Moving on from Blaye

It is time to move on. The week at Villa St Simon with Les (the crazy South African) has been great, but we have been going non-stop almost all week. Neither of us slept very well - probably because we knew we had to get going earlier this morning. We had hoped to hit the road about 9 - ha ha ha, we got to breakfast after 8 and by the time we drove off it was nearly 10. But we did get Les to show us his current project - he is renovating another building across the street to make self catering units available. He hopes to have it ready to go for summer 2010.

Lesley and Rob (the newly graduated and the newly passed exam youngsters who are studying in Cardiff, Wales [she is Canadian, he German]) are leaving as well and as they have been there much of the week, the farewell is a little longer.
It really was great to have some more time with Les - you are an amazing host mon and few would leave Villa St Simon without agreeing with me.

So off we set. I have set Kate to avoid the motorways so we are seeing rural France right at the grass roots. And by doing it this way, it is easy to duck down a side road if something takes our eye - which we do a few times today. Mind you, we still encounter the trucks - we have not seen this many since we left Spain!
Rural France offers wonderful examples of architecture over the years and today we are treated as we have been over the last week (and to a lesser extent during our last visit). The most stunning example today is the Chateau Hautefort – we don’t have time to go find it, but from a distance it is amazing! We also make a quick detour to Chateau d'Excideuil now an art gallery - we have not seen many of these English style fortified castles so far.

We are still travelling towards Lascaux when we see signs to the Villars Grotte. As it is only 7 kms off our route, we go down for a look, but bugger, it is lunchtime and the information centre/ticket sales for the grotte won’t be open for another hour (it is now 1 pm), so after a quick toilet stop, we push on.

The worst thing about our next visit is that we can’t bring you any photos. Lascaux II – the site of Cro-Magnon cave paintings is just outside Montignac. Now, picture in your mind’s eye, every cave drawing you have ever seen in a book or on TV. Now, throw that puny little image with its stick figures out – cos the real thing ain’t nothing like that! At Lascaux there is the greatest concentration of cave paintings anywhere in Europe. When the cave man had returned from the hunt, gazelle draped over his well muscled shoulders, and dragged his woman by her hair to the fire pit to prepare it for him; he laid down his club and with his mates, went in to the cave to hang out, and to express his artistic flair.

The paintings are huge and prolific and detailed and complex. I guess there are a number of things that hit your senses when you first walk in – firstly the volume of paintings, second the size of the painted area and of the individual paintings and then later, much later, you realise that they are only high on the walls and on the ceiling of the cave.

Our guide, a Frenchman speaking a heavily American accented English, gives us a wonderful insight into the world of these painters. As the colours they used are minerals, which you cannot date evidently, no one can be certain as to the age of the paintings. BUT they have dated candle holders and wicks, remnants of scaffolding, brush twigs and carved bones from the cave to 15,000 BC. (So this makes this cave the oldest evidence of human activity we have seen to date – only by 10,000 years!) The cave was discovered in the 1940s by a local teenager searching for his dog who fell down a hole. So for 14,956 years, the caves were undisturbed.

When the site was explored, they found more than 400 rocks that had been worn into candle holders, some still containing the rendered fat set with juniper wicks (juniper is one of the few timbers that burns without producing any smoke). They also found remnants of a scaffolding system. Cro-Magnon man was as tall as we are, but these paintings are out of the reach of anyone standing on the ground. They used five colours black (manganese dioxide), red (iron ore) yellow and brown (ochre) and white (clay). There are remains of ground powders, styli and stumps of ores. There was also a small amount of colour stained moss, indicating that they used a variety of techniques including sponging, outlining, spitting the mixed colour from their mouths as well as drawing.

And so to the paintings. They are all of single or grouped animals – cows, bison, horses, a variety of deer, one human figure and some felines. They are unbelievably realistic with depth and perspective being demonstrated by using the contours of the rocks and varying levels of darkness in the colours. They are life-like. When you look at the paintings, there is no way you can mistake what the subject is. Some are fully coloured, others partly, some are outlines with markings. There are repeated borders of horses or ponies, there is a bull (notable by having genitalia provided) with a number of cows. There are horses standing, nostrils flared, and others walking, trotting or at full gallop. There are deer with intricate (and slightly exaggerated) antlers. This is the veritable Sistine Chapel of cave paintings – figuratively and quite literally.

