Beaune, finis

And so, that brings me to dinner on Monday night. As per usual, I left myself in the hands of the experts and duly trotted along to Caves Madeleine, in the Old Town. Also per usual, Hanley attracted a lot of attention, which I think is largely because he prefers to be the one in charge of his leash, so he carries it. This draws a lot of smiles and several times a day I am complimented on how well I've trained my dog, when I know it is the other way around. En route Monday he was startled mid-stream, shall we say, by another dog, dropped his leash and also his aim, which was a tad unfortunate for the leash.......but mostly for me. TIme out for a note from our sponsor: thankfully I had a new package of my fave L'Occitane hand wipes, and I gingerly dangled the leash from a now toweled hand before making him take it back. I was brooding over this a bit when I arrived at the new rest. It was tiny, a few tables for two at the front, the walls lined with wine bottles (as this is also a cave and they sell the stuff), but dominating the small space was a large, long table. I was invited to take my seat at the end, and found myself next to an Italian couple and across from the only other solo diner, a man about 38-40 who instantly went rigid with discomfort. One other couple were seated on either side of the Italians, and we waited for things to fill up. Fortunately, the man across was already through part of his meal, and he sat there nodding compulsively - like it was some sort of tic, but mostly kept his face dropped well down into his place setting. His fingernails were bitten down to the quick - quite painful looking. Well, I sat there and wondered what the drill is: the 3 staff sort of stood at the back of the restaurant, friendly but unmoving, as though they were waiting for a show to begin. I finally asked for an aperitif, then I detected a chalkboard menu: the Italian couple and the British one next to them chatted away to each other. I started to feel this could be a disappointment, but wonderful odours emanated, so I clung to hope while trying not to stare at the chewed up hands of my erstwhile dinner partner as he sawed away at his dinner. When asked if he would like to order dessert he adamantly declined, and once he was off things lightened up considerably......I started chatting with the couple next to me, who were on their first French vacation from Milan.  I ordered gazapacho (divine), Meursault (developing a bit of a pattern here), cabillaud (sea bass) and for dessert, something chocolate-y. He food was lovingly prepared and beautifully served. I would encourage anyone going to Beaune to spend an evening at Caves Madeleine.

We were having a lovely time and then another young man was seated across........ Stuart Douglas is a very friendly and amusing dinner companion: he has lived for many years in Dubai where he works for 'Chef Middle East LLC' and as I understand it, basically what he does is  import exotic comestibles for the very lucrative Dubai market. He buys mussels and oysters and cheese and wine and ham. In fact, he told us he was travelling with a leg of Serrano ham, though he had left it behind in the hotel. His backpack produced the fruits of a very successful wine tasting day.....three open bottles of wine and gifts of cheeses the makers had vacuum packed him. He had a lot of entertaining anecdotes about his buying trips, though this was a vacation and his first visit to Beaune. I was sorry not to have taken him up on his offer to us to share his wine and ham the following day, but I was hoping to be up with the birds for the 4 hour drive ahead. It was a hugely fun evening, and we roared with laughter a few times, the four of parting on the street to go our separate ways and into our separate holiday memories like old friends.  I suppose the restauranteur sees this happen every night at his family style table, but it was a delightful sort of alchemy. Next stop: Provence!

The man with the ham.

With new old friends.

Installment III, where I leave Germany and arrive in Beaune, France

Well this business of writing a blog is much more time consuming than I reckoned on, thus I fall many days behind. I Eat for Canada is many, many more meals ahead than today's journal can include, but let's give it the old college try. But before I leave Germany, allow me to provide a photo tribute of one of the greats, but they weren't open when I was in Baden Baden!

I got under way for the four hour drive to Beaune around 10 a.m. and enjoyed about 30 minutes of the gorgeous Black FOrest scenery before joining up with the Autobahn. As it was a Saturday I anticipated lots of weekend traffic, but it was smooth sailing al the way. I cracked open the David Sedaris audiobook and listened to two of the six cd's, a compilation of his essays read for the most part in studio, but some were recorded at live readings, and despite having already heard a couple of the essays at his Vancouver reading a while back, he had me grinning for a a couple of hundred kilometres. Stopping for gas and lunch (a pot of yogurt), I decided it was time for Jeeves and Wooster's brand of silliness, and so while Bertie babbled histrionically at Jeeves over the latest crisis with Aunt Dahlia (really, you have to be a fan to understand the characters
 I am discussing here, I am not going to actually describe the stories!), I was also soaking up the gentle shift in the topography as the miles fell away from the Allemagne to Burgundy, and crossing the (unmarked) border in to France I couldn't help but feel I was returning to the familiar embrace of my homeland away from my homeland.

