Wine and cheese in France 1

The Bordeaux post ended up at an unreadable 1300 words so I have cut the more esoteric subjects and included them here instead. The summary is we love French wine and cheese.

Cheese: Our gastronomic experience at the Bordeaux restaurant Baud et Millet.
Jerome, our host from the 2nd winery in Saint Emilion, was in fact the Maitre d’/ sommelier of our chosen restaurant for the last night in Bordeaux, Baud et Millet. With endless enthusiasm and whim, he led us through a night of wine and cheese, the likes of which we are likely never to experience again. After discovering we were Australia he proceeded to rummage through barrels of bottles to find an Australian wine. Not that we’d won’t to drink it, he knew we were here to Bordeaux. After a glass of free, slightly sweet white we decided on a bottle and started to decipher the menu. Following much confusion we discovered the options were, among others, an entree and a main or substitute your main for the cheese buffet, effectively an all you can eat, serve yourself cornucopia of over 250 cheeses. The choice was simple and after our blue cheese inspired entrees we headed down stairs to the cheese room. We took so long down there on our first trip, sampling the amazing variety on offer, that Jerome came down to make sure everything was alright! There was everything from soft and hard goats cheeses to the classic French Greuye to soft, washed rind, golden circles with bulging soft gooey centres. After 2 trips downstairs our belles could take no more so we finished the wine and rolled ourselves home. The quest for fine wine and cheese in France had succeeded on the 2nd day.


Wine: Ryan prattles on about wine classification schemes.
Unlike Australia where buying wine seems often to be pot luck, France (and increasingly Europe) has multiple classification schemes in order to help (and protect) the consumer. This seems like a good idea on the surface but dig deeper and it all becomes a little too unreliable and complicated, especially for us new world types who love there varietals.

To begin with each area has a different scheme and they are often based on different things. Then the scheme may have been revised recently or could still be original and thus has not been updated since 1855. Trying to find a cabernet sauvignon or a merlot is pointless as hardly any of the bottles will list what grape varieties were used to make the wine. In fact the classification schemes virtually forbid the top classes of wine from listing the varieties used. Consequently French wine becomes all about region or terrior. The rules ensure wine from a certain region will always be made the same way and thus taste similar (allowing for vintage differences due to climate during the year). That way the label means something as all Saint Emilion reds from a certain producer will taste similar. Thus the rules are somewhat like a dog chasing its tail, limiting the labelling then containing further rules to enable the labels to mean something. No doubt it has not been designed like this, rather, designed to ensure a name (be it region or winery) continues to mean something to consumers. But by ensuring reliability and decreasing variability it risks stifling innovation in winemaking, perhaps giving the new world an unfair advantage.

It all certainly made for much debate with winemakers throughout Bordeaux and Burgundy, many of them quick to condemn Australian winemaking techniques. Often it seemed there was a touch of jealousy, at the opportunities and techniques available to new world winemakers. While they are quick to say it is not a fair playing field, they certainly don’t seem to be struggling. All the winemaking in the world won‘t make an Australian wine French, and classification schemes or not “Made in France” will always count for something.

Big bellies in Bordeaux

Leaving Spain behind and heading to France made for a sad Kelly and an excited Ryan. We were heading to France for 2 things only, cheese and wine. There would be no Paris (although we would end up transiting through a Paris train station), no Eiffle tower, no Louve, and only 2 destinations; Bordeaux, centre of all things red wine, and Burgundy, spiritual home of that most alluring of wines, Pinot Noir. It was also a chance to change Kel’s previous impressions of France: dirty, expensive and rude.

We had decided to stay in an apartment, as there were few hostels listed and we had specific plans. We arrived late (in order that we could get a last dose of Spanish sun at San Sebastian) and so headed into the tourist office early the next morning. All winery tours we booked out, it was a Sunday, but there was one planned tomorrow that would visit Saint Emilion and its wine region. The day would instead be spent visiting the city’s sights and the wine museum to brush up on the local classification scheme. If infinitely curious about all things oenological you can read the next post (up in a day or 2) where Ryan prattles on about wine for ages.

Not wanting to waste any time we tried a few wines at the wine museum then headed to the market to pick up some fresh pasta, cheese, wine and anything else that looked tasty. After many tastings and charades with the sellers (our French was a long way behind our Spanish) we headed home with our bounty of: some slices of a very tasty smelling cured ham, a big hunk of gorgonzola, some fresh pasta, some leaks and a few tomatoes. Oh and a bottle of Bordeaux of course.

