.......idle jottings

Better be feeling very, very naughty as I'm only midway through the travelog....

And speaking of which, Mrs D is putting the finishing touches on an incredible Apple Photobook coffee table book of our trip. Looking at the draft makes me remember what a great trip it was! When she is done, I'll make the pdf available to any of my adoring fans that want to see photos of the trip. Just be sure to view it on an empty stomach, as there are a few photos of ol' Ragnar in there... But the good news is she wrote the very brief intros to each section of photos.

Better be feeling very, very naughty as I'm only midway through the travelog....

 

And speaking of which, Mrs D is putting the finishing touches on an incredible Apple Photobook coffee table book of our trip. Looking at the draft makes me remember what a great trip it was! When she is done, I'll make the pdf available to any of my adoring fans that want to see photos of the trip. Just be sure to view it on an empty stomach, as there are a few photos of ol' Ragnar in there... But the good news is she wrote the very brief intros to each section of photos.

Put us down for a copy Sundance.:D I have a Cousin with spare rooms conveniently located near Bovington so your (her) tank pictures might get us fired up for there. Then we could drop in on Mr. Hum.

Only two pages of tank photos :-( But I will email you a batch.

The Ch* Chateaux

In the morning, after we come out of our food comas, we throw back the curtains to be greeted by a dreary, drizzly day. But, a dreary day in Amboise beats another sunny day in L.A. :-) So we eschew the pricey buffet at the hotel, dress up in rain gear, and head out on foot in search of coffee. After trying every way of asking for regular, drip coffee at several places, we finally give in and get cafe au laits to go. At least this place made them larger that a dentist's rinse cup...

Hot java in hand we walk about Amboise in the rain, taking some interesting photos. The rain has brought out the contrast in the stone of the ancient buildings. And the river has swollen, taking on a look out of Les Miserables in the drizzly light. All the wandering has worked off dinner so we stopped in a couple of boulangeries and sampled some pastries. Then picked up another cafe au lait and headed back to the hotel.

We pack my Liverpool Football Club gym bag with rain gear and spare dry clothes, and spare camera batteries, then head off on a chateau hunt. First up is Chambord. After reading about it we had decided only to look at the exterior (to save both time and €). The route takes you through some interesting back country. It was when we were on a tiny road somewhere in the forest that the sky opened up and it rained so hard we had to pull over, as the wipers couldn't keep up with deluge! I believe this was the day that ho-hum commented that we were in the middle of a major rain event - he was right :-)

We finally manage to float to Chambord, only to find that you have to pay for parking, as well as pay an entrance fee. Given the rain, we decided to just drive around to find a vantage point for a photo. They make this very difficult to do, with one-way roads and strategically placed trees. But we tricked them and Mrs D boldly exited our life boat and trudged across a field to a good vantage point, while I drove in a big loop to the other side of the field. Luckily, the rain stopped and a few rays of direct sunlight lit up the chateau and provided us with some nice photos.

After picking up the intrepid photographer, we headed off to Chiverny. We got there in good time, but it was still raining. So we hung out in the rather large gift shop for a while. Soon the rain relented and we bought tickets and headed for the chateau. Chiverny is quite lovely, and quite different from the other chateaux on our list, as it is more a home and less a castle. In fact, the owners live there. The interior is tastefully decorated and you can imagine living there, its not a drafty old castle like some of the others. Worth a visit.

Despite a light drizzle, we exited the back of the chateau and toured the stately grounds, stopping off at the "orangerie" for a cafe au lait. Mrs D had really wanted to see the feeding of the hounds at 5pm, but our tight schedule had us at Chiverny in the early afternoon. But, as we approached the hunting hound enclosure, we noticed a large crowd gathered around. Turns out that they feed the dogs at 3pm on hunt days, so we were in luck, as it was 2:45! We hung around, Mrs D furiously snapping photos of the dozens of anxious, hungry hounds milling around on the top of the enclosure, eyeing the long pile of soggy kibble and raw meat awaiting them at the concrete ground level of the enclosure.

Soon their master shows up, bullwhip in hand, and lets the baying horde (of dogs, not tourists) off the roof of their enclosure. He attempts, with only partial success, to get the dogs to line up near the food, cracking the whip at any that break rank (but not actually hitting them). A few hounds break through and he gives the signal for the rest to go forward. The only scene comparable is the opening of the doors of a Walmart on Black Friday. There was utter pandemonium as the hounds pile in to get their hunk of chicken, duck, or beef. There were some tug-o-wars over larger chunks, and not a few growls and snaps. After the hounds wolfed down the chunks of meat whole, bones and all, they scarfed up all the rain-soaked kibble.

