The Chateau de Vougeot in Burgundy, France

We spent five wonderful days in Dijon, and took our time driving around to some of the vineyards and wineries of the burgundy area.  There were so many places to visit, and so many things to do that of course five days wasn’t enough, and we’re going to “have” to go back.  This is an incredibly beautiful area (although there was a bit of culture shock in some places… For example, there was an area where we went to see an old medieval castle – and the vineyard – and it’s located right in the center of a modern part of the city – urban blight – full of car lots, and grafitti and factories – and tenement buildings… so you’ve got the grace, beauty and heritage of something very old and lovely, right next to cement and asphalt and… well, ugliness.

I couldn’t help wondering what archeologists are going to think in a couple of hundred years from now of the things we’re leaving behind us.  What will they make of our squat cement buildings, the trash left on the side of the roads, the grafiti that seems to be everywhere these days?  Will they find any of it charming, or think it’s beautiful?  Or will they be appalled?

One of my favorite things about this trip, besides getting to see some fabulous castles, “discover” some new

Guilhen, Nadie and Alain at Le Savauge in Dijon

wines and get to review some new restaurants, was also getting to spend some time with Guilhen, Alain’s oldest son.  He’s got a wicked sense of humor, and he’s funny and really a nice guy.  Sadly we didn’t get to spend as much time with Nadie, as she’s incredibly busy at the hospital, and was working on a paper as well.  But I enjoyed the time we did get to spend with her. She’s working very hard, and is under a lot of stress.  I think she’s really amazing.  This restaurant, by the way, is one I highly recommend if you’re in Dijon.  It’s reasonably priced – they have great lunch and dinner specials during the week – things are a little more expensive on the weekends or holidays, of course, like most restaurants in France – and the food is fabulous!  I had the best steak I’ve eaten since leaving the states!  It’s called Le Sauvage, and it’s one of those secret places that you wouldn’t expect to see from the outside. To get to it, you have to walk through a big door, down an archway, and out into a hidden courtyard.  We ate on the terrace, under the shade of plane trees, and there was a lovely stone well in the center of the courtyard, with stone buildings all around – as you can see in the photo. It’s also a hotel, and some of the rooms are reached by climbing steps made of the same stones, and going into private entrances.  It’s one of those places that instantly charms and relaxes.

Oldest working wine press from Chenove, Burgundy area

Now here’s an interesting photo.  This is from one of those places that is surrounded by all things modern, and yet it’s history is absolutely fascinating. (In fact, look for an article soon about this one, because it’s a story worth telling.)

What you’re looking at is one of the oldest working wine presses in France.  And as I said, it has a fascinating history – there are two of them (the other one doesn’t work any longer), but they were both stolen by the French government in the 1700s!  Just look at how huge this thing is.

And every year after harvest (le vendage), the entire village gets involved in a wine making and tasting festival.  They make the wine the old fashioned way (including using bare feet to mash the grapes…) and then they are put into this huge press… There is a circular cavern underneath the main part of the press, and the grape juice goes down there.  Although they don’t make a huge number of bottles, we bought a couple, because it will make such an interesting story when we open them and share it with friends and family in a few years from now, don’t you think?

Related posts

• No related posts.

Instead we took a trip to Sanary-sur-Mer, a lovely little seaside village about 8 km from Toulon.

And by the way, Sanary is next on my list to create a city page for, so I’ll let you know when I get it finished.

The Port of Sanary

Here’s a photo Alain took from on top of a 13th century Romanesque tower, giving you a glimpse of the harbor and village.

We went to see the Frédéric Dumas International Diving Museum – http://www.scuba-museum.com/ – which used to be inside the tower, but the collection got so big that they had to open a new building. (The collection hasn’t quite grown into its new location yet), but you’ll find some of the first underwater cameras, as well as an old scuba diving suit made completely of leather, as well as some great photos of Frédéric Dumas, Phillipe Thailliez and Jacques Cousteau, who were really the pioneers of scuba diving.

During WWII, sanary became a place of sanctuary for intellectuals, artists and writers who fled here from

Alain on a narrow street in Sanary

Germany to escape Nazism.  Some of the houses are still standing – you can take a walking tour and find the plaques that show their homes or favorite places to gather, debate and drink at a group of little cafes on the harbor.  The exiles included Aldous Huxley, Thomas Mann, Sybille Bedford, Wilhelm Herzog and others.

While we wandered around we sipped on the French version of a slurpee called ‘Granitas” (pronounced granitay), which helps to take away the slap of the sun.  All in all, it was a very lovely way to while away a few hours in the afternoon!

Related posts

• No related posts.

I

Alain at the Handicapped Fair

A couple of weeks ago (see? I told you I was behind…) there was a kind of Handicapped Fair in one of the parks here in Toulon.  All the different agencies that provide services to the handicapped showed up and had booths where they could share information about who they are and what they provide.

Alain also had a booth and passed out brochures for Le Relais Peiresc, especially the summer activities next month for adults and children.

I took him a picnic basket so he could eat, because he was covering the booth for lunch. (Tapenade with crusty French bread, rose wine, stuffed mushrooms, fresh vegetable salad with homemade vinagrette dressing, roasted chicken and melon slices for dessert.)

Mayor Falco Cares about the Handicapped

Local artist, author and council woman Christine Manavella organized the event, and I’m always amazed by her organizational skills (as well as her beauty and grace and talent.  I sometimes think I’d like to be here when I grow up!)  

