We arrived in Manchester on thursday night and spent the day Friday with Anthony's dad, granddad, and later got together with the extended Bowker family in Manchester. Saturday, we finally got to see Neil's flat in Leamington and meet Alison, Neil's girlfriend. In the evening, Anthony's parents, Neil, Alison, Anthony, and I went to see the Shakespeare play "Twelfth Night" in Strattford upon Avon, one of the places where the Bard lived in England. The play was entertaining and one of the cast members was John Lithegow (the crazy American actor). We even got our picture taken with John Lithegow after the performance (probably due to the luck of Anthony's dad at meeting celebrities).
Today (Sunday), we will spend the afternoon with Anthony's family and tomorrow morning, we head to Heathrow to fly back home to Seattle. We have had a very enjoyable vacation, but we are definitely looking forward to being back home.
:-) Stacy
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Things We Learned in France
There are several possible answers to the question: "Service Compris?" (The question you ask to find out if service is included in your check.)
The most common answer was "Always in France"
except when you are dining at an outdoor cafe near the Louvre, when the answer was "Never in the Gardens!"
or when we were at one cafe, where the response was "Never at lunch"
or in St. Emilion after the waiter poured wine all over Erica, where the answer was "Only if you want!"
Poulpes do not taste like chicken
Stacy won the worst menu mistake in France award for ordering what she thought was a salad with some kind of chicken (the French word is poulet), since none of the dictionaries had a translation for poulpes. That should have been a clue! The salad came out, and instead of chicken, was covered with a bunch of baby octopus. Oops! (I tried a few, but could not get past the texture. It wasn't much different from squid, but I'm not a fan of squid either)
The most common answer was "Always in France"
except when you are dining at an outdoor cafe near the Louvre, when the answer was "Never in the Gardens!"
or when we were at one cafe, where the response was "Never at lunch"
or in St. Emilion after the waiter poured wine all over Erica, where the answer was "Only if you want!"
Poulpes do not taste like chicken
Stacy won the worst menu mistake in France award for ordering what she thought was a salad with some kind of chicken (the French word is poulet), since none of the dictionaries had a translation for poulpes. That should have been a clue! The salad came out, and instead of chicken, was covered with a bunch of baby octopus. Oops! (I tried a few, but could not get past the texture. It wasn't much different from squid, but I'm not a fan of squid either)
The tallest architect in France is 5"9"
Well, this may not be entirely true, but poor Jason, who is 6'7" had to duck through quite a few doorways and hunch in more than a few stairwells in order to avoid head injuries. Bathrooms and beds were also quite small compared to what we're used to in the states (although Stacy and Erica didn't mind having bathtubs instead of showers in a few of the hotels).
The only place in France Bacchus doesn't fit is at the Avis rental return at Charles de Gaul airport!
A bit of an oversight on Avis' part was allowing us to rent a car 2 meters high, when the barrier at the rental return at Terminal 1 of the airport (where we were supposed to return the car to catch our flight to Manchester) would only allow passage of vehicles 1.8meters or less! We did manage to find the Avis service center in the industrial part of the airport and they directed us to terminal 2, which meant we had to catch a train with all our luggage back to terminal 1. Good thing we got to the airport 5 hours early!
You cannot eat leftover pizza at a rest stop cafeteria even if you purchase something from the cafeteria to go with it, so don't even try!
If you stumble into a local hangout in Paris after a drunken bicycle tour and order appetizers, save room for a 4 course meal!
We made the mistake of asking for more bread to go with the wonderful spread of sausages and cheese that we thought was a solo appetizer. Little did we know that it would be followed by 1/2 a cow and a two course dessert!
Getting up early is worth it if it means beating a bus full of Asian tourists to the sight-seeing attractions.
It also means not being awakened by the maids who don't really care if you're in the room or not when they come to clean.
Mold on the walls is a good thing in wine country!
If it grows, the wine must be good! Seriously, many of the cellars we toured were covered in a velvety layer of black mold (but not the kind that makes you sick).
Don't be afraid to try new things.
Escargot doesn't taste like oysters.
Duck and lamb can be delicious if prepared by a French chef.
Never ask what's in the sausage--just try it!
Foie gras goes best with sweet bread.
Cheap wine can be better than Gran Crus.
Read the entry from our stay in Beaune
Watch where you step!
Erica learned the hard way. Dogs are like people in France, except that they don't use the toilet and their masters don't bother cleaning up after them! They are allowed in restaurants, department stores, grocery stores, and some cafes even have menu items just for their canine guests. The dogs are well-behaved for the most part, but they use the sidewalk for their bathroom.
