Then on to Lunch at Ferme Auberge de Lavaux

Continuing with our adventures last Saturday...

After our visit to the Chateau de Dree, We drove farther into the country, down narrow country lanes with fields and pastures on either side.  Here's a picture David took of the countryside:

Then we turned in to the drive for the Auberge.  It is a working farm with an inn.

Here's the driveway - note all the cars!




Dining room is on the left (just the porch showing here); accommodations to the right.

We (all 20+ of us) went into the dining room and found a long table set and waiting for us.  Our lunch began with a glass of Kir - a very civilized way to begin a meal!  We each chose a meal option, but the food was served family style so we actually each got to sample all the dishes.  Pitchers of rose and red wine appeared and were continually refreshed.  Then the food started coming...and kept coming.  Here are some of the dishes we enjoyed: fresh bread; a plate of charcuterie (sausages, a terrine-sort of a coarser texture pate, and, a personal favorite, cornichons-those cute little pickles that go so well with pate); an excellent green salad (fresh from the garden, no doubt); two different poultry preparations, poulet (chicken) a la creme and canard (duck) en bourguignon; two different kinds of omlettes; generous platters of cheeses; then a choice of flavors of glace - that incredibly rich, creamy ice cream the French make so well; and finally coffee.  All in all, we ate for 2 1/2 to 3 hours - but who keeps track of that sort of thing?  Here's a shot David took that captures most of our table:

  

After lunch we wandered around the farm and saw, among other things, "food on the hoof", so to speak.  Here's a shot I took of the many, many chickens and a duck:

Then we paid for lunch.  This was done by going into a hall sort of area, telling a person what we had ordered for lunch while another person hand wrote the order down and priced it.  Lunch for the two of us came to 36 euros (around $50 or so).  Although the tip is almost always included in the price in France, it is customary to leave an additional euro or two for good service.  In this case we "passed the hat" for our waitress and her helper - the food and the service were excellent.

But, our day was not over!  Yves and Angelika (new friends who generously offered to let us ride in their car) like to explore, as do we.  So we were off through the countryside again, past farm houses, fields, pastures with grazing cattle, vineyards, and various other chateaux.  We ended up in the mountain village of Oingt - more on that in the next posting.