Bordeaux, in the crescent moon (or the smile on my face)

I would have never guessed that arriving to Bordeaux was going to make me feel so happy. I am of the idea that Bordeaux wines are overrated, but seeing the city itself, I have to change my opinion and the simple fact of being produced close to this majestic town, justifies the price.

In a few minutes I will join a walking tour of the city, so before thinking ahead seeing, I can already say, the place is grand. It looks like a pampered miniature of the best Paris. 

The first thing I did, was to visit the tourism office (it is becoming a routine) and booked three excursions. A city tour for today, a full day visit to Saint Emilion, tomorrow and a full day visit to the Médoc: Margaux, Saint-Estephe and Pauillac AC (appellation contrôlée) on Tuesday. From there I will decide if I  prolong my stay or move on to the south of France. Nice wines over there as well. Oh dear, such a world of tastes and all at reach. One gets too ambitious and wants to see them all, and indeed, try them all. But again, life is about decision making and I will not escape this time.  

During lunch I started a conversation with a couple from Detroit. Linda and Robert had just arrived for a short stay in Bordeaux, and Robert said, that just for the glass of wine he had with his lunch, the trip was already worth it. Oh la la, wine lovers, we are joined by the pleasure of taste and indeed I cannot but agree with him. I had a glass of a long time friend, Château Bonnet, Entre Deux Mers, white Bordeaux. Délicieux, even more in situ. 

City tour. Mental reminder: do not do it again. I like much more walking without a direction or intention. Interesting though. After the tour I did a bit more of solo walking (I think I have been on my feet since 12:00) end ended up at the cathedral. For a minute I thought I was not going to visit a church! And this one, on top, was packed. Confirmation day. It was actually nice to see and listen, so I stayed for a while, faith still amazes me, but it is truth you can feel the strength and the sense of community inside a church full of people. 

18:30, it is cold (at least the wines in my boot will not suffer too much from abrupt changes of temperature, one has to always look at the positive side). Time to sit down and enjoy a glass of red Bordeaux, hey, that is what I am here for, right? Superb! Life is generous and I can only be grateful for that. 

Wine tip of the day: Château Lafont Fourcat 2009.

Merci et à votre santé! 

PS. Today I learnt that Bordeaux is at times represented by a crescent moon due to the shape of the Garonne river. 

"Le Vin Vivant" where Loire meets the Atlantic, Nantes.

Today I needed a day off. I know you might think I have been off for months, or at least weeks, but being an errant, is hard work... and a very nice one, as well.

I arrived to Nantes yesterday night and decided to extend my stay an extra night before driving down to Bordeaux. A deserved rest for the wine warrior. So today I did a day in the city, no vineyards, no wineries, only museums, churches and city walk. The weather is still cold and the sun seems to shine for its absence (literal translation from a Spanish saying that means the sun is nowhere to be seen). 

I was feeling a bit miserable in the cold when I saw the entrance to an art gallery, one that looked more like an antique shop, jammed and full of interesting objects (not only paintings). A painting caught my attention immediately, I just could not get my eyes off. The owner, with the Russian last name of Schkulnyk, was incredibly welcoming and nice. An artist himself, we ended talking about life, wine and career, he asked me if I wanted to try something that I had never tried before (several things crossed my mind) but since I am a declared HSS (high sensation seeker), I said: 'YES!'. What he gave me, was a glass of absinthe which, I recently learned during the wine course in London, is being produced again. So another first timer for me. A 68% alcohol spirit, with anise taste and... interesting. believe it or not, it was not that strong.

After all my efforts of getting rid of part of my painting collection, I am the proud owner of a small painting of two horses by Michel Guyon. I should give up on myself and my very noble intentions of getting rid of things, but when it comes to pretty objects, good intentions are futile.

So happy with my new acquisition I continued my city visit. Nantes is all under construction, so many places were closed or not at their prettiest. Still, a place worth the visit, with lots of museums and gardens. 

