The Fortress of Chinon

We arrive at Chinon (pronounced she-no) in the early evening and saunter through the narrow cobblestone streets of this historic village. These alleys are walled with stone and brick buildings that house the residents as well as many shops, cafés, bars, bakeries and charcuteries. We choose an outdoor café for our evening meal – then both decide on the braised lapin with tagliatelle.

Chinon is situated on the Vienne River in the heart of the Loire River Valley. France’s wine regions are defined by specific grapes. Here, the fertile soil along the river is cultivated with vineyards of cabernet franc and chenin blanc. Rising majestically from the steep banks are the remnants of a mighty fortress.

Chinon was once a principal city of France and the fortress was conceived in the 12th Century. It was here in 1429 that Joan of Arc met with the uncrowned Charles VII and pledged her allegiance against the English invaders. Eventually, Charles was crowned King at the Cathedral in Reims.

A venture to restore the fortress began in 2006. The bell tower of the fortress now houses a museum dedicated to Joan of Arc. We climb to the top and look out at the river and bridges and the black slate roofs of the tight network of buildings. We descend into the dungeon where prisoners were once kept. And we walk along the courtyard and admire the stones and labour of another time.

The 'Newfie Bullet' - NOT!

We travel from Reims to Paris in excess of 300 km/hr. We are told the train can attain speeds of over 500 km/hr. We blur past fields of wind turbines, one of France’s supply of electrical energy. The blades turn lazily in a slight breeze. It makes me wonder why there are no windmills on the Port au Port Peninsula.

There are pros and cons of traveling by train or by car. When you consider gas and insurance for a car, the costs may be similar. The car gives you the freedom of coming and going as you please. Finding parking space, especially in cities, is challenging; and toll stations in France can cost up to €20 per day.

For this trip we’ve chosen the trains, and they are easy – unless you are talking about 2 bumpkins who stumble their way through train stations and foreign languages. In Paris, there are 6 stations. We need a 5-country, 2-month Euro rail pass that we can only get at Paris Nord. The metro (subway) conveniently connects intra-city to regional transportation.

With 2 suit cases and 100 pounds of luggage in tow, we conquer line-ups, metro stops and broken escalators. We climb up stairways, down stairways and up stairways again. We push our suitcases through turnstiles and ward off con artists looking for money.

Finally, a street musician is singing La Bamba in tune with his Spanish guitar and we are traveling south through sunny France, en route to the Loire Valley and everything is right with the world.

NOTE: (For those of you who are too young or live too far west of Newfoundland) The Newfie Bullet refers to our defunct train which attained a maximum speed of 40 km/hr.

Dinner at the Manor

Monica and I are hopeless gourmands. We’ve been lucky enough to dine in many fine restaurants in North America and some in Europe. We take pleasure in trying different foods abroad and we also enjoy our own traditional Newfoundland dishes, whether it’s a ‘jigs dinner’ or a scoff of ‘fish and brewis’. It is fitting; our final night as guests of Veuve Clicquot is an exquisite gastronomic experience.

Winemaker, François Hautekeur, hosts our dinner at the Manoir de Verzy and guides us through the menu, each course paired with special champagne. François started his career as a mechanical engineer. However, his passion for wine lured him in another direction, and today he is an important part of the Veuve Clicquot team.

We start off with an aperitif – Veuve Clicquot La Grand Dame 1998. A well-dressed waiter offers appetizers – a selection of charcuterie and rounds of French bread with salmon seviche and caviar. This sets the tone for an amazing evening of vintage champagnes and gourmet food. François is excited about the food and wine pairings. Our dessert wine, Veuve Clicquot demi sec, is decanted into an icy carafe. This reduces the carbonation by 20% and minimizes the sensation of acidity. “With less acidity, it pairs better with the dessert,” he says.

“Which did you like best?” he asks enthusiastically.

