As I type this first Tour de France blog entry, I am in Roujan, France, sitting on a king-sized bed, which is resting on terra cotta tiles, contained in a large guestroom in a former convent that has been lovingly restored by two of the nicest hostesses I have ever encountered. I want to catch you up on our trip thus far, so more on Le Couvent later…
Stage 1: Wednesday, June 20
First, the Grand Depart. It was to be a superior Grand Depart…we were to leave Wednesday evening for Dover, England, spend the night, and catch the 6:30am ferry to Calais, France…would hate to waste any daylight hours! I had worked very hard all day snack shopping, packing the car, cleaning the flat, etc. so that when Edgar walked through the door we would be 100% ready for departure. Everything was falling into place, we left in good time, and then 5 miles outside of Richmond, we had to make a slight change of plans. It seems I have not done as well as I had hoped in judging the distance on the left side of the car (since I am now driving on the right hand side of the car) and I accidentally got too close to the highway curb and BLIP…there goes the tire. I knew I had hit it pretty good, but all systems checked out fine…no low tire pressure warnings or strange sounds. Fortunately, we had to stop for gas and upon inspection discovered the tire had a one-inch gash. Our tires are made for driving even when punctured so we were able to head back home for the night and catch the first tire shop as it opened the next morning. I was pretty upset, but Edgar was wonderful…constantly reassuring me that accidents happen and we would recover in good time.
Stage 2: Thursday, June 21
So the true Grand Depart now happens on Thursday morning. Because the tire shop was so efficient in getting us back on the road and our ferry didn’t depart until 1pm, we had some time to kill in Dover, and this time it wasn’t raining (see White Cliffs of Dover entry)! So we headed to Dover Castle where I got to meander through the same hallways, staircases and chapels as King Henry VIII. I even stood in his presence chamber, royal bedroom, and loo! The best part…English Heritage, baby…our tally is now £14 heavier and we just may break even before the summer ends.
The ferry boarding was extremely organized, the boat huge and accommodating for the 1 ½ hour journey, and we were in France by 3:30pm (they are one hour ahead). Our first stop was Reims in the Champagne region. June 21st is the longest day of the year as well as the first day of summer, and festivals happen all over Europe. We were lucky enough to come upon the music festival in Reims and hear everything from French hip-hop to old-school American big hair ballads. Our favorite group looked as if they had gotten together in college in the 1980’s and then decided it would be fun to reunite for this one night. The lead singer looked like the only one who had grown up…he was now clean-cut, had nice wire rimmed glasses and probably a couple of young kids to tend to back home. The rest looked like they could still hang with the best of them into the wee hours of the morning…
We headed to Epernay for one night in the Hotel Villa St. Pierre…a very old mansion that is now a hotel. It was a spacious, clean room with very nice proprietors, although I wouldn’t splurge for the breakfast if you stay there.
Stage 3: Friday, June 22
We are off to explore one of the three Champagne routes…the Cote des Blancs to be exact. Our main goal of this little expedition was to learn once and for all how they make the bubbly so good. Contrary to what I have been told in the past, Champagne (the region) does not have a special spring oozing fizzy water that is combined with the wine to make it bubbly. It’s all about the process…they ferment the wine twice (as opposed to once with wine) and use yeast…that’s what makes it dance in your mouth. Only champagne produced in this region can call itself “champagne”…otherwise, it’s sparkling wine, or cremant in Burgundy, etc.…but they all use this same process to make it the way it is. Very cheap sparkling wines do indeed just add carbonated water to make it fizzy, so not everything that pops in your mouth has been through this fascinating process. We walked through the 300 year old chalk cellar, was educated on the process, and did a wonderful tasting at the RUFFIN & Fils Champagne house. Of course we also walked away with three bottles in hand!
Now South to Beaune, Burgundy and the Cote d’Or….and some very good Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Beaune is very reminiscent of Cartegena, Colombia in that the old part of the city is surrounded by a brick wall and ramparts, the streets are winding and full of surprises, and the buildings very, very old-from the 13th century. After this long day, we were happy to lay our heads on a bed in the Hotel Bretoniere.
Stage 4: Saturday, June 23rd
The day began slightly cloudy and cool. We headed to the Saturday market being held in the old city…like the markets in Paris where the locals go once a week to stock up on food and goods. We loaded our backpack with some dried meat, cheese and bread and headed to a bike rental shop for our preferred wine tasting mode of transportation. Since we were in Burgundy, we knew we would be doing some serious wine drinking! The guy at the shop gave us a wonderful route through old farmroads, vineyards, and rolling hills with suggestions on where to stop. He was dead on…the wine was fantastic. Because so many people stop by on bike, the winery shops will deliver your order to your hotel, so we were happy to stock up!
