5th January 2008

I bought croissants the day before so after washing them down with freshly brewed coffee we head out to visit the markets which have been set up early in the morning from the end of Rue de Maizieres, and will trade until about 12pm.  Although it is raining softly everybody seems to be doing a brisk trade.  This is a major shopping venture for not only locals but also for people who live in the surrounding townships and everything from oysters, meats, chickens and ducks (still with their heads on) rabbits, all varieties of fruit, dried fruits, nuts, lollies, honey, clothes even beds is for sale!  And lets not forget the truffles – Euros1995 per kg so the little one I inspect (that looks somewhat like a nasty little dropping you would find in a field of sheep!) is in fact 50 euros!  We purchase a selection of sweet biscuits and head back to the apartment by around 11.30am.

 As most of the shops close between 12 and 2pm we stay indoors out of the rain and rest. I have seen a place called Patriarche Pere et Fils and decide that it is our destination when we venture out again.  We pay our 10euro entry and are given a delicate silver tasting bowl and sent on our way.  What we encounter next is nothing short of amazing!  Two hectares in area, five kilometres of walkways and four million bottles of wine!  We wind our way through the somewhat eerie passageways, deep underground, surrounded on both sides by endless rows of bottles, some dating back to the 1860s. After what seems to be an endless journey, made even more ghostly by the fact that we appear to be quite alone in this subterranean maze of stone, we finally come upon our first sign of life! ‘La guide’ materializes through the next archway and tells us that we will find various ‘tasting stations’ along the way, three white wines and twelve reds to be sampled at our leisure and that if we enjoy any we can collect them in our basket along the way………. A couple of hours later we (almost) stagger out with a dozen different wines we simply must have!!  No doubt we’ll have to drink a few along the way as transport back to Australia may be an issue!  A great adventure.

 

We have made a booking at Le Relais de Saulx for dinner tonight. (Bookings are advised at most restaurants as many are quite small and you can easily miss out).  This restaurant boasts tables and an area somewhat larger than many of the typical French restaurants where you tend to be seated within elbow reach of other diners.  I choose the 24euro plat and enjoy half a dozen escargots, beef bourgoine and end with a sublime chocolate pudding with a heart of rich gooey sauce accompanied by white chocolate ice cream…..yum!  Gordy has the same but chooses the crepes with mandarin sorbet to which he gives the thumbs.  We have chosen a local red, naturelement, and finish with a refreshing verre de champagne.