Back in the U.S.A.; A Few Final Photos

Cheese vendor at Annecy market

Along Lake Annecy

We're now home in the U.S., having flown back from Lyon on Monday. We spent the weekend in Lyon after taking a train there from Annecy on Saturday morning. Annecy has a population of around 50,000, which was a bit of a change for us after spending the first part of our trip in small villages and towns, but Lyon was a different story still. Lyon is France's second largest city, with a population of over 1 million in its metropolitan area. And while many other cities or towns we visited were located on a river, Lyon has 2 major rivers running through it: the Rhone and the Saone (and some would add a third - the river of Beaujolais wine that flows into Lyon from just outside its northern boundary).

One of the two rivers bisecting the heart of Lyon

We spent most of our time in Lyon just wandering through different parts of the city, crossing its two rivers several times (and partaking of that third river on several occasions). We went into the courtyards of some of the colorful former silk weavers houses in Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon), and, along with about half of Lyon's residents, spent Saturday afternoon at the large Tete d'Or park near the center of the city. While walking through an out-of-the-way neighborhood on the way towards the park, we stopped into a wine store, where the proprietor was pouring a couple of red Burgundies to sample. We checked out the wine selection (it was outstanding), and talked to the owner briefly, asking if he had ever heard of the Chatus grape variety (he hadn't). Then, hoping to avoid the usual tourist haunts for dinner, I decided to ask him if he could recommend a restaurant that served traditional regional food. He highly recommended a restaurant just down the street -- Le Bouchon des Filles -- and suggested that we make reservations because it was such a popular spot among locals. So we called and made reservations for that night, and were very happy that we did. The place was packed for dinner, not a tourist in sight (except us), and the food was interesting and outstanding.

On Sunday, we began the day by going to Les Halles, the indoor food hall of Lyon, which was a short walk from our hotel. The shops at Les Halles carry an amazing selection of cheese, meat, seafood, vegetables and pastries, among other things, but since we were leaving the next day we could mostly only admire the food, just picking up a few cheeses and some bread for the next day and to bring home. We then walked to the center of Lyon, where a huge outdoor food market sprawled along the banks of the Saone. After again admiring an amazing array of food products, we had lunch in the center of Lyon. After lunch we spent a couple of hours in the Museum of Miniatures (www.mimlyon.com), located in a magnificent building in Old Lyon, then walked up (and up) to the Fourvière Basilica, which looks down upon the center of Lyon from high above the city. At the end of the day we had a simple dinner in the center of the city, then took one more walk into Vieux Lyon before heading back to our hotel to try to get some sleep before our 3:45 a.m. wake-up call the next morning.

Building housing the Museum of Miniatures

The next day was long, and not worth describing. It was nice to get home after a grueling day of travel (including a 5-hour layover at the Madrid airport), but the first thing we noticed was that while all the snow was gone, the trees were still naked and there were almost no flowers yet, just a few daffodils. It was quite a contrast to all of the areas of France that we visited, since Spring was well underway in even the more mountainous areas. Below are some photos showing the contrast.

The day we left home (March 26)

Flowers on our first day in France

Flowers in Annecy in mid-April

The day we returned home

From the Loire to the Auvergne to Lyon

  Now that we're in Lyon we have Internet access where we're staying (the McDonald's in Vichy wasn't really the best place to post from), so I'm posting a rundown of our past 6 days.

   Last Friday, our last full day in Ancenis, the weather was pretty miserable and Ann wasn't feeling that great, so I took the train into Nantes, a short 20 minute ride. Nantes is one of France's largest cities, and was the capital of the old duchy of Brittany before France conquered Brittany in 1488. I spent a few hours wandering around Nantes, visiting the massive chateau palace of the Dukes of Brittany.

     On Saturday we left Ancenis for the fairly short drive to Bourgueil in the Touraine region of the Loire Valley. On the way we stopped at the beautiful medieval village of Candes Saint-Martin on the Vienne River.

