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France 2008
September 3, 2008 - Rather than spending time in Paris, upon arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport we rented a car and headed for our first stop – Morigny, in the Normandy region. We stayed at Arts in the Garden with our hosts Brian and Krishna Ashbee. As it was our first night in France, we opted for the table d'hôte, a meal prepared by the hosts, rather than go searching for a meal in the village. Our meal began with kir royals, followed by linguini with prawns, pan roasted chicken breast with couscous, carrots and green salad. A very nice cheese board and tiramisu was served for dessert. In addition to our hosts, another couple staying at the B&B joined us for dinner, Rena and Ronnie Stormont from Scottland. After dinner we enjoyed Calvados and coffee and ended up stayed up late talking art and politics with Brian.
September 4, 2008 - Breakfast included our first croissants, pains au chocolats, and baguette of the trip, plus some local honey. We drove out to Mont Saint-Michel and walked around, while Rob took pictures. Next up was the Normandy American Cemetery and Omaha Beach. We headed back for another nice dinner with everyone at the B&B. After more kir royals, we were served leek and edam cheese in phylo purses, pork with peanut sauce and pineapple, cauliflower au gratin, and and interesting salad of sweet potatoes, green beans and red onion. A watermelon, carrot and apple purée was served as an intermezzo. After that, dessert consisted of molten chocolate cherry cake, vanilla ice-cream and rum cake.
September 5, 2008 - After breakfast, we said our goodbyes and headed out for Saint-Avé in Brittany. It was pouring down rain, but we were ready for a break when we saw a sign for the Brittany American Cemetery near St. James and decided to stop. Afterwards we checked out the medieval streets and castle in Vitré. We checked into our B&B, Le Moulin de Lesneshue and then headed into Vannes for dinner. We walked around the harbor and ended up at Villa Valencia for dinner. We shared a scallop carpaccio with hazelnut oil and lemon. We each had moules frites, mussels and fries. Pere's mussels came with gorgonzola, bleu cheese and onions. Rob's had cream, tomatoes, onions, lardons, and mushrooms. We never had mussels that tasted so good.
September 6, 2008 - The breakfast at this B&B included a long list of homedmade confitures. We tried the apricot/lavender and raspberry/cranberry. They also offered a nice juice selection, so Rob had grapefruit and Pere had blood orange. Our host, Frank Jost, suggested an intinerary for the area, so we headed out to Auray and the cute harbor area of Saint-Goustan. They just happened to be having an oyster festival, so we split a dozen. Walking around the harbor, we found the plaque commemorating Benjamin Franklin’s arrival here at the start of the Revolutionary War. Next we drove to the megalithic alignments at Carnac, and continued on along the côte sauvage, the wild coast on the presque-île de Quiberon. Frank also suggested an excellent crêperie for dinner, la Métairie de Kérozer. We tried kir Breton – like kir royal but with cider, rather than champagne. Pere had crêpes with scallops and leeks. Rob had "mega meat" crêpes (his description, of course) with ham, smoked lardon, beef, andouille, emmental, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and a fried egg. Dessert was pear crêpe with salted caramel sauce and a Calvados digestif.
September 7, 2008 - We chose strawberry/thyme and pear/ginger confitures for breakfast. Afterwards, we checked out and headed for Guérande, where we bought some fleur de sel and photographed the salt fields. From there, we headed south to Cognac where we took pictures of the river and toured Otard. We tasted VSOP, Napoléon and XO Gold. The tour was nice, but we both thought we liked the Hennessy tour we took on our honeymoon better. We ended up buying a half bottle of XO gold. From Cognac, we went further south to Saint-Émilion, just northeast of Bordeaux. We checked into our B&B, La Petite Madeleine. Everything about the place seemed done only halfway, but the room had a nice view of the vineyards. We went into Saint-Émilion for dinner and chose L’Envers du Décor . We started off with champagne, followed by fois gras, country-style. Pere had cod with a Bordelaise sauce and Rob had veal. We finished with a cheese course.