I have not yet mentioned the difficulties I am having eating in this country, their schedules do not coincide with mine and when I get hungry and start looking for a restaurant, they are closed... Today I had the firm purpose of EATING. In a country where its cuisine is of renowned fame, I was starting to fear I was not going to have the chance to try it, ending up eating the easy stuff, low quality and leaving half of it on my plate. God I am picky! 

So finding it easier to eat sweet, my crave for savoury is at its maximum. Midday (almost 15:00) and I did go into, what it looked like, a good place to eat, but was so deceived by the food and the wine, that I decided to focus my efforts on doing better in the evening. I even went into a wine & gourmet products shop and asked for advice of a place where I could enjoy a nice meal and a good glass of wine outside the touristic areas. I was kindly advised by the shop owner and headed towards my gourmet evening, only to find out the recomended 'Bar à Vins' was closed until the 15th of May and other attractive ones I found on my way, as well. 'Con mi gozo en un pozo' (with my joy in a well), I headed towards the cathedral, thinking of going back to the hotel and having another 'something to eat and fast to forget' meal. But my gourmet guardian angels, guided my steps towards 'Le Jardin des Plantes' and the 'Musée de Beaux Arts', two places definitely in line with my personal likes, to find 'THE PLACE' I was looking for; un petit et charmant bar à vins, and with a name as appealing as its apparence: "Le Vin Vivant" where I am enjoying an elegant Loire (Chenin Blanc) white, with a  recomforting soup and a cheese platter accompanied by a strong, full of personality, Côtes du Rhône (Grenache et Carignan) red. 

Life after good food and good wine is so much better. Time for dessert, between riz au lait au beurre salé, panna cotta avec coulis de framboise, crème brûlée et moelleux au chocolat, the winner is: moelleux au chocolat with a glass of red sweet wine, Grenache, from the French Catalan side. Life is marvellous by now. 

The music selection is also 'délicieuse'. What a pleasant evening it turned out to be. 

Hopefully tomorrow I will have an early start towards Bordeaux. Merci Loire, it has been my great pleasure. 

    "Le Vin Vivant" 93 rue du Maréchal Joffre, 44000 Nantes

And a book that might be worth reading: 

Rubis, a different sparkling

There is a first time for everything (or not) but you can congratulate me today for trying, for the very first time, a sparkling sweet red. Hurray! I had heard about them, but never tried one, and... Wow, it was quite something! OK do not expect me to say the it was the best sparkling wine I have ever tried, because it is not. I think that place still corresponds to Louis Roederer Cristal and to a Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose.

After the introduction, I should go back to the beginning. Today I woke up in Tours and visited the city. So many things happening in one day, that I have to go back in my memory and try to recall the day, but yes, it started in Tours. The lady at the tourism office was extremely helpful, giving me lots of information not only about what to do and see in Tours, but all my way to Nantes, where I am staying tonight.

Tours, of course, Saint Martin of Tours! It was kind of funny realising two things: first, that I am in a pilgrimage route. My first idea was to do the Saint James way from the French border to Compostela, but since I also wanted to do the road trip, in my mind I decided to call it 'my very particular wine pilgrimage', et voilà! My wishes come true. The second, that it is the same Saint Martin, who happens to be the patron of my Spanish hometown, Ourense. 

So it has been quite a mystic experience from cathedrals to vineyards and wineries. Definitely, god exists ;)

But the maximum exponent of beauty today, and the reminder of nature's greatness, came in the form of a tree. A sight that left me speechless for its magnificence and beauty. It is today's picture of a cedar of Lebanon, 31 meters high and with a trunk of over 7 meters circumference. 

After leaving Tours, my first stop was Langeais, I guess I am starting to bore you with my repetitive description of 'beautiful', but I tell you, they still are. Several deviations and Saumur. OK if you have not done so, you should definitely see it with your own eyes. It is worth it. 

After such a non-alcoholic day, he, he, upon leaving Saumur, I came across a bunch of wineries specialised in crémant of the Loire. I was very lucky to catch up a visit at the Bouvet-Ladubay caves, where they are producing sparkling and still wines from Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc, mainly. 

