Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Final thoughts on traveling in France

France is expensive, especially Paris. It would be expensive even if the Euro and the dollar were on par. A 4 ounce glass of wine costs 6 to 10 Euros; $9 to $15.

Hotels in the historic areas are small, often up 3 flights of stairs, without elevators. Modern hotel rooms at reasonable rates are available just outside the main historic districts and often have little kitchens. Our rooms in Paris were tiny, the toilets were down the hall, and the second time we stayed there, the shower was on another floor. Our hotel room in Chablis looked like a B&B. But it was on the third floor. No elevator. The staircase was a narrow circular staircase with a loose banister. Our hotel 1 mile outside the historic center of Avignon was a French chain, Citea. It had a small kitchenette, 2 desks, a good view, a full modern bathroom, lots of closet space, and not much character. It cost 60% of the room in Paris and 75% of the room in Chablis.

There apparently is no equivalent to OSHA. It is possible to touch the cables that raise the elevator on the Eiffel Tower. Look at the staircase to the clock tower in Roussillon. How would you like to be the one that winds that clock? In the US great efforts are taken to protect us from ourselves. Maybe the French are just smarter and wouldn’t touch the cables.

If you get frustrated when things are unfamiliar then travel to Europe isn’t for you. Doors open in different directions. Handles on everything work differently. Things don’t come with directions.

As a woman, you haven’t experienced grossness until you have used a pisserie.

France is clean. We saw very little litter. But graffiti was everywhere. It appears to be a real problem.

Traffic was crazy in Paris but it is in D.C. as well. Let the cabbies do the driving.

France is not friendly to the mobility challenged. Cobblestones, curbs, blocks of granite, and 2000 years of building materials do not make for smooth sidewalks. The library/art gallery in Nimes had 5 floors. The elevator only went to 2 of them. The parking garage there had 3 levels . There was an escalator from the top level to the surface. This was typical.

I don’t think there is a French paradox. That’s the belief that the French eat high fat foods but are still slim because they drink red wine. The average population wasn’t slender, just average. There were few obese people but there were some, and they were French. What I have observed is that portions are small compared to the US. Rich sauces just nap the main food; they don’t provide a swimming pool. Three of 4 parties seated near us our final evening at the nice restaurant were drinking water. Only one couple drank wine. The average glass of wine is smaller than in the US, probably 4 ounces. Food is expensive in the city. People in the country looked well fed to me. But everyone had a garden and fruit trees. French people walk a lot. It’s easier to take the subway than to maintain a car. Subways are 2 to 5 flights of stairs underground. Few have escalators or elevators.

All churches are on top of hills. The biggest churches are on top of the highest hills.

Walking downhill isn't easier than walking uphill.

I still wonder if I would have gotten brains or calf cheeks if I had ordered the calf head for dinner.

Photos of Roussillon












Picture 1: Roussillon town square in front of the town hall.
Picture 2: Roussillon clock tower. Note the small black staircase to the right ofthe tower that goes to the door to the tower.
Picture 3: Ochre cliffs at the edge of town
Picture 4: I can't believe I climbed the whole thing.
Picture 5: The village of Gordes.



Back to Paris


Photo 1: Oh no, the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.
Photo 2: This is the elevator shaft at the Hotel Monpensier. An oak box rides up and down it. Inside it looks like a scaled down version of Superman's phone booth. It holds one person and one roll around suitcase. Since we were on the 2nd floor (3rd in the US) and had lots of luggage we used it.
Tuesday morning, Sept 22, we turned our little Twingo over to Avis and boarded the TGV train to Paris. Nonstop less than 3 hours later we were at the Gare Lyon station in Paris. By 1 pm we were back at the Hotel Montpensier.

