Grand Cru, France

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Geo: 46.2276, 2.21375

Set out from Cadillac about 9am heading to St-Emilion. We have always enjoyed the wines of this area so decided we had to visit as we were so close. Drove through beautiful countryside, enjoying the vine covered slopes and the early morning sunshine.
At St-Emilion we found a park and walked up through the town. Stopped at a wine store which was offering tasting and spoke English, "with a French accent". The young man there was very hospitable and offered us a couple of very nice reds to taste. We had a great discussion about wine with him. Eventually bought a couple of reds to enjoy along the way. We then walked up through the centre of the town which was old and very attractive. After about 45 minutes wandering we returned to the car and set off again.
We drove towards Toulouse. We went through some interesting countryside, mainly covered with vines but other farmlands and pretty landscapes took our attention.We stopped at Agen, a large town, along the way to have some lunch. This was OK, but not great. I tried a cassoulet as Ross is always raving about them. It was alright but Fletcher's duck was ordinary
We again skirted the big city and headed south. Our aim was to head towards Andorra, another country to add to our list. We drove through several towns, including Foix, which looked very interesting with a wonderful chateau on the hill. However, it was very busy so we continued. As the afternoon drew on we became concerned to find an appropiate place to stay. We were heading into the Pyrenees but could not reach Andorra before dark. We followed a sign to a small village of Le Perles et Le Castelet and found a hotel there, which seemed very ordinary. Booked in but felt we were in the middle of nowhere!! Walked through the town and it was very small with few people about.
However, when we went down for dinner found several other couples in the restaurant there and had a fantastic meal. The host was very friendly even though he only spoke French. Not a word of English was heard for the evening!!! We asked for a bottle of Alsace Reisling but it was not in stock. Instead he brought us a bottle of Alsace Sylvaner. Fletcher tasted this and said OK. I noticed the very yellow straw colour and the taste and asked what year it was. It turned out to be a 1996!!! When we pointed this out to the host he was concerned that we might find it not OK, however, for us this was a bonus. An aged white and for a very reasonable price.
The couple at the next table also joined in the conversation. All in French, Of course!! Again we found this to be a serendipitous choice of somewhere to stay.

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