     After checking into our hotel in Bourgueil (La Promenade) and having lunch there, which consisted of a large plate of charcuterie that had been made by Ludo, one of the proprietors, we took a drive to visit Domaine de la Chevalerie. Chevalerie is one of the finest wine producers in Bourgueil, making 5 or 6 different cuvees of Cabernet Franc wines from separate vineyard parcels. The wines we tasted were really magnificent, as was their ancient stone cellar beneath the property. In addition to visiting Chevalerie, we made a brief stop to get a view of the chateau in Ussé.

      That night we had dinner at La Promenade, which is a hangout for local vintners and wine lovers. The next morning we headed for the Allier department in the Auvergne, where we were going to spend 2 nights with Cathy and Jim Baxter, British friends who have a house in Chantelle. On the way we made a few stops, including Langeais and Azay-le-Rideau, both of which have magnificent chateaus.

Langeais

Azay-le-Rideau

The weather was iffy during our stay in Chantelle, and we spent a fair amount of the time just sitting around with the Baxters and their French friend Ghislaine, eating and drinking various wines from the Loire, Saint Pourcain (the local AOC), and Burgundy, where Ghislane lives. We also took a walk into the center of Chantelle and visited the ancient Abbey of Chantelle, which is still in use.

After leaving Chantelle on Tuesday morning we drove to the nearby city of Roanne, where we planned to stay one night and return our car. On the way we passed through magnificent countryside and stopped at a couple of beautiful villages, including Ambierle and St. Haon le Chatel.

Ambierle

Curious (and safe) cat in Ambierle

St. Haon le Chatel

     We then checked into our hotel in Roanne, returned the car, and took a walk around the center of the city. Roanne isn't a city geared to tourism, with few hotels and restaurants, but there are some beautiful old buildings in the center. The short time we spent there was sufficient, but it was interesting to see a city that is basically a working town. Unfortunately, our one chance to try a Cote Roannaise wine (100% Gamay) was a major disappointment, as our dinner wine was barely drinkable.

Rainbow over Roanne

     Wednesday morning we walked across the street from our hotel to the train station and took the train to Lyon, a one hour trip through some beautiful countryside. In Lyon we were staying at an apartment near the center of the city which we rented from Corinne, whom we had rented from several years ago. One of the big attractions of the apartment, in addition to its location, is the view of the basilica of Notre Dame de Fourviere from the balcony of our 8^th floor apartment. In addition, Corinne's cat, Neko, reluctantly agreed to pose for my blog.

Fourviere from our terrace

Fourviere from the river

Neko

A few days in Lyon

    Just a few of the high points of our 3 day stay in Lyon.

    Les P’tits Peres, an excellent restaurant in the heart of Lyon recommended by the owner of the apartment we’re staying at.  We had lunch there yesterday, and are heading there for dinner tonight.  Here are shots of the exterior, interior, and bathroom(!).

    Spring has arrived here, and below are a few photos of flowers and flowering trees taken around the city, and one from our balcony.

    And here are a couple of photos taken on our balcony last night.

    And finally, a little political flavor: a poster in a park, and the café next door to our apartment (obviously misspelled!).

Finishing Up In Cremieu, Part 2

  Like last year, we finished our trip in the town of Cremieu, not far from the Lyon airport.  We left our gite in Beaucroissant on Saturday morning, and made a couple of stops on the way to Cremieu, which is only about an hour from Beaucroissant as the crow flies, although it took us a lot longer since we're not crows..

   Our first stop was in Saint Chef, a small town with some remarkable buildings, including a beautiful church dating from the 10th century, which in this case was open to visitors.

      We had a picnic near the center of Saint Chef, and then continued our drive. This weekend was the Isere's equivalent of the Ferme en Ferme event that we went to last weekend when leaving the Rhone area.  There was a goat cheese producer on the outskirts of Cremieu, La Chevre "Ry," that we planned to visit, and on the way we stopped to get a view of a chateau.  La Chevre "Ry" is presumably a play on the word "chevrerie," which means a farm that makes goat cheese.  We stopped to visit the farm, and the goats, and bought several of their cheeses before heading towards our hotel in Cremieu.

