Heaven on Earth

View to the Cathedral

Cathedral Tower

Old Town Dijon

A trip into the town of Dijon in search of mustard and wine was our morning task before heading down the Cote D’Or to visit all of the famous names of Burgundy, Gevrey Chambertin, Chambolle Musigny, Vosnee Romanee and the rest. The morning task was successful, a variety of hand made mustards and a bottle of a very fine Savigny les Beaune went into the luggage.

Vines at Clos de Vougeot

The road was made interesting by visits to one or two villages and to the chateau of Clos de Vougeot set amongst endless acres of vines. A handful of Pinot Noir grapes pinched from a nearby vine added a little extra taste to the visit. Even tastier could have been the opportunity lost as we drove into the chateau where through a gateway a lithe young woman was photographing the vines. A gust of wind exposed a bare bottom and the opportunity to make a picture to equal the tennis player that adorned many a student and office wall.

Chateau Clos de Vougeut

Apologies for lack of other images.

Dijon Clock?
Not intended but I love it anyway

Arriving in the environs of Lyon saw our lady companion subjected to the greatest round of abuse yet, in fact she was seriously fortunate not to have been hurled from the car as she had us in wrong lanes to approach junctions and slip roads. She almost ruined a good day. But we weren’t finished, bus and train got us into the old town of Lyon where the streets are thronged with interesting restaurants, many of them specializing in cuts of meat that we don’t see at home.

Into the restaurant and what is on the menu? Calf Heed or as they say it these parts, Tete de Veau. Anyway I ordered it and Nick ordered the local variation of black pudding. Bliss. Great bottle of Crozes Hermitage and the attentions of a bunch of great young women or as they became known Nick's Angels.

Nick, Crozes Hermitage and my Calf Heed

Nick's Angels

Preparation Day

I think that I mentioned a Tour in the last post, well today was the day for getting prepared, tomorrow at 06.00 is lift off time. Travelling light, which is difficult when you are as big as me, is to be the order of the day as the car in which we will be travelling is already loaded to the gunwales with a variety of large items that will help furnish a property in Murcia. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. For the benefit of the doubters the photograph below shows my luggage packed ready to go.

Luggage

Back to the beginning. The notion of the Tour emerged from one of our regular Friday sessions. To appreciate this you will, first of all, have to meet Nick. Nick is one of the core group with a high attendance record at Society functions. By occupation he is a semi retired merchant mariner who has spent a lifetime travelling the oceans. Consequently, he could be described as well travelled. As his work commitments decreased he decided to acquire some property in the south of Spain. He is now in the throes of setting it up and as part of the preparations bought a left hand drive vehicle to leave at his home from home. Having done so the decision had to be made as to how to get it there. Well it is a long drive so it took little thought to volunteer to help with the driving.

The decision taken to drive, the next question to be addressed was what route would the journey take? At this point it should be revealed that Nick is rather partial to a nice bottle of wine. A series of strategy meetings determined that a route encompassing the joys of Champagne, Burgundy and the Rhone would make a good start with a small diversion to some of the lesser known regions before a fair sampling of the Spanish viticultural efforts. Thus was born the VGLPS Wine Tour. Hopefully more to report at a later date.

Nick

We can't leave mention of Nick without doffing our caps to his brother, John. John is another life long seaman who is also semi retired. Now that he is spending a little more time at home he has taken to the culinary arts with some enthusiasm. Each week we await the latest creations from his kitchen. He is confidently producing a fine line in pate, scrumptious bread and the best sausage rolls for miles around. Regular phone calls to Irene have been an education as John develops his skills. It won't be long before he adds the Luscious Lemon Drizzle to his repertoire.

John

An early start requires a closing of this post, but there will be ample opportunities to meet up with Nick and John in the future.