All in all we see more than 200 figures. Some are painted within other figures, others in front of or behind other paintings, and others standing lone and proud. The largest bison in the Bull Cave measures 8½ feet long from nosed to tail (that is almost 3 metres) and the largest cow is just 8 feet. The smallest pony is about 2 foot square. And they are all perfectly proportioned. See what I mean about throwing away old and erroneous thoughts. There is absolutely nothing small or insignificant about these works of art. And all of this was done by candle light! There is even one horse whose front is on a back wall and the rear is on the wall in front of it, separated by a cave tunnel!

There are also an abundance of symbols that no one has been able to decipher. Some are found at the beginning of a painted area, others at the end and some in all three areas. So much for the grunt!

In order to preserve the paintings, you do not go in to the actual cave, but rather an exact replica of it, contour for contour, bump for bump, rocky outcrop for rocky outcrop. And the paintings we see are exact replicas made using the same pigments and techniques. From the time of the discovery until they were permanently closed in the 1980s, a number of fungal diseases transported on the shoes or persons of visitors have attacked the real paintings. So, they survived for almost 15,000 years in pristine condition and when modern man bowled on in, came in his hordes and then arrogantly fitted air-conditioning, the paintings gave up their beauty to black spot and white spot diseases. Microbiologists are trying to cure them – particularly the white spot as presently the only way to remove it is to scrape it which also takes off the paint. There is a small museum attached with some of the artefacts found and a good explanation of the geology and the life of Cro-Magnon man as well as impressions of how they think that the paintings were done based on the items found.

It was a humbling and totally enlightening visit.

Dinner tonight at Hotel La Lascaux is amazing. They specialise in using regional produce and the results really show this to perfection. We eat at 7:30 pm (hey, it is now 10:40 pm and I just realise it is fully dark - amazing how much longer it stays light on the coast) as follows:
Entrees:
Foie gras de canard entier au naturel fait maison (Homemade duck foie gras natural) Michael
Coustillant de chevre chaud sur tomates confit (In wafer goat cheese with hot tomato confit) Maria
Mains:
Cuisse de canard confite, pommes de terre salardaise (Leg of duck confit, potatoes and salad) Michael
Fillet mignon de porc au fair caramelise a sauce soja (Fillet mignon of pork with a caramelized soy sauce) Maria
Desserts:
Glaces Indochine et Framboises (Indochina [lychee, jasmine, mango, strawberry] and Raspberry sorbet) Michael
Creme brulee (no need to explain!) Maria

The food is f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s! Heaven help the french chef we might find who cannot match the wonderful food we are having!!!

Will I still speak with you?

Or la di da to me! Gosh, not talking to you?! For me that would be wrist-slitting time!

OK so today was the other planned highlight of our week back in Bordeaux, for today is the day we are going to Le Médoc to visit Château Mouton-Rothschild. Our appointment is for 10 am so it is an early start on the 7:30 am ferry. Today is overcast and a little cooler - much more to my liking! No time for breakfast before we go, so once on the peninsula we drive down to Paulliac on the coast for coffee and criossants. Then we visit a local vin shop that sells all sorts of regional produce and local wines from a couple of euro each up to €1584 per bottle. I bought a bottle of Pastis Citron - sounded interesting - I'll let you know what it's like Fliss.

The last lot of my whisky has reached Australia and again, there is duty and tax payable. I got Gen to scan the letter for me and there is a statement on the bottom of the letter advising 'Postal gift concession for alcohol revoked 1 September 2008' so I won't bother to send too much more home.

The road to Paulliac is locally dubbed 'the Château road' due to the countless chateaux that face it from both sides of the road. This one Château Pinchon-Baron is probably one of the ones with the best street view and epitomises the grace of these estates, but there are literally countless others - all with immaculate lawns and gardens and beautifully kept buildings. I guess if you have a chateau (translated as a castle without a keep) on Le Medoc then you also have the means to upkeep it.