As Otto guided me and my car full of characters into Beaune, I felt such a sense of deja vu. Lyall and I first came here about 30 years ago, and stayed at Le Cep, the hotel I was headed for. But I was also  here - sort of- about three or four (?) years ago though  it didn't go well, so this was my 'do-over' trip.

I came to France that summer a few years back with Finbar, and it was his last trip. I had arrived in Marseille and drove directly to a small hamlet near Valence, where I stayed at a restaurant hotel I have been to a few times and had looked forward to the meal I would have that first night, for months. It is a 3 star Michelin rest with a few rooms: they offer three tasting menus and I sat down in the dear and familiar surroundings  and placed my order for the seafood menu. As I waited for what I knew would be a flight into the most sublimes reaches of culinary dexterity, I realized I didn't feel like I was hungry....that I didn't actually feel I could sit up for very long....and I don't remember how I managed to get through the meal or even if I did. I drove off the next day for Beaune, but had to stop several times just to rest. I was booked into a B & B on the outskirts of the city, and arrived to find the temperatures had soared into the 30's, that my room was at the very top of the 4 story house and that I was clearly very, very unwell. I recall going to a pharmacy in Beaune and asking for throat spray, then returning to lie prostrate for several days, that is expect for walking the dog in the morning and again at night. I locked myself away and did not allow the house keeper in the room, just took the linens, because now, thanks to online diagnosis from by my friend Paula Gordon, I had to agree with her that I had H1N1. It was a brutal and forgettable week, and when it was over I was more or less ready to make my way, slowly toward the South and to Marseille airport where I collected Lyall and gratefully acceded all the driving to him. Thus, Beaune owed me a repeat visit.

And what a great visit it was: I had cut my stay at the V Hammer short by a night (the hotel is on a VERY busy road and there is a train track as well, so the noise was unbelievable: thanks to lack of a/c I had to sleep with the garden door open so was covered in mosquito bites), so three wonderful nights at Le Cep beckoned and I arrived in good time to devote the afternoon to walking the old town. Hot, though! I left my restaurant booking in the very capable hands of the hotel staff, and my first night did not disappoint as I was directed to the casual and elegant 'Restaurant Bistro D'Hotel'. As I walked in I was overwhelmed withe the fragrance coming form the kitchen: poulet de Bresse in lemon and olive oil.....ah, I could not let that go and so following an excellent gazpacho came the chicken and very creamy potatoes......ah, such simple bliss. I had first enjoyed an aperitif accompanied by some thinly sliced and oh-so-tender local ham.....no fish in sight for me tonight! The sommelier recommended an excellent Meurseult, and I am happy to report that the half bottle went down very easily! I small plate of cheese, just a few bites and then a couple of house made sorbets capped off a very happy return to Beaune. The service was friendly, efficient and yet unobtrusive. I walked back to the hotel in a state of pure joy and toddled to bed in a very contended state, looking forward to the day ahead when I would taste my way along the Route des Grand Cru.

Best laid plans: I awoke to thunder and the most impressive rain I have ever seen, which is something coming form a person who lives in a rain forest, for this was no steady day-long drizzle: this was full on thunder, lightening and pounding, punishing rain. The hotel supplied umbrellas but I had not packed a raincoat (nor had the dog), plus I was told some local roads were flooded outside the city, so that put paid to my day tripping. Even taking Hanley on his constitutional that morning was so messy I felt guilty about the number of hotel towels I was suddenly utilizing. I hung around doing some work at the computer, then braved the storm for lunch, returning wet and cold. At the lunch bistro, Hanley was obliged to sit in a puddle created by his own rain drippings, so I took this rather sad photo before my Soupe de Poisson arrived.

. Slowly, slowly the room began to smell of wet dog and the day darkened. I long, dull afternoon stretched ahead of me, so I shut down my mail programs and switched over to my movie downloads and there, waiting for just such an eventuality, was Audrey Hepburn waiting to help me kill a stormy afternoon. Funny Face was the perfect antidote, and by dinner time the rain had eased to a drizzle, so off we went to another local bistro, Le Gourmardin.

