing, arguably the best in France, but the inside of the chateau is worth a visit, also. It is still privately owned and they maintain it beautifully.

We followed with lunch, accompanied by a local sparkling rosé, at l’Etape Gourmande, a lovely stone farmhouse about 1km out of the town of Villandry.

Venturing south from Chinon, we stopped at Oradour-sur-Glane, a town that was obliterated by the Nazis with all 642 people killed on June 10, 1944, just four days after the Normandy invasion by the Allies and two months before the liberation of Paris. The French government has preserved the ruins as they found them as a memorial to the martyrs.   It is very moving to walk through and learn the story of what happened here.  The buildings are marked to indicate what they were before the destruction (like the ‘Sabotier’…the shoe maker’s shop).

We drove another hour or so through beautiful countryside – rolling hills and ancient towns, one more charming than the next. Our destination was Moulin du Roc, a lovely hotel in the peaceful village of Champagnac-de-Belair. Rick quotes our friend Robert Parker saying that this is “the most romantic place he has stayed in France.”  We agree!

We then ventured out through the Dordogne, home of foie gras!  We hope to spend some concentrated time here next year but, for now, it was a pass-through.  We stopped for lunch in Sarlat-la-Canáde, a really charming old town where there are foie gras shops on every corner. and we drove through Les Ezyies-de-Tayac, a narrow, but beautiful town that seemed to be carved out of the stone faces of the surrounding mountains. The afternoon’s drive was just beautiful…rolling farmland interrupted by ancient villages nestled into the hillsides and small towns with impossibly narrow streets. It was a beautifully clear sunny day for appreciating the countryside.

Our next four nights were spent in the Bordeaux area, two in Saint-Emilion and two in Paullliac. Rick has fond memories of a trip that he made here in 1990 with a group organized by Bob Schindler of Pinehurst Liquors including friends from the Baltimore Wine & Food Society.  Thirty-five chateaux in eight days…yes, really(!).  In all my travels, I’ve never been to Bordeaux, so I was looking forward to reliving those heady days of 1990.  Well…it was not to be.  I’m convinced that the best (and maybe the only) way to experience this region is the way those guys did it back in the day – with all the chateau visits pre-arranged and a driver to get you home at the end of the day.  We find that we are here on a weekend with a bank holiday on Monday, and most of the chateaux are closed! But we took pictures from the outside…Beychevelle, Lafite, and Latour…plus the lovely wild flowers that appear randomly as you drive through endless miles of vines.

Our only full day in Saint Emilion was foggy until 3pm, so even the ‘route panonramique’ was a disappointment.  But, our little hotel is well located in the middle of the town and we did have a wonderful dinner at Logis de la Cadène, so it wasn’t a total loss. The town itself is charming with VERY narrow streets and a wine merchant on every corner!

On to Pauillac…although, in hindsight, it might have been better to book a hotel in Bordeaux and venture out to Pauillac.  Again, we faced the weekend closure of most of the chateaux. Pauillac itself is a kind of seedy town…not much to recommend it except the location.  We spend more time in the city of Bordeaux…at the Sunday Market on the Quai des Chartrons (great produce, meats and prepared foods, including oysters on the half shell), the Miroir d’Eau (a shallow pool of water that reflects the Place de la Bourse), and La Cité du Vin, a new museum devoted to the culture of wine that is striking in its architecture and in the breadth of interactive displays inside. The bar on the top floor, where everyone is served a glass of wine at the end of the visit, has a ceiling chandelier made of wine bottles!  We later learned, on a visit to Cordeillan-Bages, that Silvie, sister of Jean-Michel Cazes was instrumental in the planning of the museum.

We’ll soon arrive in the Languedoc where we expect the pace to be slower. More from there…