I feel a slight pressure to give an informed response. I reply, “I liked the 2002 Vintage; the acidity balanced well with the foie gras.” I was pleased, if not relieved, that he agreed.

We have been treated extremely well. We leave the Champagne Region with fond memories and many thanks to the people at Veuve-Clicquot, Charton-Hobbs and the Stratford Chefs School.

Champagne Dinner

Apéritif
Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 1998
Served with:
Charcuterie, Salmon Seviche and Caviar
~~~~~
Foie Gras of Fresh Duck
Grilled Gambas
Purée of Dates and Citron Confit
Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rich 2002
~~~~~
Noisette of Veal Filet Mignon
Crust of Tomatoes and Black Olives
Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rosé 2004
~~~~~
Our Selection of Fine Cheeses
Veuve Clicquot Rare Vintage Rosé 1985
~~~~~
Breton Biscuits with Light Vanilla Mousse
and Fig Compote
Veuve Clicquot Demi Sec

Tour de Champagne

Perhaps you’ve browsed through the sparkling wine section of the Liquor Store and noticed their distinctive yellow label. We are here in the Champagne Region, compliments of Veuve Clicquot.
It is time for the harvest. The conditions were favorable; no botrytis, no mildew. The winemakers are cautiously optimistic for a vintage year.

There is only a window of 10 days to pick the grapes. Migrant workers come here from as far away as Romania. Some of the locals take holidays from their regular work to earn extra income. An experienced picker can make up to €160/day.

Our chauffeur (we are being spoiled) takes us out to the countryside. We pass fields of corn, wheat, and sugar beets enroute to the vineyards and wine cellars. We are met by the amiable and knowledgeable Kasha, a professional, multi-lingual guide provided by our sponsor. Kasha takes us through the Veuve Clicquot story – how the widow (veuve) Barbe-Nicole carried on with the Champagne business after the untimely death of her husband François. The year was 1805 and Barbe-Nicole was 27. In a business world dominated by men, the shrewd widow’s passion, innovation and marketing skills were unmatched.

Kasha takes us down to the wine cellars. During the Great War, they were used as a bomb shelter and a temporary hospital. The cellars are a network of limestone caves that maintain a humidity of 80% and a temperature of 10°C - perfect conditions for aging wine. We are shown old and new processes of winemaking. Oak barrels, dégorgment stations and manual riddling tables are replaced by stainless steel, automated riddling and dégorgment. Pallets of wine (500 bottles) are moved by forklifts.

Our lesson in history and winemaking culminates with Kasha popping the cork of a Veuve Clicquot Rosé. We all raise our glasses and have a casual discussion on wine, foreign languages, France, and Canada. Santé!

Note: Riddling was invented by the Widow Clicquot to produce a clear wine. In this process, the bottles are gradually inverted, collecting the yeast residue for dégorgment.

Night at the movies

Reims has several colleges and the local bars or brassieres are brimming with wines, spirits and spirit-filled students. These pubs are a hit and miss for food, but it is quick and simple. We satisfy our hunger with steamed mussels in a mushroom sauce, and tagliatelle and salmon in a cream sauce. Of course, everything pairs beautifully with champagne.

Monica and I opt for a different form of entertainment than the college students. We leave the brassiere and head for a movie theatre. The French love their movies and so do we. The modern theatre has 5 films showing. Each has a wide screen and seats approximately 160. International movies are often shown in their video/audio of origin and are marked appropriately; ex: v.o. anglaise. We decide on a British film ‘Fish Tank’ – a disturbing movie about a 15-year old girl and her environmental challenges in living a normal life. The acting is good and the movie is a nominee for the Cannes Film Festival, France’s equivalent of the Academy Awards.

It feels a little funny to be watching a movie in France in English, while the locals are watching the same movie and following along in French subtitles. We seize the opportunity to translate what we hear.

On to Reims

A black Mercedes pulls up to the door of Residence Villa Daubenton. It’s our ride to Reims, compliments of Veuve Clicquot and Charton-Hobbs. The rolling countryside and fields of grain hide the scars of World War I battlefields as we drive east of Paris. This land has a history of changing hands – first France, then Germany, now France.