We (mainly Kel) whipped up a gorgonzola, leak and ham pasta that was up there with the best meals we’ve eaten (even if we do say so ourselves). The quality of fresh produce you can get in France is amazing and the variety and quality of cheese is easily as exciting as that of wine. Feeling rather proud and very satisfied we had an early night in order to be ready for the wine tour the next day.

The bus tour of the Saint Emilion region was worth every penny of the incredibly steep 80 Euro’s we each paid. When you are THE red wine region of the world you can pretty much charge what you like. Unfortunately the weather had turned and it was a bleak and rainy countryside we traversed during the day. Service at both wineries was excellent and both involved a detailed (a little too in depth for some of the group) tour explaining the life of the grapes from vine to wine and of course, an explanation of the classification system. The 2nd winery put on lunch and tasting was more like sharing a bottle between three. Forgetting the price tag of the day came easily after lunch (we had finished the left over wine with the help of a few Kiwi’s) and we finished the day with a tour of the world heritage listed hill town of Saint Emilion.

Coincidentally the winemaker/tour guide at the 2nd winery worked at a restaurant in Bordeaux at night and suggested we come alone that night. We had already planned on visiting the place, known as Baud et Millet, as the Lonely planet revealed it had more than 250 Cheeses on offer. Well it turned out to be an incredible night, with more wine and cheese than either of us could imagine. For a more detailed rundown of the night and restaurant check back in a day or two when we upload the next post: Wine and Cheese in France 1.

Comments!

Thanks again to Pat for alerting me that our comments section was still out of action. After delving deep into the world of html (I would not reccomend it) I have finally fixed it!

So while there's been a distinct lack of updates from us, you guys are now able to fill us in on what you think, what you're doing etc. And now that we've fixed that we can start work on the next section, France. (Picture - Ryan blogging on a train in France with our handy little Asus ePC)

Sun Seeking in San Sebastian

After a monumental cockup on the morning of our arrival in San Sebastian (that involvement ringing Mum in Australia and getting her to google the address of our pre-booked hostel (Thanks Mum) then moving to another hostel as the first was being closed because of bed bugs) we hit the beach. Despite a few drops of rain it still managed to wash all the disgruntled thoughts of the morning away. After an afternoon on the beach we headed to the pintxo bars and ate and drank until we could stomach no more. The idea behind pintxo is so simple and appealing it’s a wonder it hasn’t caught on in the rest of the world. Step one: walk into a bar that looks good. Step 2: graze for as long as you like on the small tapas laid out along the whole bar. Step 3: Order a beer or wine when you get parched. Step 4: When you finished tell the barman what you’ve had and pay up. Step 5: Move to the next bar and do it all again!

That’s about the sum of a visit to San Sebastian, beach and pintxos. There’s a few other things to do like walk up hills for some good views, see the local church etc, but essentially it’s about the beach and food. And both are good too. The town has 2 main beaches, the main beach and the surf beach. Both get pretty packed on the weekends but they’re real beaches with turquoise water and white sand, not like the pebble variety north of the border. We spent a few days on both beaches but the surf never really materialised, making for an even lazier days. To counter all this lying around and eating we did get our for a few jogs, our first non-incidental exercise of the trip. After the first jog we were both stuffed and our feet covered in blisters. It does not bode well for the rest of the trip…

The small world of travelling hit us again when we ran into some friends we’d met in Valencia on our first night. After a memorable night where no names were exchanged we rang their mobile number and were greeted with “ Oh it’s the Doctors”. Thus we became known. Many more fun nights followed and it was great to have a group to go to the beach with. Then just before we left we met an astonished Billy, a friend from Granada, walking along the street. Going out with Billy and the girls from Valencia on our last night was a definite highlight.

Stayed: Surf Backpackers. Great small place run by a mostly absent surfer/owner (Leo) and recent arrival, work for a bed Canadian, Kelsy.
Ate/Drank: Too many places to mention, they were all good.

Artistic Barcelona

After quite a long walk from the bus station we arrived at our apartment in Barcelona. As hostel prices soar over Fri/Sat/Sun we opted for a room in an apartment shared with other travellers (worked out cheaper than a hostel). It ended up a great decision as we found ourselves with a 3rd story apartment about a minutes walk from Los Rambles and the main square. Staying in an apartment did put a bit of a dampener on the party scene but after Granada and Valencia we were due for some sleep. It also meant we could get out and about and use our time here to see the touristy things. With Kelly as the tour guide (we are now in familiar territory for her) we visited the Picasso museum (thoroughly worth the 9 Euros), and toured the city’s various Gaudi buildings (2nd photo). The Segrata Familiar (top photo), a Church still under construction according to Gaudi’s designs, was incredible but not really worth entering as all the best views were from the outside.