Everything gone, the hounds continue sniffing around, looking for any last morsel, with quite a bit of bickering continuing. Well, pretty soon, what goes in must come out, and the hounds start doing their business everywhere :-o Well, these sights, sounds, and smells soon clear out all the tourists, except Mrs D and her clicking camera...

Since that event could not be topped, we made our way back to the car and headed off to Chenonceau. Again, it appeared the rain would put a damper on things. Its a bit of a walk from the parking area to the chateau, down a long carriage way lined with stately, and now huge, trees. This provides a dramatic introduction to the view to the chateau. We took a few photos in the rain and then headed into the chateau. Now this place is a castle! Very large rooms with stone or carved wood wall, furnished with period furniture, artwork, arms, and armor. And there are several floors of this. One really interesting sub-floor was the kitchen and food prep area, along with the servants's dinning area. Lot's of places to dismember wild game...

Eventually you make your way to what Chenonceau is known for, the grand gallery and ballroom that stretch across the river, atop a bridge-like stone structure. The gallery is lined with oils and has windows to take in the river and gardens. The ballroom is extravagant, and you could imagine the ho-hums and Blondies of the day waltzing the night away, in their powdered wigs (rumor has it that ho-hum wears one to formal events).

After exiting the chateau, we find the rain has stopped so we tour the magnificent gardens, under a threatening black sky. The sun breaks through so we quickly move to the west side of the chateau and walk down river to a great vantage point. We get many photos of the chateau, with its over-river extension, lit up with bright sun against a background of roiling black clouds -awesome!

With that crowning achievement in chateaux photography safely tucked into flash memory, we bid adieu to the beautiful Chenonceau and head back to Amboise, for our final night in the Loire valley.

Upon return to the hotel, we dump our stuff and head out on foot. Its not raining so we walk around a bit and then look for a restaurant. After walking the main drag and ogling the plates of foie gras on many of the diners tables, we decide we need another break from the traditional local cuisine and settle into a very nice Italian bistro. As we are seated I notice the bar had a few tap handles.... I had not had beer yet on the trip, so I selected a german lager I was familiar with and asked for a large :-) I swilled this down while selecting a wine, this time one from St. Emilion, as we were heading in that direction. We ordered a nice antipasto plate to start - yay, it came with pepperocinis! Mrs D ordered lasagne and I selected pasta carbonara, both excellent.

Suitably relaxed and stuffed we took a long stroll back to the hotel to prep for an early start on our next leg, to Sarlat and the Dordogne.

Only two pages of tank photos :-( But I will email you a batch.

Hum blames you Avery !

Lord spare us !

Put us down for a copy Sundance.:D I have a Cousin with spare rooms conveniently located near Bovington so your (her) tank pictures might get us fired up for there. Then we could drop in on Mr. Hum.

Hum will hire a ruddy tank if it meant seeing you both at Poshland !

Though no running around on it on the lawn and flower beds.

Hum blames you Avery !

 

Lord spare us !

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Logo_of_The_Tank_Museum.jpg

The rain has brought out the contrast in the stone of the ancient buildings. And the river has swollen, taking on a look out of Les Miserables in the drizzly light.

His quill doth dance on the parchment, Mr Hum?

We finally manage to float to Chambord, only to find that you have to pay for parking, as well as pay an entrance fee. Given the rain, we decided to just drive around to find a vantage point for a photo. They make this very difficult to do, with one-way roads and strategically placed trees.

They're French, s***w the pesky tourist for every euro. Drive like the French..."road sign, what road sign...only for pesky tourists"

The ballroom is extravagant, and you could imagine the ho-hums and Blondies of the day waltzing the night away, in their powdered wigs (rumor has it that ho-hum wears one to formal events).

It has been rumoured that said wig makes an appearance at the posh pad's annual ho down celebrating the season's harvest.

His quill doth dance on the parchment, Mr Hum?

Verily Mr.MACT, verily so and we must not forget he is from the Americas; the Wild West in fact.......he speaks well for an itinerant cow herder....

They're French, s***w the pesky tourist for every euro. Drive like the French..."road sign, what road sign...only for pesky tourists"

Too true, too true.

It has been rumoured that said wig makes an appearance at the posh pad's annual ho down celebrating the season's harvest.

So true, so true but Sir Elton and David always triumph......ruddy show offs.