We are soon in the Champagne Region which is all about the grapes: pinot noir, pinot meunier, and chardonnay. France’s strict controls only allow these grapes to be used for the production of Champagne.

Reims is in the heart of Champagne. Its gothic Notre Dame cathedral is a UNESCO world heritage site. Built in the 12th Century, it became the setting for the coronation of the Kings of France up to the 19th Century. Reims and its cathedral suffered through more than 300 bombings during the Great War.

After lighting a candle for our loved ones, Monica and I leave the church and stroll to the city centre, a hub of shops, restaurants, cafés and Champagne retailers. We’re overdue for a rest and lunch. It’s very warm and an open-air restaurant attracts us. We celebrate our first day in Reims appropriately with a glass of Champagne and a delicious meal of tournedos de boeuf with deux poivre sauce and braised endive. It never takes us long to find foodie heaven.

Mais oui, je suis allé á Le Cordon Bleu

We couldn’t come to Paris without visiting the world-renowned cooking school. Yes, it reminds me of Stratford. It’s small and the techniques of French Cuisine are the main focus. A large overhead mirror allows the Chef to demonstrate while the class takes notes. Students are then left to do preparations on their own. All instructions are given in French and translated into English.

From here we use the efficient metro system to get to the Montmartre District, a bohemian area noted for its sights, shops, food and culture. After some browsing, we sit at a street café, sipping on a beer and people-watching – a little like Time Square without all the lights.

In our final evening in Paris we treat ourselves to a wonderful meal at L’abri Côtier, a fine restaurant, in walking distance from our apartment. The language has never been a problem. We are pretty hopeless at French. However, a few words and gestures spark a genuine interest and encouragement from the locals. We always manage to communicate.

In the morning we leave Paris for Reims (pronounced r-rance) in the Champagne; but not before sampling croissants at a nearby Boulangerie. They were delicious. Perhaps the baker is a Cordon Bleu graduate.

Trips and traps

Even experienced travelers are susceptible to street scams. Some are pretty harmless. In Rome, we were scammed by a street vendor selling cardboard Disney characters that appeared to be dancing. “It is done by low voltage electricity from the radio music,” explained the young con artist. We bought a couple of packs for our grandkids. Later we found out it was a hoax – Mickey and Minnie were attached to an invisible string that strung us along perfectly. We laughed as we passed the exact same scam in Paris.

Then there are the white collar scams. We bought 3-day tickets for an open air bus to tour Paris. It seemed like a good idea. After all it was only 4 more Euros than the 2-day tickets. However the bus route was mostly within the space of a few city blocks that we could easily have done on foot or with the Metro transportation which was easy, efficient and much cheaper.

The most unnerving scam is one who preys on single individuals. I was alone when an ‘Artful Dodger’ pretended to pick up a large gold ring. “Look, I just found it right here. Someone must have lost it!” he exclaimed, a little too exuberantly. Suddenly he was keeping pace with my walking, still talking about the ring. I only got rid of him when I told him emphatically I wasn’t interested.

The mime is another popular tourist theme. We’ve seen them in New York (Statute of Liberty), in Venice (marble bust), and here, the ancient Egyptian.

Our only unsolicited advice for travel is to have fun and be street wise.

Arts and Culture

La Louvre, once a Parisian fortress along the Seine, is arguably the most prominent museum in the world. We chose a guided tour, which gave us much information regarding many famous sculptures and paintings, including Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa.

Ten million people visit La Louvre each year. The major museums, the Palais Royal, and the Tuileries Garden are all in walking distance. They attract many tourists, but not in the same way as American theme parks and neon spectacles. The guillotine was moved from its normal area at the Louvre (then a fortress) to the place de la Concorde, where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded in front of their Royal Palace.