We decided to spend the afternoon at the Louvre, just a block and half away. Turns out it is closed on Tuesday so we wondered around the Tuilleries Gardens and went back to the room. We had a nice dinner at a nearby brasserie and went to bed early. We had to leave for the airport at 7:30 am Wednesday morning.
The plane flights were the only really disagreeable part of the trip. We weren't sure we would get on the plane in Paris. There was some sort of game going on with boarding passes. We made it and left for Chicage at 11:30. Why Chicago? Who knows. But we had a 6 hour layover there. Two hours of that was taken up with walking the mile out of the international terminal to customs, going through customs, and rechecking our bags. Then the plane was an hour late leaving.
We finally arrived home at 1:15am Thursday, Sept 24, 2009

The Luberon and Peter Mayle’s Provence








Picture 1: Along the Sorgue River. We aite lunch just to the left of the bridge.
Picture 2: One of the water wheels on a stream of the Sorgue.
Picture 3: Inside the cathedral at Sorgue
Picture 4: Vineyards everywhere ready to be harvested.
On Monday, Sept 21, our final day in Provence, we headed east to a pretty, but touristy, town called L’Isle-sur-le-Sorgue and then on to the Luberon region. The Luberon has become a destination for the French wealthy and other expats looking for the bucolic life style. But they have kept a low key presence. Agriculture is still the primary focus of the locals, except for a few touristy spots. That's where we were headed. All of the towns we visited could be overrun with tourists in the summer, but we seemed to have missed the largest crowds.

L’Isle (Island on the Sorgue) sits in the middle of the Sorgue River. Channels of the river meander through this little town turning 10 water wheels that used to grind flour, and driving medieval textile, silk and woolen mills. Water wheels have been in operation at L’Isle since the 1200’s. Some we saw could be that old judging by the moss. This town was the source of the colorful Provencal fabric still popular today. The original patterns came from India. Right now the town’s main occupation seems to be scenic restaurants perched on the riverbank. We ate lunch here, making sure we ate between the magic hours of 12 and 2. Tourism and the antique trade are also thriving.

The town’s 12th century church, Notre-Dame des Anges, has a very gilded Baroque interior. I read this was typical of Louis XIV, the Sun King, period churches.

Our next stop was at the Lavender Museum in Coustellet 6 miles to the southeast. This museum houses the Chateau du Bois lavender farms collection of antique lavender stills and other processing equipment. Lots of polished brass and silver coils on display. This was a good place to learn about the different types of lavender and how each is used. This is a major crop in the Luberon. The bushes grow at an altitude between 900 and 1300 feet on the rocky soil of the area. They grow wild as well as being farmed commercially. Bloom time is June and July.

Peter Mayle, author of A Year in Provence, lives about 10 minutes to the southeast of Coustellet in the village of Ménerbes. We didn’t stop and say hello.

Instead we headed for the ochre village of Roussillon 10 miles further northeast. It was supposed to be a 15 minute drive. Ha. The village perches atop a 30 mile long seam of ochre bearing rock. Mining the ochre was the village’s major industry until WWII. Ochre is used to make a pigment for paints and glazes, and in wallpaper and linoleum. Roussillon’s deposit is the largest in the world but other sources exist in Italy and the U.S.

This is one steep town. Visitor parking is outside the town, downhill. The town accomplishes the miracle of having you climb into town, climb all over town, never going downhill until that final, steep climb back. But it is certainly the most colorful town I have ever seen. The residents have used a lot of ochre to “ochre” wash their buildings, as well as paints of similar colors.

The cliffs on either side of town dramatically display the varying shades of the mineral.

Heading back home we had to drive through the hill town village of Gordes. It perches on its mountain top with narrow, steep winding streets that no other car than the Renault Twingo we rented could navigate without causing the passenger, me, to have a heart attack. We had been navigating with GPS. We bought and downloaded the French maps before we left, taking our GPS with us. It had been doing a superb job in the past few days but now it decided it wanted to see the countryside. We saw only side roads, tiny towns and steep mountain roads until it finally returned us to civilization a few miles from our hotel. I guess it didn’t like the direct route we had taken earlier.
Pictures of Rousillon and Gordes will be in the next post.

Avignon








Picture 1: The walls of the old city
Picture 2: Palace of the Popes. I couldn't get the whole building in the photograph
Picture 3: The formal dining hall in the Palace of the Popes
Picture 4: St. Bénezet Bridge seen from Parc des Rochers des Doms

Avignon was the second largest city we visited. There are 90,000 or so people in Avignon and about 300,000 in the metropolitan area. It was settled in Celtic times and became the first Roman province west of the Alps. It qualifies for a six flags franchise since it belonged to the Romans, the Goths, Burgundy, Arles, the Saracens, the Franks, the Holy Roman Empire, the Papacy, several local counts, Sicily, France (twice), and was also an independent republic. I probably missed a few owners. It sits on the left (east bank of the Rhone River.