I'm waiting for the moderator's head to explode....

Troglodytes and Vignerons

Morning dawns bright and sunny on our last day in the Loire Valley. This morning we had a continental breakfast in the hotel's nicely decorated lounge. Our hotel was the owner of a series of caverns, part natural, part excavated, in the cliff side that bordered the hotel property. They open the gates in the entrance so hotel guests can explore them. The hotel used the caverns for business meetings and wedding receptions (they were bigger and better lit than you are imagining...). In olden times, the caverns were used to store the taxes paid, in grain, to whatever potentate ruled the area. So after breakfast, we roamed around the various caverns and passageways.

Our spelunking complete, we packed up and set the nav for Sarlat, a four and a half hour drive south. This drive was very scenic, but I will spare the reader the details. Just refer to the earlier drive descriptions. Sadly, we lunched only on a partial baguette that was hiding in my gym bag and caffe au laits from the gas station vending machines (note, the machines in the toll road gas stops dispense decent drip coffee and espresso drinks - who da thunk!) For future reference, the toll road gas stops also had very inviting full service restaurants, some with charcuterie buffets. If we had had time, we would have utilized them.

We roll into Sarlat in the late afternoon, locate parking (a loooong story I will spare you, dear reader) near the apartment we rented at the south end of the old town center. The apartment was only a 10 minute walk from the car (less when not dragging luggage). The apartment owner's representative was waiting at the prearranged time to let us in and show us the features of the apartment.

The apartment was a very large loft that took up the former attic of the ancient stone building. The graceful curved wooded beams that supported the ceiling were beautiful, and reminiscent of the internal beams of a large old sailing ship. As we had the entire top of the building, there were two gabled windows that opened on each side. This allowed cross ventilation and you could close windows on either side if there were any noises (tourists until 9 pm or so). Best of all, and the reason we went with an apartment, it had a washing machine! Knowing this ahead of time allowed us to pack light and take only carry-ons.

So, we toss a load of clothes in the washer and headed out to take photos of the medieval old town. Oh, and to get some cafe moulu which the owner was supposed to stock but didn't.... We wandered about, gawking at all the cans of foie gras for sale, and gawking at all the tourists sitting at the outdoor cafes. We took lots of photos, including some at sunset, where the fading red glow really lit up the beautiful old buildings, including the large church at the center of the town.

In our wanderings we had exited the pedestrian-only old town and walked the main commercial shopping street. We had passed a very modern seafood restaurant that obviously catered to locals, and admired their display case of fresh fish. But it was early so we continued our stroll back into the historic area, eventually looking for a place for dinner. But, again, after seeing plate after plate of foie gras, duck, etc. on diners' tables, we turned tail and founded our way back to the fish place.

After we were seated a young waiter came over and said, in english, that he really liked my Batman t-shirt ("You aren't safe here, no one is."). So we got to talking superheros and Star Wars, of which he was an avid fan. Eventually we ordered oysters, and whole grilled fish with pomme frites, accompanied by a LARGE carafe of vin de blanc that our waiter recommended. All very tasty. Afterwards wandered a bit more, but most things we closed or closing up, so back to the apartment to unpack a bit and hang up the clothes to dry on a large, folding rack we found in a closet. Then off to bed.

Morning is bright, and cold. I put on the coffee pot and go out to get some croissants, and a few groceries, while Miss Sleepyhead catches a few extra z's. I return with a bounty of goodies and we have a nice breakfast in the apartment while Sarlat busies itself preparing for the day's herd of tourists.

Breakfast over and dishes in the dishwasher, we head out for the day's adventures. We visited the fascinating La Roque Saint Christophe town/fortification built into a long natural shelf in a Cliff face along a river. Very much worth a visit if you are anywhere nearby. We had lunch at the very good outdoor restaurant adjacent to the parking area. Then we drove to the Grotte de Rouffignac, a deep natural cave system with prehistoric drawings, that you tour by electric train, with a driver/guide. Unfortunately, the tour is in french, but the driver made an effort to point out some highlights in english. Also worthy of a visit.

After the longish day's drive, we were not in a mood for a fancy dinner, so we stopped along the way back to Sarlat and picked up some bread, meats/cheese, and, wait for it ho-hum, a nice provincial Rose! Once back in the apartment, we kicked off a last load of laundry and piled into the goodies we had procured. Then we wandered around the town a bit to help work off dinner. Then to bed to dream about the wonders we would see, smell, and taste at the big Sarlat Saturday street market the next morning, and our drive to St. Emilion.