The cheese tasting part of our trip realy took off here when we found a café with a 8 cheese tasting plate. As usual we cooked a night, ate out cheaply one night and then splurged a little to see what was really on offer. Kelly cooked up an amazing roast vegetable and prawn stack with fresh buffalo mozzarella, the result of a quick tour of the local market. Persistent attempts at shopping finally paid off for Kel, and she has bought a new dress. I found the best pair of Blues Brother sunnies ever and immediate purchased them for 8 Euro. The same shop also had a hat my size and so I now have a new hat and sunnies for a total of 15 Euro. Leaving Barcelona behind by overnight bus is never fun but the destination in San Sebastian, a city kelly constantly raves about. Unfortunately the weather’s not looking too good so we may be there a while awaiting the sunshine……

Stayed: Apartment Balmes 12
Ate: El Bulli - Ha only joking, 8000 seats a year with 300,000 requests! Mamacafe - expensive but tasty, Origins 99.9% - 99.9% local produce and a super cheese platter.
Drank: Bar El Jardi - BEST Spanish hot chocolate EVER.

Bazaars, Beaches and Bites (Morocco wrap up)

Possibly a place we came to like after we left, Morocco is a Moorish mess of modern tourism and hidden charm. Writing this sitting on a TGV fast train in the south of France, Morocco (and its public transport) feels a world away. But in the south of Spain, in Andulucia, Morocco is everywhere. It would be hard to fully appreciate Morocco with out a trip to Andulucia and vice-versa. It’s in the south of Spain that the Moors have left some of their best Architecture and art, and there you can enjoy it without twenty thousand people trying to sell you something. At times it gets ridiculous, like some guy trying to charge for taking photos of the moon, or attempting to sell you a carpet when you fully laden with 2 backpacks. I guess our experience was also tainted by the bed bug episode (see post below “Of mites and men) and our love for the next country on the trip, Spain.

But despite this the experience was still wonderful. Djemaa el-Fna (the main square in Marrakesh) alone, would be worth the trip. There’s nothing quite like it anywhere else in the world that I’ve been. It’s fascinating to see storytellers enthral a crowding mass of all ages with nothing but their (Arabic) tongue. Five meters away a snake charmer sits playing a tune to encourage his multiple snakes to raise their heads off the ground. This and literally hundreds of other entertainers, henna artists, juice men, escargot sellers, food stalls and beggars are crammed into the square, all lit by furiously burning kerosene lamps. And then there’s the people. People everywhere you look, hundreds deep. Here to witness the spectacle. Definitely worth a visit!

Other highlights were the beachside town of Essaouira, and Chefchaouen, an even smaller town in the foothills if the Rif Mountains. The lack of hostels makes it hard to meet other travellers, and Chefchaouen was the only place we had more than a passing conversation with anyone except each other. In terms of food and drink, as while this may be Kelly’s Mediterranean beach odyssey it’s really Ryan’s Mediterranean Epicurean adventure, Morocco largely disappointed. There were occasional sparks of brilliance, like the Michelin starred French-Moroccan restaurant in Marrakesh and the wonderful goats cheese and yogurt in the north but overall not as good as we expected.

See the full photo album here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=84858&id=603243044&l=ca931943c8

Days spent in Morocco: 8
Alcohol Free days: 4
Items lost or stolen: Ryan’s towel (brand new travel towel), he left it at our first place in Marrakesh
Items Purchased: nothing (hard to believe I know)
Mint teas drunk: 6
Tagine’s consumed: 10
Best place: Essaouira
Best meal: Tie between tagine from “Dar Jeerling” in Essaouira, Pinapple with corriander sauce (Casa Lalla) or goats yogurt with honey in Chefchaouen
Worst place: Fes
Worst meal: Tagine from the markets in Marrakesh, dining with the locals while helping the hip pocket, did not excite

Valencia

Yes we finally made it out of Granada and onto Valencia, home of oranges and paella. Another town seriously steeped in history, we have managed to explore quite a lot in our few days here. Mostly that involves getting lost as the maps are all written in Castilian (normal Spanish) but all the street signs are in Catalan, a local dialect not very much like normal Spanish at all. After this was explained to us on day 3 it made things a lot easier! (Thanks to Johnny, who revealed this and many other interesting facts about Valencia on his walking tour, then proceeded to run the tapas tour and a pubcrawl all in the one day).

