Monday, we had planned to visit Chateau Saransot Dupre - but it was raining too much, so we just had a quiet morning at our bed and breakfast/inn. It cleared up some, so we walked into town for lunch at Brasserie L'Embellie (where we had dinner Saturday) - our timing was good, as while we walked there in light rain, the torrential downpour happened while we were inside. We had the three course menu of the day. For starters, we both had the Asian chicken salad, then Patty had roast veal with potatoes in a carrot based sauce and I had hake with rice in a cream sauce.
And we both had a fruit tart for dessert.
We had a 2:00 p.m. reservation at Chateau Baudan. It was still raining lightly on our walk there, but just as we were not deterred by the rain, the workers in the vineyards continued their work.
We arrived at our 2:00 p.m. appointment at Chateau Daudan. Unfortunately, there were two bus tours there just finishing lunch and buying wines on their way out. After they left, we tasted some of 2015 wine and got a very short tour of only part of their facilities - the heavy rain at lunch left puddles several inches deep in front of the buildings we would normally be touring. We did get to see an above ground cave - the water table is so close to the surface that just inches into the ground will bring water up to the surface. So they make above ground caves for aging their wines by making a building and covering it with several feet of dirt on which they then grow plants and trees. Just like below ground caves, these above ground caves remain a constant temperature and humidity for the aging wine in oak barrels. We ended up buying a bottle of 2015 Chateau Baudan and I enjoyed a glass of it while writing this post.
It is one thing to drive through the vineyards - you would speed through them in a minute or two and not even think about the size. But when you walk through them as we did, it is amazing to see the grapevines growing for miles in every direction. The fields are huge.
On Sunday and again on Monday, we saw this person working in the fields - it appeared to be a cart covered to protect from rain and sun, and allowed the worker to working the vines and rolling down the rows of vines.
Before dinner, we had an aperitif of Pineau des Charentes - it is a combination of wine and cognac, served with ice and cherry tomatoes.
As with Sunday evening, we had a lovely dinner prepared by Carole, and we had great evening discussions with Francois and Carole. In particular, we talked about Francois' preparation for a mini-triathlon he will do next week, and about the 34 parties running candidates for the EU elections on Sunday.
Tuesday morning started out sunny and clear but promptly clouded over and included showers throughout the area. It cleared enough that we set out for town around 11:00 but on a different more southerly route. We passed by a field of grape vines with signs that said "Reserve de chasse et de la faune sauvage" - the fields were a wildlife and game reserve.
We finally made it to Chateau Saransot Dupre as the owner was leaving. We told him we just wanted to walk around, and we enjoyed the lovely gardens and landscaping.
Then we walked around the corner to Chateau Forcas Hosten and enjoyed walking through the gardens and grounds - but we skipped the wine tasting.
Diagonally across the street was Chateau Fourcas-Borie, no wine producing, tasting or tours - so I took a photo by reaching through the gate.
We continued around town to what was some sort of government office building and outside of it were 34 panels for the 34 parties running candidates running in the European Union election Sunday. Carole and Francois had told us that some of the parties had so little money they could not even afford to make signs or ballots.
Some were unusual, such as the Way of Insubordination ...
some were with French President Macron ...
or environmentalism ...
those wanting to leave the EU (Frexit) ...
right wing parties and even more.
We then walked back to the park in front of the school where we bought hot chicken and cheese panini sandwiches from a food truck. We took them back to a park by Eglise Saint-Martin and enjoyed them under a tree at a nice picnic table.
We then took a different route back to the inn for a quiet afternoon, where we rested, read, drank wine, packed and readied for our return to Paris on Wednesday - no dinner with Carole and Francois tonight as she was going to an event and he was going to Paris for his job managing some 400 workers who maintain computer storage sites in France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.
And we both had a fruit tart for dessert.
We had a 2:00 p.m. reservation at Chateau Baudan. It was still raining lightly on our walk there, but just as we were not deterred by the rain, the workers in the vineyards continued their work.
We arrived at our 2:00 p.m. appointment at Chateau Daudan. Unfortunately, there were two bus tours there just finishing lunch and buying wines on their way out. After they left, we tasted some of 2015 wine and got a very short tour of only part of their facilities - the heavy rain at lunch left puddles several inches deep in front of the buildings we would normally be touring. We did get to see an above ground cave - the water table is so close to the surface that just inches into the ground will bring water up to the surface. So they make above ground caves for aging their wines by making a building and covering it with several feet of dirt on which they then grow plants and trees. Just like below ground caves, these above ground caves remain a constant temperature and humidity for the aging wine in oak barrels. We ended up buying a bottle of 2015 Chateau Baudan and I enjoyed a glass of it while writing this post.
It is one thing to drive through the vineyards - you would speed through them in a minute or two and not even think about the size. But when you walk through them as we did, it is amazing to see the grapevines growing for miles in every direction. The fields are huge.
On Sunday and again on Monday, we saw this person working in the fields - it appeared to be a cart covered to protect from rain and sun, and allowed the worker to working the vines and rolling down the rows of vines.
Before dinner, we had an aperitif of Pineau des Charentes - it is a combination of wine and cognac, served with ice and cherry tomatoes.
As with Sunday evening, we had a lovely dinner prepared by Carole, and we had great evening discussions with Francois and Carole. In particular, we talked about Francois' preparation for a mini-triathlon he will do next week, and about the 34 parties running candidates for the EU elections on Sunday.
Tuesday morning started out sunny and clear but promptly clouded over and included showers throughout the area. It cleared enough that we set out for town around 11:00 but on a different more southerly route. We passed by a field of grape vines with signs that said "Reserve de chasse et de la faune sauvage" - the fields were a wildlife and game reserve.
We finally made it to Chateau Saransot Dupre as the owner was leaving. We told him we just wanted to walk around, and we enjoyed the lovely gardens and landscaping.
Then we walked around the corner to Chateau Forcas Hosten and enjoyed walking through the gardens and grounds - but we skipped the wine tasting.
Diagonally across the street was Chateau Fourcas-Borie, no wine producing, tasting or tours - so I took a photo by reaching through the gate.
We continued around town to what was some sort of government office building and outside of it were 34 panels for the 34 parties running candidates running in the European Union election Sunday. Carole and Francois had told us that some of the parties had so little money they could not even afford to make signs or ballots.
Some were unusual, such as the Way of Insubordination ...
some were with French President Macron ...
or environmentalism ...
those wanting to leave the EU (Frexit) ...
right wing parties and even more.
We then walked back to the park in front of the school where we bought hot chicken and cheese panini sandwiches from a food truck. We took them back to a park by Eglise Saint-Martin and enjoyed them under a tree at a nice picnic table.
We then took a different route back to the inn for a quiet afternoon, where we rested, read, drank wine, packed and readied for our return to Paris on Wednesday - no dinner with Carole and Francois tonight as she was going to an event and he was going to Paris for his job managing some 400 workers who maintain computer storage sites in France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.
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