June 6th, 1944

Wonderful feel for the environs Raggy....great job.

As we had gotten in early and the hotel restaurant looked a bit stuffy for our mood, we canceled the reservation and struck out again on foot to find pot luck.

Funny, I had made reservations in advance for all three nights at various restaurants but we ended canceling them all and just let luck guide us to dinner each night :-)

Yes European restaurants can seem "a bit stuffy" compared to the drive thru burger bars commonly associated with America or where young ladies roller skate out with your order of burger, fries and a coke on a tray supported on hooks on your gas guzzling, open car windows.

Bet the restraunteurs of Normandy love you.

For our first night in Bayeux we stumbled upon a gourmet-pizza type Italian place with nice modern furnishings in an ancient stone and timber building. This suited our fancies so we settled into a nice table (the only one left) and had foie gras, salads, and individual brick-oven pizzas, all washed down with, in ho-hum's honor, some nice provincial rose'! Magnifique!

Foie gras, pizza and rose ! Errr in Normandy ? Cider, Calvados, tarte tatin, camembert.... but so nice to be honoured though especially after Hum has been so beastly (with more to come).

European beer - yawn, boring.

Belgian beer is the best in the world after British beer, naturally.

German beer is quite good too, then Czech beer if you like refreshing beers (and have the weather for it).

canceled our reservation at a fine-dining type restaurant that I had made fir later in the evening.

Again ! Mon Dieu ! It is just not done old boy.

Chefs are regarded as artists in the country (and rightly so).

There is'nt the "Ronald McDonald" award for cookery outside the US.

...

"More wine dear, or would you rather go look at some old cloth?"

Hum cant believe you just said that !

And yet you look at some old metal........tanks, lots of the buggers.

An exquisite piece of delicate threaded fabric v a lump of crude metal......hmmmmm.....what to choose, what to choose ?

Honfleur is a smaller, more quaint place than Rouen. It IS quite photogenic, and seems a popular place for French tourists.

Yeah go figure ! Those Frogs get everywhere, first Cancale and now Honfleur !

Frogs love good food: simple.

Somehow we managed to escape without getting caught and hauled off to the pokey.

Believe it or not most European police are well mannered.....it is rare to see police in Europe dragging someone from a car and beating them to a pulp.

It's the Association of Normandy Restauranteurs you should worry about: a vigilante group had been tracking you through France but you escaped them with your off road driving through the pedestrianised streets of France oblivious to the signs.

Upon return to Bayeux that evening we walked down to the local grocery store and picked up some charcuterie, cheese, bread, and wine and had dinner in our room while packing up to depart for the Loire valley early the next morning.

Fantastic job.....brilliant way to taste the local cuisine.

By George he's got it......the rain in Spain lies mainly on the plaaaaiiinnn...ooops

Next up: tanks, Tanks, TANKS!!! Oh, and a few boring old chateaux's.

Tanks...Noooooooo

Boring old chateauxs !!!!

Better be feeling very, very naughty as I'm only midway through the travelog....

 

And speaking of which, Mrs D is putting the finishing touches on an incredible Apple Photobook coffee table book of our trip. Looking at the draft makes me remember what a great trip it was! When she is done, I'll make the pdf available to any of my adoring fans that want to see photos of the trip. Just be sure to view it on an empty stomach, as there are a few photos of ol' Ragnar in there... But the good news is she wrote the very brief intros to each section of photos.

There's definitely a film here.....Mrs.D playd by Angelina Jolie and Raggy by Brad's brother....Cess Pitt.

I'm waiting for the moderator's head to explode....

The moderator's family originate from Bayeux where the family own a brewery and restaurant !

It will be you who will be banned old chap !

But you're right Hum's days are numbered......dead man walking.

Ho, please try to behave for a few minutes!

Ragnar, loving your travel log and do want to see the book/pdf, whatever it turns out to be!

Vandrefalk

Thanks Vandrefalk!

You all only have ho-hum to blame:

"Yes we want to hear ........E V E R Y T H I N G...."

And

"Oh no you don't !

Get back here.

Come on Raggy we want to hear it ALLLLL !"

Ho-hum, be careful for what you wish, you may get it....

Hum blames you Avery !

 

Lord spare us !

Sundance, it seems we are both tarred with the same brush by Mr. Hum.:eek:

Ho, please try to behave for a few minutes!

Ragnar, loving your travel log and do want to see the book/pdf, whatever it turns out to be!

