There's More to Beaujolais Wines than just Beaujolais Nouveau - II

The day following the Beaujolais fête, we were off to Beaujolais itself for an AVF-sponsored ‘field trip’.  [Once again, life here is tough.  We like to think of ourselves as doing our bit for Franco-American relations.]  We were very kindly offered a ride by a lovely French couple, Jean-Pierre and Monique. 

The weather started foggy, but that soon burned off to reveal a lovely day with partial sun and puffy clouds over the vineyard-covered hillsides.  We drove to the village of Régnié, which gives its name to one of the ten crus of Beaujolais.  Situated on a hillside overlooking miles of vineyards, it is famous for its 19^th century church designed by the architect Bossan, who also designed Fourvière basilica in Lyon.  There are similarities between the buildings, both of which are interesting, eclectic, but singularly lacking in grace.  [Even the French are a bit ambivalent about Fourvière, the locals referring to it as the ‘éléphant morte’, or ‘dead elephant’, because with its four corner bell towers, it resembles an elephant’s legs sticking into the air.]

St Jean L'Evangile at Régnié with some of the group

Fourvière basilica in Lyon

We did a bit of sightseeing around the church and village, then strolled a couple of blocks to the small winery of Thierry and Cécile Robin, where Thierry was in the middle of fermentation, and pressing the crushed grapes to extract the remaining liquid.  Thierry first talked about his operation in the fermenting area, which opened onto the courtyard.  We tasted the partially fermented wine, known as ‘paradis’, while he explained the various facets of his operation in a manner both passionate and informative.

Sign Pointing the Way

Vine-Covered Slopes from the Winery

We then adjourned to the barrel-vaulted cellar for more discussion and tasting of some of his red Beaujolais wines.  He makes two premier crus, Régnié and Moulin à Vent, along with a chardonnay, a rosé and a pinot noir.  We tasted both premier crus, including some of different vintages.  We found them to be well-made, clean wines.  M. Robin, as are other young Beaujolais vignerons, is experimenting with some oak-aging of his wines.  We found this to add considerable interest to what otherwise is a rather monochromatic wine.  [Beaujolais red is made from the Gamay grape.  To be fair, tastings of unoaked cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and pinot noir tend also to be rather one-dimensional, without the layers of flavors and complexities we have come to expect from these grapes.  It will be interesting to see how this experiment evolves.]  Following the tastings and discussion, many of us placed orders for wine – very inexpensive, without either the layers of taxes as in the US, or the ridiculous prices of the much-hyped Bordeaux or Bourgognes.  Only 3.5 - 6 euros per bottle!!  We have developed a small wine cellar here in Lyon, in a locked portion of the basement of our apartment building, so we always have a selection of wines available, and can take at least a limited advantage of buying opportunities.

In the Cave Sampling Good French Wine

 

Heading for Lunch at the Auberge - Restaurant

Then we were back up the street to the little restaurant where we had reservations, and a wonderful lunch of salmon in dill sauce, a baked andouillette [a Lyonnais sausage] dish, or a nicely prepared bit of beef.  This was preceded by an aperitif consisting of either a red or white wine with Kir, a currant liqueur made famous by a legendary former Mayor of Dijon.  Accompanying this was a very nice broccoli dish, salad, plenty of bread, and pasta.  This all included plenty of M. Robin’s Régnié to complement the meal.  We had pre-ordered our lunches, but one woman handled all the serving and clearing for twenty people in another amazing display of French restaurant efficiency.

Enjoying Ourselves at Lunch

 

The Happy Group

After cheese, dessert and coffee, we went back to the winery to pick up and pay for our wines.  Interesting note here – Mme Robin who handled the payments with Carte Bleu, had to position herself outside the cellar with the card reader, in line-of-sight with a hilltop relay tower so the card reader could get a signal!

Then it was time to put our purchases in the car for the drive back to Lyon.

A Visit to the American Consulate (with apologies for the length of this posting)

As we’ve mentioned before, we seem to conduct our real estate business from Lyon.  Well, this time we needed a document notarized.  Since French notaries have a much different function from American  notaries, we needed to find an American notary.  So David, very resourcefully, went out on the web to find one in Lyon.  He searched for the American Consulate and found it, although it calls itself the “American Presence in Lyon” (let’s call it the APL for short).  And, fortunately one can get documents notarized there - for a fee of $50!

