In the past two weeks, the three of us have been pushing the boundaries of food and wine consumption. The space I’d made for cheese and bread in Brisbane has been suitably filled in France. I can officially declare a love affair with French bread and butter. And cheese. And all forms of cured meats that go with all of the above. Did I mention the wine? Yes, that too. I am in a polyamorous relationship with French cuisine. Happily, we are all okay with it.
My last night in France finds us staying the the Champagne region and we have a full day to fill with whatever we choose. Emma and I choose the local Patisserie, Lachlan chooses sleep. Emma and I wander the street of Trélou-sur-Marne and wonder what time we can access the délicieux baked goods within. Tomorrow is the answer. Monday is not a day for accessing baked goods in the local village. We did find a grizzled looking horse to say hi to though. We greeted the locals leaving the pub at 10am on a Monday with a friendly “Bonjour!”….. Hm. Made us question what time things got moving in the local area, considering it’s light until 9:30pm, maybe things don’t kick off until later?
After rousing Lachlan from the coma he calls ‘sleep’ with the promise of food and coffee we head to the grocery store. I think Emma and I could wander the aisles for hours looking at all the new things we simply must try during this holiday. Thankfully, Lachlan keeps us well-herded and aside from a small altercation with the produce at the check-out, we are good to go. Brunch/Lunch includes eggs from the owners of the house we are staying in, cheese, bread, cured meats (all my new loves) and strawberries. Oh, and lunch wine. Lachlan has a knack of choosing very good wine for all the meals we have had thus far and the Pinot Noir is no different. All movement comes to a rapid halt. We know there are cellar doors out there waiting for us; I have Mum’s voice in my head urging us to go. The pull of the couch is too great. Naps ensue and nothing happens until after 3pm.
We hit the Champagne trail with high hopes and excited pallets!! We drive through some incredible country and visit the Chateau with the closed tourist information centre. We shall wing it! Yay for unknown adventure! We find anther 2 cellar doors closed, two happy hounds to pat instead. Lastly, we roll into Joël Coche’s drive way and we are shown into a room behind a heavily locked door. We are presented with the list, some quickly spoken French and we stare back at her with wide eyes and some confusion. Slowly please! French is much easier to read than listen to in conversation when you’re learning. Onto the tasting: The Blanc de Blanc is amazing, the Grand Cru is amazing, the Brut Rosé is amazing. The tasting notes come with three recipes from ‘Granny’s Cookbook’. Emma sits and deciphers the French, our tasting tour guide disappears and returns with four French cookbooks that are the local equivalent of the Country Women’s Association in Australia. Complete with pictures from wine picking and the local square back in the day. We are interested in these and have some very broken conversations with her about the local area, the wine, and the food. Once more she disappears and returns with our champagne, complete with re-corking devices with their logo on it. Again, we are delighted and she smiles (which is far from how the tasting started) and we are ushered out with our purchases, our gifts and a packet of strawberry sponge finger biscuits. Happy tourists.
There is a roast waiting for Lachlan’s attention at home, so we call it an afternoon. Between the drive and the tasting, we were gone longer than expected. We did return with three bottles of Champagne, two of which were consumed over the evening of card games and dinner. After drinking for the better part of 10 hours, I woke up a little groggy the next day. Pretty happy to not have a raging hangover considering. It’s a bittersweet goodbye to France (and Lachlan and Emma for the moment) as I head to Amsterdam, then onto Vancouver. While I’ve enjoyed my brief tryst with my new found loves, my waistline and my liver will be happy to move on to a healthier relationship. The time has been brief, but the impact lasting. France! I will be back for a longer duration. Prepare your pastries!
Happy Wandering
Hx