Vandrefalk

Oh pleeeeezzzz.......

You were'nt so vocal when Sundance called Hum a "cavorting unicorn" were you ?

Terms of Endearment darling, its just boyish Terms of Endearment.

Love ol Sundance.....truly, deeply

Thanks Vandrefalk!

 

You all only have ho-hum to blame:

"Yes we want to hear ........E V E R Y T H I N G...."

And

"Oh no you don't !

Get back here.

The

Come on Raggy we want to hear it ALLLLL !"

Ho-hum, be careful for what you wish, you may get it....

Oh you creep Sundance......milking it with Lady V like that !

Sundance, it seems we are both tarred with the same brush by Mr. Hum.:eek:

Dont you get into the act Butch.....

It seems the gang is ganging up on ol Hum when it was HUM who cajoled Sundance into commenting on his Franceland adventures after arranging transport for him, presenting him with a hand delivered specially selected bottle of Bordeaux from his own cellar with an open letter of friendship and suggested Sarlat !

Ye Gods......it's infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me !!

But seriously......love the travel chronicles but somehow Hum cannot help himself commenting as he does....it makes Hum howl

Tanks for the memories.

OK some enjoyed the "tanky" piece......OK a lot.

We dropped our bags in our very spacious room (they comped us a nice upgrade, probably due to my good looks...)

Sorry Raggy, with all that rain there was a leak in the original room allocated to you that's why they moved you.

And you had a great meal at a stuffy restaurant....brilliant.

The Ch* Chateaux

 

First up is Chambord.

A nice-ish liqueur ......often added to cheap Champagne..just a drop.

It was when we were on a tiny road somewhere in the forest that the sky opened up and it rained so hard we had to pull over, as the wipers couldn't keep up with deluge! I believe this was the day that ho-hum commented that we were in the middle of a major rain event - he was right :-)

Always at your service dear chap.

Chiverny is quite lovely, and quite different from the other chateaux on our list, as it is more a home and less a castle. In fact, the owners live there. The interior is tastefully decorated and you can imagine living there, its not a drafty old castle like some of the others. Worth a visit.

Yes we stay there ......the owners are chums (should have told us you were visiting).

Well, pretty soon, what goes in must come out, and the hounds start doing their business everywhere :-o

Thanks for sharing !

How big are their "pooper-scoopers" ?

La grande poooper-scooperrr.

Well this place is a castle! Very large rooms with stone or carved wood wall, furnished with period furniture, artwork, arms, and armor. And there are several floors of this. One really interesting sub-floor was the kitchen and food prep area, along with the servants's dinning area. Lot's of places to dismember wild game...

Glad to see you are loving the chateauxs.......

The ballroom is extravagant, and you could imagine the ho-hums and Blondies of the day waltzing the night away, in their powdered wigs (rumor has it that ho-hum wears one to formal events).

Haha.....absolutely right he does.

I swilled this down ......

And gave a loud burp at the end while wiping your mouth with your sleeve and going Aaaaaahhh afterwards no doubt !

Now pasta.....maybe you should check out tank museums in Italy next year where you can eat the regional food of France.

Suitably relaxed and stuffed we took a long stroll back to the hotel to prep for an early start on our next leg, to Sarlat and the Dordogne.

Gawd you really pack it in.....Abenaki would still be exploring every patisserie and antique establishment in Cancale !

Oh and he only travels on the country roads at a sedate 35mph......

Troglodytes and Vignerons

 

Our hotel was the owner of a series of caverns,

Quite appropriate for you Raggy..........well you can be a bit of a caveman occasionally...

Sadly, we lunched only on a partial baguette that was hiding in my gym bag and caffe au laits from the gas station vending machines

What did Hum say earlier about Raggy and American dining experiences

We roll into Sarlat in the late afternoon, locate parking (a loooong story I will spare you, dear reader) near the apartment we rented at the south end of the old town center.

Brilliant idea...you have encouraged Hum to do the same in Mougins (southern French epicurean centre of excellence).

Eventually we ordered oysters, and whole grilled fish with pomme frites, accompanied by a LARGE carafe of vin de blanc that our waiter recommended.

Seafood in Sarlat !

Glad you loved Sarlat......feeling somewhat relieved.

After the longish day's drive, we were not in a mood for a fancy dinner, so we stopped along the way back to Sarlat and picked up some bread, meats/cheese, and, wait for it ho-hum, a nice provincial Rose!

Yes......rose would be regional here.