Meanwhile, Congress, in its infinite wisdom, had shut down all government offices while they argued about money.  As you are aware, their tantrum finally ended, and the offices opened again.  So Anna called the office of the APL , and reached a very pleasant French woman who speaks flawless English.  (Why is it that French-accented English always sounds sexy but American-accented French does not?) Anyway, the lady on the phone said she would squeeze us in at 1:30 that day since the notary person would be gone all next week.  Super! 

Now all Anna had to do was get word to David, who was out on a local bike ride with Roger and some others.  After a couple of phone calls and a text message, and with Dominique’s help, David got the message and called Anna to let her know he would meet her at the APL for the 1:30 appointment.  Whew!

Now just getting into the building housing the APL is no easy matter.  Its office and several legal and financial business offices are in a very secure building.  In fact the only way to get into the building is to get buzzed in or know the numeric code that unlocks the door, and there is no intercom or other way to call any of the offices from the exterior door.  Anna was considering calling the office of the

The wooden door from the street is open in this

 picture, but  sure wasn't when we were there!

APL with her cell phone, when a nice group of people punched in the magic code and were entering the building.  She smiled, tried to look her non-threatening best, and joined them.  Then she came to another locked door; this one at least had a sort of digital roll-a-dex so one could call an office to get buzzed in.  Her call was answered by a man speaking English with a heavy north-African-French accent.  She had no idea what he said, but he did buzz her in the second door.  Then she took the elevator to the third floor office of the APL, and came to yet another very secure door with a buzzer and intercom.  A Security Guard opened the door a crack, looked at her, and asked for her passport, then closed the door and disappeared.  He soon came back and let her in to the security screening area.  After thoroughly checking her purse and putting some items in a zip-lock bag, he told her she could come into the office. 

But, where was David and how was he going to get in?  Anna explained she needed to go back to the street door to get her husband, who was likely waiting outside.  She was allowed to do so after leaving all her stuff, including both her and David’s passports, with the guard.  Thankfully, it is MUCH easier to get out of the building than it is to get into it.  Sure enough David and Roger were waiting on the sidewalk outside, and Roger was just about to call Anna on her cell (which was then residing in the zip-lock bag upstairs), when she opened the street door.  She held the door open for David, they were buzzed through the two remaining security doors and arrived at the Security Guard’s desk where David emptied all his pockets, took off his watch, etc., and both went through a scanner (which both set off). 

The guard decided we were not a security threat and ushered us around a corner where we were greeted by a life-sized, stand up figure of Barack Obama.  The guard disappeared with our passports once again, and the very pleasant French woman who had spoken with Anna on the phone appeared, welcomed us, took us into a room with a table and chairs, and asked us to wait.  We were just discussing how secure we felt when the US Consul himself entered the room and joined us at the table.  After getting some background information (who are we, where do we live in the US, why are we in Lyon, what is the document we need notarized, etc.) and a little more conversation (he is from California, too, Marin County to be exact, went to Chico State, and worked for a while in The City – that’s San Francisco for any readers who are not from California), we went through the notary process and were good to go.

The object of our quest.

So, clutching our notarized document, we went back to Security Desk, collected all our stuff and exited the building.  Mission accomplished!

There's More to Beaujolais Wines than just Beaujolais Nouveau - I

Beaujolais means ‘Nouveau’ to most people outside of France – it is traditionally the first-released wine of the vintage.  It is a young fruity quaff intended as something to drink to mark the end of harvesting and crushing of the year's grape crop.  It has been heavily marketed outside of France such that huge quantities are sold, with parties in restaurants to celebrate the arrival, usually by air, of the wine to overseas markets.  This has been a great success in terms of brand awareness and quantity sold, but has left people with the impression that ‘Nouveau’ is all there is to Beaujolais.  Not true, as we shall see.

