Rural France

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Well after a hectic couple of days in the middle of France in the Burgundy wine district, you find you correspondents winging our way back (by train) to Paris then straight through to Bruges in Belgium for the next two nights.

Our two days with Debbie and Phil in Pommard and surrounds were fantastic – if a little hectic. They proved excellent hosts and nothing was too much trouble for them as they organised meals and Phil drove us around the district on the first day. The accommodation was first class as they have done a terriffic job in fitting out the apartment. It is most impressive.

Yesterday, after we organised the balance of our holiday on the net, Chris and I took off on foot among the vineyards and into and around Beaune and back – a solid 4 plus hours of walking and photography around the area. It was fabulous, and allowed Debbie and Phil to get on with their things-to-do.

We then had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours with Steve – a neighbour, who took us though his cave (Cellar), and explained all about wine production in their area. It was fascinating – as was his collection of vintage cars. He was excellent company and his Chardonnay was excellent too – although he is a little dismissive of it since it is a Pinot area – and that is his clear preference.

We then had an excellent meal at a local restaurant – where our menu choices were scallops, sardines and duck. All washed down with copious quantities of wine – and bread. The breads here BTW are excellent.

A walk around the town (Beaune this time) finished off the night – and assisted Phil in reaching a level of sobriety that enabled us to crawl home on the least conspicuous route (only 3 kms or so)

So now off to Bruges and its becoming difficult to type as the TGV has reached its top speed and there is some – albeit subtle, movement. The trip started out with some excitement as Phil slightly misjudged the travel time to Dijon to pick up the train, and we were further constrained by roadworks along the way – but we made it with minutes to spare. It would have been quite amusing to see us bolting across the carpark fully laden to make it in time.

All good now though.

Enjoy the pics and we will write again time permitting, from Belgium.

All the best

Chris and Ian

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