Wine villages. Monday 6th July 2009.

We are living in the heart of the Burgundy wine region here in Combertault. A short drive in either direction finds us amoungst the lush vines.

Today we explored a few nearby wine villages, all were brim full of beauty and the romance you would expect of the Burgundy region. The roads of tiny Volnay were barely wide enough to drive the car through, and believe me, out car is a tiny one! We all just hold our breath in instinctively, somehow hoping it will decrease our girth at the narrowest parts. Silly I know.

In the heart of Volnay is a small square, defined by a park with sweeping views over the vine covered slopes, cut down wine barrels filled with flowering geraniums, a church, and Vignerons, one of which was industriously cleaning his wine barrels. Just above Volnay is a gorgeous panorama view of the village of Pommard, looking like a desert surrounded by an oasis of vines.

Driving along the narrow roads, I am sure no one but us and the wine makers use, we stumble across Meursault, it is gorgeous and has the prettiest Mairie (town hall) I have ever seen. It's roof is made of the unique coloured tiles so typical of the Burgundy region. Back-pack laden cyclists cruised into the village heart with sweat on their brows, cycling is a popular way to discover this area. I bet they have no trouble negotiating the narrow village streets.

JR scoots around the village to snap his beautiful works of art while AJ and I wander our own path of discovery. We sit together in the shade and eat the plumpest, most succulent and juicy French cherries known to man.

We eat early tonight, a salad of bursting fresh lettuce, eggs, smoky lardons, blushing tomatoes, croutons delicately seasoned with freshly ground pepper and Guerande sea salt, drizzled within an inch of its life with a delicate mustard dressing. JR goes out to capture Burgundy in magic hour, he loves this time of day. Thomas arrives with a replacement BBQ which may not be needed as we have been told the kind of electric BBQ we are using actually requires the water in the bottom to enable it to work - what the??? AJ and I have a long chat to the lovely JC, our December home-exchanger from Brussels. It is only 3 weeks until he visits us here at Combertault. We share our excitement about cooking his recipe of 'painted chicken' together. Can't wait to meet you JC!

23 Years! Sunday 5th July 2009.

Today we celebrate 23 years of marriage. Hand written utterances of love were exchanged and JR disappeared into the garden and cut some fresh pink blushed roses.

Evening came and we followed the neighbor's car to the venue for a petanque tournament. For those of you wondering what I am talking about, the pictures tell the story. AJ is horrified to think that JR and I are going to buy a set of balls to play the game on our return to Oz. Apparently it is an old peoples game - who knew?

We took along the champagne the neighbors had given to JR for his birthday yesterday, that livened up the match a little. The end score - Bruno 1, JR 1, the next tournament is already planned where I will stage a major comeback.

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!

Birthday preparations. Friday 3rd Jult 2009.

After some fun in the sun and splashing in the pool, some secret shopping had to be done in preparation for John’s big day tomorrow. AJ and I came home with a stash of surprises and sent John out in the late afternoon light to take some photos; he was not allowed back home until 8pm. Alex and I busied ourselves with baking the birthday cake. I do hope I have bought the right flour, trying to decipher specific ingredients in French can be tricky. We managed to convert the centilitres into millilitres and our rich, chocolate cake slowly rose in the oven. We gently melted dark chocolate and added pure cream to make the ganache to decorate it; it shone like a mirror.

As soon as the cake came out of the oven, Alex and I jumped in the pool to cool off, John joined us when he came home. There was no mistaking the birthday baking had been done, the smell was unmistakable but John went along with things pretending not to know. We made a quick pasta sauce for dinner, laced with garlic, onions and ruby red tomatoes and ate it by the pool, it is always so relaxing eating outside.

John and Alex went out the front for a bash of cricket, the ball was lost in the long grass before the first over was bowled. They joined the family across the road for a game of badminton and had a great time. I cheered on between hanging out the washing. After the Papas grew tired, and Alex and Laura (14) had reigned supreme, Bruno invited us in for drinks. We all had a great time; it was Bruno and Anthony, his 10 year old son’s, birthday. They also have a little girl of about five named Lucie, Mum’s name is Tatiana.

We all came home smiling after having met them, another fine example of French hospitality and friendliness. Our next rendezvous is on Sunday night when we will all play petanque in the local park – should be a hoot!

Beautiful Bourgogne. Thursday 2nd July 2009.

Our little village of Combertault is so tiny it does not even have a Boulanger. Neither does the neighbouring village of Bourguignon. They are oh so pretty, just as I had always imagined French villages to be. Tumble-down farmhouses line the narrow roads, along with golden wheat fields interspersed with fields of sunflowers in full bloom, all facing one direction at once, dodging the perfect photo.