In our various descriptions of life of life in Lyon we have often discussed visits to the Beaujolais wine region just north of the city.  Much wine is produced there, mostly red for near-term drinking, so much that it is said here that there are three rivers in Lyon – the Rhone, the Saone, and the Beaujolais.  That being said the Lyonnais have a somewhat ambiguous relationship with Beaujolais.  Many residents do not have a high opinion of Beaujolais wines.  The winemakers of Beaujolais have set out to change that, both by improving their wines and by intensive marketing to the citizens of Lyon.

Typical Poster for the 'Mariage'

One of the more imaginative facets of the marketing campaign has been to ‘marry’ each of the ten premier crus, or grape-growing regions of Beaujolais with each of the nine arrondisements of Lyon and with the Lyon City Hall.  This effort, held yearly, with tastings and exhibits in each location, culminates Saturday in a sort of ‘Beaujolais Fair’, with booths in Place Terreaux near the city hall for each of the ten crus, and other booths devoted to related activities such as how grape vines are grafted, and to tourism in Beaujolais.

One of the booths promoting tourism in Beaujolais

Place Terreaux with all the booths

Brass Band to provide festive music

There was also a brass band, strolling choral group, plenty of wine to taste, and a great sense of conviviality, something the French are very good at.  Admittedly, the weather which had threatened all morning, finally began to rain lightly in the afternoon, and the crowds thinned.  The French definitely do know enough to come in out of the rain!  We followed their example and strolled off to one of our favorite cafes, where we each enjoyed an omelet, with salad, bread, and bien sûr, a bit of Beaujolais.

Lunch à La Tour Rose

The Tour Rose is actually three buildings dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries.  The Tour Rose houses a four star hotel as well as apartment-residences for longer stays, four

La Tour Rose

restaurants and a large, cozy bar.  Its name comes from the central pink tower that is very visible up and down the street, rue du Bœuf.  It is located in the heart of Vieux Lyon (Old Town), a UNESCO world heritage site.  We have walked by the Tour many, many times, and Anna has been curious about what’s inside. 

On October 3^rd she got a chance to find out.  Dominique had suggested she and Anna meet for lunch at the AVF office (also in Vieux Lyon), and they strolled through the area looking for a likely lunch spot.  They came to the Tour Rose, checked out the posted menu, went in to inquire about having lunch there (one always does that without reservations), and, voilà, found themselves seated at a table on a lovely terrace.  (In order to get to the terrace, we climbed up multiple winding, worn stone, stairways as people have for centuries.)  The weather was quite pleasant, the setting was lovely, and the service was great.  We had a nice, leisurely lunch and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  We left with brochures about the Tour Rose, and Anna thought this would be a great place to take David for lunch.

The Outside Terrace

 

A Side Note:  the menu for the Terrace is printed daily and consists of options for a Formule.  A Formule offers multiple combinations of menu items for a fixed price.  For instance, at the Terrace, there are four Formules to choose from:

·         Salade du jour + un verre de vin (the salad featured that day + a glass of wine)  15 €

·         Entrée + Plat du jour (an appetiser and main dish)   15 €

·         Plat du jour + Dessert du jour)    14 €

·         Entrée + Plat du jour + Dessert du jour     19 €

Pretty reasonable pricing, actually.

So the propaganda began – Anna really wanted to return for another delicious lunch.  Armed with a lovely brochure that explains the history of the place (Molière staged the preview for “L’Etourdi” there!), she told David about her lunch experience.

Well, yesterday was our last day in our Décourverte de la France (Discover France) class so we our Maîtresse and good friend, Andrée-Anne to lunch.  Again, we were just around the corner and down a couple of blocks from the very visible, Tour Rose.  The posted menu of the day looked good to all three of us, and so we went in.  This time we went up a different, shorter, winding, worn-stone stairway and came to a different terrace.  This one had a glass ceiling and 3 glass walls and tables with linen table cloths and napkins.  Very nice!  David started us out with glasses of Champagne and our leisurely, two-hour lunch began.  We all chose the Plat + Dessert option; David’s plat was a salmon dish, and Andrée-Anne and Anna both had duck breast.  (Anna had just prepared Lacquered Duck Breast with Caramelized Pineapple the night before, but this was a totally different preparation.)  We all remarked about the sauces – delicious!  We each had a glass of Rosé with lunch, also.  Then came dessert:  David had le Mœlleux au Chocolat (a small chocolate cake with molten chocolate center), Andrée-Anne had Café Gourmand (coffee with several small desserts), and Anna had Salade de Fruits Frais (pieces of fresh fruit).