This time the subterranean caves digged on the typical 'tuffeau' soils of the Loire, also used to grow champignons due to the humid and cold conditions. They even have a Champignon Museum. Cool!(http://www.musee-du-champignon.com/) 

After the very interesting visit, that varied slightly from the Champagne production method, time to do some tasting, and this was the moment where Rubis, the red sparkling, came to my life ;)

Time to 'speed up' a bit, still have half of the way to go before I get to Nantes, so only a two hour stop at  Angers, where I could finally see a XIII century fortress, finally! A castle with its crocodile pit and everything. Nice. 

Time to make my way to Nantes and have nice glass of wine, before going to bed and continue my trip tomorrow. Soon in Bordeaux. 

Meet Rubis: http://www.bouvet-ladubay.fr/rubis_deguster.cfm

Sauvignon Blanc, le Roi du Loire

Early morning in Orleans. Outside is windy and cold. The streets dressed in blazons to celebrate 'des fêtes de Jeanne d'Arc', the city patron. Entering the cathedral of Sainte Croix d'Orleans, the music from the organ fills the massive structure, full of light and beautifully decorated ready to celebrate the day of the ascension, the felling is overwhelming, the powerful sound of the organ invading everything, making the cathedral even more beautiful.

The visit to L'Hotel Groslot, across the street from the cathedral and a walk around the historic centre of Orleans, warmed up the eye for beauty.

Today ended up being a sightseeing day, but the Loire Valley, 'c'est quelque chose!' 

Driving along the Loire river from Orléans to Tours, the views of the river and the castles are magnificent. The massive but elegant tall structures cut the sky, presenting the viewer with something so full of taste and grandeur, that is difficult to remain indifferent. 

After a couple of deviations, the first stop was the (if I use the word beautiful again, it will loose its meaning) indescribable city of Blois, with its royal castle in the highest point. The castle is a masterpiece in the outside and the inside, the richly decorated façades have nothing to envy the refined decoration in the inside. It is so exquisite, that it has to be French. Spanish castles were known to be robust, but the refinement of these castles along the Loire are an allegory to elegance.

After the visit, a walk around the city and a scenic drive to my next stop: Amboise. I am afraid I will not do justice to the beauty of Amboise, but it was the afternoon and being a bank holiday today, it was packed. I tried to go into the castle, but was dissuaded by a never ending queue that makes any place worth visiting, loose its attractive. However, I opted for a walk outside the crowded touristic points and the word 'charmante' comes to my head.

My French is doing better than expected, although I keep practicing my German on a daily basis, I think I have spoken more German in the last few days, than any month of my life in Germany. Lo que son las cosas...

A tout à l'heure.

et... Santé!

Cathédrale Ste. Croix, Orléans 

La Belle Sancerre

"Life is really amazing. We travel far to find ourselves. We experience the world in order to find our way home. The wisdom eventually goes to basic elements but no short cuts are possible. When we try to convince ourselves staying in the comfort zone, we cheat ourselves and we live unfulfilled". Extracted from an Email sent by Luc and that is constantly in my thoughts.

What an amazing day where nothing went as planned, the beauty of the 'no-plan' plan.

I left Reims this morning under a grey blanket of clouds threatening rain, and it was soon after that it started pouring by the litre while I headed west towards Paris. 

My ambitious plan for the day was to drive directly to Sancerre and from there visit and try the Pouilly-Fume and Menetou-Salon wines of the neighbouring regions, before ending the day in Orleans. The reality was that once I arrived to the absolutely-charming-little-village of Sancerre, I spent my whole day there. 

The first impression of the Loire Valley from its most Easter location in the Central Vineyards is quite something, not only its well known wines, but seeing where they are produced was great.