Turn Left means go straight
(When seen on a sign at the right side of the road)
Characters II
More characters from our trip (in no particular order)
Big Nose Man
This was the nickname we bestowed upon the Old Frenchman who led the tour of Musee de Olivier in Nyons. He looked like he had spent many years enjoying the wines of the region and may even have a natural knack for Truffle hunting. The first question he asked Anthony was "you have only one wife?" (in French, of course, as he spoke very little English). He kept joking with us throughout the tour (or at least, this is what we thought since we could understand only a little bit of what he said and he would make motions and laugh every so often as if he had just said the funniest thing). He also seemed to get upset if we moved towards the wrong station too soon (even though a couple of times I was moving to get a better view of something or to read the descriptions in English). At the end of his tour in French, we went around the small exhibits again with our English handout and suddenly, a lot of his hand motions and what we thought were jokes made sense.
Missed the Boat Lady
This nickname pretty much gives away the end of the story, but I'll tell it anyway. In Cognac, we took a tour of the Hennessy distillery. Part of the tour was on the other side of the river, and we had to take a small electric riverboat ride to get to the other side. On the other side of the river, we began the guided tour which began in an exhibit room and was led by a tourguide. The group was made up of mostly senior citizens on an excursion from their Princess Cruise. In fact, besides our group of 4, there was only one other young couple who were not part of the cruise. After we left the first exhibit and entered the cellar (before which we were told to stay with the group, so we wouldn't get lost), one of the younger women from the Cruise excursion wandered off looking for a bathroom. We had noticed from the beginning of the tour that she had a sour expression on her face and didn't look too thrilled to be there. Apparantly, as we were following our tourguide through the cellar, the doors to the highly secured rooms were closing behind us. When we got to the end of the tour, we boarded the boat to go back to the other side, and the tourguide asked if everyone was accounted for, at which point, some of the other Seniors from the cruise said "Where's Lola?" We waited for a few minutes and then left without her. She eventually showed up at the end of the tasting, which was in the store where we bought our tour tickets. We overheard her telling her friends that she had to go to the bathroom and went looking for one, but couldn't find one (surprise) and when she tried to catch up with the group, all the doors had closed and locked. She eventually found her way out and walked all the way up to the bridge to cross the river and back to the main store. I hope Lola learned her lesson and doesn't miss another boat!
Mr. Elbows
Well, we didn't run into Butt Babe again in Carcassone, but the Farmers did see another familiar face. On their flight from Seattle to Paris, Erica had the privelege of sitting next to Mr. Elbows, a man who apparently had more elbows than the average person and manage to continually jab her with them during the long non-stop flight. Mr. Elbows and his wife were in Carcassone. We didn't get the pleasure of meeting them personally, but it was funny to run into another pair of tourists in a town hundreds of miles from Paris, who happened to be not only on the same flight as the Farmers, but in neighboring seats! Let's hope Mr. Elbows doesn't sit next to the Farmers on the way home!
Big Nose Man
This was the nickname we bestowed upon the Old Frenchman who led the tour of Musee de Olivier in Nyons. He looked like he had spent many years enjoying the wines of the region and may even have a natural knack for Truffle hunting. The first question he asked Anthony was "you have only one wife?" (in French, of course, as he spoke very little English). He kept joking with us throughout the tour (or at least, this is what we thought since we could understand only a little bit of what he said and he would make motions and laugh every so often as if he had just said the funniest thing). He also seemed to get upset if we moved towards the wrong station too soon (even though a couple of times I was moving to get a better view of something or to read the descriptions in English). At the end of his tour in French, we went around the small exhibits again with our English handout and suddenly, a lot of his hand motions and what we thought were jokes made sense.
Missed the Boat Lady
This nickname pretty much gives away the end of the story, but I'll tell it anyway. In Cognac, we took a tour of the Hennessy distillery. Part of the tour was on the other side of the river, and we had to take a small electric riverboat ride to get to the other side. On the other side of the river, we began the guided tour which began in an exhibit room and was led by a tourguide. The group was made up of mostly senior citizens on an excursion from their Princess Cruise. In fact, besides our group of 4, there was only one other young couple who were not part of the cruise. After we left the first exhibit and entered the cellar (before which we were told to stay with the group, so we wouldn't get lost), one of the younger women from the Cruise excursion wandered off looking for a bathroom. We had noticed from the beginning of the tour that she had a sour expression on her face and didn't look too thrilled to be there. Apparantly, as we were following our tourguide through the cellar, the doors to the highly secured rooms were closing behind us. When we got to the end of the tour, we boarded the boat to go back to the other side, and the tourguide asked if everyone was accounted for, at which point, some of the other Seniors from the cruise said "Where's Lola?" We waited for a few minutes and then left without her. She eventually showed up at the end of the tasting, which was in the store where we bought our tour tickets. We overheard her telling her friends that she had to go to the bathroom and went looking for one, but couldn't find one (surprise) and when she tried to catch up with the group, all the doors had closed and locked. She eventually found her way out and walked all the way up to the bridge to cross the river and back to the main store. I hope Lola learned her lesson and doesn't miss another boat!