But we were here to see the Palace of the Popes. From 1309 to 1377 Avignon was the seat of the Papacy, instead of Rome. This building, five stories tall and the size of a football field, was built between 1335 and 1364, on a rock spur. Its walls are 17-18 feet thick. The popes had enemies. Seven popes resided in the Palace followed by two anti-popes. The building is now a museum.

We took a tour train of the city first which gave us a perspective of the fortifications. Then it was on to the line to enter the Palace. Just like Disneyland but the line moved faster. For some reason the tour was free that day. Here, as in other places, a hand held speaker with an English language description of the rooms was available. It took us 3 hours to go through the part of Palace open to the public. I don’t think we got out of the southern wing. At one time the place was ornately painted and furnished with tapestries and wall hangings. Traces of some of the paintings still exist.

Two rooms were very large. One, the cathedral, was expected. But the other was the formal dining room. As most tours do, we were guided out through the boutique. But before that was a “degustation” room where you could buy a glass of vine from the vineyards owned by the popes. These vineyards were across the Rhone in the small town of Chateauneuf du Pape. Sound familiar? The popes had their summer homes there. We sampled and bought two bottles to bring home.

Lunch was next but once again it was after 2 and we had a hard time finding something to eat.

Not satisfied with all the walking and stair climbing we had done earlier we climbed the hill north of the Palace and the city cathedral, older than the Palace. On top the
parc des Rochers des Doms had a greatview of the city and St. Bénezet Bridge. Built in the late 1100’s, it was the only medieval bridge to cross the Rhone, a very significant river. It was partially desstroyed by floods several times but was rebuilt until an icy flood in 1668. Now it is a bridge to nowhere.
There is so much more to see and do in Avignon but the afternoon was gone and we only had one day left in Provence. Tomorrow we would head to Peter Mayle's part of Provence.

In Search of Roman Ruins























Picture 1: The arena at Nimes with matador statue
Picture 2: Fans at the bull fight
Picture 3: One of the street bands after the bull fight.
Picture 4: The Maison Carrée, former Roman temple
Picture 5: The Pont du Gard, an aqueduct and bridge on the River Gardon
Picture 6: Close-up of the Pont du Gard
Picture 7: The Moulin restaurant at Pont du Gard with Uzes in the background.

Saturday, Sept 19 we headed for the city of Nimes, an hour’s drive to the southwest from Avignon. We were looking for Roman ruins and there were three in that city plus the famous Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gard nearby.

The best known ruin in Nimes is the arena. It is an amphitheatre built around 100 A.D. and it is still in use. No touring of the arena that day. A bull fight was in progress. Two types of bullfights are held routinely. One was the Spanish style corrida where the bull is killed and the Provence style where bull and matador chase each other around the area. The Spanish style is only held 4 times a year and judging by the street party this was one of them. A street market, bands, and temporary bars and cafes crowded the closed off street.

Other Roman ruins in use included the Maison Carrée. Also built in the 1st C, it was originally a temple but to whom is still debated. It has served as a stable, town hall, monastery church temple, and currently, a tourist center showing a 3D film on Nimes.

The temple of Diana is a well preserved ruin. Rumor has it the building was a library, not a temple but I guess goddess draw more visitors. It is located in the back side of the Fountain Gardens, which date to Celtic times when a sacred spring existed here. The Romans absorbed the Celtic deity into their own pantheon and have existed happily ever since.

Fleeing the increasingly boisterous crowd we headed to Uzès, a small town on a hill top (of course) about 15 miles due north. The mission: lunch. This is where we couldn’t find a restaurant serving lunch after 2 pm and ended up eating what the French call bruschetta. See the post, Eating in France.

Finally feed, we headed to the Pont du Gard. This aqueduct is perfectly preserved. Most of the aqueduct is on or below ground but at the Pont du Gard it crosses a canyon a massive bridge.

Then it was back to the east 15 miles to our very modern hotel. Tomorrow we would explore Avignon.