We ate at this table.

 

Interestingly enough, neither Dominique nor Andrée-Anne had eaten there before.  That will give you an idea of how many great restaurants are in Lyon and especially in Vieux Lyon.

Another side note:  This first time she was there, Anna heard Janis Joplin in the music track and this last time it was BB King!  (Our waiter confirmed both and seemed a little impressed and amused that she recognized them.  Ya just never know…)

 

 

Papilles en éveil (or Awakened Tastebuds)

Some of you may remember that Anna joined a lunch group called Papilles en éveil  through AVF.  The idea was to meet in a member’s home to prepare and then enjoy eating a lunch.  The members took turns hosting and coming up with a recipe for entrée (appetizer), plat (main dish), or dessert (no translation needed there!). 

So last Monday we were at it again!  Seven ladies met at the home of Brigitte (our organizer) to prepare and feast on a wonderful three-course lunch.  (A side note about Brigitte…She is definitely a force of nature!  Always full of energy and ideas and wearing a big smile.  We know we will have a great time at these lunches due, in no small part, to Brigitte!)

Brigitte’s kitchen is a bit unusual - especially for France.  Having a “cuisine Américaine” (kitchen with full-sized oven, separate microwave, full sized-cooktop, dishwasher  and lots of room for prep) here is still not the norm and warrants special mention in house and apartment ads.  Well, Brigitte loves to cook and designed a kitchen to meet her needs:  two full-sized ovens (with convection), two sinks, a large induction cook top, lots of counter space, and every appliance and kitchen implement imaginable.  Any cook’s dream!

Here are some pictures of  our group:


Doing prep work together



Posing in the kitchen.  That's Brigitte on the right.

 

Relaxing in the living room between cooking and eating

 So what was on the menu?   

For the entrée :  Le caviar de courgettes (chopped, cooked zucchini prepared with spices and presented in an amazing sauce made up mostly of a mixture of cream and melted  parmesan.)

 

For the plat:  Râbles de lapin aux myrtilles (saddle of rabbit that has been marinated for at least 24 hours in a liter of red wine, chopped carrots, celery, and onion, along with some olive oil, spices, and a splash of cognac for good measure and then cooked and topped with a blueberry sauce).  Every part of this dish was cooked and eaten!  We boned and cooked the rabbit pieces, the vegetables in the marinade were cooked and served, and the liquid was the base for the blueberry sauce.  This was served with potatoes au gratin and spinach.

 

Then Brigitte brought out the obligatory cheese course. 

For the dessert:  Pana Cotta aux pêches et aux amandes caramélisées (a sort of custard with peaches and topped with caramelized almonds)

Then, of course, coffee.

 

And, here we are enjoying our lunch!

Now you know why a proper French lunch lasts two hours !  It was all absolutely delicious, of course!  (I'll be happy to share the recipes if you don't mind having them in French.)

A Visit to Château de Longpra

There are actually two types of chateaux – a fort or fortified stronghold and the gracious, expansive homes we most often think of as chateaux today.  We recently visited a chateau, with AVF, that has been both.

The Lyon-Rhone International AVF team does a great job in organizing classes, tours, etc. to enrich the experience of returning Frenchmen and expats, like us.  Our most recent “field trip” was to the Château de Longpra about an hour and ¼ away from Lyon.  Dominique, Roger, and Gerard had invited us to ride in their car with them, which added to the enjoyment.  Unfortunately, Dominique was feeling under-the-weather so just the four of us rendezvoused with the other 15 or so other AVF folks near the Château.  (Actually, it was a little more complicated than that.  You see Dominique is the one who can be relied upon to have a GPS and map handy on these excursions.  We discovered on our way out of Lyon that NO ONE had a map or GPS or really knew how to get there.  Fortunately, David had looked at a map the night before and somehow the three men discussed routes, consulted often, figured it out, and got us there on time.  Meanwhile, Anna kept very quiet since she has a well-acknowledged complete lack of sense of direction.)

