Saint-Émilion ~ October 3, 2019
Saint-Émilion ~ October 3, 2019
The morning dawned late for Peter and Betty Lou (yesterday was our day for waking late), but vacation is lovely, and we had no "drop dead out of the house" time set. Our agenda for the day was to stop in Branne at the "market" -- truly a farmer's market -- and then go on to Saint Émilion for the day.
As we entered the market, there was a boulangerie selling all types of baguettes on our left, and one of many butchers or charcuteries selling various types of sausages and meats. Several stalls were selling vegetables, others had fresh fruits for sale, and still others had dried fruits.
A woman and a man displayed a young goat and were soliciting donations for the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). They spoke no English and chattered away at Peter and Betty Lou, showing them some "lozenges" for a 40 Euro donation. There was a clear lack of communication between the French and the Americans! Jeff went over and chatted with them using his high school French and gave a donation.
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| Streets of Branne |
We purchased a sweet potato, a russet potato, a head of broccoli, and a baguette, and then we were on our way to Saint Émilion.
It was a short ride through some of the many vineyards covering the landscape of the Bordelais "terroir." After hearing that word used many times today I had to look it up. It is an amazingly descriptive word meaning the complete natural environment in which a particular wine is produced, including factors such as the soil, topography, and climate. The landscape - as far as our eyes could see - was covered with orderly rows of grapevines.
From time to time we saw grape harvesting machines that many of the larger wineries use to harvest their fruit.
But there are many vineyards that still hire seasonal workers to pick the grapes by hand. It looks like back-breaking work for sure, although there must be something rewarding about it (beyond the wages, of course).
It was a relatively short drive to Saint Émilion, and the clearing skies made our day even more wonderful. Before we knew it we were entering the cobblestone streets of the town.
What can I say about Saint Émilion? According to Wikipedia, Saint-Émilion's history goes back to prehistoric times. The town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with fascinating Romanesque churches and ruins stretching all along steep and narrow streets. The Romans planted vineyards in what was to become Saint-Émilion as early as the 2nd century.
The town was originally called Ascumbas, but it was renamed for the monk Émilion (d.767), a travelling confessor, who settled in a hermitage carved into the rock there in the 8th century. The monks who followed him started up the commercial wine production in the area. Émilion was born in the 8th century in Vannes and was known for his miracles. He left his homeland intending to devote his life to prayer. Joined by a few Benedictine followers, Émilion founded the first religious community and evangelized the population around Ascumbas, creating a large monastic town which later was named for him. The holy man probably died around the year 767, after spending the last seventeen years of his life in his hermitage, a simple cave around which the village was built.
Today there are 200 inhabitants and more than 300 wine shops! We arrived, parked the car, and then took a long walk - mostly uphill ... SERIOUSLY uphill ... - to the Office of Tourism.  |
| The long, steep, winding road to the Office of Tourism |
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| A view from the top of the hill |
So ... we decided to order some lunch ourselves. Jeff and I shared a pizza. Betty Lou ordered dessert crepes, and Peter ordered a pizza as well. White wine for Betty Lou and me, red wine for Peter, and another 1664 beer for JJ topped off the meal. I forgot to take pictures of our pizza and BL's crepes, but both were truly beautiful to look at and amazingly tasty. The pizza was very cheesy and was topped with a delicious tomato sauce and some sort of ham.
The village is truly amazing -- medieval, with winding cobblestone streets, steep hills, and vineyards all around. It is, indeed, a "tourist trap" - but a wonderfully maintained one with one of two underground churches in Europe. After our lunch, we purchased tickets for a "visite guidee en Englais pour l'eglise Monolithique." I was very proud of my French as I ordered quatre billets (four tickets) for the English tour of the underground church!
Jeff climbed to the top of the bell tower of the Monolithic Church and took several pictures, a sampling of which I included below.
As we waited for our guide to begin our tour, I snapped a few photos of the exterior -- we were not permitted to take pictures inside because the "monuments" (as our guide, Sophie) called what we were seeing) are privately owned.
As the pictures show, it was a beautiful day - perhaps the best day we have had so far - with plenty of blue skies and sunshine.
The tour was fascinating, as Sophie recounted the legend that has grown up around Saint Emilion, the monk. We first went into what is believed to have been his cave and saw the "fertility chair." Childless women would come to Emilion, sit in the chair and will miraculously become pregnant - or so the legend goes. Sophie invited anyone who wished to sit in the chair, adding that many women have done so and then sent pictures of their miracle babies! Nobody took her up on that offer!
We then went into the catacombs of the church, and finally into the underground church itself. We saw massive steel reinforcements holding up the bell tower which had begun to deteriorate some years ago.
The photo on the left is of our guide, Sophie, who was knowledgeable and very easy to understand!
After our visit, we had a bit of a mid-afternoon slump and sat for a bit while Jeff decided to climb the bell tower.
All around the village were beautiful old buildings constructed from the golden stone, as Maureen, our hostess in Naujan et Postiac, called it.
At 5:15 p.m. "sharp," we went for the first of two wine tastings that Maureen had arranged for us. One of the owners, Guy Petrus, greeted us somewhat brusquely at the door and showed us to the garden where he introduced himself (expecting us to be in awe of his heritage as a member of the winemaking family Petrus, whose wine sells for thousands of Euros a bottle). He spoke English, but spoke very fast, making him difficult to follow at times.
Monsieur Petrus took us into the area where they extract the juice from the grapes, and then took us down to a storage area for barrels. We were permitted to take photos in this area. Then he told us that we were going to go down into the wine cellar for four minutes only. We had to climb down backward to get into the cellar, where we were not to take any pictures. Someone had taken pictures and posted them on social media, resulting in a break in to steal some very precious Petrus wines that had been stored there.
