Chagny and Puligny-Montrachet

For the second half of our France trip, we took the train down to Burgundy. Ever since I learned about the TGV in French class, I have longed to take a trip on it. Achievement unlocked! Traveling on a Sunday when many offices and restaurants are closed was a little frustrating. We had an issue with getting the rental car out of the Dijon train station parking garage but soon we were on our way, me driving manual transmission in a foreign country.

A little bit later, we arrived unharmed at Chateau de Bellecroix in Chagny, our picturesque hotel for several nights.

That evening we had reservations at Maison Lameloise, a three-star Michelin restaurant, so we went into town early to walk around. Most everything was closed, but we did find a sculpture of a giant rooster.

The next morning after breakfast, we headed to Puligny-Montrachet for a morning of touring Maison d’Olivier LeFlaive. Though we aren’t new to wine, we were new to Burgundy and the French system of appellations. We began by taking a stroll through Puligny-Montrachet to the vineyards, where Regis introduced us to the soil.

Just from where we were standing, we could see many different types of soil due to geologic shifts that affect the quality of the grapes produced. It began to make sense why many people say that Burgundy is the most difficult wine region – a difference of a few meters can make all the difference in the wine!

Following our vineyard tour, we had a cellar tour from Olivier LeFlaive himself as he walked us through the wine-making process.

Finally, it was time to taste some of the wine we had heard so much about, alongside traditional Burgundian cuisine.

Joe’s tasting notes:

After our stomachs were full with food and wine, we wandered down the road to Meursault.

This was our first up-close glimpse of the traditional Burgundian roof, a Flemish-style seen most famously at the Hospice de Beaune.

That evening we had failed to make plans as our travel style is equal parts planning and exploration. Again, many places in Chagny were closed on a Monday night. We stopped into a beer bar (!!!) and ordered some charcuterie, and the woman was very apologetic that the bread was stale since the boulangeries were closed on Monday.

It was getting late and all of the restaurants seemed to have curiously few people in them. There was an advertisement for one last place on a side street, and as we entered, we found all of the people in Chagny inside a cozy stone space, heated by a large wood fire. Le Grenier a Sel was a very lucky find!

We were welcomed with a kir aligote by a flustered but efficient waitress and immediately settled on sharing some escargot and fondue. Again dining on Monday night meant that they had run out of several things, but we managed to make do.

 

While it wasn’t on the level of Lameloise, it was one of the most enjoyably laid-back and delicious meals that we had in Burgundy. I never wanted to leave the rustic stone cellar, but all of that eating and drinking is exhausting!

Before departing from Chagny the next morning, I went for a run along some back roads past farm houses and cows, through forests and fields. I didn’t take my phone but it was a rave run in every sense. Then we were off towards Beaune…

April in Paris

The last time I traveled to France, I was 16 and with a large group of Methodists. Needless to say, this trip had a slightly different focus. Of course, we saw churches and museums, but we also had leisurely gourmet lunches and drank a lot of wine and walked a lot.

Our first full day, we opted for a super-touristy bike tour. Unexpectedly, we were the only Americans; everyone else was Australian! This was a great way to see all of the highlights and absorb some of the geography. It was fun, but not something I would need to do again. I didn’t find our tour guide to be very knowledgeable despite having grown up in Paris, or at least there were several discrepancies between what she told us and what I had read online and in books.

The next day I scheduled a walking food tour with Flavors of Paris. Lisa, our guide, led us through Saint Germain-des-Pres and we stopped in boulangeries, chocolateries, a store that specialized in olive oils and goods from Provence, and a few other places. She also told us about the history of the neighborhood, showed us the oldest restaurant in Paris, and the cafes where Hemingway and crew would hang out. We had a wonderful time with Lisa, capped off by a stroll through the Marche Saint Germain-des-Pres and a cheese plate with some wine.

We then took advantage of the evening hours at Musee d’Orsay (hint: Most of the museums have evening hours a couple nights a week if you want to avoid the peak crowds). Since our dinner reservations weren’t until 9:45, this gave us plenty of time to enjoy the art and digest from the food tour before heading to Verjus for dinner.

Roast asparagus from Poitou, house trofie pasta, pesto, pea vines, pine nuts, egg yolk, and brioche at Verjus

The next day we visited Notre Dame, and all of the tourists made me stabby. As someone with an interest in church architecture and history, it was maddening to not be able to enjoy it slowly and reverently.

As it was raining off and on, we were happy to head to our lunch reservations at La Tour d’Argent, an institution with beautiful views from the dining room. The service made upscale places in Nashville look like McDonald’s, and it wasn’t a surprise to see photos of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton eating at La Tour d’Argent. The food, the view, the wine…everything was exquisite.

Amuse bouche and Kir royales.

Coffee service with mignardises.

View of the Seine and Notre Dame from our table.

Even gray and rainy days in Paris are marvelous since all I wanted was to sit in a café, drink wine, and write depressing poetry. I kept singing Debussy’s setting of Verlaine, “Il pleut dans mon coeur comme il pleut sur la ville.” Since we hadn’t had enough of the tourist throngs, we navigated ourselves to Sacre Coeur in Montmartre.

The church is marvelous, totally different from Notre Dame and yet just as beautiful if not more so. And, of course, the views from in front of the church are fabulous with the city laid out in front of us.

Again, we took advantage of the evening hours at the Louvre. It’s huge and overwhelming, but I was happy to see some of the things I didn’t get to see at 16, particularly the Sphinx and the Code of Hammurabi. I had a Bible nerd moment in the Ancient Near East hall before we moved on to the Grand Hall. While Joe paid reverence to the Mona Lisa, I took in the enormous painting of the Wedding at Cana across the room.

Our last day in Paris was unscheduled, so we slept in, went for a run along the Canal St. Martin, and went back to Saint Germain-des-Pres to do some shopping. The caviste from our food tour had recommended some jazz clubs, so we had an early dinner at Pierre Sang for the 7 pm seating. I would highly recommend this experience. It’s a steal of a deal, chef’s choice, and the staff makes you guess the flavors.

After our dinner we traveled to Sunside/Sunset for the 9 pm jazz concert. It’s one of the original jazz clubs in Paris, and I was reminded how many African-American musicians spent time in Paris due to limited opportunities in America. While we saw a French quintet, the act downstairs was a jazz musician from New York.

It was a fitting closure to our time in Paris before hopping a train to Burgundy.

Arc de Triomphe from the Champs-Elysees

The top of the Musee d’Orsay from the Tuileries

Locks on the Pont des Arts

France Trip Food & Wine

Planche Mixte at a wine bar near the Place de la Republique that we stumbled upon looking for our first food in Paris. When our lovely, charming waiter brought this out, our eyes nearly jumped out of our heads. Then he came back with a different basket of bread and told us to eat one of the cheeses with butter and that bread.

It might have tasted good because we were starving and in Paris and eating charcuterie at a café, or it might’ve just been delicious anyway.

After a 30 km bike through the vineyards, we earned a bottle of wine in Beaune while we watched people go by.

Burgundian specialties: oeuf en meurette and escargots.

Enjoying a bottle at our bed & breakfast on the vineyards in Nantoux.

A simple café crème at a nearby café.

Cidre from Brittany at Breizh Café, to be consumed out of bowls.

Buckwheat crepe with onion confit, gruyere, tripe sausage, and an egg at Breizh Café.

Macarons at Laduree.

Bonbons at Une Dimanche a Paris

Choux waiting to be filled to order.

All different kinds of goat cheese.

Bleu cheeses.

Our cheese board and wine following our food tour with Flavors of Paris.

Beautiful pastries.