We pass the daily life of Le Médoc. There is machinery amoungst the vines, huge tractors with beams that cover up to five rows, spraying, or tilling the soil. Then there are also lots of manual workers whose main job at the moment is to remove by hand any leaves that cover the grapes, ensuring that all the grapes are exposed to the maximum possible sunshine. It seems strange that they discard the leaves to mulch rather than market them for culinary purposes (think dolmades!).

We have been slowly making our way through these chateaux to Château Mouton-Rosthchild. Our guided tour is booked for 10 am and when we arrive there is only two other cars in the car park. This is very neat - so neat that it kind of looks like a raked Japanese garden!

And the visitor centre is nowhere to be seen, hidden behind gardens. Not sure why, it is a beautifully appointed building in it's own right. But the gardens are beautiful with lots of herbs and flowers. There are one or two I can't identify - and neither can anyone else I ask. There has been a mix-up in the bookngs and the château were expecting us yesterday, however, after a few hurried phone calls, the girls at reception manage to find us an English speaking guide and off we set.

Now, Mouton Rothschild is one of the premier wine estates in Le Médoc. From humble beginnings in 1853, the Rothschild family has built an incredible empire based around the wine made from the grapes grown on their properties. Our guide takes us on a tour that includes an introductory video on a 3D screen, an explanation of the history, a tour of a representative grape plot (where the plot size of the crop is proportionate to the precentage grown on the estate), a tour of the new and old cellars and a quick dash into the 100m Barrel Hall which was being set up for a dinner. And because half of our little group are wine makers or agents, we get to listen to them quiz the guide on the technical aspects of the setup which was very interesting.

But the highlight of the tour for us is a visit to the Wine in Art Museum. The museum at Château Mouton Rothschild was opened by the Baron Philippe de Rothschild in 1962. It features art displays including Persian beakers from the eighth and ninth centuries BC, Alsace tapestries, Ming vases, Delft pottery, Venetian glasswork and works by modern artists. The main hall is a former cellar. This museum is an amazing collection. While not accessible to the population at large, the family is to be commended that they make this amazing collection available to visitors to the Château. Phillipe Rothschild began the collection and his daughter Phillipina now continues the collection. They are very philanthropic in the Arts with many Rothschild collections in Europes greatest galleries. And the there are the artist labels where leading artists and other notable people are commissioned to paint the artwork for the Mouton Rothschild vintage each year.

Once we had drooled sufficiently in the museum (and felt the eyes of Chinese traders in one tapestry follow our every move!) we returned to the visitor centre where we got to taste the 2008 vintage - nice and full bodied with complex berry tones, but still carrying too much tanin - a good ager up to 10 years. I am told the average year's produce needs 10 years, but a great year needs 20 - go figure!! (help please Brian)

Then it was back to Paulliac and lunch at Le Salamandre. The clouds were really beginning to roll in and the air pressure was dropping quickly - a sure sign of rain. We managed to have our entrees and mains and were part way through desserts before the heavens opened. Most of us chose from the €13 menu and were thrilled with our choices:
Entrees:
Gizzard salad (Michael)

Goat cheese pizza (Maria)
Mains:
We both chose the Lamb Tagine
Desserts:
We both had (well, at least I started one) Creme Caramel

From here with the weather having turned to crap, and unable to get into Pichon-Longueville (as the boking had also ben made for yesterday) we opted to go back to Lamarque and await the ferry. We did not realise until we got there that we would have a 90 minute wait, so we do the best thing we can in the rain - nap! When the ferry gets here it is dead low tide and so the trip is a little longer than it was last time as we have to travel further downstream to avoid the mud banks before we can turn in for Blaye.

None of us are really hungry so the idea of a barbecue gets thrown out the window. Instead, we head to LeClerc for salad ingredients, fruit, cheese and cold cuts. Add a loaf of bread and presto - we have the makings of a light feast which we enjoy a little later in the evening with a few bottles of good wine. At 10 pm, Les suggests a game of petanque and five of them head across the road to join all the others at play. Remember, it is not getting dark until 11 pm!! Anyway, I'll sign off and let Michael tell you about the game because I was thoroughly knackered and went to bed.