Anyway, while I was there, I was surprised and very pleased to see the mayor, Hubert Falco, came to meet and greet with people.  (Surprised because M. Falco is a very busy man, and receives literally hundreds of invitations a month, and pleased, because I think he’s doing an excellent job as mayor, and this, to me is just one more time he’s proven that he really does care about the citizens in Toulon – all of them.)

So kudos to the mayor… and Thanks for caring about what’s going on in the lives of your citizens!

Related posts

• No related posts.

The Tourist Train at the Carnoules-les-Platanes is coming!

Lets start with the wonderful train ride we took a couple of weeks ago…

       A friend of ours invited us to go on a special tourist train, enjoy a picnic and then attend a concert in the park to hear a new gospel choir that’s just starting up.

I love trains and gospel music, so I was thrilled to add this to our social calendar…

The train is a three-car tourist train called “Le Train du Centre Var” is owned and run by its members… of which there are over 50.

The train picked us up in Carnoules-les-Platanes (approx. 1 km north of the center of Carnoules) and we went as far Brignoles in the northwest.  

One of the things I loved about this trip is that there are no railroad crossings on the streets where cars

A human railroad crossing guard!

go, so two of the people who work on the train jump out at each stop and, using red and white streamers, create the barriers themselves!  There were about 7 stops, and each time, the employees would go and grab their streamer, hop out and create a road barrier to stop traffic and prevent anyone from getting injured!

One of the other things I loved about this train ride is that it’s not really fast – so you’ve got time to look at the countryside, and the employees are happy to answer questions and also give a great guided tour about the history of the area and some of the more interesting – and mostly unknown – happenings.

Le Train Touristique du Centre Var at the Brignoles Station

Our ride took us to Brignoles in the northwest to the Brignoles train station, which has just been purchased by the state and is scheduled for renovation starting at the end of this year.  

The club – called the ATTCV -(which stands for: l’Association du Train Touristique du Centre Var) – was established in 1994.

The club has more than 50 members and around half of them are active and participate in the club and the train on a regular basis.

When the club started, members (who love all things having to do with trains, and particularly this train) spent several years collecting equipment, information and trying to get official permission to run their train on the tracks.  (Believe it or not, that took them 7 years before permission was granted!)  The Train Touristique du Centre Var had it’s inaugural run in August 2001.  

The train’s diesel engine railcar is named “Picasso”.  As its fame spread, more people have begun booking passage on the little train, and during the 2007-2008 April-October season, they had more than 5000 passengers!  That’s pretty impressive… I think it should be the little engine that could…

If you have a special occasion or want to book a group event – like the gospel concert we attended, it’s entirely possible.

The tourist train is reported to have carried more than 5000 passengers during the 2007 April-October traffic season.

Our Aperitif at the Carnoules-les-Plantanes (the Plane Trees)

When we got back to the Carnoules-les-Platanes station, the employees had put together a lovely surprise for us – a wonderful aperitif under the trees.  There were several things to drink and a really impressive selection of finger foods – including homemade pizzas, savory, homemade olive bread, garden-fresh cherry tomatoes and radishes (with a delicious dip) and then the usual assortment of chips, several kinds of crackers, an assortment of nuts, etc.  Everything was delicious, and eating under the huge plane trees meant we weren’t too hot.

After the aperitif, everyone walked over to the little park, where they found their “perfect” picnic spot and had a really lovely picnic.  (Of course, after the picnic, it was time for a nap!)  But since Alain fell asleep on our bench, I decided to take a walk, and do a little exploring until it was time for the concert.

The club had apparently put flyers out all around the village of Carnoules and Carnoules-les-Plantanes and maybe other surrounding towns, because cars started showing up, and little old ladies carrying lawn chairs shuffled into the large open court, in front of the stage where they were guaranteed to have a good seat!

A lovely lady at the Gospel Var concert

As it got closer to the concert, city employees came and began setting up white metal chairs, and more cars with more local people began piling out.  There was a lot of name calling, and story telling and laughter as friends who hadn’t seen each other perhaps since the last such free concert – began catching up on the latest goings on.  I met one such lovely lady, and she and I sat on the sidelines for half an hour or so, while she told me wonderful tales of how her husband used to be the gardener for French singing sensation Johnny Haliday, and about the people he knew and the visitors to his lovely property… She was absolutely fascinating, and I enjoyed meeting her very much!

As happens everywhere in the south of France, many people brought their dogs, who behaved with the utmost politeness, and correct doggy behavior… They’d move face to face, look each other in the eye and touch noses – then take and turns smelling… well, lets just say it probably wasn’t rosy… (One thing I’ve always been amazed by is the way dogs here don’t bark, they don’t get all excited and they have excellent manners when out in public.  Tourist dogs are seldom so well-behaved, and if there is an incident of barking or jumping or other impoliteness, it’s usually started by the doggy visitor.)

Gospel Var giving their first concert

At long last, it was time for the concert.  Gospel Var is the brainchild of its conductor, (himself a singer). He spent two years in the states – in Louisiana – New Orleans, and traveled to other places along the east coast where he fell in love with gospel music.

Not being able to find what he was looking for in a gospel choir in the area, he decided to start his own, and singers travel for several miles in order to participate in the practices, which are held weekly. This was the group’s first concert, and they gave me goosebumps several times!

We bought their CD too – it’s not been produced yet, so it was a purchase “en avance” – and they’re using the money they got from pre-selling their cd to pay to have it produced! That’s a very smart move, especially in today’s economy, and something more entrepreneurs would do well to think about, when they’re looking for funding!

All in all, it was a day to remember, and I’m so glad I got to participate!  

Related posts

• No related posts.

A Bandol vineyard in late summer

Related posts

• No related posts.