June 22, 2016

Second anniversary celebration for this our 41st year.
We drove to San Remy to take in the Wednesday market, had a coffee on the square and admired all the stuff on offer.  Then we made a stop at the winery, Le Mas des Dames, for a tasting of their rose,  it was so good we bought a couple of bottles.  Iris carried it to the car.

Then a short drive to the village of Paradou and our lunch reservation at Bistrot du Paradou.  We determined this was our 22nd year to enjoy their wonderful meals.  Our starter was grilled eggplant with tomato coulis followed by roast rabbit for Bob and grilled lamb chops for Iris  all enjoyed with a bottle of the house red (included, and should be).  The cheese platter followed, then dessert - ice cream for Bob and creme brulee for Iris then a coffee for Bob.  We were stuffed.  Then had to drive home, about one and one half hours, hard to stay awake after such a meal.  We always enjoy Bistrot du Paradou and it looks like we'll be there again next year for our anniversary as we've had only one looker for our house that has now been on the market for some time.  Only takes one.

But a great day out!

This is for Nancy because she always has the perfect French accent when summoning the waiter:

 The cheese tray.  Some of you will have enjoyed this with us in the past.

This is Vincent's (owner) brother multitasking including the wine bottle in his apron.

June 17, 2016

Apt, Vaucluse, France
41 years ago today we were married at Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston, Texas.  We never thought we'd make 41 and now we're hoping for 42 and more.  So to celebrate we decided to do something different this year by trying a restaurant in Apt instead of driving all the way over to Bistrot du Paradou where we have spent many an anniversary but we have decided to just postpone our celebration at the bistro until next week.  So for the actual date we went to La Platane right in the middle of the town.  We arrived at our appointed time of 12:30 for lunch beginning with a demi of rose, followed by a large salad with ham and cheese before our main course of fish and followed by Isle Flotante (merengue floating in custard with almonds).  Unfortunately it was not memorable and no photos.  But we had a good time, the staff was very friendly and attentive and we enjoyed each other's company like we normally do.  The town was deserted when we left the restaurant as the shops had not reopened after the lunch period.  So we strolled around a bit and then made our way back to the house for a much deserved nap.
So a wonderful anniversary!

June 12, 2016

We said our goodbyes this morning  then boarded our Peugeot with a stop in a near-by village for fuel then took off toward Provence.  Beautiful drive until we got to the motorway then not as good.  Had a long tail-back of over 30 minutes while the rescue folks extracted someone from their car.  The medical helicopter landed on our side of the highway so traffic was stopped for several miles behind us.  Once we saw the copter take off we knew it wouldn’t be long so all the folks out of their cars smoking, talking, playing football jumped back in and we were off again.  It was exactly 610 km from the B&B to our house and we did it in about 8 hours including the fuel stop, a coffee and a lunch stop.  So not bad.  It was a great trip and something we really needed and enjoyed.

June 11, 2016

Aubeterre-sur-Dronne is our destination today after we enjoyed our breakfast with the couple from Belgium and the Aussies that we found delightful.  They left this morning and after a long chat with the Aussies we got away a little late. We had worried about the weather (not necessary), arrived with sunshine at this picturesque village  in the Charente region.  We parked in the upper car park and walked down to the village past the senior housing converted from the old convent (plus some new modern flats).  Shortly thereafter we found the lower parking lot with plenty of space, in fact this is where Bob fell in love.  Panther cars were all in a row, about 15 of these beauties, the owners were having a rally and just showing the cars to anyone who wanted to see them.  Being proud owners they were easily convinced to lift the bonnets and boots and discuss all aspects of how they acquired them.  Met two men, one a Scot living in the south of England and one French, they were very gracious in their conversations about their cars.  They were made in England between 1972 and 1990, so not really classic cars.  Now Bob wants one.  (Google Panther cars).  

After a good while (Iris patting foot) we walked on to the main square of the village where we found the Brassiere on the corner of the square and we sat down inside as we were unsure about the rain.  A lovely Irish lass owned the place and was not only a wealth of information but prepared us the best hamburger we’ve had since Dale’s.  Iris found this on TripAdvisor and the burgers were touted highly.   The chocolate fondant was incredible too.

