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Diary France | ||||
INTRODUCTION Our time in France will be remembered for a number of reasons: 1. The kind hospitality shown by friends and aquaintances who we imposed ourselves upon. They kindly fed, watered and wined us, washed our clothes and (occasionally) tendered our wounds. 2. The glorious cycling along deserted country lanes, through countless picturesque villages. Passing through the great expanses of the vineyards of Bordeaux, the Loire valley and Champagne and seeing the magnificent chateaux along the way. 3. The frustrations of the French way of life. Specifically, the national obsession for shops, restaurants, museums, tourist offices, etc. to close for extended lunches, as well as obscure other times, was a major inconvenience and spoiled many of the positive aspects of the cycling. 1. FRIENDS Our first port of call was with Bill (an old wine trade friend) and family in Bordeaux. We were introduced to Real Tennis, toured a beautiful Bordeaux chateau, Lascombes, & tasted the wines (the 1996 was "off"!), dined on excellent, homemade, local specialities and drank copious amounts fine wine including a gorgeous 1986 Chateauneuf du Pape that Bill had kept for 10 years awaiting a visit from D. to Bordeaux! We didn't manage a dip in their swimming pool - it rained for three days! After Bordeaux, we headed north to see Jean-Rene (another wine trade friend from 10 years ago). He now runs a wine company nr. Nantes in the Loire valley - so he was high on our list of people to see! We arranged to see him for an evening meal and he proposed we stay overnight at his parents 'petite maison' i.e. (Granny flat at the bottom of their garden) A few days prior to our visit Caroline had been bitten on the top of her thigh by an unknown beastie and, by the time we arrived with our hosts, it was hugely swollen & painful. Seven days later we were still residing at 'La petite maison' following four doctors visits, three nurses home visits and the purchase of what seemed like the entire contents of the local pharmacy! We owe a great debt of thanks to Jean Claude & Rene for putting up with us for so long & so unexpectedly. They were absolutely marvellous hosts and we will always remember Jean Claude's kind offer before each meal of "a little aperitif?" To continue Caroline's recuperation, we decided to take the impressive TGV train to Paris (200 miles in two hours - arrives 1 min early!) and spend the week with Caroline's friends Anne-Marie, Brian and 2 year old Blair, who had moved out to France from East Kilbride only two months previously. After 4 weeks struggling with our 'pigeon' French, it was a great relief to speak Scottish again. Also, as they had bought their satellite dish with them, we also had the luxury of BBC, STV etc (when you haven't had it for a year it's a luxury, so to speak!) and it almost felt like being at home. However, the sun shone all the time we ate in the garden every day - so it wasn't like being at home at all!! Caroline indulged extensively in her favourite pastimes: girlie chats & retail therapy whilst D did the babysitting! We also managed to squeeze in some Parisian sightseeing, and a birthday celebration for D's brother, Gerard and his girlfriend, Pascale in Paris' chinatown. Also, as C. & A-M 's friend Lesley flew out to join us for the weekend, with husband Murray & thier two year old, there was even more girlie chats & retail therapy whilst Murray & D. babysat! Reinvigorated and health restored, we collected our bikes from Jean Claude & Rene and cycled through the Loire and into Champagne. In Epernay, we knocked on the door of "Champagne Boizel" (another of D.'s contacts from the past) and were treated to a super guided tour of the underground cellars, saw the remaining 11 bottles of their first very vintage - from 1834, and finished off sharing an excellent, though more recent (1996), bottle. For our accomodation in Champagne we were looking forward to taking up an offer made by the SAGA holiday representative who we met when we were in Thialand..........(cont...) |