Carpentras and the Cote-du-Rhone villages








Picture 1: Carpentras street on market day with Mike in the middle.
Picture 2: A rainy day market
Picture 3: Lavander is a major product of north west and north central Provence
Picture 4: Old chateau near Vauqueyras. Many of these have been rehabed and turned into winery tasting rooms and caves.


On Sept 18th, our first full day in Provence we decided to head north east and see some of the villages on what travel guru Rick Steves calls the Côtes du Rhone Wine Trail. But first we headed to the town of Carpentras about 20 miles to the northeast because it was Friday and Friday was market day in Carpentras. Carpentras has been a market town since before the Roman conquest. In the late fall it is the center of the truffle market in France. The weather wasn’t cooperating. A stormy, squally, thunderstorm laden weather system had moved in for the day.

Like most old towns Carpentras has a concentric center, with the church or cathedral in the middle, and a street system that looks like a broken spider web. Outside of this older section is a modern urbanized town. Total population is around 26,000. The market covered most of this old town. We parked near the river and followed the vendors along it, across into parallel streets and around in circles until we were thoroughly lost.

There is a long park along the river and the vendors here were serious. They had self contained RV like vehicles with opening or expandable sides that displayed an amazing variety of food, produce, and stuff. No one was crowded together here but in the narrow center streets the center span was cozy. They would give an American fire marshal nightmares.

After finding our way out of the maze we headed north for the villages that circle the Dentrelles de Montmirail mountain peaks. Our first stop was in Vacqueryas at the wine cave Les Vignerons de Caractere winery for lunch at a restuarant called L'Eloge. Apparently we had stumbled into a restuarant by a locally celebrated chef, Eric Balan. Lunch took two hours. It was the most pretentious meal we had in France. The name of the restaurant means praise or eulogy in English. The food was good, the wine excellent, the service SOOO slow. It was one of those places only the beautiful are expected to attend, or to work at. Tables were draped around with sheer curtains hiding the unpainted parts of the chocolate brown concrete floor. It was in the downstairs of the tasting room and appears to have held large fermentation tanks in the past. Many of the tables were on raised circular concrete pads. Here is the restaurant’s website: http://www.restaurant-leloge.fr/

We drove through the village of Gigondas, a designated wine region of its own, on to Sablet. A pretty village, but seemingly deserted. The rain was increasing so perhaps the locals were hiding behind their shuttered windows. The same was true of the next village, Seguret. This was a perched village, clinging to the hillside, much rockier and with less paint that Sablet.

We drove on to Vaison la Romaine, the northernmost town on the wine village tour. But the rain was increasing so instead of braving the steeper, downhill roads on the east side of the mountains we bagged it and headed back to our hotel outside of Avignon. These villages were the part of Provence I was looking forward to seeing the most. Too bad nature didn’t cooperate.

Monday, September 28, 2009

A few pretty pictures





Picture 1: Typical country houses along the Yonne River
Picture 2: Window in the village of Mailly-la-Ville Cravant and Chatel Censoir
Picture 3: Abandoned chateau between Mailly-la-Ville and Chatel Censoir

General impressions on Provence

Picture: Hillside view in the Luberon, near Roussillon.

You can tell Burgundy has been settled, cultivated, and tamed for a long time. Even the woods have been replanted with all the trees perfectly aligned. Not so with the Valcuse and Luberon areas of northern Provence where we were. It’s rockier and more arid terrain has required “pocket farming.” Mountain ranges and rocky hills are interspersed with narrow valleys and vineyards climb the hillsides. The two areas were both arid but had different plant systems. Small villages cling to the cliff sides, climbing above the farmable land.

The eastern Luberon had steeper hills and some significant canyons. On our last full day in Provence we explored the Luberon area east of Avignon, our “center of operation.” After leaving the ochre colored town of Rossillion, with cliffs similar in color to Sedona, AZ, we drove through a narrow, steep walled canyon that was very similar to Oak Creek Canyon, AZ just to the north of Sedona. I was certain we would come around one of the curves and meet up with John Wayne who would say “Bon jour, Ma’am.” Then we popped out of the canyon to see a typical valley full of unharvested grape vines.

