Senas to Fleury D’Aude, July 18.

It is a beautiful day in Provence, and we are off wine tasting! Chateau Neuf de Pape is our first destination. Brian used sell wine from here and is very excited. In about the 13th century the Pope of the time was French, and decided he wanted to move the head of the Church back to France and this was the area he lived in, and planted the papal vineyards. Eventually he died and the Church moved back to Italy, but the grape vines stayed and they produce magnificent Reds. The ground is very stony and the heat reflects up off the stones which enhances the flavour of the grape. Unlike most vineyards, they do not “string” the vines up, but leave them do grow naturally.

We arrived around midday, and it is really hot – about 38 degrees. The village is really pretty – all old stone buildings on a small hill. It has lots of wine “caves”. These are tasting venues for the regions wines, and are lovely and cool inside.
We wandered around a bit before driving just out of town to Chateau De la Gardine – this was the winery that produced the wine Brian sold in Australia when he worked for WIV. The lady in the tasting room did not speak any English, and although our French is getting better we had trouble explaining the purpose of our visit. We tried a couple of wines, but both bottles had been open for a bit long and were oxidised, so we without buying any – didn’t matter, I think she thought we were Poms!

We saw the ruins of a fort up on the hill and drove up for a look. Not much to see, but quite a good view. Courtenay and I walked back down into town in search for a cool drink and an Ice Cream. By now it was really hot, and the only people out and about were the occasional tourist – something about mad dogs and Englishmen and the midday sun sprang to mind. Brian disappeared into a wine cave and the girls and I sat our selves down in the nearest bar for “glace de boule” – bowls of ice cream.

Eventually Brian re-appeared, clutching a carry box of wine and looking like someone who had found Nirvana. Unfortunately for him our destination was still several hundred km’s away, and he had to drive us there.

It was great not having to search for accommodation – our B+B in Fleury was all booked. So we plugged the town and street into the GPS and off we went. Elaine, Julian and family were waiting and greeted us with a friendly smile and several cold beers. They are a lovely English family who have lived in France for several years and in the summer let out the top (3rd) floor of their terrace house. I must admit it was great not to have that language barrier. After all of us sharing the one room for quite a few nights, it was also good to be able to spread out a bit.

It was quite late – around 9.00pm and we still had to eat dinner. Fortunately you eat late in France, and although Fleury was a small village, it had several restaurants. One was just around the corner, so we walked down their and had a fantastic meal. Once again going for the fixed menu. Euro18 for Brian and me for an aperitif and 3 courses. (2 choices of entrée and 3 choices of main) The girls had the children’s’ menu – 3 courses for Euro9 – and none of your usual chips, nuggets junk food. They got “real” food, with the choice of 2 entrée’s and 2 mains, just like us. I am getting used to the “French” way of dining out and think I like it!