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.

The International Sign for Wine

"A bottle of red, a bottle of white 

Whatever kind of mood you're in tonight 

I'll meet you anytime you want In our Italian Restaurant. "

--Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, Billy Joel--

Yes, that's a chianti bottle candle stick holder

Well, it was more like a 1/2 liter of "rood" and a 1/2 liter of "wit" for my wife and I last night. That's what we ordered from our Italian waiter in "our Italian Restaurant" in the Netherlands. But our wine selections from last evening is not the interesting part, it's how we came about ordering them.

How you say....."carafe of wine" 
Photo Credit: Vicki Szostek

I got the sense that our waiter's comprehension of English was a bit shaky. Mix that with our inability to speak Italian or Dutch and you get a blog post.  When it came time to place our drink order we both tried ordering "a carafe" of wine.  We saw the puzzlement on our waiters face at first, then collectively my wife and I use our hands and make some type of gesture that in our minds was symbolic of a carafe.  Our hand motions must have worked, the confused glaze disappeared from his face and he asked us if we wanted a 1/2 liter or 1 liter of wine.  ALL RIGHT WE'RE IN BUSINESS!  Here comes my favorite part.  When we told him what kind of wine we wanted he was still a bit unsure, so just to confirm our selections with us, he pointed to the red table cloth and pointed to me, then he pointed to the white table cloth and pointed to my wife.  It was awesome.  

It got me thinking about communication and how when verbal means are not an option, we quickly adapt to find some type of non-verbal method to convey our message.  In our case, making a hand gesture where by placing our right hand about 8 inches about our left hands is obviously the international sign for a carafe of wine. And in the case of our waiter, pointing to the colors of the table cloth helped him confirm our order.

I've caught myself a few times since moving to the Netherlands making funny hand gestures when I sense the other person isn't grasping what I was saying.  Like the other night, when I asked the waitress for a jug of water, I made a similar hand motion to the one carafe of wine.  It's not often that I let my hands do the talking  because most folks we've encountered have an excellent grasp of English, but when it does happen I wish I could video myself to see how funny I look.  

Have you ever found yourself making (clean) hand gestures to communicate?