Mr. Elbows
Well, we didn't run into Butt Babe again in Carcassone, but the Farmers did see another familiar face. On their flight from Seattle to Paris, Erica had the privelege of sitting next to Mr. Elbows, a man who apparently had more elbows than the average person and manage to continually jab her with them during the long non-stop flight. Mr. Elbows and his wife were in Carcassone. We didn't get the pleasure of meeting them personally, but it was funny to run into another pair of tourists in a town hundreds of miles from Paris, who happened to be not only on the same flight as the Farmers, but in neighboring seats! Let's hope Mr. Elbows doesn't sit next to the Farmers on the way home!
More Wine Tasting in Beaune
On Tuesday, we left our beautiful house in Provence and the wonderful hospitality of our hostess, Annie, to drive Beaune--a town in the heart of Burgundy wine country (home of the Pinot grapes). We decided to stop first in the town of Vaison la Romaine, in order to experience a true Provencial market. It is one of a few towns given the official status of a "Market" town and draws hundreds of locals and tourists alike from neighboring towns every Wednesday for huge Farmers' Market and Artisan fair. In addition to the fresh produce, homemade bread, dried sausages, cheese, olive oil, honey, Provencial herbs, linens, and jewelry, there were also a variety of flea market type booths selling "antiques" and cheap designer clothes. We spent some time enjoying the sights, smells, and sounds of the market and did some shopping. We bought some fresh food to have for a picnic lunch later.
When we arrived in Beaune, the weather was much cooler, so we decided to play it by ear rather than planning a busy itinerary for Wednesday. We ate dinner the first night in Beaune at a small wine shop that has a communal table and pay a 5 Euro corkage fee (rather than paying the hefty restaurant markup). We enjoyed yet another exquisite meal, and got to try the regional specialty, Beef Bourgonogne (beef slow roasted in a burgundy wine sauce).
Thursday, we decided to have a leisurely day of sight-seeing and wine tasting. After breakfast, we walked to the Hotel Dieu, a former Hospice built during the time of the black plague. The hospice is now a museum and held some interesting artifacts (including all the instruments used for blood-letting and a pharmacy filled with medicinal herbs). Later that afternoon, we decided to skip the vineyards and went straight to a local retailer for our tasting of Burgundy wines. The wine store we went to allowed us to walk through their cellars and taste 15 different wines for a small tasting fee. You would think this would be a wine-lovers' dream. Unfortunately, we were mostly disappointed with the Burgundy wines we tasted and did far more spitting than consuming. Out of the 15, I would say only 1 or 2 were likeable enough to drink. Maybe our pallettes were adapted to the Bordeaux wines, but even the cheap Cote du Rhone wine we got at the grocery store was better than most of the Pinot varieties. We did stop in the cathedral in town on our walk back to the hotel, but due to the cold, wet weather (I guess it's finally Fall here), we decided to call it a day. After all, we have to pack all of our stuff tonight and find room for our souveniers.
Tomorrow, we drive back to Paris, where we will drop the Farmers off before catching our plane to Manchester. Although we have had a wonderful vacation and enjoyed it even more with our friends, we are all ready to say Au Revoir to France and look forward to going back home (for us, via Anthony's home in England) to our family and friends.
When we arrived in Beaune, the weather was much cooler, so we decided to play it by ear rather than planning a busy itinerary for Wednesday. We ate dinner the first night in Beaune at a small wine shop that has a communal table and pay a 5 Euro corkage fee (rather than paying the hefty restaurant markup). We enjoyed yet another exquisite meal, and got to try the regional specialty, Beef Bourgonogne (beef slow roasted in a burgundy wine sauce).
