St Emilion

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St EMILION - 7th May 2007 (Monday 22º Partly Cloudy)

Catherine Ouzoulias is not only a great homemaker and interior decorator; she is also a great cook. Cooking aromas entice us downstairs from our room.

We arrive to be seated at a lovely table for two, which is made up with antique linen tableware and crockery. The smells that drew us were the homemade apple pies, freshly baked baguettes and ginger breads. These are competing for attention with the muesli, as well as 8 different varieties of chutneys, jams, relishes and freshly brewed café au lait.

After breakfast we drive to nearby Lebourne to get some digital pictures copied from SD card to CD. The guy in the Kodak shop talks about Australia and in particular the recent drug use allegations against Ian Thorpe. Of course nothing is proven and yet his great name is sullied and will be forever, regardless of his guilt or innocence. If you throw enough mud some of it will stick.

We return to St Etienne and seek out the TAPAS bar whose owner was our saviour last evening. A nice healthy lunch with good local produce fortifies us for some serious wine tasting (degustation).

Into the FFF and off to the northeast in search of the St Christop winery which, incidentally we couldn’t find! As it turns out this navigational mistake was fortuitous.

Instead of finding St Christop we find a Wine Co-Operative that is open and has tastings. Seeing as we are lost we decide to go in.

The person in charge has very little English and she defers to one of the Co-Op members who just happens to be visiting at the same time we arrive. Her name is Colette de la Roy and her English is excellent. After tasting several wines from the 150 vineyards that are cellared at the Co-Op we taste one from Colette’s winery and it is excellent!

We have a good yarn and Colette invites us back to her Chateau for a visit and to meet her husband. This visit is one of those magic moments that you encounter from time to time when you travel.

We are at Chateau de la Roy and get the guided tours from stem to stern. The roof space is amazing. The main timbers holding the roof up are exactly 200 years old as this place was built in 1807. They are held together with wooden nails and masterful technique and I can probably guarantee that they will still be there holding up the roof in another 200 years from now.

Down to the barn and hear about Colette’s plans to turn this edifice into a Wine Tasting Cellar. It is necessary to eke out additional income (e.g. from Tourists and the like) as they are only allowed to produce ‘x’ litres of wine and if they make more the Co-Op goes over its quota and is left with an excess to pour down the drain. They can’t sell it and they can’t export it - these are the rules.

We hear a tractor approaching and 75 year old Philippe de la Roy chugs into view. He dismounts easily and after formal introductions proceeds to speak French to Deb and I for the next two hours, as he has no English at all. This does not distract from our communications as Colette occasionally translates or Philippe waves his arms and gestures until we comprehend or we all shrug it off in complete confusion.

Back inside an open fire burns slowly in the hearth. They are burning old vines and the smell has permeated the whole house giving it a warm homely feel. A World Globe is produced and we pin point Sydney, Orange and Manilla - our hosts marvel at the distance between France and our home a world away. Philippe is impressed with the building that is built in what he describes as the style ‘de la bateaux’ - after a quick game of charades we work out that he is talking about the Opera House as it has the sails ‘of a boat’.

We leave our new found friends and head to the nearby village of Castillon La Bataille where Colette has booked us in to a local restaurant. As we stroll into La Fontaine Le Manon Restaurant every head is turned our way and you get the feeling that this little place doesn’t see too many foreigners. We order in broken French and end up with Elephant’s Testicle Risotto and a Peanut Butter Sandwich. Not really - I have Venison Stew and Deb has grilled steak (Entrecote) - mine was great!

Back to the Chateau.

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Photos

Breakfast at Chateau Franc Pourret
Lovely homemade goodies every morning!

Hotel de Ville - Lebourne
Hotel de Ville = Town Hall in Aussie speak!

Chateau De La Roy
This is Colette and Phillipe's Place - nice shack eh?

Chateau De La Roy
Colette and Phillipe - wonderful friendly french folk.

Chateau De La Franc Pourret
The Cellar underneath where we are staying. I'll just pop downstairs and get some more wine.