Pont du Gard

I'm sitting with some of our group by the banks of the Gardon River.  The sun is high overhead and would be hot except for the cool breeze that is drifting up from the water. Everyone is sitting around in various stages of post picnic gluttony and we're not planning on going anywhere for awhile.

Our guide Florian is on his phone, reading out the menu for the restaruant we are going to be eating at tonight and while we are so full we really can't move, everyone is showing a surprising amount of interest in the food options.

Away on our right, the massive Roman built Pont du Gard bridge is watching down on everyone enjoying their Saturday afternoon, just as it has done every day for the past two thousand years.

Today we had a free morning to do some shopping in Avignon and then we caught a local bus down to the park for a Saturday chill out.  This is a popular weekend hangout and in addition to the loads of tourists who visit, there are plenty of locals swimming, canoeing and relaxing in the cool water. We really are somewhere special!

The bridge is the most beautiful buttery stone and is the perfect compliment to the deep blue sky.

Food glorious food!

Today has been all about food and wine.

We caught a train to Beaune, which is about half an hour out of Dijon to have a wine tasting and lunch.  The Bouchard winery has been a family concern for hundreds of years and was only sold to a bigger company a few decades ago.  They have several hundred properties througout the region and their wine is all categrorised by the type of wine, region, town, family and (if it's really good) plot of soil. We started down in the cave, which keeps a moist, humid and consistent temperature for the thousands of bottles of wine that are stored there.  In addition to the stock they store to age, this particular cave had a 'library' of wines going back to the 1800's where they have kept a selection of each vintage.  Every few years they take a vintage upstairs, taste and then recork the wine so that it stays good.  Wouldn't you love to have the job where you have to taste hundreds of years old wine!

After the tour we had a little tasting, trying out three red and then three white wines.  The reds from this region are all Pinot Noir and the whites are all Chablis - just with different blends and flavours. 

Our next stop was a chance to tick something off our bucket lists - we had lunch at a Michelin starred restaurant - L'epicerie & Cie.

We ordered from a selection of set menus and I had snails in a sort of pesto garlic sauce, rack of lamb with a sauce from heaven and potato stack, some local cheese with a spicy salad, and a molten chocolate cake with homemade vanilla icecream.  It sounds simple to write it here, but each course was just an experience in taste and texture.  It was seriously one of the best meals I've ever had and I enjoyed every bite.

We started lunch at 12.30 and at 3.30pm, we rolled out of the restaurant and started a slow walk into the centre of town.  We visited a hospital museum which was established in the 1700's by some wealthy patrons to provide medical services to the poor, but everyone was so full of rich food and wine that we didn't really do the poor thing justice.  We declined the offer of an extra walk around town and set off on the half hour walk to the train station.  It was a bit of hard going, but it helped to shake the lunch down a bit.  Once on the train everyone fell into a food coma until we had to get off at Dijon.  Once back at the hotel, everyone went to their rooms for a much needed nap.  I crashed out on the bed and was asleep in minutes, only waking up when I got cold about an hour later.

No one wanted any dinner, but we'd arranged to meet in the hotel foyer to head out for a drink at 8am.  I went down at the alloted time with the full intention of saying I wasn't coming out, but somehow got convinced and the next thing I knew we were in a quirky little pub drinking Chablis in the basement to the accompaniment of Melody Gardot's crooning tunes.  Several glasses of wine and lots of chat and laugh later, we crawled back to the hotel and crashed out. 

  

Heavenly St Sabine

Hooray for late check-out and the chance to have a little sleep-in!

After about 15 hours since our epic lunch event, I was finally ready to eat something again and had a nice breakfast of baguette with ham and cheese, coffee, and a croissant with honey.  We set out for the farmers markets to pick up some items for a picnic lunch and came back with bags full of soft cheese, salami, cherries, strawberries and baguettes.

We were travelling to our next destination by car, so we flung all our bags in the back and set off out of town.  The heat of a few days ago was long gone and the rain was streaming down, making the roads slick and shiny.  The mist hung low over the hills and it was hard to see too far ahead of us until we rounded a corner and found ourselves at our destination - the chateau of St Sabiine.  

Oh. My. Goodness.  This place is just sublime!  Nestled neatly off the side of the road, the 8 hectare block boasts several beautiful creamy white buildings leading down to a little lake.  My room has 15 foot ceilings, its own fireplace, and a separate toilet and bathroom that has the most luscious shower EVER.

We had planned a picnic in the grounds of the chateau, but there was too much rain so everyone came back to my room and we spread out out goodies on the table and enjoyed our picnic.  The strawberries and cherries we'd bought at the market that morning were probably among the best I've ever tasted and while everything was very simple, we had an excellent meal.

The rain was still misting and hazing its way down an hour later when we set off on a walk to another village about and hour and a half away. The temperature had dropped quite a bit, but the humidity was still high and I could feel it choking up my chest.  I was fine to walk for the first hour but when we got to the bottom of the big hill up to the village, I decided not to make the climb and went for a walk on my own.  

The rain was starting to clear and I walked down to the river and up to a lock to look at the scenery and as soon as the rain stopped, I pulled out my camera and started snapping.  It was absolutely beautiful  walking along country roads with wheat fields on one side and sodden green trees and bushes on the other.  Swallows swooped and sang overhead and other than the occasional car passing me by, there wasn't a soul around.

I had a little chat to some cows in a field, but obviously my French wasn't up to scratch as they didn't seem to be too interested in what I was saying.  

Once I returned to the village, I walked around the church and through the streets and then did a big walk around the grounds of the Chateau, looking up from the lake to the house.  I ended the afternoon with a glass of champagne in the bar, looking out onto the garden.

We had an official group dinner in the restaurant (which also had a Michelin star) so we got as dressed up as our limited wardrobe allowed and met up for pre dinner drinks in the bar.  Everyone had a wonderful night and even though we had an early start, we went into the salon after dinner for more drinks and chatter until exhaustion finally sent us off to bed.  

Tomorrow we head further south to Avignon.    

The memory card I took my photos of the chateau won't read on my ipad, so Ths is all I can show. This is of the village we walked to.