Petanque is very similar to Bocce, whereas the only difference is that the swearing is in French and not Italian. That may be true, however the actual differences between the two games is (as explained to me):
Petanque is where players 'toss' the balls palm down whereas Bocce players 'bowl' the balls palm up.
Petanque balls are always made of metal, about the size of an orange and hollow. Bocce balls are larger (grapefruit size) and made usually of wood or resin and are of varying bright colours.
The Bocce court should be smooth and different variations as to court size and layout; whereas Petanque players prefer any surface and preferably uneven terrain to make it more challenging.
Oh, and one last point as it was arbitrarily explained to me: 'Petanque' is a derivative of the Provincal French - pieds tanquer meaning to anchor or tie-down. Petanque balls are tossed from a stationary position, whereas with Bocce players run up to their bowling line.

Anyhow, we head across to the park around 10:10pm where there are about eight other games of Petanque being played - a veritable tournament. The French take their game veeerrry seriously as I was to find out....

Now, Petanque is played with two teams each with either 1-6 players. Teams with 1-4 players, each team member use 3 balls each. Teams with 5-6 players team members use 2 balls each. Considering there were only five of us this posed a 'red herring', how were the teams to be decided? Diplomatically of course; we each tossed a ball in turn and the the teams were sorted according to the distance thrown - if you can work that one out.....
Anyhow, I was the 'ring-in' so I was at the mercy of their honesty...and honorable people they are indeed. So, two teams consisting of 2 and 3 players accepted, and all players to play using 3 balls each.

Well, we had intended to play only one game, however, HONOUR was at stake this night. Now, I had mentioned earlier the French take their Petanque seriously - and my team-mate was Nikki, and she was just as passionate about the game as were the men. By 10:50pm Nikki and I were lagging by 5 points - the score being 6-11; and Nikki being less than impressed. The French expletives were being released at a furious rate as were the Aussie curses! By 11:05pm we creamed the bastards and wiped the smirk off their dials.

It was 10:56pm and Nikki's turn to toss...tension mounting...concentration was extending like lightening bolts...then - thud, down went Nikki's last ball and everyone was holding their breath as the toss knocked away two of the opposing teams' balls and came to bestow a kiss against the 'jack'! 10:58pm and the other team attempted to consolidate, but the pressure being as it was their tosses turned into right 'Tossers' - the balls going in every direction. The game being against the wire, it was my turn to toss my remaining two balls (...yes, I still speak with a deep voice!) and I was the last to toss. I walked up to the line, surveyed the field and fired torpedo #1. Lobbing beautifully, the ball returned to earth amongst a group of balls - CRACK! - my lobb knocked two of the opposing balls out of the loop which pushed Nikki's other two closer the 'jack'!

11:01pm, and it was my last toss...torpedo #2 - FIRE - a handsome piece of work as my silver sphere rolled gently up to the 'jack' - a ball's length away. WE WON! We were called cheats(?), so I called them 'pricks' - I have no idea what Nikki called them, it sounded pretty good though. Anyhow, as I stated - HONOUR was at stake, and now it was to make amends. An evening which started out as one game of Petanque extended into three, with the last game ending at 12:55am. An epilogue...? Petanque I have to admit could become extremely addictive and not taken too seriously. The evening's final score....Nikki and I won the first two games, however we got creamed in the third and final - 5-13!

A day of almost nothing

I actually wasn't going to post to the blog today - we had a very lazy one. I finished yesterday's blog while Michael read and later we copied some of our photos for our new Romanian mates Diana and Lorena.

But then Les got back from Vin Expo and announced he had arranged another winery tour and tasting. We all went in two cars and as I was driving out behind Les in his Mercedes V12, I realised that I had not yet told you about him and his cars. Les has three cars - his Citroen 2CV, Ford Laser and the 2003 Mercedes-Benz 6.0lt E V12 sedan.