French Weather

Early September is a good time to travel in France. But the weather can change later in the month. We had good weather all but 3 days of the trip. Most mornings in Paris and Burgundy there was a high fog or overcast that didn’t burn off until noon. Perversely, it was cloudy every time we went to a city or town, thwarting my photographic efforts. By the 16th of the month it was definately chilly at night, high 50’s on the Fahrenheit scale. By afternoon it would be in the high 70’s or 80’s. The trees looked like very early fall.

The day we left the boat, Sept 16th, it was definitely fall, spitting rain, windy and chilly. It continued that way the next day as we left Chablis and started driving to Provence. But as we crested the Massif Central range and started dropping down into the Rhone Valley the weather was decidedly different. It was 15 degrees warmer by the time we got to Provence. Our first day in Provence we had thunderstorms and rain squalls but the remainder of the time it was warm and partly cloudy. When we traveled back to Paris we arrived back in the same overcast morning conditions with the chilly nights. We know exactly why all those impressionist painters headed South.

The French Train System

There are at least 3 levels of French trains: the suburban trains, the regional trains, and the big daddy bullet train, the TGV. We rode a regional train from Paris to Migennes, and then again from Chatel Censoir back to Auxerre where we picked up a car to drive to Provence. All of the trains were clean, modern, and on time. The ticketing process is fully automatic if you wish. In the larger stations and on the trains there are ticket vending machines that take most credit cards. The only weak links in the system are a few of the personnel. There was someone that spoke English in all the larger stations. But the two stationmasters in Chatel Censoir were not good advertisement for the system. They didn’t sell tickets and the one on duty when we left for Auxerre throw us out of the waiting room into the wind and rain right at 12 noon when they locked up and went home for lunch.

The TGV is the bullet train. It took us 5 1/2 hours to drive from Chablis to Avignon in Provence, including a stop for lunch. It took us under 3 hours to go from Avignon to Paris, a distance of 100 miles greater, for a total of 415 miles. But the trains aren’t cheap. The TGV ticket cost 80€ each, or about $110, $220 for the both of us. It would cost far less to keep our car for two more days and returned it in Paris.

Cravant and Clamecy













Picture 1: The oldest house in the medieval town of Cravant, built in 1328.
Picture 2: The west bank of the Yonne, approaching the town of Clamecy.
Picture 3: I was intrigued with the variety of chimney pots in Clamecy.
Picture 4: The architecture in Clamecy was more varied and decorative.
Picture 5: I guess the delivery men couldn't handle the stairs; or lunch time arrived in the middle of the flight.


There were four more small towns on our river/canal journey. Two are worth noting. Cravant was the oldest of the town. It is a medieval town with its original portal still standing. The oldest building we noticed was built in 1328, the half-timbered house pictured above. We stopped here because it was supposed to have a Saturday produce market. Other than its age the town is know only because it was near a major battle in 1423. The town’s population in 1999 was 824. I don’t think it is that large today.

Clamecy has a population of more than 4,800. It is built on both sides of the Nivernais Canal where it again joins the Yonne and Beauvron Rivers. The area was settled in the early 600s but it became an enfranchised town in 1213. Amazingly all or parts of some of the earliest buildings are still intact, although many are looking a little tipsy. Like all the other towns, it is built on a hillside. Here is where the practice of cutting timber, rafting it up, and floating it downriver to Paris was started in the 16th C. and continued until 1923. This certainly helped the town prosper. Even today it looks brighter and more upscale. It is also the center for an artist community.

This is as far upriver as we went. We spent a night here and headed back to Coulanges-sur-Yonne for another night. Coulanges is the location of one of those great French country inns I mentioned previously. The next day it was on the Chatel Censoir where we turned in the boat.