After that, we met in his tasting room for instructions on how to taste. He corrected our "bad tasting behaviors."
"You must smell twice," he commanded, slapping Peter's hand as Peter began to swirl the wine in the glass. "No! First you smell with the nose - smell the wine as it has been poured." Of course, we all did as he demanded. He then had us look at the color against a white card. I was holding my card up, and he impatiently snatched it from me and put it flat on the table. Then we were allowed to swirl the wine in the glass - clockwise (I had done it wrong) - to aerate the wine. Then we smelled it again, and finally were allowed to give it a taste. It was a 2008 bottle of red wine, and was good, but not really to my taste. We repeated the process with a second bottle and we were asked to use our new knowledge to decide whether the bottle was older and younger. It turned out that it was younger, being bottled in 2011. Peter and Betty Lou purchased two bottles; Jeff and I declined. We settled our accounts, and were on our way back to Les Vendangeurs for a dinner of leftovers, along with the vegetables we purchased at the farmers market this morning.
A little wine, some cheese, some bread, a satisfying dinner, and then off to bed in anticipation of tomorrow's excursions!
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| The first of the Cats of France! |
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| Jeff and Linda in Saint Emilion |
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| The Monolithic Church and its bell tower |
The monolithic church is an underground religious building of gigantic proportions (125 feet long and 40 feet high) dug in the early 12th century. At the heart of the city, the monolithic church reminds the religious activity of the city in the Middle Ages and intrigues by its unusual design. On the one hand, it shows itself to the visitor by its towering 225-foot-high bell tower. On the other, we find it hiding behind the elegance of three openings on the front and a Gothic portal often closed.
From the ancient Greek «mono» meaning «single» and «lithos», «stone», its name refers to a building dug into the limestone plateau and whose current structure still forms a single block. The goal of its realization is probably the development of the city around a pilgrim activity on the tomb of the patron Saint St. Emilion. In memory of the Breton hermit who had settled in a nearby cave during the 8th century, and in order to edify the faithful, the ambition to achieve a sufficiently large reliquary church to host hundreds of pilgrims, was born.
Carved in the 12th century, painted in the 14th, devastated in the 16th, battered in the 18th during the Revolution and restored in the 20th! Today, it is still consecrated and hosts regular religious ceremonies, sometimes concerts, but also induction ceremonies of the Brotherhood of wines of Saint-Emilion - The Jurade.
As we waited for our guide to begin our tour, I snapped a few photos of the exterior -- we were not permitted to take pictures inside because the "monuments" (as our guide, Sophie) called what we were seeing) are privately owned.
As the pictures show, it was a beautiful day - perhaps the best day we have had so far - with plenty of blue skies and sunshine.
The tour was fascinating, as Sophie recounted the legend that has grown up around Saint Emilion, the monk. We first went into what is believed to have been his cave and saw the "fertility chair." Childless women would come to Emilion, sit in the chair and will miraculously become pregnant - or so the legend goes. Sophie invited anyone who wished to sit in the chair, adding that many women have done so and then sent pictures of their miracle babies! Nobody took her up on that offer!
We then went into the catacombs of the church, and finally into the underground church itself. We saw massive steel reinforcements holding up the bell tower which had begun to deteriorate some years ago.
The photo on the left is of our guide, Sophie, who was knowledgeable and very easy to understand!
After our visit, we had a bit of a mid-afternoon slump and sat for a bit while Jeff decided to climb the bell tower.
All around the village were beautiful old buildings constructed from the golden stone, as Maureen, our hostess in Naujan et Postiac, called it.
At 5:15 p.m. "sharp," we went for the first of two wine tastings that Maureen had arranged for us. One of the owners, Guy Petrus, greeted us somewhat brusquely at the door and showed us to the garden where he introduced himself (expecting us to be in awe of his heritage as a member of the winemaking family Petrus, whose wine sells for thousands of Euros a bottle). He spoke English, but spoke very fast, making him difficult to follow at times.
Monsieur Petrus took us into the area where they extract the juice from the grapes, and then took us down to a storage area for barrels. We were permitted to take photos in this area. Then he told us that we were going to go down into the wine cellar for four minutes only. We had to climb down backward to get into the cellar, where we were not to take any pictures. Someone had taken pictures and posted them on social media, resulting in a break in to steal some very precious Petrus wines that had been stored there.
After that, we met in his tasting room for instructions on how to taste. He corrected our "bad tasting behaviors."
"You must smell twice," he commanded, slapping Peter's hand as Peter began to swirl the wine in the glass. "No! First you smell with the nose - smell the wine as it has been poured." Of course, we all did as he demanded. He then had us look at the color against a white card. I was holding my card up, and he impatiently snatched it from me and put it flat on the table. Then we were allowed to swirl the wine in the glass - clockwise (I had done it wrong) - to aerate the wine. Then we smelled it again, and finally were allowed to give it a taste. It was a 2008 bottle of red wine, and was good, but not really to my taste. We repeated the process with a second bottle and we were asked to use our new knowledge to decide whether the bottle was older and younger. It turned out that it was younger, being bottled in 2011. Peter and Betty Lou purchased two bottles; Jeff and I declined. We settled our accounts, and were on our way back to Les Vendangeurs for a dinner of leftovers, along with the vegetables we purchased at the farmers market this morning.
A little wine, some cheese, some bread, a satisfying dinner, and then off to bed in anticipation of tomorrow's excursions!
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