Now, I had had a go at Les the other day about the gas guzzling Merc and in retort he volunteered that the Merc was more, much more than just any gas guzzler. This car used to belong to the Nigerian ambassador and has bullet proof glass - now, why would Les be interested in bullet-proof glass? Maybe it is because he drives his Citroen like a man demented! No where to hang on, and you really do need to (although I'll be the first to admit that driving in that Citroen with Les is great fun! - just don't tell him I said it was!!)

This afternoon we go over to the Chateau le Cône where we see their new processing plant and vat store and then taste three reds. From here it was off to dinner - with seven of us trying a new restaurant. The food was nice, but the desserts were sublime. Michael of course astounded everyone wit his ability to eat an entree, main (finish both of mine) and then polish off the largest profiterole dessert you have ever seen. We are back at Villa St Simon around 1:30 pm - just enough time for a cognac before we go to bed. An early start in the morning as we are off to Le Medoc to the Chateau Moutin Rothschild.

And as I am getting ready to sign off one of my Scrabble mates sends me a message that Michael Jackson is dead. wow. Turns out that Farah Fawcett also died today.

Just call me Brigitte

There was a motley crew of us who set off from Villa St Simon this morning firstly catching the ferry across to Lamarque and then driving the back way through to Bordeaux. Yes, today is the day we are going to Vin Expo (supposedly the main reason we came back to Blaye). This is a huge biannual trade meeting of producers, marketers, exporters etc not only of wine, but also of wine gadgets and of other alcoholic drinks as well. It is held every two years in Bordeaux and in the intervening year in another country (2010 is in Hong Kong).

The ferry crosses the Gironde from Blaye to Lamarque. It takes all of 15 - 18 minutes on a vehicle ferry. We hear the motors of the ferry at different times during the day from the guest house. The waters of the river are very murky - and with good reason. It has a mud bottom, its just downstream of the confluence of the Dordogne and the Garonne Rivers, and it is strongly tidal at this point. We pass a number of the small fishing huts called cabanon with their nets hauled high out of the tidal reach. Once we reach Lamarque we drive through to Bordeaux Lac where the expo is held.

Vin Expo is huge! It is in a series of halls that measure a total of 1 km long and 4 aisles wide - so that if you were to try to cover the whole trade show, down both sides and cross aisles you would be walking, or rather staggering, about 10 kms! Now, technically, there is no public admittance to a trade show, but Yann and Florence have allowed us the privilege of being some of their agents for the day. So may we introduce Brigitte Durieux and Rabah Merdjani (Michael's alibi is particularly suited - a muslim name for someone who cannot drink! - how very clever of Yann.) To gain entry, we exchange the printed form from Yann for on-the-spot printed name badges that are then scanned as we go through the entry.

The hall we come in through (Hall 3) is set out in brown and orange (very eye-catching) and thankfully it is air-conditioned as not only is the day very hot, but there is enough light power in all the booths to power a veritable city. The marketing efforts and tools are amazing to see. We make our way to the Romanian stand where Lorena is genuinely thrilled that we have made an effort to seek her out and has her wines out for us to taste. And taste them we do, guided by the expert as she helps us to decipher the subtleties of her produce. Lorena makes both red and white wines and we try each of them in turn. The Romanian wines are nice. The reds have plenty of body and depth - right up my preference. This is a contact that I am definitely passing on to Brian! Once we taste all her wines, Diana helps us to taste a few of the other Romanian wines. Those eastern european wines are definitely some to further explore and with a standing invitation from Lorena, we will definitely try to call in to see her Ploiesti in south-west Romania.

So we mosey on through the exhibitor stands tasting here and there - but certainly not at every stand as we would have been needing to be rolled, sloshing, if we had done that. Les being with us lends a certain air of legitimacy as he can (with some authority) ask import and sales questions as he deals in some wine trade. I can certainly talk about passing on contacts to Brian, but that is the best commitment I can give! We try Romanian, Italian, French, German, Canadian (Inniskillin Ice Wine - very different to the German one Vicky) and end up with some South African ones. While there are some very nice ones we try, and some less so, my first real surprise of the day is when we are trying the very last wine. It is a South African Pinotage marketed as Cafe Culture. If you are able to get a bottle to taste, I highly recommend that you do. We had previously tried another Pinotage from another South African vineyard, but this one is amazing. There are the most amazing aromas of coffee and mocha that are carried through strongly onto the taste on the palate. Now, this is a wine I could become very addicted to!