The Caves of Bailly-LaPierre

A short distance upriver from Auxerre we made a stop at the Caves of Bailly-Lapierre, right on the Yonne River. A cave (pronounced cahve) is a wine cellar and may or may not be in a cave. But it is where you go to taste wine. This cooperative cave was in a former limestone quarry carved into the side of a hill like a cave system. It housed 7 million bottles of wine, most of it sparkling wine known as Crémant of Burgundy made from Pinot Noir grapes. We toured the caves, viewed a series of sculptures, marveled at the layers of moss on those 7 million bottles, and sampled a few wines. Sorry folks, no pictures allowed. However, they do have a website. http://www.bailly-lapierre.fr/ with some good pictures.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Auxerre









Picture 1: Inside Cathedrale St. Etienne looking forward
Picture 2: Approaching Auxerre in the late afternoon
Picture 3: L'horlage, or clock tower, in the old town.
Picture 4: Auxerre at night
Picture 5: Cathedrale St. Etienne outside
Picture 6: The cathedral inside, showing center of the basilica, or center arch
Picture 7: Side street in Auxerre
Picture 8: Main street in Auxerre

Auxerre was our third stop on the river/canal. We spent 2 nights here. It has a population of about 35,000. It's major attractions are the Cathedral St. Etienne, an active church, and the Abbey of St. Germaine, now a museum. In the approach photo above the abbey is the large building in the lower left, along with the tower of St. John, part of the abbey. The cathedral is the higher building to the left. In the night view both are lit but seen from the opposite end of town where we tied up to the shore.

We tied up on the south end of town near the bridge of Paul Bert. When I say we tied up I mean we drove two metal stakes into the bank with a 2 lb hammer in front of and behind the boat and tied our lines to them. There was a marina across the river but we would have rafted up to another boat that may have been rafted up to yet another boat. By tying up on the town side (West) we didn't have electricity or water, which we didn't need, and we had the sea wall to ourselves just meters from town.

Auxerre has been settled since Celtic times. An archelogical dig in the Abbey of St. Germaine shows the Romans built atop Celtic sites and the Frence built atop Roman sites. We saw that in several other places throughout France. The abbey was originally a basilica above the tomb of St. Germaine, a 5th centry bishop, who is credited with making Auxerre an important religious center. He is still buried in the crypts below along with other 1,000 year old crypts. Forget what I said about St. Nicholas before. He is important because he is the patron saint of travelers and mariners and the forestiers, or log cutters that floated their wood downstream to Paris mostly lived in this area.

The Cathedral was first built in 900 A.D. but burned several times in the first 150 years. Apparently every thing worked out after that and this huge Gothic cathedral dominates the skyline. It did suffer damage from the Hugenots in the 1200s. There is a 70 minute sound and light show here from June thru Sept but since it started at 9:30 us old folks couldn't make it.

There are two large museums in town, one of which was closed to set up a new exhibit. The other Mike and I didn't go to but Goerge and Carolyn did. What I found the most interesting was how buildings orginally built 1200 years ago where still being utilized for all sorts of enterprises, including computer stores. We tear down buildings because they are dangerous after 50 years. Maybe if we built them of stone instead they would last longer.

The most colorful tourist site is the clock tower, or Tour de L'Horloge. It is in the old town and was built in 1483 as part of the fortifications. The clock faces came along in the 17th century. There is a sun hand show the time of day, a moon hand that takes 29.5 days to rotate. Most of the old cities we visited had a Place de L'Horloge. Handy in the medieval ages, since watches hadn't been invented yet.

Only two more medieval cities to go before we move on the Provence.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The church at Gurgy


This was the view I had as we ate dinner in the town of Gurgy, midway between Joigny and Auxerre. I think there is a painting here.

Medieval Towns - Joigny




Picture 1: Half timbered house seen through arch in Joigny. Many of the houses in the medieval French towns reminded me of medieval houses in southern Germany I saw years ago. Picture 2: Our descent back from the top of the hill to the river.
Picture 3: View of the cathedral through the other side of the arch
Picture 4: First view of the town is the Hotel de Ville.

Joigny is the first of 4 medieval towns we visited on the Yonne River. We spent our first night across the river in a marina and wandered the city that afternoon. It is built on a steep hillside with 2 churches and a cathedral on top of the hill. It was rebuilt in the 16th century after much of it was destroyed by fire.


It has a population of 12,000. It's narrow cobbled streets and a number of timber-framed 15th and 16th century buildings and churches and the gate of St. Jean, a remnant of the original fortified City Wall (AD 998) make it look very medieval. It will also wear your knees out as you climb to the top of the hill to visit the cathedral.

