Birthday Boy! Saturday 4th July 2009.

Skype did not stop this morning with calls to wish JR a happy birthday. While Mum and Dad were on skype, they watched JR answer the phone in the background, the person on the other end hung up when he answered with ‘bonjour’. Soon after, their phone at home rang. It was Linny and Pete from New Zealand. Linny said to Dad, “You have given me the wrong number to call John for his birthday, some French guy answered”. We all laughed at her thinking JR was French, although he is getting pretty good. So, Linny and Pete called back and John had a great chat to them, it was lovely.

Birthday cards had arrived at Combertault so it was nice for JR to have mail from home, thanks to all who thought of him. We spoiled him with beautiful coasters made of stone from a nearby village called Nuits-Saint-Georges, they are decorated with prestigious wine labels and will be a lovely souvenir of our time in Bourgogne. Alex had made a special card and gave JR his favourite box of Bouchee chocolates. JR was so surprised as none of us had seen them since leaving Australia until now. Grandma and Papa gave him matching coasters to the ones I had bought to make up a beautiful set that I am sure will be treasured always.

We set off for the Grand Cru wine road and settled in at Restaurant de la Tour at Nuits-St-George, the same village the stone was from used to make John’s coasters. Restaurant de la Tour is owned by two brothers who specialise in regional dishes; we ordered accordingly. I began with escargot cooked in their shells (I can hear you oohing and ahhing Francake!) with parsley and garlic butter, they were delightful – John tried them and thought so too. The meat was quite tender but had the typical resistance expected of escargot, but certainly not the rubbery consistency sometimes experienced when these little delicacies are overcooked. They had been cooked so perfectly, the parsley in the butter was still a bright green making them a delight to look at. I am happy to say I did not flick a snail or shell across the restaurant, I diligently clamped them and pried the flesh from the shells without incident. I cannot wait until my next encounter.

Next was Boeuf Bourguignon, all dark and mysterious on the plate, served with a tangle of buttery pasta, we all ordered the same for our main course, yum! I finished with a gingerbread infused crème brûlée. You all know I am a big fan of the brûlée and although it was a lovely flavour, the addition of gingerbread left me longing for the velvety texture of an unadulterated brûlée.

We wandered around the village, again, so pretty, neat and clean. I found an interesting little shop called Fruirouge & Cie who sell products of foie gras, escargot in many guises, jams, syrups, preserves, rillettes, confits, soups, oils, etc, made by a group of passionate and dedicated farmers from all over France. We dropped into a nearby village to speak to the couple who organise it but they were away on business, I will email them and set up a meeting – how exciting.

With me behind the wheel after John’s enjoyment of a local pinot noir at lunch, we drove around the back roads lined with lush vineyards, whose vines are becoming laden with brand new bunches of green grapes. The transformation is lovely to see after only seeing bare vines during our time in Lyon and surrounds.



After enjoying a wine from the vineyards of Chateau de Premeaux with lunch, we decided to call into the estate to enjoy a wine tasting, one of JR's favourite passtimes. I was interested to learn that they do not necessarily want the international tourist trade as these visitors only usually purchase a bottle or two instead of the bulk quantities the locals purchase. Claude and Arnaud were warm and friendly and we did have a lovely tasting of some soft and fruity reds, the first tasting of many we hope.




We sung happy birthday to JR back at home and ate our rich chocolate cake. It was yummy and I think AJ did a great job. He decorated it himself too. We made JR shut his eyes and surprised him with a bunch of fresh rosemary from the garden. JR had been craving his favourite sea-salt and rosemary potatoes since leaving Australia, we have asked and asked at markets and so far have not been able to buy it. Now we have the healthiest rosemary bush in our garden, just in time for a big, birthday batch of rosemary potatoes. Happy birthday JR!