September 8, 2008 - After an unremarkable breakfast, we headed back into town for a walking tour of the major sites, including the Église et Cloître Collegiale, the Couvent des Cordeliers and the bell tower of the Église Monolithe, which provided an amazing view of the city and surrounding area. We felt we couldn't be in the region without doing some wine-tasting, but this proved more difficult than we expected. At one hill-top producer where we almost ended up in a ditch because there was no parking! Finally we ended up at Château Le Chatelet. The owner was very friendly and gave us free tastes of 5 different vintages for the same wine. We bought two bottles – 2001 and 2005. We had dinner at Le Medieval, consisting of pâté de foie gras, coq au vin and a trio of regional sausages. After dinner, we took pictures of the town, lit up at night.
September 9, 2008 - After breakfast and checking out of the B&B, we headed out. The day was supposed to consist of a 4-5 hour drive to our stopover point on the way accross the country to Burgundy. We visited Rocamadour, a picturesque village built into the side of a cliff. When we arrived in Meymac, we couldn’t find the B&B so Pere called the owner. Turns out they had a family emergency and were unable to take us for the night. Feeling a bit desperate, we debated on what to do. Our next stop was a B&B that we had stayed in before and had really enjoyed. We gave them a call to see if we could arrive a day early, and they welcomed us to do so. It meant 5 additional hours of driving and a late-night arrival, but we decided to go for it. When we arrived at Les Roches in Mont-Saint-Jean, the owners Marco and Tobias were already in bed, but left a welcome note and the key to our room. They also left us a nice bottle of Pinot Noir to help us relax! We had the wine in bed and were soon asleep.
September 10, 2008 - After a long leisurely breakfast followed by a sit in the parlor, we headed to Chablis. We had lunch at Le Bistrot des Grands Crus, a suggestion from the guys at Les Roches. We split a dozen escargot as an appetizer. Rob had the trout filet with Chablis sauce while Pere had guinea hen with Chablis sauce and vegetables. We had a half-bottle of Chablis that was very nice. After lunch, we headed to Vézelay, a small medieval town with a basilica that was once a major pilgrimage destination thanks to its claimed relics of St. Mary Magdalene. We had dinner back in Mont-Saint-Jean at Le Medieval, just down the street from the B&B. We both opted for the four course dinner, knowing that it was going to be too much food. An amuse bouche of gazpacho and ham croquette in tomato sauce was served, followed by our appetizer – a slice of country pâté accompanied by a small dish of foie gras ice cream. The foie gras ice cream was awesome! For entrees, Pere had steak and Rob had lamb shank. The shank was easily the largest we had ever seen, and Rob had a hard time finishing it. Next, a cheese course and dessert. Pere had molten chocolate cake accompanied by coffee granita, served in a small icy cold jar. Rob's selection was a rum cake with raspberry glacée. Rob nearly caused an international incident by ordering Calvados with his cheese! Apparently, that's an after dessert-only drink. Even then, the hostess suggested armagnac, as they had a selection of bottles from every year from 1960 to the 1980s. Pere had the 1972 and Rob had the 1968.
September 11, 2008 - We headed to Beaune with the intention of checking out a Jazz festival. Although we saw signs for the festival, we never did find a festival taking place. Instead we toured the Hôtel-Dieu, a famous hospice founded in 1443. Afterwards, we strolled around the town some looking for a place to have lunch, and settled on La Beaun' Franquette. We split an asparagus bruschetta and salad dish. Pere had scallops and tomato skewers with a leek confit. Rob had pan roasted chicken with a light parmasean crust and mushroom flan. We took the scenic route back to the B&B and took more photos along the way. For dinner, we took the evening meal at Les Roches. Turns out that it’s also a popular spot for ex-pats and some townspeople to come for dinner as well. They have room for 16, and the place was fully booked. After a glass of champagne on the terrace, we were seated with fellow guests of the B&B, an older couple from the UK. We had a very nice conversation with them that lasted well into the evening. Dinner consisted of a nice salad with smoked bacon, rabbit with mustard sauce, cheese course, and profiteroles for dessert.
September 12, 2008 - Got up early and had a light breakfast before checking out of Les Roches. We were on the road by 8 and drove the more than 3 hours to Paris without much fanfare. We dropped off our car and were checked in with about 30 minutes to spare before boarding. The flight from France to Atlanta had a delayed start, and we nearly didn’t make our connection. We literally ran across the Atlanta airport and made it just in time. The luggage, however, did not make the plane and had to be delivered to us later.
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