Thursday, we decided to have a leisurely day of sight-seeing and wine tasting. After breakfast, we walked to the Hotel Dieu, a former Hospice built during the time of the black plague. The hospice is now a museum and held some interesting artifacts (including all the instruments used for blood-letting and a pharmacy filled with medicinal herbs). Later that afternoon, we decided to skip the vineyards and went straight to a local retailer for our tasting of Burgundy wines. The wine store we went to allowed us to walk through their cellars and taste 15 different wines for a small tasting fee. You would think this would be a wine-lovers' dream. Unfortunately, we were mostly disappointed with the Burgundy wines we tasted and did far more spitting than consuming. Out of the 15, I would say only 1 or 2 were likeable enough to drink. Maybe our pallettes were adapted to the Bordeaux wines, but even the cheap Cote du Rhone wine we got at the grocery store was better than most of the Pinot varieties. We did stop in the cathedral in town on our walk back to the hotel, but due to the cold, wet weather (I guess it's finally Fall here), we decided to call it a day. After all, we have to pack all of our stuff tonight and find room for our souveniers.
Tomorrow, we drive back to Paris, where we will drop the Farmers off before catching our plane to Manchester. Although we have had a wonderful vacation and enjoyed it even more with our friends, we are all ready to say Au Revoir to France and look forward to going back home (for us, via Anthony's home in England) to our family and friends.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Carcassonne and Nyons
I'm a little behind on updating the blog, so I'll do my best to catch everyone up on our adventures. Saturday, we left St. Emilion after strolling through the town and buying some of their famous macaroons (yum). Because the weather was rainy, we decided to take the less scenic, but easier drive on the motorway to Carcassonne. We were very fortunate that the rain came the day after our wine tour of the Bordeaux region. After checking in to our hotel in Carcassonne, we wandered across the street to the medieval walled village. The village itself is very touristy (much like leavenworth). We had a meal at a small cafe and some of us were brave enough to try the local specialty, Cassoulet, a bean stew with pork sausage and leg of duck. It was very tasty and reminded me of gumbo (except without the cajun spices).
Sunday morning, we left early for a leisurely drive to Nyons. On the way, we stopped at a small town on the Mediterranean coast, touched the sea and took a walk along the boardwalk. We also stopped later to see the Pont du Gard, an original Roman aqueduct that still stands across a river. It was pretty spectacular. We decided to skip the museum, so we would stay on schedule to get to our next destination, a small hotel in Nyons.
Our hotel in Nyons was a surprise to the Farmers, since we arrived on the day of their first anniversary. It is a quaint house with 8 bedrooms with a beautiful garden, restaurant onsite, and everything is run by Annie and Jean, the couple who own the hotel. This has been the best place we have stayed by far--so much so that we changed our original itinerary in order to enjoy more time at the hotel and eat the fabulous food they prepare for us. Last night for dinner, I tried the escargot and lamb, which were both fantastic!
Today (Monday), we visited the olive oil musuem in Nyons and were greeted by an old Frenchman who gave us the tour in French (with a handout in English to follow along). He is a character I will write more about later. We also took a walk through the old part of town and then visited the botanic garden, a beautiful public garden of aromatic plants. This was a good way to pass the time before waiting for the local essential oil distillery to open. Unfortunately, the distillation only happens on wed, thurs, and sat, so we missed out on a complete tour, but we did get to see the bushels of dried lavender and all of the distlillation equipment. We also found lots of neat souveniers in the gift shop. We plan to enjoy another meal at our "house" (the name of the hotel is Une Autre Maison, which translates to Another House) after relaxing by the garden pool. Tomorrow, we drive to Beaune and look forward to more wine tasting in the Burgundy region.
Sunday morning, we left early for a leisurely drive to Nyons. On the way, we stopped at a small town on the Mediterranean coast, touched the sea and took a walk along the boardwalk. We also stopped later to see the Pont du Gard, an original Roman aqueduct that still stands across a river. It was pretty spectacular. We decided to skip the museum, so we would stay on schedule to get to our next destination, a small hotel in Nyons.
Our hotel in Nyons was a surprise to the Farmers, since we arrived on the day of their first anniversary. It is a quaint house with 8 bedrooms with a beautiful garden, restaurant onsite, and everything is run by Annie and Jean, the couple who own the hotel. This has been the best place we have stayed by far--so much so that we changed our original itinerary in order to enjoy more time at the hotel and eat the fabulous food they prepare for us. Last night for dinner, I tried the escargot and lamb, which were both fantastic!
