Sauviac and the Wine Country

A visit to the church in Sauviac -- Claire made a call and the guardienne made an appointment for us to see the church -- she simply gave us the key!

 A tiny altar set up in the sacristy.

 And what could be better after a trip to church?  Lunch! 

 

 Then Jeanne took us on a car trip to remind us of where we were -- two chateaux over 500 years old that have been making wine at least that long.  the first, Chateau Malle, we had not heard of before.  We had a nice tour of the house which is still in the same family that founded it over 500 years ago, and a tasting of the Sauternes made there.  Even I liked it. 

 The second chateau was harder to find, easily explained after we stopped in the village of Sauternes to ask for directions.  the name is famous, but there is no sign.  Voila -- Chateau Yquem, which we understand to be one of the finest, if not the finest wines made anywhere.

The chateau itself was closed, but a guardien told us to walk around, take photos, enjoy the grounds, which we did.  Later we saw him in his golf cart, and he proceeded to describe the winery and the wines and told about the Chateau. 

Then Jeanne took us on a car trip to remind us of where we were -- two chateaux over 500 years old that have been making wine at least that long.  the first, Chateau Malle, we had not heard of before.  We had a nice tour of the house which is still in the same family that founded it over 500 years ago, and a tasting of the Sauternes made there.  Even I liked it. 

 Then it was back to Claire's for an apero on the terrace, and a lovely dinner inside. 

St. Macaire

 Our next outing was to St. Macaire, a walled town about 45 minutes north.  We found the entrance to the town, and the office of tourism just inside, housed in a half-timbered building.  Tom tasted a couple of wines while Jeanne, Anne and I got a bit of a head start walking through the town. 

 This sign was hanging outside the a building that was apparently empty; we don't think it was a Wells Fargo bank. 

 It would be nice if a Wells Fargo bank had such nice walkways, though. 

 

 The highlight of the town is the church, which has quite unusual frescos as well as lovely stained glass windows. 

 

Dinner with Ann

 The next day got off to a slow start, since the day before was pretty late.  We were on our way to bed at 1, and the party went on long after that.  So we were pretty well awake by lunch time on the terrace with Jeanne, Anne and Claire.

The walk through the hamlet came next. 

Right outside the gate we found a troop of girl scouts cleaning the local landmark, a statue of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child that had been engulfed by weeds, and was pretty dirty. 

Then it was off to the church, that sadly, was locked. 

We continued to the chateau, the home of Francois and Babatte.  Today we got a look at the outside.  Below are photos of the front, which is too big to fit in one photo.  

This is the right side and right wing. 

 This is the front entrance and the left side and left wing.  The front entrance is below. 

 

But since Francois and Babette were not at home, we trundled back to Claire's and got ready for the next party about a half hour away, at the  summer home of Jeanne's sister Ann's family.

 And it was quite a home.  There were so many people to meet and talk to that we had not much time for photos.  We learned later that it is about 10,000 square feet, and it used only for family gatherings and summers.  The family is about 50 people, though, so it might even get a little crowded!  In any event, our group of about 25 did not seem to even cause a ripple, as they effortlessly served wine and aperos under the tall trees, and then a dinner of gaspacho, grilled shrimp, green salad, a chocolate tart very like a giant brownie, and some of the best (homemade) ice cream I have ever had -- vanilla so rich it tasted like butter scotch.  And again, everyone was so warm and welcoming that we hardly realized when it was after midnight and time to think about the drive back to Claire's. 

 Ann's family home. 

The dining table under the trees.

St. Jean d'Angely to Sauviac

 On the way to Bordeaux we stopped at the village of St. Jean d'Angely to visit the church.  Of course lunch came first -- gezier salad (gizzards, likely duck, and don't knock it until you've tried it!), and roasted rabbit.

The church is covered and filled with carvings, which are so remarkable that it is a UNESCO cultural heritage site.  Much of it made not much sense to us, but we did appreciate some of the more bizarre carvings.  We learned from the materials in the church that the theme is the Apocalypse, so the weird figures are not so surprising. 

 The faces below are devils looking for bad souls in the church. 

 Even elephants were represented, quite feat since the artist probably never saw an elephant or even a drawing of one. 

Then it was off to Langon, a town just south of Bordeaux, where we picked up Anne at the train station.  As it happened, we met our host Christian who was picking up his sisters Isabel and Elizabeth (known as Zha Zha), who led us to the hamlet of Sauviac for the next leg of the trip.  We had been trying not to think about it too hard, since we had figured out that there was a party that night -- only 21 names to learn and 21 french speakers to talk to.

 Berangere made the melon dish, and a very tasty baked gratin of squashes, eggplant and tomatoes with herbs. 

 The canales....traditional pastry of Bordeaux. 

 A bit intimidating. 

 But a lovely group of French folks, very welcoming and warm. 

 Jeanne's eldest brother Francois.

 Tom, Anne, Ann and Elizabeth (this one known as Babette).

But it was all good, from the melons topped with a salsa made of tomatoes, onions and feta, to the grilled pork steaks, to the traditional canales pastries Christian had made, to the cheese tart supplied by Jean-Marie.

And in a very impressive show, Tom got all the names right before it was time to say goodnight!

Another wonderful meal a la Jeanne

 It was a drab day in the Vendee, made even more drab since Tom and I were both suffering from colds. But it was warm enough to eat lunch outside.  Here you see the succulent melon, a mixed platter of ham, duck breast and a pork spread, barely in the photo is a platter of tomatoes and feta, all to be followed by bowl of nectarines, Claud Renne plums and peaches.  Pour qu'a pas?  (Why not?)

 Although a few drops entered the picture before the fruit was done and we made a run for it, finishing inside at the dining table. 

Chateau d'Apremont

 We spent our first night in Paris at a hotel near the Gare de Montparnasse, and left the next morning by train for Nantes to pick up our rental car.  From there it was a quick trip to St. Sornin, where we had a lovely dinner with Jeanne and daughter Pascale and her partner Kyra.  After Pascale and Kyra departed the n ext day, we took in some local sights, such as the Chateau d'Apremont, about an hour away.  The view of the town above is from the chateau. 

The main structure of the chateau remains, although two upper stories are gone.  Here is a view from one of the two remaining towers over the countryside.  Below in the trees is a river, that was to become a port, many miles from the sea. 

The door at the base of this tower leads down to the ground level through a passage large enough for horses.  It was designed so that horses and riders could enter below and emerge on the upper level, and be seen from below -- very impressive. 

 The tour included a trip up the very creaky stairs, to the kitchen which was on a very VERY creaky floor. 

 This is the kitchen fireplace, with the bracket for holding pots. 

 And this is one of the pulley mechanisms we have seen in a few places, that allowed for the automatic, or perhaps almost automatic, turning of a rotisserie over the fire.  

And so we don't get too jealous of the chateau kitchen with all of its modern conveniences, this is the pastry ovens -- a simple cabinet of stone, with three cavities opening on the top.  Not shown is the oven below for tossing in the wood for the fire.  Not exactly precision work. 

We enjoyed a lovely lunch in a local cafe and sped  back to Jeanne's home, La Gite.