Dijon to Marsanne - Tiles and Teabags
Trip Start
Aug 21, 2010
1
19
27
Trip End
Sep 22, 2010
Marsanne, Rhône-Alpes, France
Friday, September 10, 2010
First stop was Beaune, a lovely town famous for it's Burdundy and the intricate roof tile designs on some prominent buildings. One of these buildings is the Hotel-Dieu (Hospital). We grab a cafe creme in the square then headed off to see the Hotel-Dieu. This is/was a hospice for the poor, built in 1443 and was still being used up until 1971. Since then, it has been converted back to how it was in the middle ages.The rooftops are quite amazing. They are covered in glazed multicoloured tiles which create beautiful geometric patterns. These patterns became very popular and we saw many other examples of them around Dijon, but these ones, (the originals), were definitely the best.
The hospital rooms were also fascinating with some very 'interesting' examples of early surgical equipment. After a wander in the sun around Beaune we bought some filled baguettes and headed off.
The rest of our journey was going to be mainly on the toll motorways. Not much to see along the way, but driving at 130 kph means you get there very quickly!
On the way we were fascinated by the amazing hill formations. One in particuar was quite outstanding and we seemed to be following it all the way. Ironicaly, when we got to the B&B it was basically the view from our room!
Our B&B is in the middle of the countryside, just on the 'border' of Provence. It is pleasant enough accommodation but the owner is an American who is big into conspiracy theories on 9/11...........we'd booked dinner as well as there is nowhere nearby to go out for a meal but unfortunately, dinner wasn't until 8pm and we'd arrived about 5.30...........what to do til dinner??
We had some lovely wines in the car........but no corkscrew! (The French still haven't cottoned on to the practicalities of screwcaps). Neither of us wanted to go and ask Andy for a corkscrew in case he started off again about 9/11, so we were reduced to sipping on warm Pastis.......the only thing we could open! After a while we were getting very hungry - warm Pastis can do that - so we broke into the half-eaten camembert cheese that had been in the car all day. Anything will do when you're hungry.........!
Finally it was 7.30pm and we could go to the dining room where we met up with the other couple staying there. They were Dutch and were spending 3 weeks walking around France. Schtein (that's how you say it), prides himself on being able to speak several languages which was just as well for us else it would have been a very limited dinner conversation! (As it happens, Schstein and his wife met in NZ in 2001 while on a tour there.)
Andy was nowhere to be seen at dinner as apparently he does all the cooking. However, Jacqui, his wife was Maitre 'D and she is a true fiesty French lady who made no attempt to speak english for us. However, we got off to a good start when she walked in and straight away realised she & I were wearing the same clothes....a female 'bonding' moment!!!
Jacqui proceeded to show us the menu for the night, all in French which we had very little idea about but Schstein said it would be good....and it was..........!
The starter was courgette sliced with a mandoline and rolled, 'cigar-like' and stood upright on the plate.....then doused in garlic butter!!! The garlic fumes were so strong you could have put a match to it, but it was absolutely delicious!
Main course was a fresh-water fish cooked skin-on on a bed of saffron risotto......the fish was so tasty and fresh and the saffron really came through in the flavour.......Dessert was fresh peaches (from the neighbour's orchard) marinated in Kir and served in a caramel basket...............superb! We rate this meal as the second best meal we've had in France.
Unfortunately, I was dissappointed when on leaving they charged me 5 Euros for the two cups of tea I had asked for 'off menu'............one when we arrived and the other before bed. I had expected to be able to make my own but never imagined that it would cost extra ($10 NZD) for two teabags!! It would have been a good B&B if not for that... and the weird conversations with Andy......!
