33330 Saint-Émilion, France

After breakfast at our chateau...read: castle...mom and I zoomed off to St. Emilion, a world heritage site whose first vines were planted in Julius Ceasar's time. We used the secret parking spot (by the tennis courts) told to us by Philippe and began navigating the treacherous cobblestones.

First stop (after the much sought after "office de tourisme") was the hermitage cathedral. There was a cool sculpture exhibition by Michel Wohlfahrt. Mom and I each wanted to take one home but they wouldn't fit in our suitcase (or our budget).

Next stop was for the famous macaron and cannele. Two tasty treats from the region. At the bakery we also discovered freshly made florentin, palmieres and the best chocolate covered raisins, made with Sauternes wine...mmm. So second breakfast was mostly sweeties.

After our tasty treats we did a little wine tasting. First stop, clos du menut. The best part of this winery was it's caves. They were carved right out of the rock and we could wander at will through them. Older dusty bottles of wine were locked up in distant cellars like wayward monks, but the younger ones, 1975, etc, were stacked on neat piles awaiting new owners. When mom and I went to taste, I think they took one look at us and thought "ah, two American women...they won't buy anything" and promptly ignored us. So we sat down at the long table crowded with wine bottles and began pouring our own. The wine tart just smiled at us and left us alone.

After that we wandered into a wine store where a sales guy worked on his high pressure techniques. Unlike the other place he took one look at us and began showing us his most expensive wines...hmmmph. We did get to try some decent wines but didn't buy anything.

Next we decided to drive out of town toward St. Christophe des Bardes where Philippe had made a 5:30 appt for us at his cousins vineyard. We were early so we stopped at Chateau Lavallade.

Now this was what I call hospitality. Joelle gave us details about the wines, explained the designations in France, took us on a tour of the cellars and caves. Their winery has been in the same family for over 5 generations. Their customer service was the best.

Last, but certainly not least, we went to meet with Michel Rollet at Chateau Franc LaPorte. Unfortunately Mr Rollet had other plans :(. Mrs Rollet though was a spectacular hostess. She didn't speak a lick of English but took us on a tour of the vineyard anyway. She chatted to us in toddler French (ya know, French for 3 year olds) and we nodded and smiled when we understood what she was saying.

Basically this is a very small farm that produces only one kind of wine and they do it very very well. They pick the grapes by hand, sort by hand too.

After a bit, Mrs Rollet's daughter and grand daughter, who both speak English, arrived and we drank a glass of wine while she told us about the bread oven on the property. It used to be the oven for the whole town. A few years ago my cousin Gail was here when Michel made and served bread from the oven.

The wine was so rich and flavorful it put everything else we tried to shame. I wish I could take home a case if this stuff! Stupid American laws won't allow it though, without heavy taxes :(. I contented myself with two bottles and we made our way back to town for dinner.