But back to the Château…

The Château was originally built as a fort seven hundred or so years ago and had crenelated walls, moat and drawbridge.  In 1536, Charles Pascal acquired the Château- It’s been in the same family ever since.  In 1755 Pierre-Antoine Pascalis took possession of  property.  He razed the fort, retaining just the foundations, moat and drawbridge, and set about constructing the lovely, neoclassical Château that exists today.  The Château and family were so respected by the people in the countryside, by the way, that the building and contents were protected during the Revolution.  Today it houses a number of historic documents, paintings, furniture, china and silver, etc. and serves as a sort of museum.  This part of the Château is open to the public while the Countess Albert de Franclieu and family live in the private section.  (After the tour, Roger, David, and Anna were sitting in the car wondering what had happened to Gerard.  It turns out that he and a few others had been hobnobbing with the Countess.)

So, with that background information, here are some pictures (we were not allowed to take pix inside so all interior shots and aerial shots were shamelessly copied from their website):

To give you an idea of the Château and grounds.

View of the front, showing our tour group.

Drawbridge and moat with one of the gates in the background.

 A sitting room.

A bedroom - wall paper is copy of original.

To show you one of the lovely collections on display.

The four of us:  left to right - standing - Gerard and David, sitting - Roger and Anna.

Then it was time for lunch.  We all piled into our cars and drove to a picturesque restaurant on the shore of Lac de Paladru.  It is another family enterprise, and the food, service, and atmosphere were great.    One item on the menu was a mystery to us; we had never heard of “fritures” before.  Turns out they are little, tiny fish that are scooped up, shaken in a bag of seasoned flour, and deep fried to be eaten like French fries.  Can’t say it’s high on our list of foods to try, but lots of folks at are table were having them.  Then we set off for Lyon with very full stomachs!

The group having lunch.  Notice the lake just out the window.

 

Fritures

No Pictures (désolé) - BUT a Fun Story

Preface: 

Weddings in France are done a bit differently.  First of all, the official wedding must be performed by a government official.  In some cases that’s it – no further ceremony.  But, often the next stop is for the religious ceremony (which can only happen after the official one).  Whether it’s one ceremony or two, a celebration and reception often follow. 

Also, we have seen some fun “bachelorette parties” here in France… A day or so before the wedding, the friends of the bride often “kidnap” her and take her away for some merriment.  This can take the form of dressing her in funny clothes and then walking around town with her, walking down the street with her while singing funny songs, etc. etc. 

Here’s what happened recently on our quiet little street, rue Moncey:

A few days ago two or three cars drove up and parked across the street from the apartment building next door.  Suddenly lots of young women jumped out and started dancing to some loud music, using air horns, and making that unique high-pitched celebratory noise women in the Middle East and North Africa make.  Definitely, a party in progress!  The celebration continued in the street for a while until they had the bride-to-be with them, and then they all piled back into the cars and left.  A couple of hours later, they returned, celebrated in the street some more, dropped off the bride-to-be, and left.

A few days later, the same thing happened – only with men and lots more cars!  They were dancing in the street and generally having a great time. (A couple of them also got onto the top of a van and were dancing on it.)  It was quite the spectacle!  Neighbors up and down the street were leaning out their windows to watch, and pedestrians stopped on the sidewalks and enjoyed the fun.  This went on for quite a while – the air horns blared, the music played, people danced, the confetti flew, fire crackers went off, and LOTS of pictures were taken of each other by celebrants.  (One of the cars was flying an Algerian flag, so we assume we were spectators in part of a French wedding celebration Algerian-style although everyone’s clothes were “European”.)

Finally, the bride emerged, and the groom escorted her to their limo.  The skirt to her wedding dress was so voluminous that it took an attendant and the groom some time to push it all into car.  The groom had to go around and get in on the other side of the car – there was no way he could follow the bride into the limo from her side.

Then they were off – at least 14 cars’ worth of celebrators with 3-4 driving up to join them.  All with horns blaring and some with celebrants hanging out of car windows while they sang or shouted.  Quite a sendoff for the bride and groom and some fun entertainment for all of the rest of us!

PS-A baby, being carried around in his car seat by his father, slept through it all.