During the day we stop for lunch. Now, at an event where people arrive via all modes of transport from the regional buses to corporate helicopters to the son-site helipad, you can imagine that there is a huge variety of food options. In fact everything from grab in your hand sandwiches right up to some very nice a la carte offerings. We are only ever going to be at Vin Expo once (we think) so we opt to have a nice lunch. We eat at the restaurant de france, complete with white damask cloths and napkins, huge white marquees and large umbrellas and fountains! The menu is very impressive with interesting choices prepared by chef Loic Fountas of Maison Dulou Traiteur. Our menu price of €42 covers a three course meal with wines and coffees. Our choices were:
Entrees:
Huîtres du Cap Ferret, citron, beurre d'Echiré (Cap Ferret oysters, lemon, Echire butter) Michael
Saumon mariné au vin blanc, herbes et tartare a l'huile d'olives de Bize (Cold salmon marinated in white wine, herbs and tartare with Bize olive oil) Maria
Mains:
Millefeuille d'agneau à la fleur de thym (Lamb mille-feuille with thyme flowers)
Brochette de St Jacques en citronnelle, mirepoix de legumes (St Jacques brochette with lime and finely diced vegetables) Maria
Desserts:
Déclinaison de croustillant de fruits rouges et Olives de Bize (Red berry fruit crunch with Bize olives) Michael
Crème au thym caramélisée (Caramelized cream with thyme) Maria
We drank wines from the Chateau Bas D'Aumelas from the Languedoc region. A very nice meal with the culinary surprise here being the sublime partnering of green olives with raspberry ice cream in Michael's dessert.

We leave just before 5 pm so we can be sure that even if the peak hour traffic delays us, we can make the last (18:30) ferry beack across to Blaye. We get to Lamarque in plenty of time - enough to sit with Oranginas and ice creams and watch the ferry come across the river to collect us.

No-one is very hungry tonight, so it is down to the local supermarket L'Eclerc to buy cheeses, cold meats and some salad ingredients. We enjoy just being at Villa St Simon with a bottle of wine made by another local winemaker we met today,Valérie. And after we finish, the English couple who have been here for the last two days, Adrian and Marion, arrive back in time for us to share the last of the wine and some coffee and conversation before we hit the sack after 1 am. Tommorrow will be a quiet day. Absolutely NOTHING planned!

The places you meet people . . . and the world according to Yann

Its an interesting affair for breakfast this morning. We had said goodbye to Kim and Fanie last night as they had to leave about 8 am and there was no way we would be up that early - well why should we be, we are on holidays! There is James and Rita from Melbourne, an English/Canadian couple and another from Ohio. Peter the Englishman goes home this morning after a flying visit to visit Vin Expo. So, with so many new people in tow, Les arranges for a visit to the Cantinot winery. We leave as soon as the last of us finish breakfast, just after 10 am.

It was fantastic to see Yann and Florence again. They are looking well and the vineyard is lush and green with a good crop of grapes on the vines. Fingers crossed, it looks like it could be a good year for them. They are generous and bring out a range of their wines to taste. During the course of the wine tasting, Florence suggests that our troupe share dinner with them this evening. This kind gesture is greeted with an enthusiasm, and it is agreed to rendezvous at the Cantinot's at 7:30pm.

Les leaves to take Peter to the airport, and it is not long after the rest of us say our goodbyes to Yann and Florence and head our separate ways. We decide to visit the small hamlet of Bourg which is about 11kms from Blaye. It's a glorious day without a cloud in the sky and wherever you look the scenery just sparkles. As we drive past the various vineyards, we comment how the rows of green vines just seem so - iridescent.