I parked my car and walked my way up to the hill top where the historical centre of Sancerre is located, with a magnificent view of the surrounding vineyards and the River Loire. Walking around the village was so pleasant, that I did not feel like doing anything else. Lunch time, but really not wanting to sit and eat, I bought a bag of 'croquettes de Sancerre' across the street from the church of Notre-Dame (another one) BTW, those of you who know my passion for biscuits, I can say these are the hardest cookies I have ever had in my life, with almonds and framboise and very tasty. Bag of cookies in hand, I made my way to the 'Maison des Sancerre', an amazing museum explaining all there is to know about the regions wines from the climate, weather, aspect, grape varieties, training, viticulture, vinification... in a very direct and friendly way. If you ever visit the place, really, it is worth the visit. 

A bit more walking and time to taste some wines... will not go into detail, but by 18:30 I had tasted 10 including a rosé and a red and a very uncommon matured in oak and on its lees white Sancerre, with a very peculiar complexity to it. Yes, I did buy a box with four Sancerre and two Pouilly-Fume. If you want the tasting notes, see below ;)

Time to continue the route, and the drive to Orleans was beautiful. I had all kinds of weather between the little-over 100 kilometres that separate Sancerre and Orleans, the spring countryside it's at its blooming best and the changing skies presented me with breathtaking snapshots, which I wish I could share with you, but you will have to take my word for it.

Visiting Orleans is my intention for tomorrow, before driving to Tours. For the time being I will go to bed with the rest of the croquettes de Sancerre in my belly, hoping not to get too hungry over night. Life as a job-free person is not always glamorous, and paying under 50€/night does not give you the right to have a restaurant nearby. As Per would say: "when you pay peanuts, you get monkeys!" The positive side is that breakfast is only 8 hours away.

BTW, on my way here, I passed by a museum that triggered my attention: Musee de la sorcellerie. Did not know they had those. Have a look! http://www.musee-sorcellerie.fr

Link to the Maison des Sancerre http://www.maison-des-sancerre.com/

In Sancerre 

Sancerre white 

Les Romains 2011 (Flint/clay)

Domaine Fouassier

Clear, pale, lemon, legs

Clean, med intensity, stoney-steely, lemon, grapefruit, blossom, stone fruit peach, honey

Dry, high acidity, med+alc 13%, med body, lemon, pear, grapefruit, grassy, floral, herbaceous

Finish: med

Very good

Drink now, not suitable for ageing

Price: 10€

Melodie de Gustave Fouassier 2011 (clay/flint on upper Cretaceous, limestone on lower kimmeridgien)

35 year-old vines 

Oak ageing (French) on the lees for 10 months and stirring of the lees

Domaine Fouassier

Clear, pale, Lemmon, legs, 

Clean, med+ intensity, honey, floral: blossom, biscuit, vanilla, lemon, developing 

Dry, high acidity, med alc, lemon, toasty, honey, stone fruit: peach, floral: blossom, creamy, buttery, vanilla

Outstanding

Can drink now, suitable for further ageing

Price: 15,50€

Pouilly-Fume white 

Domaine de Cassiers 2012 (clay/chalk)

Pierre J. Fouassier

Clear, pale, lemon, legs

Clean, med+, floral: acacia, lemon, grassy, herbaceous, fully developed

Dry, high acidity, med+ alc 12,5%, med- body, lemon, stone fruit: peach, grassy, fresh, med- finish

Very good, drink now, not suitable for ageing

Price: 9,00€ 

In the glory of Champagne

Hypnotised by this place, my second stop in the beautiful city of Reims it's its world famous cathedral, where one cannot but feel the extent of faith. When we say that faith moves mountains, here we can see them transformed into a magnificent monument for the glory of God where no human effort is spare to glorify the almighty God.

Gothic, high, reaching the heavens, full of coloured light entering through the thousand glasses. I am sure believers or not this place cannot leave anyone aloof and make you think of that afterlife we have been told and taught. One can imagine the construction of these temples, sometimes through decades, where human lives were devoted to this one task, sometimes not to see them finalised. An ongoing daily purpose, day after day, month after month, year after year. So often we get lost in our daily lives without finding a purpose, becoming mechanical, without being able to see the goal where all our human efforts are channeled towards. It is good to stop and take a step back from our busy lives and try to see where we are heading and devote ourselves to the rewarding task in order to find a sense.

