St. Emilion & Bordeaux

As a lover of wine, a trip to France is not complete without a visit to one of the best known areas in the  country!

Where better to start, than St. Emilion.  It is built on a hill,

with many cobblestoned paths,

housing inviting boutiques with too many temptations.

 Every inch of spare land is home to fields of vines just waiting to have feet stomp it into what will eventually go into MY glass!

Even if you don't like wine, the shear beauty of the village will impress you!

With only 2 days to pack in what we wanted to vist,

my sister and I set off for Bordeaux.

We booked an AirBnB spot; a new adventure for both of us, which tuned out to be alright.  Our hostess was charming; the lower level of the house and garden was just for our use, and it was clean!

 Althought the city centre was 6 tram stops away, it ran on dedicated tracks and was quick.

First stop; "Place de la Comedie" home of the Opera and a Grand Hotel, which boasts one of Gordon Ramsay's Restaurants;

 .......and, on the menu tonight.......

I wonder if this guy would be stopping in for dinner......

More temptations.......macarons

Walking, shopping and gawking is tiring work, so time to meet up wth my niece and have drink.

Not a shabby view from our cafe ....

Coming up.......Bordeaux at night

Toulouse, France

I have had the good fortune of visiting Toulouse, France, many times throughtout my life and I continue to fall in love with it each time I visit.  The stunning architecture exemplifies the grandeur of years gone by.

 

The city is a walker's paradise, with many grand buildings and statues.

One of my favourite restaurants is L'Entrecote!
 The only question they ask you is:
 how would you like your steak cooked?.
A light salad with walnuts starts the meal, followed by steak in a mustard sauce and fries.

With plenty for seconds

Every visit to France should include 

a glass of rosé on an outside terrace! 

Fountains and Carousels for adults and kids alike.....

 Such a lovely start to a Holiday.

Clayton New York - 1,000 Islands

Living along the St. Lawrence River has many advantages.  We are minutes away from The 1000 Islands. There are many quaint towns dotting the St. Lawrence, both on the Canadian and US side.

One of our favourite places to go for a day trip is Clayton N.Y.

There are 2 ways to get to Clayton from Kingston, Ontario.  One is to take the Wolfe Island Ferry:  meander the island's roads all the way to the south side, then hop onto Horne's Ferry to Cape Vincent.  Then it is a short drive east to Clayton.  This would be the more scenic, leisurely route, but even though the distance is not far, it can be longer than you expect, as you need to time both ferries. 

The other quicker route is to take the The 1,000 Island Bridge over to the United States. That was our choice for our last visit.

Clayton's downtown has a 'small town feel' with quaint shops and painted murals depicting a by-gone era.

It is a walker's paradise with plenty to see

No visit to Clayton is complete without a lunch time stop at
 Bella's bakery and bistro

It is our favourite place to eat, and has a
fabulous patio overlooking the St. Lawrence

 The specials of the day were supurb;
 bacon grilled cheese and fish tacos

To be honest, I am not usually a fan of American beer, but I was tempted by a craft brew from
Flying Dog Brewery called (excuse me) Raging Bitch.
 It was slightly sweet and delicious!

After a satisfying break, we continued our stroll down the waterfront, visiting shops and meeting up with The Muskie!

I could have spent the whole afternoon sitting in an Adirondack chair just gazing at this perfect view.
Clayton is definitely worth the trip!

Coq au Vin

You might be a little intrigued as to why I entitled this post

 "Coq au Vin"?

Well, with offspring in tow, we started our weekend with a visit to 

The Village of Westport to check out a new winery.......

I know, 'a winery in Westport'????

Let me introduce you to Scheuermann Winery

 It is located at 82 Bedford St, at the end of a gravel road.  We were warmly greeted by the resident chickens....

.......and tasted 3 excellent wines. 

 We were even treated to a Vidal, still in the vat, by the owner Francois.  He is a trained chef and will be serving sharing plates to be enjoyed while sitting in comfortable chairs overlooking 

Westport Sand Lake.

The Riesling paired beautifully with crab cakes...

Our next destination was '66 Gilead Distillery'

in Prince Edward County.  It is located on an old farm, which ironically, also had a welcoming committee.

 The ornate Second Empire house was built in 1874 by a wealthy hops grower, Bert Cooper, during the County’s Barley Days.  Not only do they distill brandy, whiskey, vodka, gin and rum, but leave their maple syrup to age in whiskey barrels.  Yummmmm

  The Hops barn next to the house remains intact

 with it’s drying floors and brick ovens.

 The house serves as the tasting room as well as uses many of its downstairs rooms to showcase items for sale.

Time to head on to Agrarian,

in Bloomfield, for lunch.  The menu changes quite often, 

so there is always something new to try.

 

We sampled the Empire Caramelized Cheddar

 Grilled Cheese on Sourdough...

and a very tasty Wild Leek Ricotta Flatbread

 with Sprouts, Peas and Parmesan

Our last stop for the day was 'By Chadsey's Cairns'.

A lovingly tended Cemetery is at the entrance of the property.

  If only the gravestones could talk.......

We were a little disappointed that the prerequisite chickens 

were not there to greet us!

The vines were just starting to sprout among the twinkling streamers of shiny ribbon hung to scare off the birds.

The property's barn is used as the tasting room

 as old Mr. Chadsey watches over the proceedings.

We are so lucky to live in an area where only an hour's drive takes us to such treats!