Well so much for blood and guts. We still had time to travel further up the Seine to la tour Eiffel. A friend of mine, knowing I was going to Paris, asked me to find out if that fellow Eiffel ever finished his tower. I can honestly say George, “All the steel work is done”. My preconception was ‘tourist trap’. However, I was impressed with this massive structure, which was the tallest in the world when it was built in 1889. Eiffel’s tower won first prize at the Centennial World Fair winning over other proposals such as a giant guillotine. La tour can be seen from most anywhere in Paris.

We thought we were good enough to take the local transportation now, taking the city bus from la tour Eiffel to Luxembourg Gardens, However, we took a wrong turn when we left the bus. It took re-direction from a local policeman to finally set us on our path back to our hotel in the Latin Quarter.

Getting around Paris

From our apartment in the Latin Quarter we detour through beautiful Luxembourg Gardens en route to lunch. The streets of Paris are lined with Cafés, Boulangeries and Patisseries. At Café Orangina, Monica orders a mushroom (girolle) omelet et salad and I have Farmer’s poulet et tagliatelle in lemon sauce. My bonjour and merci are dead giveaways that the language is foreign to me. They amuse us by exclaiming ‘Your French is excellent!’

We decide to take an open bus tour. Our ear buds convey tidbits of information as we pass L’ Opéra, Notre-Dame, Musée du Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, and Tour Eiffel. We exit the bus at Champs-Ėlysées and stroll past the many shops, stands, and street scams. The famous street leads us to the Arc de Triomphe, a monumental arch conceived by Napoleon Bonaparte to honour those who dedicated themselves to defending France in times of strife.

There are 284 steps to the top of the Arc, from which there is a spectacular panoramic view of the city. The Eiffel Tour looms large in the distant haze. A couple asks if we can take their picture; we oblige.

Descending the spiral steps was easier than climbing. However, we still worked up an appetite for the deli and fruit stands that characterized the Latin Quarter and provided us with a substantial evening meal.

The cocktail party

There is a 6 hour time difference between Paris and Montreal. When we arrived at 8:30 am, our internal clocks were still ticking at 2:30 am. We arrived at our hotel at noon. The concierge upgraded us from a studio to a full-size apartment. Everyone wants to be our friend.

As tired as we were, we couldn’t resist finding a Parisian café. The blackboard menu was presented by a pleasant young waitress who offered to translate. We thanked her and kindly but opted to practice our French. I chose pan-fried sardines, prawns et frites; Monica, tagliatelle with scallops. In the space of one hour, the café filled and emptied for lunch.

We strolled along a nearby market – fruit stands, Fromageries, Boulangeries and wine shops - scavenging morsels of food for an evening cocktail party. We found fresh figs, baked aubergine stuffed with ricotta and chicken, a cracked pepper and herbed brie and a traditional French baguette.

Does the 100-mile diet still apply if YOU do the travel instead of the food being shipped?

En route to Paris

Hey friends,

Our journey to Europe has started! Well, kind of. Monica and I left St. John's, NL this morning and will be held over at Montreal's Trudeau Int'l Airport for approximately 12 hours. Wow, that's a long time! Our saving grace is that we have the perk of the Maple Leaf Lounge. A night flight will bring us 'across the pond'; arriving in 'City of Lights' at 8:30 am tomorrow.

I am very honoured and humbled to have won the Veuve Clicquot Scholarship. My competition was keen and the judging must have been difficult. Thank-you to classmates and faculty at the Stratford Chefs School for a great 2-years of culinary immersion. And thank-you to the people of Charton-Hobbs, a Canadian importer of fine wines, for you generous donation.

We have incorporated my trip to France and a 4-night stay in Reims (Champagne Region) with a broader tour of Europe that will take 6 weeks and conclude in Amsterdam.

I've set up this blog to inform and hopefully entertain family, friends, classmates, faculty and those who are interested in following our journey that will take us through France, Italy, Austria and Holland. Please feel free to comment.