Maybe Hum was wrong for chiding you for drinking rose in Normandy.....they do a classy Sancerre rose about 75 miles south in the Loire.....could be considered local-ish.

Then to bed to dream about the wonders we would see, smell, and taste at the big Sarlat Saturday street market the next morning, and our drive to St. Emilion.

Oh Gawd, the Saturday market is divine !

Got the brochure from Crystal on the Esprit this week. It looks very interesting. Beautiful suites, etc. but they are only doing 3 itineraries for the next year. Seychelles to Sechelles on a 10 day during the late fall and winter and then Dubrovnik to Venice and return Venice to Dubrovnik for the late spring, summer into early fall. The Croatian voyages do not repeat ports so you could do a two week cruise without repeating ports.

 

Something to think about. A newly renovated ship in this size category is of interest. Advertised prices did not look too bad. Think you have to get further into the process to find out what they really are!

.............and there "walks amongst you" one who has bookethed a voyage on this new vessel who may be able to offer such further information embedded as they are into the process of sailing on the ship.

Bookedeth within a week of release as a matter of fact !

But no point pressing Hum just yet.........his lips are sealethed for now.

The persons will be revealethed all in the fullness of time (subject to their consent).

You may be very suprisedeth who they are.......very, very surprisedeth indeed-dio.

Hum thinks the itineraries sound brilliant for both company and guests.

Tremendous value t'boot.

Concern about emphasis on gambling and potential guest mix that will be attracted to vessel.

How do they do it for the price ?

Surely a loss leader then BANG ! Up go prices as soon as bookings take off.

Best to get in now.

It is reported that they received a hand written letter thanking them for booking and re-assuring them that they will have a great experience and a contact if they have any queries.

An extremely nice touch giving the feeling of attention and respect and value......SD take note.

Of course Crystal are "mob handed" to do this: SD on the other hand dont have this luxury but the appointment of a shoreside Club Director last year has made zero impact on guest relations and that has been extremely disappointing when intentions seemed originally so good.

Better to have said and done nothing.

Hum will keep you posted on any relevant points.

Troglodytes and Vignerons (cont.)

Morning dawns bright and cold in Sarlat and, empty gym bag over my shoulder, we head out to take in the Saturday market. Now here's the rub. When planning the trip I had originally scheduled us to visit the vineyards at St. Emilion all day on Friday, reserving Saturday for savoring the Sarlat street market (and a little local touring in the afternoon). However, when investigating St. Emillion and its chateaux (wine chateaux vs royal chateaux as in Loire Valley), I discovered that that very Saturday and Sunday were the days of St Emillion's harvest festival, with all sorts of activities going on.

So we thought about it a bit and booked a hotel room in the heart of St. Emillion for Saturday night, but kept the apartment in Sarlat. This allowed us to leave much of our luggage, and a load of drying clothes as it turned out, in Sarlat. This turned out to be a great decision, as you will see later. But the price to be paid was having only limited time at the Sarlat market, and knowing we should buy very little since we would be gone for the night :-(

Back to the market. Awesome. I repeat, awesome. Great foods and wines available in mind boggling variety, quantity, and quality. Sadly we could only breeze past all the stalls and shops, snapping numerous photos of great love affairs not to be... Be sure to plan any visit to Sarlat to begin on a Friday so you can stock up for the remainder of the visit on Saturday morning. We were looking for breakfast stuff, but this one stand was cooking the most fabulous looking potatoes, calamari, rotisserie chickens, and a huge pan of paella. The aromas are what forced our hand, it was his secret weapon against all the charcuterie, cheese, and bakery goods vendors :-) We loaded up on more of his wares than we could possibly eat, and headed to the apartment.

We wolfed down as much as we possibly could and packaged up the rest and placed in the fridge to devour when we got back. Needless to say, stopping for lunch later was unnecessary....

We packed our smaller carry-ons and hit the road for St Emilion. Thanks to ho-hum's tip, we had set up a self-drive tour of two St. Emilion wine chateaux through Bordovino. They made the reservations for us and provided a .pdf with directions and a bit if history. This worked out well and we would recommend going this route if you has a car. We ran into Bordovino vans at the chateaux, so we did the same winery tours as their small group tours (at far less cost...).

We had nice tours and tastings at Château Soutard and Château Siaurac. The buildings and grounds are quite beautiful and the hosts entertaining. The wines varied from fair to good, with only one from a small plot in Pomerol approaching very good (our favorite of the trip, besides ho-hum's, was a cabernet franc from the Saumur region of the Loire Valley, likely due to extra iron in the soil from all the tanks).