Beaune is only five minutes drive in the car. It is quite an event being the capital of the Bourgogne region and is home to the famous Hotel Dieu.

The night time market was on tonight in Beaune so we ventured into town to browse. Of course we came home with some goodies; beaufort cheese made by a lady near to our old home town Lyon, Alex chose a pure-pork saucisson to take home as a treat, while John and I were captivated by the locally produced Blackcurrant liquor. It was sweet and syrupy and a splash of it is often added to white wine. John said that it will be great to dress up a bottle of local cat’s piss! Spoken like a true Aussie.


Our first impressions of Beaune are all good. It is very pretty, neat and clean, charming as charming can be. There is a wine specialist on every corner and on every other one is a restaurant – they must have been expecting us!

Settling In. Wednesday 1st July 2009.

I sat outside this morning while the boys slept soundly. The pool sparkled and twinkled almost too brightly in the morning sun, the sky was a palette of pure blue, unadorned by even one cloud. The village church bells chimed with no rhyme or reason, sometimes with the right amount of chimes to correspond with the hour, sometimes not, and sometimes to be repeated again at any moment. Pink roses in full bloom are neighbours to sprays of lavender, edible nasturtiums, geraniums in the boldest red, and deep yellow flowers which look like buttercups. Beyond our fence line, two fat and happy Charolais cows graze in the long grass with a scant smattering of wild poppies; you can see their brightly coloured orange flowers stretching just above the golden grass. The birds are singing and I think our five weeks here will be just bliss.

John and I played childlike games in the pool, close your eyes and imagine the both of us balancing on an inflatable killer whale (I can hear you laughing), surprisingly Alex didn’t join us. His discovery of the entire collection of Harry Potter books in English is enough to keep him glued to the poolside sunlounge or the sofa inside. It has been so long since he has had books to read in English and he is so excited.

Time to hit the supermarche for supplies so off we go in our tiny Peugeot 107 in fire engine red. Alex finds John’s favourite Bouchee chocolates and hides them for John’s birthday in a few days time. We stock up on our favourite French butter, saucissions, Comte and Brillat Savarin fromage, dark chocolate to make truffles, and all the necessities for the days to come.

We all love it here in our new home; I think we will stay a while.

So Long, Farewell Nantes, It Has Been A Pleasure. Tuesday 30th June 2009.

Our train departs at 1pm today. I will be sad to leave. Our exchange in Nantes has been a great one and we have loved living in Dom and Claire’s home, it has been a haven of tranquillity. I am happy to say we are leaving with all fish fed and fully accounted for, and all plants in the indoor garden are brimming with good health. Julie said I would kill them with kindness but I didn’t.
We all got up early and played our part in cleaning the house, the boys had done the car last night. Alex went into village Zola himself to get the lunch-time supplies of fresh baguette. By the time we were ready to leave, our home in Nantes shone from top to bottom. By now Dom, Claire and family will have left our home and will be on their way to Cairns in a mobile home, what fun.

The train trip was interesting to say the least. Across the aisle was a lady with a very pampered pooch. On their arrival to the train carriage, Madame Pooch trotted out all kinds of accessories, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she pulled an X-Box out of her bag to keep her little darling occupied. First she brought out a comfy bed and placed it on the seat next to her, that had to be moved when a young man came to sit beside Madame. After the bed, came the squeaky toy, the fluffy toy, and of course a biscuit and a bone for pooch to enjoy. Sitting opposite Madame was a very intolerant new mother with her fussed over little baby, each shot daggers at the other, words were exchanged – I don’t think the new Mummy was at all impressed to have a dog as a travelling companion. You know the type, ‘My baby is the most precious thing on Earth Mummy’. Anyway, we all ended up on Madame Pooch’s side as the new Mummy was rude to everyone. The pampered pooch was so well behaved, obviously used to long train journeys. Madame took pooch out for a quick lap of the train stations as we stopped, preventing any nasty toilet incidents inside the carriage.

A quick change of train in our old home town of Lyon, Alex wanted to dash outside the station for a quick run up and down Rue Republique, there was no time for that we assured him. Before long we pulled into Beaune, Timothy and Pauline were there to meet us, Pauline would be staying in our home in a few weeks time. Annie (Timothy’s Mum) was waiting our arrival at Combertault, our new exchange and home for the next five weeks. Our home is in a little enclave of about a dozen houses, we are at the end of a wee village road, pretty and serene.