Charming, small, with cheerful service staff who decided, for some reason that I, with my large dog, must be seated at a table directly beside their bar, the central source of the kitchen action and a real bottleneck location once you've strewn 80 pounds of dog across the floor. Anyway - they were nonplussed, so I gave myself over to contemplating the menu while nursing my now 'usual' coupe de champagne. Now that I had more or less fallen of the fish wagon as well as the sugar wagon, I let myself be tempted by their home made duck terrine, and then enjoyed the fish f the day, a loup, served fragrant, hot and simple. A delightful strawberry tart followed, and again, the meal was greatly enhanced by some Meursault. I returned to Le Cep replete.

The next day was a great improvement, though cloudy, it was cool and a nice change. I decided to do the touristy thing and got aboard the:

A nice view just outside the Old Town perimeter

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I am not above doing the cheesy, touristic things - I love it!

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Weeping willows over a stream - is there anythingmore romantic?

Lunch that day was at a cafe called Fleury, a rather nondescript place, but a wonderful meal, and typically Burgundian: Oeufs Meurette and

a nice glass of Chablis, all to get me in the mood to head off to the Route Grand Cru, where I stopped in at the Chateau Meurseault (among others) to buy a bottle of the liquid white that had been bringing so much sunshine to my meals of late. As I was driving through Volnay ( and spare a thought for the hard working people at Volnay and Pommard, whose vines suffered total destruction in a bizarre hailstorm two weeks ago), the clouds released a little more fury, but it was all clear when I returned to home base. 

Time for my final night's dinner adventure in Beaune, and therein lies a tale. I will tell it later: for now I have to hit the road again, but I shall be back soon!

Installment II

So, where was I? Oh yes - dinner night two (everything is getting away from me now that I've been here 4 nights - hard to keep up with a blog, travel, eating, work at home, eating, dog, eating....navigation, eating)

For night two I wanted to go 'off piste' and asked the hotel to recommend a good local: she booked me at a place she said, with a significant glance at the dog  was a "nice, easy walk" for 7 pm. At 6:40 I presented myself and hound at her desk and awaited out direction interaction. She handed me a blurry Mapquest page which clearly showed my start and end points, and a lovely, wavy blue line between them and again she pointed out it was a "nice walk". And then I noticed at the top of the page it said "2km to destination, 30 minutes". Hmmmm. It is 30C and I am supposed to wander around vineyards?!?!?! Well, I could have taken the easy way out, but that would have been giving in and I am made of sterner stuff, so off I went, up hill and down dale, on gravel and cobblestones (I will attempt to post some pictures of the terrain). They weren't roads so much as paths for farming equipment, and I came across a lot of it working away. Several wrong turns and a couple of helpful cyclists later, I arrived at Schloss Valderons. The best I can say is "it's not the destination, it is the journey that counts", and as I hiked downhill en route to dinner, I was keenly aware that my journey back meant going UPHILL on a full stomach and with a glass or two of Riesling.......well after sunset. Dinner not worth mentioning and I think I can sum up the restaurant by sharing that as I finally stumbled into the parking lot I counldn't help but notice many signs directing the tour buses to their parking aprons.  Thus, a day that began with a 4-5 km dawn walk/run ended much the same way at 4 km in the prettiest setting possible. I would do it again, with better directions. Or maybe I would drive - not exactly the spirit of the Allied Forces, but easier on the feet.

Scloss Valderons - finally

Cobblestone path through the vineyards (yes, I know, another picture of Hanley, but what can I do?!? He doesn't have opposable thumbs, so I am never going to be in the frame).
 

Pre-prandial treats @ Burg Schwarzenstein

FIrst course: tomato variations

Dessert! Choclate, caramel. tobacco(!) and cherry lava.

The next night was dinner at the 'gourmet restaurant' at my hotel, and it was truly sublime, a tomato concoction that was an effort at molecular gastronomy that left the many varieties of tomato looking a bit tortured, but still - it was ART. My main course was something they called "ray wing", which I finally determined was skate: it looked and had the texture of cod cheeks and was served in a satay and amaranth sauce. The chef was not completely brave, though, and had a light hand on the flavours: he should have added a light touch of chili oil garnish on the satay sauce, but a nice effort. Did I mention dessert? At the end they presented a couple of plates of sweeties, but I could not face them and they were remained untouched in my room, but very pretty ornamentation.

And then it was time to change the scene, so the next morning off I went, thanks to my new GPS, to the Black Forest. I would heartily recommend the Burg Schwarzenstein, should you ever happen to be in the  area. Fantastic staff, if a bit malicious about planning your dinner commute. The parking lot was heaving every night with Maseratis, Porches, Mercs, and Rollers.......quite the sight. I don't know where the people were who owned them because the restos never seemed very full. But what a lovely hotel and well worth a detour.

