Grand Northern Europe Voyage - Lisbon to Stockholm - May 6, 2022 to June 28, 2022

[Lois R]

Hi Mysty, sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Thanks for sharing with us.🙂

[Lois R]

13 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

I’m a bit late to the party (I Don’t check in here much nowadays) but I’d love to wish you both a fantastic adventure. I’m sure Liverpool in particular will be amazing xxx 

DW.......it is so good to see you again and hope you are doing well🙂

[mysty]

From our amble around Bordeaux.....

 

 

 

[jpalbny]

Thanks for the pix, M!

 

We were there in 2010, on only our second SS cruise. Spent a fantastic evening in Saint-Émelion. I hope you have a great time there as well. Enjoy some Crémant de Bordeaux for me!

[DiscerningD]

We are spending a few days in Bordeaux and it was lovely to see the Silver Moon here. Glad you are having a great time. It makes us look forward to our voyage on the Spirit from Athens in September even more! 

[mysty]

Apologies for the dearth of new info here.   Last evening's excursion dumped a very tired pair back at the ship at close to 10:30 pm.  This morning we are scurrying to be ready for an 8:30 am excursion departure back to St Emilion with a Chateau tasting.  I'm hoping to get pictures off the camera later this afternoon.   They seem to be easier to upload than those from phones.   I'm going with easier as my weapon of choice! 😁

[mysty]

Playing catch up.  Last evening's adventure took us to St Emilion for an After Hours visit.  Town was very quiet.  The tour was very good.  We followed the guide to the points of interest.  In the unground sections no photos were allowed.  St Emilion got its name from a monk named Emilion who lived there and is credited with many miracles.  Approximately 250 people live in the village.  Some photos....

 

 

 

 

 

We ended the tour with a glass of Chateau Mauvinon.......

[mysty]

Today's adventure took us back to St Emilion.  Part of the tour was a repeat of last evening.  However, the attraction for us was the Chateau Tasting.  We visited Fleur de Lisse in St Hippolyte.  They are a Grand Cru but not yet listed.  Here are some photos....

 

 

 

 

[Stumblefoot]

45 minutes ago, mysty said:

Today's adventure took us back to St Emilion.  We visited Fleur de Lisse in St Hippolyte.  They are a Grand Cru but not yet listed.

Thx Mysty.  Have never heard of Fleur de Lisse before, so tried to find them on Wine Spectator to no avail.  How long have they been a Grand Cru and more importantly, how was their wine?

[mysty]

https://vins-saint-emilion.com/en/castle/chateau-fleur-de-lisse-2/

https://www.saint-emilion-tourisme.com/uk/6-chateaux-a-visiter/24-les-secrets-de-la-vigne-du-vin/317-chateau-fleur-de-lisse.html

 

Difficult to answer question number 1.  I didn't hear mention.  And Google didn't help.  We tasted 2 wines.   The second was better than the first.  The new list for Grand Cru Vineyards is due this year.  The last list was 2012 and a new list is done every 10 years.   Unlike the Medoc list which was established in  1855 and hasn't changed since then (according to our guide).

[mysty]

Just now, Stumblefoot said:

Thx Mysty.  Have never heard of Fleur de Lisse before, so tried to find them on Wine Spectator to no avail.  How long have they been a Grand Cru and more importantly, how was their wine?

 

I should have quoted you with my response Stumble.   Sorry!  Please see my post above! 

[Dolcevita Diva]

On 5/11/2022 at 9:04 AM, mysty said:

From our amble around Bordeaux.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great to see that the new larger ships are able to dock directly in Bordeaux!    I wasn’t sure if that was only the case for the smaller classic ships. 

[Silver Spectre]

Looks like you are having a good time, and getting to taste some good claret too.

[Stumblefoot]

9 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

Great to see that the new larger ships are able to dock directly in Bordeaux!

I agree.  So cool!

[lincslady]

Some lovely ports coming up,  mysty -  St.Malo,  Rouen with the river sail, and Honfleur.  All deliciously French and picturesque.   Enjoy!!! 

 

I don't know if Cornish Chef Rick Stein's  TV travelogues make it to the US.  A lovely repeated series on France  at present, with recommendations of great restaurants - not all smart joints either.  Not unlike Stanley Tucci's programmes.  

 

And thanks for the reports and pictures so far.

 

Lola

 

[mysty]

Today is a sunny sea day en route to Saint Malo tomorrow.   We're going to a Grand Voyage lunch in Atlantide and a wine tasting in Silver Note at 4:30 pm.

[mysty]

Pics from the Grand Voyage lunch.....

 

 

Scallops.....

 

 

Lobster Thermidor...

 

Tiramisu.....

