Chât-OH! Living in Saint Emilion, France

Vicki and I realized that all of our Euro travels this year have been to major metropolitan areas.  It was time for a trip to the country; wine country that is!

We immediately knew we would like it here when this greets you at the airport

The Highlights from a Long Weekend in 
Saint-Emilion, France 

Dates: April 20-23, 2013

-€10 RyanAir Flight
Transcript from an actual conversation:
Vicki: "Hey Dan, want to go to France?"
Me: "Pass."
Vicki: "It's €10."
Me: "When do we leave."

To be honest, Vicki and I have never really been fans of French wine, matter of preference I guess. But when you see a RyanAir flight from Eindhoven, Netherlands to Bordeaux, France for €10, you figure you could at least go to France to try to obtain an appreciation for their wines right?

-Our Château
We stayed at Les Belles Perdrix a B&B run by Château Troplong Mondot.  This Château has been in the same family for almost a century and the estate has ties back to Louis XVI, it was the home of his tax lawyer.  Centuries of wine making have enabled this Château to have been classified as Premier Grand Cru Class B (according to the super easy to learn/understand classification system of Saint Emilion wine, ends sarcasm).  Classified or not, they made some very nice wine and their property situated on the Saint Emilion hillside was stunning.

Perhaps our favorite part of our stay was our personal guided tour of the property with Felix. He accompanied us on our walk through the vineyards showing us how he irrigates the rose bushes at the end of each row of vines.   It was fascinating.  The only strange thing was when Felix joined us for breakfast.  We were enjoying our coffee and croissants when out of the blue he decides to put his head on my wife's lap.  I knew that French men were amorous  but come on man, I'm right here!  So my wife gave him a nibble of her croissant, patted him on the head, scratched him under the chin and said, "Good Boy."  After that Felix was content to just lie next to our table on the floor.  Oh, Felix, you lucky dog.

Felix about to "irrigate" the roses.

-Wine tour with "Bruno."(BD Tours)

Bruno (right) and Winemaker

I'll have to admit, I had some doubts taking a French Wine Tour with a guy named "Bruno," but the TripAdvisors raved, so we caved and took his tour.  We were not disappointed, Bruno was the real deal in terms of wine knowledge.  He was actually one of the wine tasters on the classification commission for Saint Emillion wines.  Trust me, it's a big deal.  I'll spare you the details of this classification business; because honestly, I'm still confused by it. But some of these Châteaux live and die by their rating.

Our Wine Tour: One Word Reactions:

1.) Château Mangot (Saint-Emilion) = Stuffy

-painted middle of wine barrels red, so not to see spills

2.) Château du Tailhas (Pomerol) = Genuine

-our favorite, family run, toured with owner's son

3.) Château Soutard (Saint-Emilion) = Corporate

-conglomerate run by insurance company

4.) Château Le Chatelet (Saint-Emilion) = CAVES!

-very cool cave exhibit; free tasting

5.) Château Troplong Mondot (Saint-Emilion) = One?

-only one tasting provided

Can you guess which Château is owned by an Insurance Company and which is family owned?  It's tough, but try.

-San Emilion or Saint Emilion
Prehistoric town about 25 miles (40km) from Bordeaux.  From what I understand the town was named after an 8th Century traveling confessor monk named Emilion.  We thank him and the other monks that followed him to the area for the region's fine wine that we taste today.

The town is like stepping back in time, er more like climbing back in time, with it's steep cobblestone streets.  The hike up to the top of the town is worth it.  The bell tower of the monolithic church was closed during our visit, but the views from the upper landing outside the church are breathtaking. (see pic below)

PRO TIP: Head to the Saint Emilion Tourist Office when you arrive. Free maps, free guide book to the area and information on wine tasting tours.  The staff is very friendly, and most, if not all speak English.

See what I mean?  Breathtaking. (Saint Emilion, from the bell tower entrance of the monolithic church)

-Dune du Pilat
Incredible sand dune located 55 minutes from Bordeaux.  I'll let the video and pics speak for themselves.  BEAUTIFUL!

Thanks for reading!  Have you been to Saint Emilion?  Did you like the wine? The views? The town? Did you climb the Dunes?  Leave a comment and share your story.

Alley Biking

I promise more interesting, informative and exciting posts to come.  But in the meantime, here's me riding a bike in an alley on one of the nicest days we've had so far in Oss.

Friday Fail: Supermarket Edition

We've been doing so well adjusting to our new "home."  But just when you think you've mastered a simple task such as going to your Dutch grocery store; life comes and bites you in the ezel.