The highlight of this circuit was definitely the last stop. At the l'Ange Gardien (Guardian Angel) winery, we were greeted very enthusiastically by Nicole and Pierre and were immediately whisked downstairs to their cellar, containing thousands upon thousands of bottles just waiting to hit their peak. Nicole also showed us their oak barrels and explained the special way they are created and how they lovingly tend to the liquid until it is just ready for bottling. We tasted some amazing and very unique wines here, but I have to say my favorite was actually a liqueor called Cassis (made from a berry of the same name). It is a very thick, sweet drink (20% alcohol!) that can be poured over ice cream, or, my personal favorite, mixed with their cremant to make a Kir Royal…it was so good I had to have two of them just to make sure it was really that good. I was very happy to learn that, sometime in the near future, Nicole and Pierre will open as a guesthouse the chateau that they acquired with the vineyard. We just may have to make another little trip to Burgundy!
Stage 5: Sunday, June 24th
While very sad to leave Beaune, we had more to explore so we were southward bound once again, headed for the Languedoc region. It is called the Midi, which means it is in the south-middle of France. While this is the largest wine-producing region of France, quantity doesn’t always equal quality. In the 1860’s, a terrible disease killed the vineyards in France, but the Languedoc vines survived. By shear demand they were forced to produce massive quantities of wine while the others vineyards recovered. I guess this lead to somewhat of a relaxed attitude towards the wine quality and the region developed a less than stellar reputation as the other vines recovered and began to produce good wine once again. In the last few decades, however, many of the region’s vineyards have been going through a refurbishment process and are producing good quality wines.
We arrived in Pezenas and stayed in a charming chambres d’hotes called the La Dordine. In the evening, we participated in a food and wine tasting with the owner, which highlighted specialties from the region. It was here that I tried my first oyster, and I liked it! Tasted just like the sea…and the tablespoon of lemon juice Edgar squeezed onto it before I ate it. Pezenas is another very old city, from the 13th century, that is much like Cartegena as well.
Stage 6: Monday, June 25th
Since we are now in Southern France, we have to see the Mediterranean! So we were off to an excellent beach just east of Pezenas. The water is clear, a little cool, and the beach is sandy and clean. We strolled for about half an hour down the coastline until we began to see a little more skin than we wanted. We worked our way back up the coastline to our next night’s lodging, Le Couvent….
Stage 1: Wednesday, June 20
First, the Grand Depart. It was to be a superior Grand Depart…we were to leave Wednesday evening for Dover, England, spend the night, and catch the 6:30am ferry to Calais, France…would hate to waste any daylight hours! I had worked very hard all day snack shopping, packing the car, cleaning the flat, etc. so that when Edgar walked through the door we would be 100% ready for departure. Everything was falling into place, we left in good time, and then 5 miles outside of Richmond, we had to make a slight change of plans. It seems I have not done as well as I had hoped in judging the distance on the left side of the car (since I am now driving on the right hand side of the car) and I accidentally got too close to the highway curb and BLIP…there goes the tire. I knew I had hit it pretty good, but all systems checked out fine…no low tire pressure warnings or strange sounds. Fortunately, we had to stop for gas and upon inspection discovered the tire had a one-inch gash. Our tires are made for driving even when punctured so we were able to head back home for the night and catch the first tire shop as it opened the next morning. I was pretty upset, but Edgar was wonderful…constantly reassuring me that accidents happen and we would recover in good time.
Stage 2: Thursday, June 21
So the true Grand Depart now happens on Thursday morning. Because the tire shop was so efficient in getting us back on the road and our ferry didn’t depart until 1pm, we had some time to kill in Dover, and this time it wasn’t raining (see White Cliffs of Dover entry)! So we headed to Dover Castle where I got to meander through the same hallways, staircases and chapels as King Henry VIII. I even stood in his presence chamber, royal bedroom, and loo! The best part…English Heritage, baby…our tally is now £14 heavier and we just may break even before the summer ends.
The ferry boarding was extremely organized, the boat huge and accommodating for the 1 ½ hour journey, and we were in France by 3:30pm (they are one hour ahead). Our first stop was Reims in the Champagne region. June 21st is the longest day of the year as well as the first day of summer, and festivals happen all over Europe. We were lucky enough to come upon the music festival in Reims and hear everything from French hip-hop to old-school American big hair ballads. Our favorite group looked as if they had gotten together in college in the 1980’s and then decided it would be fun to reunite for this one night. The lead singer looked like the only one who had grown up…he was now clean-cut, had nice wire rimmed glasses and probably a couple of young kids to tend to back home. The rest looked like they could still hang with the best of them into the wee hours of the morning…
We headed to Epernay for one night in the Hotel Villa St. Pierre…a very old mansion that is now a hotel. It was a spacious, clean room with very nice proprietors, although I wouldn’t splurge for the breakfast if you stay there.