I arrived the next day after a short drive of about two hours at the Villa Hammerschmiede in the town of Pfitzer-Sollingen - you must have heard of it, no? Well, you have now. Nice hotel in a terrific parkland property, but it has a major handicap in that it is on a very busy road that roars with traffic day and night, and the lack of a/c means one must sleep with the window open....plus there is a heavily used train track running through. I was to have stayed three nights but yesterday I clipped it down to two, as I am no good without sleep. 

Had a lovely meal in their casual restaurant, though the goat's cheese salad could have used more salad and less cheese, but the fish was interesting: it was called "fried meagre on the menu, and despite my wide range of experience with fish, this was a new one on me. It arrived looking like halibut and tasted similar, so I am going to assume it was a salt water fish (my server was not able to tell me). A disappointing dessert of pancakes and blueberries that could easily have been sooo much better served warm, and then the dog and I wandered off to check out the neighbourhood, which is something I always love doing. Hot, though - man!

Today was a very happy day trip into the heart of the Black Forest, one of the most beautiful drives I have ever taken myself on, with the ultimate goal of reaching Baden Baden for lunch. It was 35C in the shade, so I didn't linger over a forgettable repast which was  only made palatable by my first German beer in Germany :) I only realized a few hours ago that I failed to take a single picture, so I was obviously entrance by the scenery - oh, what vistas!! What a glorious road and dazzling little hamlets I dawdled through. I would love to come back.

I was about to describe tonight's meal when it occurred to me that this blog really should have been titled "A Pescatarian in Germany", as I can't seem to deviate from my fishy preferences. Tonight it was a rather stingy starter called "summer vegetables",  mostly micro and no greens, and turbot - I ADORE turbot. Another plate of post-prandial sweeties were delivered to my room while I aired the animal, who is so incredibly trustworthy.  I left him alone in the room this afternoon so I could go for a swim and didn't realize until I was well under water that I had left his suitcase with an open bag of his food directly a nose level: I opted to shrug off the inevitable damage and keep swimming, but returned to find he hadn't touched it! However,  after the walk tonight he made a beeline to the sweetie plate and wolfed at least two chocolates before I could lunge at the remains and stash them out of reach. 

Tomorrow I set the GPS for Beaune. And I have decided on the name for my new best friend: Otto. Really - what else could I have chosen :?? Night night.

I Eat for Canada, Day One addendum

In my own defence, I would like to point out that I typed this first of what I hope will be several blogs, on my new iPad mini, and mostly without my reading glasses, which I hope will help exculpate me in the matter of the rather embarrassing number of typos.

I Eat for Canada is munching through western Germany

So: that was easy! Always an adventure persuading a reluctant 80 lbs. of dog to get in a crate, but as you can see, we prevailed - ultimately. Destination: Frankfurt, and this is a big change from all the years gone by, as I have always used FRA to connect to France, but this time a break from tradition and I left the FRA airport for the first time in 12 years. FRA gets a bad rap from a lot of people, but I have always thought it was ultra-efficient, and sure, parts of it are ageing but the renovation and expansion work has been impressive. Yes - it is massive, and if you want to get a sense of just how massive it truly is, try taking 3 suitcases, an 80 lb. dog and his crate through baggage services, then hike on over to another terminal altogether to get to the rental car, then maneuver your way to the parkade to find your car.....all without your 11-hours-in-transit pup without getting so much as a whiff of the outdoors and the relief that would come with it. Oh, and if you really want to identify with me, get rid of one of your shoulders and do it all with one working arm. I look a lot happier at the front end of the trip than I would have if someone had taken a photo at the other end!  

