We
had seen Peter M off on the train to Paris, en route to London then home to
Darwin and we planned to stay put in Chagny, do some more painting on Matilda,
see some sights and generally put our feet up until the arrival of Marg’s
sister Judy and husband Geoff in about three weeks time. Chagny was only a small town but had a regular
market every Saturday. All the streets in the old town centre became full of
stalls selling everything!
Chagny
has several culinary credits to its name. It has two Michelin Star rated
restaurants and a high quality cookery college.
This
building, constructed as a school at the end of the 19th century now
houses a cooking academy. We spoke to a student – a man in his thirties – who
was finishing his eight months of studies and he explained to us that graduates
from the college were highly sought after as their training was known to be of
high standard.
A
little way up the road is this wonderful rooster in the town square. Behind
him, the Lameloise Hotel boasts a three Michelin Star restaurant. It was not
uncommon to see fancy cars such as Ferrari, Lambourghini and Lotus on the forecourt
as their owners spend around 500 euro a head on lunch. On our previous visit to
Chagny with Ali and John, we purchased coffee here so we could use their Wifi.
John will remember - expensive coffee.
Chagny
is only a 15 minute train ride from Chalon sur Saone and we decided to visit.
We wanted some hardware items and to check the condition of the Saone River. It
had rained quite a lot since Peter’s departure and we thought the level would
be high. We purchased some paint and a piece of outdoor carpet and returned to
Matilda after noting that the river was in flood – and it was still raining!
A
few days later we decided to take a trip to Beaune to look at the wine growing
region there. All the provincial trains cater for bikes, there is a specific
area set aside in at least one carriage where you and your bike are welcome.
The
French have a very complicated system for classifying their wine growing
regions. It classifies areas right down to the smallest of paddocks by the soil
type and depth, the direction it faces and is far too complicated for us to
understand let alone try to explain here. So we won’t! However we took a guided
tour and were suitably impressed by Beaune as a city and the vineyards and
villages on the hills behind it.
The
vines are mainly Pinot Noir with some Chardonnay, Small and low to the ground. We did not see the amount
of fruit they produce but the acreage was very large.
The
buildings in the villages are all old, many of them very splendid.
This
one in a courtyard of a grand chateau intrigued Peter, the roof was made of
limestone slabs and would have been 30 centimetres thick. (1 foot). All resting on a
substantial wooden frame.
Back
to Matilda and in the next few days, we wanted to complete some painting jobs,
the weather has not been good and we need three or four good days to do what we
have to do and the forecasts don’t look good! We were fortunate and picked a
break that allowed us to paint the cabin and coach house roofs with no more
than hours to spare before the rain set in again.
We
have Marg’s sister Judy and her husband Geoff arriving soon and it was
good to have some of the work done.
So,
there will be more to tell, keep in touch.