Today (Monday), we visited the olive oil musuem in Nyons and were greeted by an old Frenchman who gave us the tour in French (with a handout in English to follow along). He is a character I will write more about later. We also took a walk through the old part of town and then visited the botanic garden, a beautiful public garden of aromatic plants. This was a good way to pass the time before waiting for the local essential oil distillery to open. Unfortunately, the distillation only happens on wed, thurs, and sat, so we missed out on a complete tour, but we did get to see the bushels of dried lavender and all of the distlillation equipment. We also found lots of neat souveniers in the gift shop. We plan to enjoy another meal at our "house" (the name of the hotel is Une Autre Maison, which translates to Another House) after relaxing by the garden pool. Tomorrow, we drive to Beaune and look forward to more wine tasting in the Burgundy region.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Chocolat
If there is one thing the French do well second to wine, it is chocolate. In every neighborhood with a bakery, butcher, fish market, pastry shop, and wine shop, you will probably find a chocolatier. Chocolate is an art in France and artisan chocolates are as beautiful to look at as they are delicious. Some of the best chocolatiers in the world are located in Paris. We had the pleasure of tasting some of their wares during our stay in Paris; however, we also made a point to visit a chocolatier in several other towns on our journey around France. I still haven’t tasted a chocolate I didn’t like ;-)
Flavors range from nutmeg, chile, and cinnamon, to lavender honey, Gran Marnier, and the more traditional caramel, coffee, coconut, and nougat. You will also almost always find sampling chocolates from around the world containing up to 99% cacao. We didn’t buy chocolates to pack, since these preservative free creations don’t travel well. Fortunately for us, many of the best chocolatiers also have websites and ship to anywhere in the world (even though we did find a couple of souvenier items to bring home).
In addition to excellent artisan chocolates, the chocolate desserts on every French menu are exquisite. Chocolate Mousse is a must have and can be found on nearly every menu. Hot chocolate in the morning is another staple and is far superior to our mix with hot water instant cocoa and even better than Hershey’s or Nestle and milk. You are often served a cup of the chocolate cocoa powder along with a carafe of hot milk to mix to your liking. Another breakfast staple is the chocolate-filled croissant (yum). We learned that in some places, dark chocolate covered almonds rolled in cocoa powder is a standard accompaniment to hot beverages, like tea and coffee (usually wrapped and served with the sugar).
Flavors range from nutmeg, chile, and cinnamon, to lavender honey, Gran Marnier, and the more traditional caramel, coffee, coconut, and nougat. You will also almost always find sampling chocolates from around the world containing up to 99% cacao. We didn’t buy chocolates to pack, since these preservative free creations don’t travel well. Fortunately for us, many of the best chocolatiers also have websites and ship to anywhere in the world (even though we did find a couple of souvenier items to bring home).
In addition to excellent artisan chocolates, the chocolate desserts on every French menu are exquisite. Chocolate Mousse is a must have and can be found on nearly every menu. Hot chocolate in the morning is another staple and is far superior to our mix with hot water instant cocoa and even better than Hershey’s or Nestle and milk. You are often served a cup of the chocolate cocoa powder along with a carafe of hot milk to mix to your liking. Another breakfast staple is the chocolate-filled croissant (yum). We learned that in some places, dark chocolate covered almonds rolled in cocoa powder is a standard accompaniment to hot beverages, like tea and coffee (usually wrapped and served with the sugar).
Wine Tasting in the Bordeaux Region
Today (Friday), we experienced the treat of a lifetime. We hired a local expert to chauffeur us and organize a wine tour of the Bordeaux region. Axel was our chauffeur and we were very impressed with his vast knowledge of wine—he grew up near the Riesling producing region of Germany and came to France 7 years ago, where he started learning about wine by harvesting the grapes. Since then, he has taught himself much about the history, the region, the economics, and anything else related to wine. He gets invited to barrel tastings every year and has “ins” at many of the most prestigious wineries. He also spoke excellent English and gave us some great suggestions of other things to do before we leave the area.
First, a bit about wine in France. As you may know, wine is very important to the French. It is something that they are proud of and they don’t understand anyone who doesn’t appreciate a good wine. So, how do you know if a wine is good? The labeling in France is strictly regulated. You don’t just buy Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, you buy a specific vintage from a specific Chateau, made from grapes grown in a specific sub-region. In the Bordeaux/Medoc area, each sub-region has different soil, perfect for different varieties of Cabernet grapes. In fact, there is a Classification system called The 1855 Classification that was originally created to present the most famous Bordeaux wines at the Paris Universal exhibition. It classifies the best of the best Chateaux (wineries) into 5 tiers. The First tier is the most prestigious and contains only 5 Chateaux. There are 14 second-tier, 14 third-tier, 10 fourth-tier, and 18 fifth-tier. Only these Chateaux are allowed to put the 1855 Classification on their label.