[lincslady]

That must have been a pretty early lunch, mysty.  I pride myself on being fairly good on food and drink terms, but have just had to look up topinambur - to discover it is Jerusalem artichoke.

 

Did everyone else know what it was?  (Probably jp, if no one else).

 

Lola

[mysty]

Lunch was at noon.  We didn't have breakfast today.   Saving ourselves for lunch! 😁

 

Just now, lincslady said:

That must have been a pretty early lunch, mysty.  I pride myself on being fairly good on food and drink terms, but have just had to look up topinambur - to discover it is Jerusalem artichoke.

 

Did everyone else know what it was?  (Probably jp, if no one else).

 

Lola

 

[jpalbny]

3 hours ago, lincslady said:

Did everyone else know what it was?  (Probably jp, if no one else).

 

Nope! Though I know what a Jerusalem artichoke is, I was not familiar with that other name. Thanks for looking it up for me! Apparently that term is used in Germany? I liked some of the other German words that I found for it: indianerknolle, erdartischocke, erdschocke, ewigkeitskartoffel, knollensonnenblume, rosskartoffel, zuckerkartoffel. Try saying those ten times quickly!

[mysty]

The Wine Tasting was wonderful.   35 people in attendance.   It was set up comparable to the Paris competition....French versus American wines.   2 white going head to head with no identifying labels...Vincent Giradin Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2016 versus Grgich Hills Estate  Paris Tasting Commemorative Chardonnay.  We liked Corton-Charlemagne.   Majority liked Grgich.  Then 2 reds going head to head...Chateau Haut Brion 2007 and Opus One Napa Valley 2015.  All 35 of us liked Opus One.   Next 2 reds......Chateau Margaux 2006 and Shafer Hillside Select Napa Valley 2014.  Majority preferred Shafer (28 to 7).  Overall winner was Opus One!

 

 

[ronrick1943]

2 minutes ago, mysty said:

The Wine Tasting was wonderful.   35 people in attendance.   It was set up comparable to the Paris competition....French versus American wines.   2 white going head to head with no identifying labels...Vincent Giradin Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2016 versus Grgich Hills Estate  Paris Tasting Commemorative Chardonnay.  We liked Corton-Charlemagne.   Majority liked Grgich.  Then 2 reds going head to head...Chateau Haut Brion 2007 and Opus One Napa Valley 2015.  All 35 of us liked Opus One.   Next 2 reds......Chateau Margaux 2006 and Shafer Hillside Select Napa Valley 2014.  Majority preferred Shafer (28 to 7).  Overall winner was Opus One!

 

 

Sounds like fun, plus a very nice tasting.  Happy to see you are enjoying your cruise.  Thanks so much again for taking the time.

[mchell810]

4 hours ago, lincslady said:

That must have been a pretty early lunch, mysty.  I pride myself on being fairly good on food and drink terms, but have just had to look up topinambur - to discover it is Jerusalem artichoke.

 

Did everyone else know what it was?  (Probably jp, if no one else).

 

Lola

 

I had to look that up as well -- so glad I wasn't the only one 😁

 

@mysty  The wine tasting sounds amazing!   Thanks for taking us along on your journey.

[frantic36]

18 hours ago, lincslady said:

Some lovely ports coming up,  mysty -  St.Malo,  Rouen with the river sail, and Honfleur.  All deliciously French and picturesque.   Enjoy!!! 

 

I don't know if Cornish Chef Rick Stein's  TV travelogues make it to the US.  A lovely repeated series on France  at present, with recommendations of great restaurants - not all smart joints either.  Not unlike Stanley Tucci's programmes.  

 

I was ignorant of the ports for this voyage so thanks for listing the current ones. They sound wonderful and definitely an Itinerary I would like to explore in the future. Its helps to know the bigger Silversea ships can get up the Bordeaux river.

 

We watch Rick Stein a lot and my youngest son cooks recipes from quite a few of his cook books.

 

Mysty is the SALT bar and restaurant doing food & alcohol to match the region you are in? Really enjoying all your reporting and photos so thank you.

Edited May 13, 2022 by frantic36

[mysty]

1 hour ago, frantic36 said:

 

I was ignorant of the ports for this voyage so thanks for listing the current ones. They sound wonderful and definitely an Itinerary I would like to explore in the future. Its helps to know the bigger Silversea ships can get up the Bordeaux river.

 

We watch Rick Stein a lot and my youngest son cooks recipes from quite a few of his cook books.

 

Mysty is the SALT bar and restaurant doing food & alcohol to match the region you are in? Really enjoying all your reporting and photos so thank you.

 

Yes!  The S.A.L.T. Bar and Kitchen are doing culinary and drinks appropriate to the port and voyage segment.   The trademark drink for the Moon called Serene is on constant offer and is very popular.   It is delicious.   We've dined at the Kitchen 3 times so far and we love it!