Stage 3: Friday, June 22
We are off to explore one of the three Champagne routes…the Cote des Blancs to be exact. Our main goal of this little expedition was to learn once and for all how they make the bubbly so good. Contrary to what I have been told in the past, Champagne (the region) does not have a special spring oozing fizzy water that is combined with the wine to make it bubbly. It’s all about the process…they ferment the wine twice (as opposed to once with wine) and use yeast…that’s what makes it dance in your mouth. Only champagne produced in this region can call itself “champagne”…otherwise, it’s sparkling wine, or cremant in Burgundy, etc.…but they all use this same process to make it the way it is. Very cheap sparkling wines do indeed just add carbonated water to make it fizzy, so not everything that pops in your mouth has been through this fascinating process. We walked through the 300 year old chalk cellar, was educated on the process, and did a wonderful tasting at the RUFFIN & Fils Champagne house. Of course we also walked away with three bottles in hand!
Now South to Beaune, Burgundy and the Cote d’Or….and some very good Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Beaune is very reminiscent of Cartegena, Colombia in that the old part of the city is surrounded by a brick wall and ramparts, the streets are winding and full of surprises, and the buildings very, very old-from the 13th century. After this long day, we were happy to lay our heads on a bed in the Hotel Bretoniere.
Stage 4: Saturday, June 23rd
The day began slightly cloudy and cool. We headed to the Saturday market being held in the old city…like the markets in Paris where the locals go once a week to stock up on food and goods. We loaded our backpack with some dried meat, cheese and bread and headed to a bike rental shop for our preferred wine tasting mode of transportation. Since we were in Burgundy, we knew we would be doing some serious wine drinking! The guy at the shop gave us a wonderful route through old farmroads, vineyards, and rolling hills with suggestions on where to stop. He was dead on…the wine was fantastic. Because so many people stop by on bike, the winery shops will deliver your order to your hotel, so we were happy to stock up!
The highlight of this circuit was definitely the last stop. At the l'Ange Gardien (Guardian Angel) winery, we were greeted very enthusiastically by Nicole and Pierre and were immediately whisked downstairs to their cellar, containing thousands upon thousands of bottles just waiting to hit their peak. Nicole also showed us their oak barrels and explained the special way they are created and how they lovingly tend to the liquid until it is just ready for bottling. We tasted some amazing and very unique wines here, but I have to say my favorite was actually a liqueor called Cassis (made from a berry of the same name). It is a very thick, sweet drink (20% alcohol!) that can be poured over ice cream, or, my personal favorite, mixed with their cremant to make a Kir Royal…it was so good I had to have two of them just to make sure it was really that good. I was very happy to learn that, sometime in the near future, Nicole and Pierre will open as a guesthouse the chateau that they acquired with the vineyard. We just may have to make another little trip to Burgundy!
Stage 5: Sunday, June 24th
While very sad to leave Beaune, we had more to explore so we were southward bound once again, headed for the Languedoc region. It is called the Midi, which means it is in the south-middle of France. While this is the largest wine-producing region of France, quantity doesn’t always equal quality. In the 1860’s, a terrible disease killed the vineyards in France, but the Languedoc vines survived. By shear demand they were forced to produce massive quantities of wine while the others vineyards recovered. I guess this lead to somewhat of a relaxed attitude towards the wine quality and the region developed a less than stellar reputation as the other vines recovered and began to produce good wine once again. In the last few decades, however, many of the region’s vineyards have been going through a refurbishment process and are producing good quality wines.
We arrived in Pezenas and stayed in a charming chambres d’hotes called the La Dordine. In the evening, we participated in a food and wine tasting with the owner, which highlighted specialties from the region. It was here that I tried my first oyster, and I liked it! Tasted just like the sea…and the tablespoon of lemon juice Edgar squeezed onto it before I ate it. Pezenas is another very old city, from the 13th century, that is much like Cartegena as well.
Stage 6: Monday, June 25th
Since we are now in Southern France, we have to see the Mediterranean! So we were off to an excellent beach just east of Pezenas. The water is clear, a little cool, and the beach is sandy and clean. We strolled for about half an hour down the coastline until we began to see a little more skin than we wanted. We worked our way back up the coastline to our next night’s lodging, Le Couvent….
The sun is beginning to set, the clock tower strikes 7, and the breeze is blowing through the balcony on which I now sit finishing this Grand Depart entry. Our bottle of cremant is chilled and we have promised to share with our hostesses, Lizzie and Ali....who knew the Tour could be this refreshing?