Our tour started with a stop at the Chateau Giscours in the Margaux sub-region of Medoc. There we learned all about how wine is made. We got to taste grapes from the vineyard, saw the barrel room, and tasted a young (2004) wine. Next, we stopped at a shop in Margaux to buy wine to ship to the US, then we had lunch at a café that our chauffeur had booked for us. Our second stop was Chateau Mouton Rothschild, one of the most famous winemakers in France (in the First tier of the 1855 classification). The Baroness Phillipine Rothschild took over the business from her father, and they are one of the wealthiest families in the world. We would not have been able to tour this chateaux had it not been for the connections of our chauffeur (another reason we are glad we did the private tour rather than a bus tour). After viewing the art and wine museum (a gift from the Barron Philip Rothschild to his wife), barrel room and the impressive private cellars and archives of the Rothschild family, we got to taste 3 very young wines (all 2006 still in the barrel). One bottle of their premium label goes for around 400 Euros (pretax), so tasting these even in their young state was quite a privilege. Our final stop was Chateau Brainaire-Ducru where the winery was just beginning the harvest. At the beginning of the tour, the owner of the winery himself, Monsieur Maroteaux, was on the property and came over to greet us personally. He is well known in the wine industry and is recent investor in the area after working for years in the sugar industry. We got to see the sorting, the barrel room, and the contrast of this relatively technological winery compared with the very traditional Rothschild winery. Our tour ended with a tasting of a 2006 barreled wine and a slightly more mature 2004 wine. A good wine in France is meant to cellar for 15-20 years (and some even cellar for up to 60, depending on the quality), so young wines aren’t exactly smooth going down. You can still appreciate the aromas and flavors, though, and we really enjoyed learning about French wine.
First, a bit about wine in France. As you may know, wine is very important to the French. It is something that they are proud of and they don’t understand anyone who doesn’t appreciate a good wine. So, how do you know if a wine is good? The labeling in France is strictly regulated. You don’t just buy Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, you buy a specific vintage from a specific Chateau, made from grapes grown in a specific sub-region. In the Bordeaux/Medoc area, each sub-region has different soil, perfect for different varieties of Cabernet grapes. In fact, there is a Classification system called The 1855 Classification that was originally created to present the most famous Bordeaux wines at the Paris Universal exhibition. It classifies the best of the best Chateaux (wineries) into 5 tiers. The First tier is the most prestigious and contains only 5 Chateaux. There are 14 second-tier, 14 third-tier, 10 fourth-tier, and 18 fifth-tier. Only these Chateaux are allowed to put the 1855 Classification on their label.
Our tour started with a stop at the Chateau Giscours in the Margaux sub-region of Medoc. There we learned all about how wine is made. We got to taste grapes from the vineyard, saw the barrel room, and tasted a young (2004) wine. Next, we stopped at a shop in Margaux to buy wine to ship to the US, then we had lunch at a café that our chauffeur had booked for us. Our second stop was Chateau Mouton Rothschild, one of the most famous winemakers in France (in the First tier of the 1855 classification). The Baroness Phillipine Rothschild took over the business from her father, and they are one of the wealthiest families in the world. We would not have been able to tour this chateaux had it not been for the connections of our chauffeur (another reason we are glad we did the private tour rather than a bus tour). After viewing the art and wine museum (a gift from the Barron Philip Rothschild to his wife), barrel room and the impressive private cellars and archives of the Rothschild family, we got to taste 3 very young wines (all 2006 still in the barrel). One bottle of their premium label goes for around 400 Euros (pretax), so tasting these even in their young state was quite a privilege. Our final stop was Chateau Brainaire-Ducru where the winery was just beginning the harvest. At the beginning of the tour, the owner of the winery himself, Monsieur Maroteaux, was on the property and came over to greet us personally. He is well known in the wine industry and is recent investor in the area after working for years in the sugar industry. We got to see the sorting, the barrel room, and the contrast of this relatively technological winery compared with the very traditional Rothschild winery. Our tour ended with a tasting of a 2006 barreled wine and a slightly more mature 2004 wine. A good wine in France is meant to cellar for 15-20 years (and some even cellar for up to 60, depending on the quality), so young wines aren’t exactly smooth going down. You can still appreciate the aromas and flavors, though, and we really enjoyed learning about French wine.
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