We had a walk around the village - the underground church, not available to see due to a wedding taking place, the old hospital, Saint Jacques 11th C church, the old convent (now part of the senior housing), many beautiful homes along the streets and shops.  About 300 full-time residents and another 3-400 part time residents.  We were told that 19 nationalities were resident so it’s a popular place especially with the Brits.

Nice drive back with some rain but clearing by the time we arrived.  Had our wine outside with a new couple from Florida who had just checked in.  They had just completed walking 100 miles of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.  Later smoked salmon for our supper and read until sleepy.

June 10, 2016

Perigueux today after our breakfast, however, we had to get out the umbrella in order to get to breakfast.  Rain expected today.  The drive was mostly on the motorway as it was the fastest way to Perigueux, took about one hour but we arrived right at the planned parking lot in the center of town, walked about a block and met the little tourist train for our 35 minute drive around the city.  No stops, just getting a feel for the high points of the town.  Perigueux is a market town with a history of more than 2,000 years.  

From the end of the train ride we walked a few blocks to the Saint-Louis square where we found our restaurant of the day, La Ferme de Saint-Louis.  It was too early to eat but we sat at one of outside covered tables out of the rain until time to eat.

We had a very good lunch today with starters of mushrooms, cream and soft pillow of pasta on top for Iris and a tasty veg soup for Bob followed by gambas (shrimp) brochette for Iris and duck for Bob.  Iris had panna cotta with strawberries for dessert while Bob had fresh apricot tart with cream.  A bottle of rose helped it.

Fortified we now went walking to the cathedral begun in the 11th century (built on the site of a 6th century church), the huge pillars were from the 13th century, the bell tower and dome 12th, the altarpiece and pulpit 17th, the alter 18th, and finally the new alter in 1968.  Took awhile.  The exterior reminds one of the mosques of Istanbul.

The interior is unusual to us as the main alter is in the center of the building under the main dome and seating is from the four directions from the alter which is under a fabulous chandelier .

There was a model of the cathedral that we found interesting.

The cloisters from the 12th and 13th century are half Roman and half Gothic.

By now we were about done in so we made our way back to the parking lot to get our car and return to the B&B.  Drove all the way in the rain so today was soggy.  We had stopped at a bakery and bought a large quiche that we split for our supper with a bottle of our recently purchased Chateau Canterac that we found to be as good as when we tasted a couple of days ago.  Some TV and to bed to read.  Below are a few glimpses of the Roman ruins around the town.

June 9, 2016

Bordeaux today!  Breakfast with new guests from Australia to add to our new friends from Belgium so lots of english spoken today.  We had an exceptionally good night as Yves had found another lighter blanket for us and we both slept last night.  It was now time for us to make our way into Bordeaux and it was relatively easy on this beautiful sunny day with expected temperatures in the mid-80’s.  Driving in we got into a jam due to an accident and that made us a little late with our schedule but we found the Park & Ride for the tram easily enough thanks to the Belgium couple staying next door.  As we approached the parking place we saw the sign that said “Complet” but we were already committed so the man told us how to find another tram Park & Ride station further out but just as I was getting back in the car another car was exiting so we were lucky enough that the man allowed us to enter and get the vacated space.  Once parked we took the elevator to ground level and the tram ticket office where we bought a one-day unlimited ticket that included the parking fee for €9.20, what a bargain.  

Boarding the tram we went several stops until we crossed the Garonne River and got off at the stop to transfer to another line that took us to the Borse, one of the most beautiful architectural wonders of the world.  It was laid out in the 1700’s by Louis XV’s architect, Gabriel, to act as a dramatic frame for the equestrian statue of the monarch.  UNESCO agrees as they designated it as such.    The fountain of the Three Graces was built in 1869 so it is fairly recent.  Across from the Borse the Mirror has hundreds of ground level spouts that create a pool of water larger than a football field where every 20 minutes mist starts coming from the spouts creating fog between the river and the Borse.  The gardens at both ends of the Mirror are very beautiful.  