     For our last night we stayed at the same hotel as we did on the last night of our trip in 2017 -- Auberge de la Chaite. It's a wonderful small, old hotel with a great restaurant. After checking in we walked all over Cremieu again, stopping at the brewery Les Ursilines for a beer in their outdoor courtyard.  It was a beautiful afternoon, so we took several pictures of the chateau ruin high above the town and the former medieval priory that we had visited at the beginning of our trip. We also spied a cat that was curious but safely out of reach.

     In the evening we had dinner at the Auberge, which was just as outstanding as it was last year.  The difference was that last year it was chilly and we sat in the main dining room near the fireplace, whereas this year it was warm and we sat on the outdoor terrace. The food was outstanding, and the restaurant has an excellent selection of local wines, including several producers we had visited last year.  We had a glass of sparkling wine from the Caveau Bugiste in the Bugey region, and a bottle of Altesse (Roussette grape) "Marestel" from Domaine Dupasquier in the Savoie.  After dinner we took one last stroll around Cremieu.

     On Sunday morning we had breakfast at the Auberge, then took a short walk to the great bakery we had visited several times this year and last, and picked up some croissants to bring home.  We then drove to the Lyon airport for our journey to Boston, which, with a connection in Munich, seemed to take forever.  We arrived home late last night via the bus from Boston, having been awake almost 24 hours.

Arriving in France

We began our trip to France exactly the same way we began last year’s visit. We flew on Lufthansa from Boston to Lyon with a change in Munich, picked up a car at the Lyon airport, and made the short drive from the airport to Cremieu. Cremieu is a small town that we fell in love with the first time we stayed there a few years ago, and this was our third visit.  We parked near the center of town, and spent the afternoon walking through the town, going up to the medieval chateau, walking around the old walls, and passing by the former convent buildings. The brewery Les Ursulines, named after the nearby former Ursulines convent, opened at 4 p.m., and, following our tradition, we stopped to have a beer in their courtyard.

We had booked our hotel for the first night back in the Fall, and wanted to stay at Auberge de la Chaite, where we had stayed on our two previous trips. When I made my reservation, I discovered that the hotel had been sold by the family that had run it for over 30 years. It was a charming place with just 9 rooms, and a great restaurant serving classic French country cooking, with the chef being one of the owners. It was now called Hotel Le Baron, and was being run by a young man and his partner. Based on what I could see from the web site, the decor had been changed somewhat, and the menu was totally different. However, we decided to give it a chance. The rooms were still quite nice, albeit furnished differently, and the decor of the common areas and the restaurant was very different.  As for the restaurant, the meal was enjoyable, but in our opinion it didn’t compare to the meals we had had at Auberge de la Chaite.

Friday morning, before leaving Cremieu we stopped at Les Saveurs Paysans, a small food shop that carries products from local producers.  We bought several goat cheeses from a nearby farm, strawberries that had just come into season, walnut oil from a local mill, and some sparkling wine from a Bugey producer.  We then headed out to visit some wine producers in the Maconnais on our way to visit our friend Ghislaine in Burgundy.

The Maconnais wine region is a little south of the famous wine appellations of Burgundy in the Cote d’Or. The wines from Maconnais are almost all white, and, like the white wines from the rest of Burgundy, are almost all 100% Chardonnay. And speaking of Chardonnay, in the middle of the day we stopped in the village of Chardonnay, which proudly proclaims that it gave its name to the Chardonnay grape.  Also, the village of Chardonnay, like many villages we drove through, can append its name to Macon as an appellation. Among the appellations whose wines we tried on this excursion through the Maconnais, or whose vineyards we passed through, were Macon-La Roche Vineuse, Macon-Uchizy, Macon-Bellait, and Macon-Ige. We visited 3 wineries, 2 of which we had stopped at previously – Chateau de la Greffiere in La Roche Vineuse; Domaine Talmard/Mallory et Benjamin in Uchizy; and Domaine Corsin in Davaye, principally a producer of Pouilly-Fuisse. The Maconnais produces excellent wines that are an affordable alternative to the more prestigious appellations of the Cote d’Or.