Eating in France




Picture 1: The fruit section, or half of it, at Carrefoure.
Picture 2: The veggie section, or one half of it, at Carrefoure.
Picture 3: The seafood counter at Carrefoure, a WalMart like place. The counter extends to the end of the building. Prepared packaged seafood is to the right in a cold counter out of sight in the photo.

Take a dictionary to dinner with you. It will eliminate some of the mystery of what you are ordering for dinner. But if you can't find your food in the dictionary, order it anyway. Part of the fun of traveling is enjoying new experiences, right. The French have six different names for chicken, depending on age, size, sex, or lack of sex. That doesn't count the term "poultry." Duck is almost as complicated.

We left Chatel Censoir, and the boat, on the 16th and took the train to Auxerre. We rented a car, did laundry for the first time, and drove to the upscale village of Chablis, same name as the wine growing area. Laundries are hard to find in the country. We ate dinner there at a "nice" restaurant the inn keeper recommended. It was the only disappointing meal we had. We drove from there the next day to our hotel in Avignon.

We ate lunch at a truck stop in Lyon. There were only two "plats" on the menu. At a French food establishment the entree is the first course: the salad, pate, small serving of something. The "plat" is the main dish, the meat, chicken or fish, accompanied by a veggie or starch. The truck stop offered what I later translated to be ring-neck dove. We arrived late in the normal 2 hour lunch period they were out of that. The second plat was filet of loup with berre blanc sauce. Now I know the French word for loup. It's wolf. I thought we ordered that. I didn't really believe it would be wolf. It wasn't. Maybe they were out of the wolf as well but we got a nice little steak. It was a tough cut that had been prepared very well. The truck stop ranked just behind the country inns and the best food so far.

We have eaten at country inns, nice restaurants, snack bars, cafes, truck stops and taverns. By far the 3 best meals we had were at the 3 country inns in Burgundy, and I do mean country. These were all in the Burgundy region, specifically in the department of the Yonne, and in the general area of Chablis. We are in Provence now but haven't eaten out as much. The town of Gurgy in Burgundy is the snail raising capitol of the country. Personally, I think that good butter, garlic, & parsley sauce is best without those tasteless chewy nuggets in it but Mike and George liked them. Burgundians also like eggs. You are likely to find a very soft poached or fried egg on top of your salad, your galette, or anything else.

Eating hours at restaurants are pretty rigid. Most restaurants only seat between 7 and 8:30 or 9 and often require reservations. Lunch is between 12 and 2. Yesterday we went Roman ruin sight seeing and stopped in the town of Uzes for lunch. It was 3 pm. It was almost impossible to find a place serving food, although most places were open for drinks. We finally got lunch at a snack bar. They only thing they were serving was bruschetta. It isn't like our, or Italian bruschetta. The owner was describing it and I said it sounded like pizza. Non, non, pizza is with a dough. This is with a bread. Oops, my mistake. It was a 8x10" oval of a light, crisp, buttery bread with your choice of pizza stuff on top. Good.

We don't always eat out. We cooked many meals on the boat and our room in Provence has a small kitchen so we generally make dinner here. But that requires food shopping, which is a treat. There are many grocery stores, most smaller. But you can also get your food at an open air market held once or twice a week in many towns, a roadside fruit stands, at the butcher shop, the bakery, or the bread maker.

There are a few equivalents to WalMart. Carrefoure is near our hotel and we have been doing our grocery, and wine shopping there. But you can tell from the photos above, Walmart has a long way to go to challenge the food section of Carrefoure. The pictures are just of the fresh sections. The frozen and refrigerated "frommage" and "saucisson" sections are just as large. The wine section... well, it is France.

Baguette, cheese and pate have become staples of our lunch or breakfast. This blog won't let me type an accent mark over the e in pate. With the accent part it is the constructed meat dish cooked in a terrine. Without the accent it is pasta. We were reminded of this at lunch two days ago when we stopped at a winery with restaurant in the Rhone hill country north of Avignon.

But so far the greatest food discovery I have made is something called mirabelles. A grocery told me he didn't know the name of them in English. He didn't think they were plums but I believe they are in that family. They are only 1 1/2" in diameter with a free stone and they taste like honey. Wonderful.

Bon Appetit.