From here another tram ride to the restaurant Iris had booked “Cote Rue”.  We were only a few minutes late but they were very gracious and seated us where we had a view of the kitchen.  We enjoyed a bottle of local rose and for a starter “Various tomatoes in a mozzarella de buffalo sauce” followed by  a pork medallion with small broccoli flourettes and small wild mushrooms and a vegetable puree that we could not identify.  The presentation was really beautiful.  Iris had dessert of apricots, ice cream and tiny biscuits with apricot puree while Bob had a coffee served with fresh cherries and sweets.

Back on the tram we stopped at the Grande Theatre, built in the late 1700’s during the reign of Louis XVI by architect Victor Louis.  This concert hall is still used today for concerts and opera but it was also the seat of the French parliament making Bordeaux the virtual capitol of France in 1870, 1914 and 1941.

Another tram ride and we were at the Cathedral St. Andre, also a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Pope Clement V was the archbishop of this cathedral when he discovered he had been elected pope.  Royal weddings have taken place here including Eleanor of Aquitaine’s marriage to the future king of France, Louis VII in the 1100’s.  The first church on this site was started in the 4th century with the last major renovation in 1803-1811.  This is old!

By now we had had enough so it was back on the tram for our return to our car.  Slick, arrived, got our car, put our tram ticket into the machine, the gate went up and we were away back to our B&B.  Great day!

June 8, 2016

Another bad night for Iris as we tried using using just the duvet cover but got cold so today we plan to find a shop and buy us a blanket (and some soap, tired of the liquid stuff).

After our nice breakfast we drove the 40 minutes to Saint Emilion, famous wine producing area of France for our scheduled visit at the Chateau Cantenac for 10:30 AM (hey, it’s never too early to taste good wine) where we met A.J. (Adrienne Jennifer) originally from California who would be our guide today.  A.J. attended UC Davis where she majored in wine production earning a masters and coming to France as an intern to learn about French wine production.  She ended up marrying one of the sons of the owner of the winery, now with two daughters and working in the family business.  The Cantenac brand is strictly family run except for the contract pickers for the harvest and the contract bottler that comes once a year to bottle the whole production from two years earlier.  7,500 cases per year, it is then laid down in the bottles for another year before labels are attached and shipping begins.  80% of their production is exported to USA, Canada and other European countries.  We have been on many winery tours in Napa, Santa Inez, Chile, Italy and France but this was the best one we have ever had.  After all this work about learning about the vines and the production we had a tasting of 4 of their products and naturally bought a couple of bottles for our own enjoyment.

  After this we were just in time for our lunch appointment in the town of Saint Emilion at Logis de  Cadene.  Maybe the worst meal we’ve had in France and expensive.  Had a nice bottle of rose, the starter was good and the dessert was pretty, but the lamb was awful.  So don’t go there!  Most you win, but some you lose.

From here we went to the Tourist Office where we paid our entry for the Underground Saint Emilion Tour which took us down into the cave where Saint Emilion had lived as a hermit in the 900’s (that is a long time ago).  Saint Emilion sat on a stone chair and prayed all day here.  Today the chair is reported to have powers that if a woman sits on the chair she will be pregnant within one year.  Many reports confirm this miracle.  Iris stayed at the back of the crowd.  Then again underground to the catacombs and large church including the huge columns that hold up the church and the very heavy bell tower which is above ground.  Very cool down there so we really enjoyed it as today the temperatures at 3 PM were up to 89 degrees.   No photos allowed.

We then had a too-long walk back to our car parked in the shade of horse chestnut trees in front of the Collegiate Church and made our way back to the B&B.  After a short nap we drove to a near-by town where there was a huge E. Leclerc Hypermarket that sold everything (think Walmart superstore on steroids), bought some stuff for our supper  and some batteries for Bob’s dying Apple mouse.  Back to the B&B and enjoyed some wine and smoked salmon for supper.  Mostly a good day except for the bad lunch.  Saint Emilion was great however.