I rate wines on a very simple scale: poor, fair, good, very good, excellent, and outstanding. I've awarded outstanding to only to a dozen or so out of the hundreds we've tasted. When actually doing comparative tasting I use that same rating scale for nose, appearance, taste, and over-all. Our general impression of french wines, from our admittedly small sampling, is that California has nothing to worry about.... I think the classification system in France is holding them hidebound, and the rest of the wine world is pulling ahead. At least at levels we can afford. Maybe ho-hum will change my mind with a vertical tasting from his Petrus collection :-)

Wines tasted, we head for our hotel in St Emilion. Caution - major parking story ahead. Upon arrival at the historic section if St. Emilion, we find many roadblocks set up, diverting traffic away from the central section. I hit upon the idea of showing our reservation printout to the scowling police or hired guards and it seems do the trick, as barrier after barrier is moved aside and we work our way to the hotel's parking "lot". As the hotel is located in an ancient building in the heart of the town, their lot is not co-located. While it is not too far off, it is located in a spot serviced by only very narrow one-way lanes, none of which allow you to legally access the lot!

The map provided by the hotel is fairly accurate (though oriented at 90 deg from North being up...), but every one of the lanes leading to the lot have "wrong way" signs at their entrances! So, we give in and head to the hotel. By this time the lane in front of the hotel has, you guessed it, become pedestrian only.... And there is no place to pull over. So I stop the car and go into the hotel to try to get directions to parking. The desk attendant is off doing something else. He eventually shows up and as I am explaining the predicament to him, I hear this frantic honking from the street. So I go outside and see that our car is blocking a police car, with its lights flashing. Visions of French jails dance in my head. Fortunately the hotel attendant follows me outside and yells at me to ignore the one-way street signs! He then gives the nice policemen the ok sign. I jump in the car and tear off to find a place to let the police car get by.

Well, in doing this we are now at the edge of town again and have to go through all the barriers again. I could see the guards shaking their heads and thinking "idiot American tourists" as we drive by.... Soon enough I spy the narrow lane that, by dead-reconning, should lead to the lot. I ignore the admonishment not to enter and drive on, hoping to not encounter a car coming the other way. Soon we see the lot, surrounded by a high old stone wall. We get the last space. Much relieved, we grab our small cases and take the short stroll to the hotel (down a lane that has become impassible to cars due to ill maintenance. This lane was what used to allow the other lanes to be one way, but due to its lack of care it became sunken and overgrown. The locals compensate by ignoring the one way signs....

Ignoring the parking snafu, we find the hotel to be a gem, clean, modern inside, with an elevator and a nice breakfast area, which doubles as a place for guests to sip wines bought in the MANY wine shops in St. Emilion. Our room is very modern, with every amenity you need, air conditioning, and has sound proof windows overlooking all of the old town. This was the best value in a hotel of the trip. They did not gouge for a one night stay during the harvest festival, just their normal rate. The parking would not be an issue normally, just when all the road blocks were up for the special event.

We quickly head out and take lots of photos, exploring the town before our dinner reservation at a fine dining establishment that our hotel recommended via email before our trip. St. Emilion has many restaurants, cafes, wine bars etc., so I was glad we made a reservation, as deciding on the fly would be difficult. There were several outdoor venues where the town had set up stages and musicians were playing. All very festive. As the sun set we headed back to the hotel to dress up for dinner. As we approached the hotel we hear loud, Vangellis type music heading towards us. From around a corner two giant orange mechanical giraffes appear, being pushed by teams of young people, with others up in the giraffes articulating the heads and necks. The giraffes were followed by a large pushcart ladened with a big sound system and a bunch of fire extinguishers! Bizarre doesn't begin to describe it....

Back at the hotel, wondering if we'd been slipped LSD or something, we donned our finest once again and set out into the crowded streets to find our restaurant. Located on a street so steep that it has a central handrail, we find our very nice restaurant and settle in for a typical french fine-dining dinner (no stars though). Since we liked the Pomerol best in the afternoon's tasting, we ordered a red from Pomerol, which the sommelier helped us chose. This was our second favorite wine we bought in France.

