Dijon, France

Dijon, another largish city, was our third stop. I'm sure everyone would have heard of Dijon. Mustard anyone? Dijon mustard? Moutarde in French...

The B&B this time was Charm Attitude. It is also a converted farmhouse, with beautiful grounds and rooms. Breakfast was also really nice, this time with some French toast.

But this breakfast was after a big meal the night before. Le Bistrot du Bord de Leau was recommended by the hostess at the B&B, and the Bistro is apparently run by a Michelin star restaurant. Anyway, by this stage, we have had many heavy meals. I do not quite remember what we ate, except for dessert, which is usually my favourite course. So I will label the meals I can remember....

 

Eggs poached in Chardonnay                                        Tomato soup with lamb samosas

Summer fruit tart

Chocolate savarin with raspberry sorbet

Molleaux (hot chocolate cake)

also known as:

Chocolate fondant

Soft centred chocolate pudding

Had too many of these!!!

After dinner, we went to Dijon to join the locals to celebrate Festival de la Music. All over France, major cities would set up concert stages. In Dijon, the palace grounds was converted into rock stage.

Palais des Ducs et des Etats de Bourgogne (Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy)

What it would have looked like during the day...

 The next day, we headed to Beaune for more food, wine tasting and some shopping (finally!) before heading to Fontainbleau (which is 30km from Paris). Could not wait to spend four days in Paris. We have enjoyed the drive and countryside, but driving (or on my part, sitting in a car) for 3-4 hrs a day is pretty tiring...maybe next time, staying 2 nights in some places would have been a better idea.

Chateau de Chamirey and Lyon- to be continued...

After Avignon, we drove to Lyon on Sunday (about a 200km drive). But I will have to blog about Lyon another day, as I'm waiting for photos from the friends we were travelling with (our camera batteries needed charging!). By the way, I use a Panasonic Lumix camera (Ying was asking). Don't ask me what type/model etc. I'm the most illiterate tech person.

There won't be too much to say about Lyon, mainly because it was a Sunday. And if you have been to France, EVERYTHING (maybe except churches and markets) is closed! Including many restaurants, can you believe that? And on Mondays, many shops do not open before noon. And they also take long lunch breaks. The French really know how to have a chi-lax lifestyle. The best thing about Lyon was visiting Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, which sits ontop of a hill. If I may say so, it is prettier than the Notre Dame  or Sacre Couer in Paris.

So after the L'Isle sur la Sorgue Market and a 3 hour drive, we checked into our B&B and headed to Lyon by the evening to walk around and have a quick bistro dinner. The B&B was situated in a winery and was very affordable, but not as personal or as pretty as Le Mas Cache. The place was called The Tower of the Beautiful Mother Vineyard. This was the room we got for 66 Euro per night. The view was quite nice though...

In the morning, we travelled to Beaune (wine tasting city- Bern was grinning alot!). Along the way, in the Burgundy (Bourguignon) region, we randomly picked a winery on the GPS and it was Chateau de Chamirey. As we got to the Chateau (and later found out the Devillard family lives there), we were kindly told by Mrs Devillard that the wine tasting was moved as they had a recent fire to their wine tasting site next to the Chateau. The fire was lit by a worker they recently hired (who happened to be a pyromaniac, which I'm sure he did not mention in his resume). So we headed to the office(next to the winery) and was given a tour of the place by Amoury Devillard (owner) himself and was treated to free wine tasting. A bit of a random chance on our part, but this little detour really made our day. The Devillards were really friendly and Amoury was so gracious to spend at least 2 hrs explaining (and drinking) his wine with us.

Can you imagine living in this property? I think Amoury mentioned there were 17 rooms...

(GQ, I change my mind about the THIS IS IT house. This one trumps that anyday!)

I also learn that most wineries would also use the grape skin (or marc) to make a very strong liquor (prob 40% alcohol. At Chateau de Chamirey, this is the Echezeaux Grand Cru at 99 Euro a bottle. however, 

most of the wines ranged from 12-40 Euro. They also made some lovely whites, but it was mainly Burgundy reds. We were thinking of getting some and having the wines shipped back to Melbourne, but the cost of the shipping was going to be way more than the cost of the wine...

All I can say was that the wine tasting trip really made my day and I have learnt alot...

L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue Market

Before I mention the market, I have to write about the restaurant that was recommended by the Delacours, which was La Bartavelle in Goult (about 5 mins drive from Saint Veran). This is after all a food blog. It was our first fine dinning meal of the trip and it really kicked off the foodie adventure.

Amuse Bouche- palate cleanser of crayfish and crab with pea foam

Entrees

Veal with capers and and creme fraiche sauce

Salmon with confit aubergine and basil

                                                                                                          

Fish boullabaise

Rabbit stuffed with foie gras- this was fantastic!

Desserts

Cherry Soup with Ice Cream and Sesame Tuile             Goat Cheese Platter (one had maggots in it! Eew!)

After a lovely breakfast at Le Mas Cache, we left Saint Veran and using directions given by Tina and Marc, we headed towards the L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue Market, an antique market not far from Avignon which is held every Sunday. But we were also told to stop by Pont St Julien (St Julien's Bridge) which was on the way to the market.

This is a small bridge, but the interesting thing about it was that it was bulit in 100 BC and was still used until the 1970s. Now it is closed to traffic, but pedestrians can still walk across it.

The market was also next to a river. The atmosphere was fantastic. Lots of locals and tourists about. It is also a food market, and you could also have lunch at one of the many restaurants next to the river.

To be honest, I did not take that many photos as I was too busy browsing.

I took a bit of provincial France with me- a tablecloth and matching napkins. Next destination- Lyon.

Le Mas Cache, Saint Veran

Le Mas Cache was the first and the best B&B place that we stayed in for the whole trip. This B&B is fairly new (3-4 months old) and it is a converted French provincial farmhouse, run by Marc and Tina Delacour. The hosts were the most friendly and helpful couple, and went beyond their means to help us settle in. They made dinner reservations for us, printed maps on how to get to attraction sites and made us feel very much at home. They also converse very well in English, which was of great help.

On arrival, we were served drinks (a choice of wine, beer or juice). As I sat underneath their grape-vine patio, and absorbed in the views of the magnificient property and countryside, I wonder if all the other B&Bs would be this nice. They were not... Hence, this place gets a special mention on my blog.

The entrance to the stairway was framed by jasmine, and the beautiful scent that greeted you was a pleasant surprise. It seems like a minor detail, but it is etched in my memory. I always remember the little things...

The bedroom itself was amazing. It was grand yet comfortable and homey. Our best sleep for awhile (not hard since our flat in London is next to busy touristy streets). I will let the pictures do the talking, but it does the place no justice. This is one of three rooms, and ours was the Calisson.
 
 

A lounge within the room

The ensuite

View from our bedroom window

Breakfast table

Our lovely breakfast. Tina added a personal touch by making her own lavender madelaines, yougurt with fruits and home-made jams.

Also, cherries were in season. Bern was really happy about that. You could buy a kilo of cheries for 4 Euros.

I love WANT her kitchen! He he

The garden

My only regret was that we only stayed there for one night. Could have stayed there the whole week. I would recommend this place to anyone, as you will definitely have an enjoyable time. Great place for honeymooners, I might add...

Here is the link, if you are interested.

http://web.lerelaisinternet.com/114213995/home.php