Quick catch-up

Trip Start Feb 05, 2010

Trip End Feb 17, 2010

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Where I stayed

Domaine Comtesse Michel de Loisy Nuits-Saint-Georges

Flag of France Nuits-Saint-Georges, Burgundy, France
Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Boy do I have lot of catching up to do.

It is 6.30am and I have just woken up in a lovely old town house in Nuits St Georges, which is in Burgundy on the Cote d'Or.

We were also in Burgundy last night, also in a B&B, in a town called Massangis, its claim to fame is place being very old and having a very old miniature railway- 5km of it-which we didn’t see, but did hear.

There is a vast difference between the two establishments we have stayed in. Both are houses that have opened their doors to visitors. One was picture perfect, ready to be shot for Vogue interiors magazine from every angle and every room, while here at Domaine de Loisy the patina of age permeates every surface and the rooms hold the memories of the families that have lived here

Lucky cat

. Our host’s family alone has been here since the 1840’s and there are fabulous oil portraits of great-grandparents and beyond gracing the walls.

In the course of 24 hours we have seen and done so much that the thought of catching up on all those lost days is rather daunting. Thankfully the camera has recorded the places we have been, meals we have eaten and movie stars we have rubbed shoulders with: the night before last it was Richard Dreyfuss who was travelling under the unassuming name of 'Lance’. But we knew better. The fact that he seemed to know bucket loads about industrial chemistry did not put us off- just a very convincing cover.

So Paris: loved it and was so sorry to have to go. If we had another week there we could have relaxed the pace a bit and gone to a show, had a picnic after picking up an organic chicken at the Raspail markets, hired some bikes on a Sunday morning and cycled through the parks, spent more time at museums and art galleries and bought some of those bargain priced shoes and handbags. Oh and the cashmere shop that I never got back to…so much more…

But getting on the road was an adventure in itself

Graham's sort of amusement

. Graham had requested a Mercedes as a hire car and when he was told that one wasn’t available, but an Opel was ready to go, he very firmly insisted that they had better find us the Mercedes we had arranged. Unfortunately, they could only get us a black E series, something-or-other, which is a bit of a monster, but who cares, it has plenty of leg room.

So it was in this beast that with sat-nav and left hand drive that Graham negotiated getting out of Paris from Gare du Nord. He handled the gridlocked traffic, motorcyclists cutting in and even emergency vehicles driving straight towards us without the usual contemptuous commentary that accompanies our every drive in Sydney. I’d put it down to a case of ‘dead-scared lockjaw’.

Due to me having a bad head cold/ hayfever or whatever, we changed our plan which was to go tto Monet’s garden and headed straight to Massangis, to ‘Carpe Diem’. We had only had a light lunch on the way, but nonetheless needed to kill a bit of time before dinner. So we decided to stretch our legs with a walk to the next village to see the church. That was an 8km round trip, which, after a refreshing shower in the Vogue bathroom, was enough to stir up an appetite.

Patrick prides himself on his table, and he cooks very flavoursome food which is served at a very Vogue interiors table

Andrew's recommendation

. It was an interesting meal, beginning with a glass of Chablis and breaking the ice speaking to the other guests- a Belgian couple who spoke French, a German couple who spoke German and no French, an American couple who spoke a little German and less French, and us. It turns out that my French is not too bad and we had a very enjoyable evening.

Breakfast as superb, with home made yogurt- excellent texture and quite light, fabulous preserves- easy on the sugar, good coffee, bread, brioche and even some cheese.

On our way to where we are now- Nuits St Georges, we stopped at Vezulay to see the basilica which was quite something- the local nuns and friars were doing their 12.30 singing and it sounded…divine.

Then on to a place called Beaune, where you could easily spend a week. It has history at every turn. Speaking of turns, I found out how to push Graham’s buttons (as if I already don’t know), but in future he knows if he can’t find me where I said I would be, then all he has to do is ring me!

This morning we way make an early start as our hostess Francoise needs to go to Paris and will be leaving at 9.30. We will be on our way to Lyon and an early start suits us too. So, down to breakfast, where the songs of the birds in the orangerie will keep us company.

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