francofiled

Author's note: This article was first posted as 24 hours in Saint Émilion on www.cerclefrancaisdebelfast.org in August 2020.  It is a follow up to a post that appeared ten years earlier on francofiled in August 2010.  Click here for the previous post entitled Saint Émilion - Message in a bottle.  The plan to spend a night in the medieval town of Saint-Émilion was uncorked some years back. Nearly two decades ago we had been in the town and purchased a special bottle from the 1981 vintage of  Château Franc-Pourret  to commemorate our wedding year.  The idea, still not realised, was to crack it open at a special anniversary. It was on checking its current status for drinkability that we noted that the Château offered the opportunity to stay in the heart of the  vignoble  in highly rated  chambre d'hôte  accommodation.  The plan developed its aroma when last September, we arranged to spend a few weeks in France starting in Bordeaux bef...

An ambling ambition This was supposed to be a leisurely trip to Amboise.  An ambling ambition. The idea was that we would get a late morning train for Amboise and visit the château. It's within easy reach of Tours where we were staying and that leisure time would include a snack at the Mie Caline outlet close to the station. Sure enough wrapped around a bacon and cheddar filled baguette everything seemed to be going swimmingly. As often before on this trip, I had used the very useful OUI.sncf app to buy two tickets, located the train and boarded with ease. The train was quiet and comfortable and tempted with the strong wifi I got involved in some catch-up messaging. Mistake! Starting to feel drowsy, I closed my eyes. Yes, I had been aware that the train had stopped but since it seemed we had only just left I paid no attention.  Rousing a little later P. remarked that she had seen a château en passant and I figured perhaps that was Chenonceau.  However looki...