Once we get to Bourg we make our way to the centre Market Place and the Tourist Information Office. The staff are very accommodating and proud of their town, we are given a map which outlines a walking trail around Bourg and hire an audio guide as well. Now armed we set off. Bourg is about a quarter of the size of St Emilion, which we visited yesterday with Fanie and Kim. However, Bourg is just as charming with its history and variety of architectural styles. We visit the remains of the former citadel that in the 1950s was restored enough to be converted to a grand reception hal. It's riverside patio harks back to days of former glory when the French court was here. The gardens were beautiful and they had one of the largest tree magnolias I have ever seen.

Actually, Bourg is a 'commune' (municipality) in the Gironde 'department' (administrative division), as is Blaye. Nestled in the Gironde Estuary where the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, it has served as a port since Roman times. Bourge has had various occupants: the Romans, the English, Louis the XIV and during World War 2 the Reich had built underground oil tanks during its occupation.

We spend a couple of hours wandering immersed in the local flavour and marvelling at the legacy of populations past. In particular we are amazed by the Roman Wash house. This is where the women of the community would gather to hold the 'women's parliament' passing comment on the life of the community and exchanging gossip. Oh yes, and to do their washing communally in large wash baths (for the want of a better descriptor), and then rinse. The water for the washing house comes from springs known as the 'everlasting springs' as since times recorded, they have never run dry.

The town is built on two levels that hug and sit atop a cliff of limestone that is dotted with caves extending back under the town. The rich people lived in the upper town but many of the building have trompe l'eoil facades - false facades added to the roof line to give the impression of much larger houses. Those less wealthy lived in the lower town, close to the Port. Over the centuries, the two were connected by steps that have survived to today.

Once we have completed the audio tour (which takes about 2 hours) we return to the market square to take some refreshment. We find a lovely little Tea Shop / Gift Shop and order coffee, a menthe water and a three cheese tart plus a ham and onion tart for lunch. They were nice small portions and very tasty. There are two women at the table across from us and we take them to be locals as they are conversing in French with the proprietor.

Turns out that Jude and her husband have recently bought a former chateau in nearby Comps and she and Lizzie (who is an actress) have been offering 6 day acting classes. They got a lift into town with a friend who was going further and they now find themselves witout any way of getting home for hours when the next bus runs. It is 2 pm and very hot so when they ask if we have a car and we learn of their dilema we offer them a lift as we are going back to Blaye and Comps is on the way.

They are very grateful and Jude insists on showingus her new home and giving us a cold drink. She as a music room that you would have loved Judith - complete with a grand and a baby grand piano! All set on the side of a hill overlooking a vineyard - ooh - hard to take? Not! We don't stay long as I want to get back and download photos and have a nap before we head out to dinner. Michael does a load of washing while I sleep!

Tonight there are ten of us for dinner. We have been joined by two Romanian wine representatives here for Vin Expo. Lorena is the wine maker and it is really interesting talking with her about her passion, and to hear her describe Yann and Florence's wines. Very interesting, very educational.

Yann and Florence have four children and their second son Christian is a chef. He cooks a fabulous meal for us all tonight. Firstly we begin with pieces of pizza as we are served a rose as an apperitif. Crusty with heaps of tomato based topping it is delicious. This was the precursor to a gastronomic feast. Our starter was egg, foie gras, ham and cheese cooked in preserving jar in the barbecue and presented with fingers of dry crusty bread. This was followed by Rabbit that was done with your choice of a chinese or a traditional sauce and served with ratatouille and potato gratin. True to form, Michael had a helping of both the rabbit selections! Then came the cheese - individual plates with pieces of four cheeses - a blue brie, an ashed goat cheese, a hard cheddar and softer cheddar. All this was washed down with liberal amounts of their wines wit vintages from 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. We finished with dessert - fruit flans (mine lemon, Michaels apple and others with raspberry or apricot) the smoothest ice cream I have ever tasted and espresso coffees, matched with a amazing Armagnac made by a friend of Yanns.

Ahh Yann, my French verbal combatant. He is great fun and a great conversationalist and for the most time I can give as good as he gives. But when Les arrives, the two of them combined are too much even for me! We had a fabulous night and will always remember their generosity and their hospitality.