After leaving Domaine Talmard we headed towards Gueugnon, where Ghislaine lives. We had stayed there several times, and were familiar with the route.  We arrived there mid-afternoon, and after spending a little time with Ghislaine, Ann and I took a walk into the center of Gueugnon while Ghislaine started dinner. She had a dance class that night, so we had an early dinner before she left.

The next day Ghislaine drove us to several sights in southern Burgundy. We made a brief stop at a medieval chateau in the village of Chassy. Besides the medieval part of the chateau, there was a tower that was clearly modern, but fit in well with the rest of the chateau; it appeared to be a vacation rental property through Gites de France. After Chassy, Ghislaine drove us towards the village of Uchon, where we took a walk through the hills and admired the views, as well as the numerous huge rocks, known as Les Rochers du Carnaval, that proliferated there. Afterwards we stopped at an auberge in Uchon and had lunch outside.  After lunch we went to Mont Dardon, a viewing area high above the valley with outstanding views in all directions, and took a walk around the park. Afterwards Ghisliane drove to a goat cheese producer she had visited once before, but Friday was their closing day.

Chateau de Chassy

Rocks of Carnaval

Hazy View From Mont Dardon

We then returned to Guegnon, and Ann and I took a walk to the center of town to pick up some provisions for the evening.  Ghislaine’s 3 children, their spouses, and their 4 children were coming to dinner that night, and Ghislaine was making Raclette, along with accompaniments such as potatoes and charcuterie.  Ann and I were supplying the wine, as well as dessert. We had hoped to get a gateau (a cake), but all of the bakeries had sold out, so we got a few dozen macarons. It was a very enjoyable evening, and everyone liked the raclette and the macarons. When they weren’t eating, the children spent most of their time running around the house playing games with each other.

The next day was a whirlwind tour of goat cheese producers, small villages, and visits to Ghislaine’s parents and several long-time friends of hers. Our first task was to find a particular goat cheese producer, but on the route we spotted a sign for La Ferme de Bellevue, a farm that had goat cheese and chickens. We stopped there, and while they were out of chickens and eggs, they had plenty of goat cheese. So we stocked up there, and then headed for the other farm, La Ferme des Biens Vivants. It was a beautiful place, and after buying several goat cheeses, we went to the barn to see the goats. There was a young woman there feeding the goats, and she talked to us a little about their operation, which had over 150 goats.

Figurines at La Ferme de Bellevue 

Real goats at La Ferme des Biens Vivants

After leaving the second farm we headed towards Ghislaine’s parents’ house, first making a few brief stops along the way, including this beautiful church in the countryside.

When we arrived at Ghislaine’s parents, her mother had made lunch for us. It was an enormous meal, and included cauliflower gratin and a roast pheasant that a friend of theirs had hunted. It was a real treat, as pheasant is not something you often find in the U.S.

After lunch we drove through the countryside and made a couple of stops, the first of which was Le Moulin d’Angoin, an old restored water mill that appeared to be a residence. The next stop was the town of Saint-Gengoux-le-National, a medieval town with some beautiful old buildings, and a couple of non-Medieval cats.

Moulin d'Angoin

Saint-Gengoux

We then finished the day by visiting two couples who are longtime friends of Ghislaine, all of whom we had met previously. We shared a bottle of wine from the Maconnais, a Vire-Clesse, that the friend at whose house we all met brought up from his cave.  When we left he gave us a bottle of sweet Coteaux de Layon that he had picked up in the Loire, and we had that after dinner at Ghislaine’s house.  This was our last night in Gueugnon; the next day we were heading a little bit north in Burgundy to the village of Chateauneuf-en-Auxois.