Another Spanish city, another giant Cathedral. But this one is special, it holds the only Holy Grail recognised by the Vatican. It took us about 10 seconds to decide the 5 Euro entrance fee wasn't worth it and we climbed the bell tower for 2 Euro instead. As usual wikipedia has a great article and picture for free! Otherwise is is a city full of interesting things to do and see for free. The city of arts and sciences, see photo, is worth visiting just for the stunning archtecture. And of course the food and drink are suitably inpressive. The "food and wine tour" of the Mediterranean is really getting going now and most days it seems the bigest decisions revolve around food. Will post something soon purely devoted to food and wine as it will increasingly become a major part of the trip (especially as we move on to France).

Free Grub in Granada

Granada is where you really fall in love with Andulucia. Even before we arrived we knew it would be that type of place where you keep extending your stay with the hostel reception every day. Everyone we spoke to raved about the place. The free tapas, the Alhumbra (another archtectural masterpiece neither of us had every heard of), the Flamenco, the old town and the general laid back attitude were sure to suck us in. And they did!

Nestled in a valley of the snow-clad Nevada mountains this was the last sanctuary for Muslims after the fall of Cordoba and Seville. The Moorish influence is obvious everywhere, not least of all at the magnificent Alhumbra. The major drawcard for tourists in Granada (and the most visited attraction in all of Spain) is the Alhumbra, a fortress and palace built for Granada's Muslim rulers from the 11th to the 15th century. Its simply breathtaking, and approaches the same level as Angkor wat in Cambodia or the Mayan ruin complexes in Central America (albeit not so old). It's often described as one of the greatest accomplishments of Islamic art and architecture but until now was completed unknown to us both! Suffice to say the visit was amazing and I got so carried away my DSLR battery went flat about half way through! I was initially disappointed but then realised it just gave me an excuse to return the next day and see it all again.

Other highlights in Granada were the free tapas (just order a beer, wine, soft drink at a cafe/bar and you get a little plate of food for free), the Flamenco and the Albayzin (the old Moorish quarter. We also stumbled upon a free concert on night one and were treated to some newage Spanish/islamic bands complete with belly dancers.

And thanks to Pat who pointed out I had comment's disabled on this blog. They're now enabled so you can post something back to us if you feel like it!

Sophisticated Seville

Have made our way from Tarifa (little beach town) to Seville (large sprawling city) in the Heart of Andulusia. Described as sexy, sophisticated and gorgeous looking by the Lonely Planet it did not quite live up to expectations. Some cities you gel with straight away (see Granada entry coming soon), some places slowly creep up on you and when it comes time to leave you realise you love the place, and some cities you never quite get into. Seville never quite lit the spark for us, so after 2 days we were on the move again. "Only 2 days", I hear you saying, "you hardly gave it a chance". But every day spent in Seville means a day less somewhere else (like Barcelona or Rome or San Sebastian) so we cut our loses and headed for Granada.

We did pay to see ANOTHER cathedral (and are geting sick of paying the catholic church to see every church in Spain) and yet again it was built on the site of an old mosque. Some say every Church in Spain was once a mosque, indeed in Cordoba the Catholic church has been built INSIDE the Mosque. We also forked out for the Alcazar (the islamic and catholic palace which housed Seville's rulers since 913) then got in trouble for eating our homemade sandwhices in the gardens. One highlight was the rooftop pool in our hostel, quite nice when the temperature tips 30. Seeing the Barcelona vs Man United game (Champions league final) in a pub full of crazy Spanish football supports was also quite an experience! But now its on to Granada, famed for free tapas and Flamenco.

Spain, at last!

Yes we have hit Spain and it is like arriving at an oasis in a huge desert! Beautiful beaches, amazing food, nice people, no one trying too sell me carpets or swap Kel for a few camels.....

We arrived in Tarifa, a little travelled beach town in the southern tip of Spain. Truly Andulusia this town rocks. Small enough to walk around, yet filled with tapas bars, restaurants, pubs and a lovely beach. We've spent 3 days here when we planned for one. Eating paella, drinking wine, eating cheese, drinking wine, it has been fantastic.

I've even been shopping and bought a pair of..... billabong shorts! They are everywhere! We must move on though and it's time to move to Seville for some more culture and less beach.