And just because I needed a lesson in careful planning,  I got on the road in search of my destination supposedly an easy 45 minute away and discovered that my GPS doesn't want to believe it has left Vancouver. At all. And I had made no effort in the lead up to departure to look at a map, apart from a cursory glance the day before. FOr the first time in years, 'Kate' abandoned me, but there was no time for grieving, so I relied on instinct and a fairly good sense of direction and found my way to the Rhine River and followed it as best I could. A few wrong turns going through Wiesbaden and I finally found my first German perch: the Hotel Burg Schwarzenstein in Geisenheim-Johannisberg.   Bliss!!! Gorgeous property, and very welcoming staff. When I explained my plight over the GPS, one of them offered to try and fix it. Ultimately, two of them worked on it but there is no hope...it won't talk to my laptop so the relationship is forever sundered. I logged a lot of miles with Kate and she has saved my marriage a few times, so this is a hard parting. On the up side, the very kind young man who offered to fix the GPS offered to go into Wiesbaden and buy another one for me, so I am waiting to meet my new electronic guide. I am not only a lazy tourist, and willing to admit I have a dependency issue with electronics, but I resent the attention it takes to find my own way when I would rather be admiring the scenery, congratulating myself on my excellent driving and  listening to my audio books. At the moment,  David Sedaris is waiting patiently in my suitcase urging me to "Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls", Alan Bennet wants to read me his  "The Clothes They Stood Up In", and Martin Jarvis has five hours of P.G. Wodehouse's "The Code of the Woosters" he wants me to enjoy.  So, farewell Kate, my boon companion of many roads, and hello ______(?) I don't know her name yet, but I suppose it will have to be a a German one - any thoughts?

So - on with the eating!  Night #1, at the hotel, in their terrace restaurant, I enjoyed a few litres of water and the first wine I've had in many, many months. And oh, what a lovely way to fall off the wagon, in the middle of Rhine wine country with a glass or two of local Riesling in my greedy little hands. It came from Schloss Johannisburg, which I looked out at from the terrace, and could not have been a better way to decompress and kick off the vacation. Having avoided sugar for so long in an (unsuccessful) attempt to fit into last summer's pants, the wine hit my palate and trickled into my soul. I had a fantastic salad called the 'Whole Foods' salad, which

 is served with the usual salad components plus an abundance of sunflower seeds and - for some reason - cashews. Golden, juicy and buttery scallops came in a parmesan tuile napped with an onion-y sauce, and then it was grated strawberries with yogurt ice cream...which was, basically, a light clafouti and pleasantly uncomplicated.  I

Here at I Eat for Canada, I don't eat alone,  so in case you were wondering, Hanley had his usual feast of dry dog food and a bit of sweet potato 'mush'. He was more than welcome in the restaurant and once he settled in under the table he drifted into a jet-lag induced sleep, which made me envious,  but I lingered over my second glass of Riesling and watched two hot air balloons make lazy progress over the horizon and reflected on how happy I am to be here and how I've spent the whole year looking forward to these next six weeks. Bed beckoned, as did a few necessary Skype calls and then for some reason I made the mistake of opening a  file I've been working on for a while, then suddenly it was midnight and I realized I'd been away for 27 hours .....so a brief walk and then to bed. 

A restless night, but up with the birds the next day and ready to really explore 'Jo-burg'. I opted to run into the village, an easy choice as it was all downhill, then felt a little less athletic as the road sloped upwards toward the local Schloss, whose wine I had so appreciate the night before. The hotel is surrounded with wineries and vineyards, but I found the Scloss Johannisburg tasting room is not open at 0700. Uphill all the way back, and sidetracking down side streets to get the lay of land, I learned that Tuesday closeley resembles Sunday, in that it and Monday are "days of rest", so not a lot of local restaurant options.

Day One started with a 3 km, walk and I was relieved to find that breakfast was included in the cost of my room, so back to the terrace for a lovely continental breakfast buffet and cheerful service, then time to hit the road again. My rental car is a Skoda estate wagon, big enough for luggage in the back, two adults in the front and three garden gnomes or a large dog in the back seat. (Something will have to be done about this before I get to Maussane and visitors with legs start arriving).  Hanley, exhausted from an early run in the heat and probably a bit jet lagged, stretched out happily in the back seat and remained oblivious to the scenery as I drove west along the Rhine. I have seen a bit of river life from the south of France, but this is a much different take on it, as the river is extraordinarily busy with barges of every commercial bent, car ferries, kayakers, recreational boats.......and everywhere on every hill, castles, castels castles - the landscape practically bristles with them. 

Lunchtime rolled around and I didn't want to eat at any of the touristic places along the river, so returned to my neck of the woods and went into the next-door-burg in search of victuals......stymied by the number of closed premises, I drifted into a pizzeria, but decided life's too short to eat something I do't really enjoy in an unappealing setting, so back to Johannisburg where, again, only the local pizzeria was open on Tuesday. Nothing left to do but return to the hotel where I enjoyed a fabulous goat cheese salad and then a bit of work before a nice nap. And it was a good thing I did that because........

Next installment: the dinner adventure. Right now I am going downstairs to see if a new GPS has arrived.