After dinner we strolled about a bit and then headed for a vantage point the hotel clerk recommended to watch the fireworks display that marked the harvest festival. At one edge of the town there is a very large, squarish medieval tower that is part of the cathedral complex. This was draped with a huge scarlet banner, lit with spotlights. Very dramatic. We had been over to the area earlier and noted enormous stacks of speakers on a wall overlooking the town. Well, about 10:30 these babies were fired up and the entire town filled with exciting, modern music, with bass a-thump'n! I was a bit worried that all the ancient stone structures would vibrate apart and come crashing down... After a nice musical intro, the fireworks started up. They came both from the top of the tower and from an open area behind the tower. Without a doubt, this was the best fireworks display we've ever seen, just breathtaking in scope and complexity. And LOOOUUUDDDD! At times we cringed, thinking rockets were going to land on us. The crowd oohed and ahhed their appreciation. Between the music and the detonations, I bet they took a hundred years off the life of the old stone buildings.... But it was great and the crowd went wild after the tremendous finale.

But all good things must end so we hit the hay to get up and, once again, get sunrise photos of the old town.

​

Troglodytes and Vignerons (cont.)

Back to the market. Awesome. I repeat, awesome. Great foods and wines available in mind boggling variety, quantity, and quality.

So glad you loved it.

Britain has nothing like this not even Borough Market in London can compare to these type of markets.

A very depressing state of affairs.

We packed our smaller carry-ons and hit the road for St Emilion. Thanks to ho-hum's tip, we had set up a self-drive tour of two St. Emilion wine chateaux through Bordovino. They made the reservations for us and provided a .pdf with directions and a bit if history.

So pleased for you.

Regarding not being wowed by the French wines.

Was it that they were too young and the tannins had'nt settled down ?

You know us Brits like a bit of "attitude" and un-polished style to wine at times.

American wines are brilliant but they lack this aspect that certain wine drinkers care for.

Maybe ho-hum will change my mind with a vertical tasting from his Petrus collection :-)

Let's start first with Hum's Bulgarian table wines from 1943-51 from the region of "Spit-this-s***out"

I could see the guards shaking their heads and thinking "idiot American tourists" as we drive by....

Well the "stock" for American tourists went sky high a month earlier when three young Americans (and a middle aged Brit) tackled that terrorist on a train.

They were given France's highest honour.

We salute you gentlemen.

So no, Americans have a new found respect by the French, especially by the law enforcers.

The locals compensate by ignoring the one way signs....

Turning into a regular Frenchie yourself there Raggy......next you will be wearing a beret, shrugging your shoulders with a Gauloise hanging from your lip.....go Mons. Raggy.

Ignoring the parking snafu, we find the hotel to be a gem, clean, modern inside, with an elevator and a nice breakfast area, which doubles as a place for guests to sip wines bought in the MANY wine shops in St. Emilion. Our room is very modern, with every amenity you need, air conditioning, and has sound proof windows overlooking all of the old town. This was the best value in a hotel of the trip. They did not gouge for a one night stay during the harvest festival, just their normal rate.

Brilliant...respect to the hotel....that does make you feel good does'nt it.

St. Emilion has many restaurants, cafes, wine bars etc., so I was glad we made a reservation

But no doubt you will cancel......no !

These restaurants are tiny (well compared to the States...so a cancellation can "hurt" them).

As we approached the hotel we hear loud, Vangellis type music heading towards us. From around a corner two giant orange mechanical giraffes appear,

"I am the egg man, I am the walrus, coo-coo-ci-choo"

Orange giraffes ? Strange, it's normally pink elephants....they say.

Ask the expert......Jim is it orange giraffes or pink elephants ?

What's that Jim ?

He says it's big rabbits the size of a man...which talk.

Thanks Jim.

Whats that Jim ?

The rabbit wants to know if Raggy is giving any more descriptions about tanks ?

No, we've done that.

Well yes Hum is sorry your rabbit is upset Jim.

Hang on ! you have'nt had a drink yet Raggy !

Yes the French do love the absurd.......try living there !

Back at the hotel, wondering if we'd been slipped LSD or something,

Great is'nt it ........ they say.

Of course Jim's tequila is claimed to have the same effect.

Is'nt that right Jim ?

Hum's sorry Jim but your rabbit will just have to get over it.....

Since we liked the Pomerol best in the afternoon's tasting, we ordered a red from Pomerol, which the sommelier helped us chose. This was our second favorite wine we bought in France.

100% Merlot probably, less tannin.

Sounds a most marvellous evening of festivity.

Thanks for the wonderful descriptions.

But all good things must end so we hit the hay to get up and, once again, get sunrise photos of the old town.

The colour of the stone in St.Emilion is wonderful.

Mrs.D would have had a fantastic time.

Happy Birthday (belated) Sheriff