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!!!

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.

It smelled like it should have been flushed

After the late night of music it was well after 9 am when we woke this morning. We were the last ones down to breakfast (the luxury of travelling for a long time means you don't have to rush to fill your days!) and had our customary bread and conserves, croissant / pain de chocolat and coffee.

South African couple - Kim and Fanie are here without a car and had wanted to see St Emilion before they leave for the Isle of Man tomorrow, and we too had wanted to go back there, so we offered to take them with us today.

We finally get on the road just after 11 am. It is sunny and warm and promises to be a great day. There is quite a bit of traffic on the road towards Bordeaux so we do not get to St Emilion until a quarter to twelve. The town is a flurry of activity packing up after the Music Festival yesterday and there are a lot more tourists around than there were when we were here in February. We start at the Church, taking Kim and Fanie to see wall decorations that date back many hundreds of years. This church dates back to an 8th Century monastery and today, the cloisters which we have not seen before are open. They are worn with the passage of time, with just some repairs having been made - but not so much to have diminished the wear on the balance. You can still clearly see the remainder of walls highly decorated with paintings, and the hue original beams. And back inside the church, one of the chapels is bathed in warm light thrown through the stained glass window.

We make arrangements to meet again at the car later and we go our separate ways. Michael and I head back to the main square where we discover that for a miserly fee of €1 you can climb the 181 steps up the bell tower of the Monolithic Church. Michael dutifully pays his fee and taking the key, unlocks the tower, closing the door behind him. But wait, he comes straight back out again - once the door is closed, it is pitch dark and he cannot see enough to climb the spiral stairs. So back to the Tourist Office where they give him a torch! Back in he goes. Up those tight spiral stairs, complete with graffiti scratched into the sandstone walls dating back into the 1700's. At the top, above the belfry, he gets the photos of the most amazing roof-scape looking over St Emilion. It is a truly picturesque town, just as you would imagine that a tight hilly town set amongst the wine vines of Bordeaux should look.

We are a little peckish so stop at one of the restaurants on the terrace in front of the tower. Salads are the order of the day - mine a Chèvre chaud (warm goat cheese) and Michael's a gésier (gizzards) salad. They were both deliciously light and tasty - the perfect meals on a warm summer day. And it is not until we have almost finished or lunch that we realise that Kim and Fanie are sitting just a few tables away! So we discuss the possible plans for the afternoon and agree that we would all like to explore the underground monuments that are in a large part responsible for the listing of St Emilion on the UNESCO register for the last 10 years. So off I go to the Tourist Office to make the booking.

Michael and I then go to join the 'Small Train' tour of the wider town area and the various wine chateaux that surround it. We learn a little of the history of wine making in the area that began in the 3rd century and looked at the most amazing views over the Dordogne Valley - it is such a scenic part of the world!

Back in town we just have enough time to walk down the incredibly steep path (very gingerly I might add) and buy a bottle of water before our tour. Michael climbs the hill again to find Kim and Fanie ready to join us. We wait outside the lower doors for our guide, Virginia, to arrive with the rest of the tour group. As we are entering monuments that are in fact in private ownership, we are unable to take any photos. This is such a pity as what we see is so amazing.

We begin in the Hermitage, an underground cave that was enlarged from the natural cave in the 8th century by St Emilion, a former Benedictine monk who chose to become a hermit. He lived very simply and was later joined by some followers. Then it was into a small chapel where over the centuries after it had fallen into disuse, a cooper set up his shop. The soot from his fires covered the walls and it was just by chance in 1979 when the walls were being cleaned that the most amazing painted frescoes were found - preserved by the soot over hundreds of years. This chapel was one of the first in France to move from the Romanesque to the Gothic architecture. There are plenty of architectural mistakes visible, indicating that the builders were still learning the new style. Then we venture into the catacombs below the chapel before walking over uneven ground into the most amazing Monolithic Church - underground, dug out from sheer rock. It is 18 metres high 20 metres wide and 36 metres long. Who, in their right mind, thinks, ahh let us quarry this rock to build our town and oh, while we are at it, let's build an amazing underground church. What a space. What an experience. Sorry, we would love to show you, but no photos.

So, back up that ghastly hill. Time for a cool drink before we leave St Emilion. Mine is a Perrimint - perrier water with peppermint cordial - not really very sweet and oh so refreshing. As we leave St Emilion, I drive the route the little train took so we can show Kim and Fanie those views.

And if we thought the traffic coming over was bad, it was nothing on how thick it was going back. Oh course it is about 6 pm so this would be the commuter rush heading home after a day working in Libourne or Bordeaux. St Emilion is only 7 kms from Libourne and a bit over 30 from Bordeaux. But we are in no real hurry, so it certainly doesn't stress us. And there are obviously some who walk to a different pace - we pass a farmer with his horse and plough tending his vines - that is uncommon - even here in the middle of such a prolific wine producing area.

Close to Blaye there are a couple of monument churches we want to have a look at. The first is a 12th Century Roman church. It is in a small village called Turiac and while it is closed (well, it is after 7 pm!) but we can see ancient Latin lettering in the carving above the main doorway.

Then there is the church of Saint Laurent d' Arce, a Knights Templar church, can be seen from the main road as we drive to Blaye. We have wanted to stop and have a look ever since we first saw the sign in February and today we do. It is obviously an ancient church dating back many hundreds of years. But the grounds and hedges are immaculately kept and the church is in regular use. In fact they are undertaking a significant amount of work on it - installing new drainage around the perimeter of the building, re- building a low wall and re-installing a new awning (for the want of a better word) around thre sides of the church. It's obvious from the corbels in the walls that there was one there in times past. Amazing. It's now pushing 7:30 pm. The sun is still high in the sky, but the light is now thin. It's time to be thinking of dinner.

I drive past the Church of St Paul at Cars with its tesselated spire roof of glazed terracotta tiles. Kim and Fanie had admired it from afar when arriving the other day, but had not seen it close up. Les has recommended Restaurant Le Pierr'eau for dinner. We stopped briefly at Villa St Simon for jackets and to check directions after we could not find it ourselves, only to find that we were within a kilometre of the address. Mind you, Les' directions - go down the street and turn right about 1 km after the roundabout and it is just a few hundred metres along was way off! 3 km from the roundabout and 1.6 km from the turnoff!! The locals frequent this restaurant and so we knew that the food would need to be pretty good. And we are not disappointed.
Entrees:
Brochette de fruits de mer sauce à l'orange (Seafood kebab with orange sauce) Michael & Kim
Salade de chèvre chaud au miel et aux amandes (Warm goat cheese salad with honey & almonds) Maria and Fanie
Mains:
Andouillette sausage (see here for explanation) Michael - and hence the title for today's blog!
Brochette de bœuf et le canard (Kebab of beef and duck) Kim and Fanie
Saumon grillé sauce à la crème au poivre rouge (Grilled salmon with cream sauce and red peppercorns) Maria
They were all delicious even if the smell of Michael's could have turned us all off our food (and along with everyone else in the restaurant!)
Desserts:
Fondant au chocolat avec crème glacée au chocolat (Chocolate fondant with chocolate ice cream) Michael
Poires pochées au vin rouge avec glace au chocolat (Pears poached in red wine with chocolate ice cream) Maria, Kim and Fanie
While we are eating dinner, the sun slowly sinks beneath the horizon casting the most beautiful light across the water, but it is not fully dark until 11 pm. We finaly finish with coffee and pay the bill to leave around 11:15 pm.