After all these heavenly thoughts, and across the street from the beautiful romanesque-gothic abbey church, the Saint-Remi Basilica, it does not come as a surprise the relation between church and wine, and descending to the Taittinger cellars was a staircase to a different kind of heaven.

Excavated in the typical chalk soils of the Champagne region, some from the Roman times, were later used and expanded by the monks from the Saint Nicaise Abby to keep their wines. Owned nowadays by the Taittinger house, here they produce their most emblematic Comtes de Champagne using the traditional method, including the manual rémouage.

Coming back to earth with a 'dégustation' or their most commercial brut champagne, was not the best way to end the visit. 'C'est la vie!' as the French say and unfortunately, unless I pay well over a hundred Euros to try this particular one, I will have to live with the fact. One day, perhaps.

A second visit to the G.H. Martel & Co. Sometimes we get lost with the big names and the visit to the Martel cave was far more charming and familiar. We got a very nice explanation of the whole champagne process from climate, weather, soils, to the hand harvesting, four pressings, the amount of first run juice used for the champagne wines, the blending, first and second fermentation, etc. The after visit tasting included three types of champagne. First a brut Blanc de Blancs, followed by a very nice 2005 Millésime brut and an extremely tasty, long finish 'Charles de Cazanove Grand Apparat Brut', with biscuity, toasted flavour characteristics. Really good.

After the tasting I stayed around chatting to the lady who had guided our group, to find out that she was also in the middle of a career change and was doing her practices at the Martel house after her training. As Peter would write:"Je ne cherche pas, je trouve". Even though I promised not to buy any wine, I have the first two bottles in the car.

Walking back from the wineries I saw a restaurant called Flo. Since that is a nick name I was given when I visited Istanbul, I decided to go in. Next to me was a German couple and soon after my first course arrived, we started a conversation. Who was going to tell me that in my first day in France, I would end up having an over two hours conversation in German! Christian and Marianne, Nett, Sie kennen zu lernen. Thanks for the very nice chat, for your friendly approach and for the glass of rosé champagne. Ha ha ha... life has indeed a sense of humour.

Prost!

Sparkling, rose, red and white

"Life is about movement" and definitely about options.

Yesterday was a very special day, from start to end.

My stay in Belgium is resulting so pleasant, that I could not think of a better way of starting my official time off.

After leaving Germany and arriving to Belgium heavy hearted, it was kind of expected, that I needed some realisation time. My life in the last four months has been so hectic that little time was left to think ahead. I entered into the mechanical mode of resolving and closing a long list of 'to do' things that could just not be postponed. It was not a mater of importance, but of end date urgency.

The first couple of days, I felt a bit strange in my own skin, but as days pass by, the awareness after the numbness is making its way.

Wednesday was a crucial day, I woke up, not feeling my best, but clouds tend to fade when the sun shines, and my particular sun was shining for me with a kind smile and his soothing company.

After breakfast, a walk around the city of Antwerp in the best of companies, getting mixed impressions and not knowing how to interpret them, at the risk of making the wrong judgement. However, time usually brings the answer, and the evening arrived with a present for me: understanding. With everything falling into place and from the new perspective, it all has been about openings, personal growth and enhancement.

I must confess that not understanding has always been my Achilles heel, and despite of my recurring purpose of being accepting without the need of an explanation, I still have to work on that one, because there is a lot of room for improvement.

Thursday was one on the most pleasant days of my life. Dank U Peter, for showing me your beautiful hometown where Scheldt met Leie, Gent. Dank U for sharing the stories of the city and your own. It is such a luxury having the chance of visiting a place by the hand of a proud to be from Gent guide. Dank U for the lovely dinner with your family and for introducing me to 'the boys', your childhood friends. Each and every gesture has been a great honour and my great pleasure, and I know that every time anything Belgium related comes into my life, I will think of the week I spent here and the warm, friendly, belgian people I met. It was not needed, nor expected, however; it is greatly appreciated.

At times, life is so generous that you do not even have to choose, you can have a glass of each ;)

Gezondheid!