An Ezel

It was a routine shopping trip for tonight's dinner menu, lemon chicken. I  breezed up the produce aisle snagging the last head of broccoli; there was a guy next to me that had his eye on it too, but I was the victor!  As a reward I decided to pick up a La Trappe Tripel, one of my favorite Trappists and brewed in the Netherlands.  Fighting temptation to buy a few more brews, I moved on to the cheese counter, to snap two free samples of Jong Belegen (young belgian) [EDITOR'S NOTE: It was politely pointed out to me I miss translated "Belegen;" it's not "Belgian." See the comment below for correct translation].  Then a quick turn down the wine aisle. There I had to leap over a women's cart who was blocking the entire shelf of Albert Heijn (AH) box wine.  That was it, I was done; off to checkout.

Friday, at 5:30pm usually finds the AH busy with shoppers, and tonight was no exception.   But for some reason I found myself slipping right into the "Pin Only;" no cash, lane with no line.  Could this really be happening?  Placing my items on the belt with a sense of confidence I then handed in my AH bonus card.  Then it hit me.  I FORGOT MY PIN CARD.  I was trapped; another shopper began to place their items on the belt.  Now what?  The sweat began to build on my forehead.  I then tried to explain in broken English how I forgot my pin and started collecting my items. This brought great amusement to the checker.  So I figured no worries I'd jump in the cash lane; only one problem, NO EUROS either.  BLAST!

So again in broken English, I ask the same checker if it was ok to leave my basket and return with my card.  Smiling, since she witnessed my entire conversion from confidence to cowardice she agreed. I then sleeked out of the store, pulled my Philles hat down, and started a light jog back to the apartment. Lucky, I was sporting my Adidas track suit, so it added to my quickness.

Upon my return, the check out girl was ready for me, I think she was "impressed with my speed." Too embarrassed to look her in the eye and out of breath I tried to say "dank u wel" or "thank you" but the words came out jumbled, I have no idea what I said.

Defeated, I began to walk out with my purchases but not without first giving a friendly wave to my friend the Afghani Olive Salesmen. He was with customers so I didn't interrupt him.  Besides, I just wanted to get back and forget about this trip.

On the bright side, I'm guessing the jog back and forth worked off those free samples of cheese.

32 Hours to Philadelphia

Two, Dutch Trains

One, 1-hour Dutch Taxi Ride to Rotterdam Airport

One, grounded lightening struck plane

One, 55-minute propeller plane to London City Airport

One, 1-hour British Taxi Ride (that got pulled over by British Police in front of Buckingham Palace)

Two, missed flight connections

One, night in London Airport Hotel

One, free drink from Polish bartender at London Heathrow

And, we would have done it all again if it meant being there  for our friends.

Sorry for the brief writing hiatus friends. It was a hell of a two weeks.  Within 4 days time, we learned that the fathers of two very good friends had passed.  And here we were an ocean apart, in the Netherlands.  When we woke up Friday morning, we knew what we had to do; we needed to get home.

That's exactly what we did, with just the clothes on our back we raced out of our apartment thinking to ourselves: Philadelphia or Bust.  Last minute trips come with their share of pitfalls and hiccups but dam, did we hit the jackpot with this journey.  Yes, everything mentioned above happened in the span of 32 hours. But as I said, if we had to, we'd do it all again to support our friends in their time of need.  Love you guys.

And now, something to make you laugh.  Here's me, giving  real time feedback of my "security experience" at London Heathrow Airport.  Cheers.

I LOVED Heathrow.

Easter in Prague: A Video

Our overnight train pulled safely into Praha Hlavni Nadrazi (Prague Central Station) at approximately 9:30 AM Saturday, March 29th.  We really enjoyed experiencing all the sights, sounds, and smells of this amazing city.  Czech out the highlights from our Easter in Prague.  Cheers.

Easter in Prague: A Collage

Prague in 19 Pictures

Overnight Train to Prague

Can I make a suggestion to your Travel Bucket List?  Take an overnight train trip somewhere, anywhere.  It's so much fun, especially when you bring snacks (and wine).  On March 29th, Vicki and I took the City Night Line (CNL) train bound for Prague, Czech Republic.  This was our second overnight train, our first adventure was a CNL from Paris to Munich for Oktoberfest with our friends Lorie & Dan.  You can see hightlights from that trip here.

So here it is, our overnight train trip to Prague.  Enjoy.