Category Archives: Paris

Powerwalking down to Concorde in the snow!

January 21, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 6 Comments

On Friday, Relationnel and I went to the sales to replace some of the clothing that disappeared with our missing suitcase. We left our sports shoes until last and I was a bit reluctant to make the effort. Fortunately, Relationnel overcame my reticence and we went to Au Vieux Campeur. This time, I was eventually helped by a young man who was keen to practise his English and talk about Australia. The shoes I bought are actually much better (and cheaper) than the last ones. Thanks to Aurelia (see comment), I managed to get a receipt for the ones in the suitcase.

So when I woke up on Saturday and saw that the snow was still on the ground, I was able to go power walking for the first time in months. At about 10.30, I headed for the Tuileries where I was certain I’d find a good depth of snow.

Next to the Night Revellers’ Kiosk on Place Colette, greatly improved in my opinion by its layer of snow, the waiter from Le Nemours was sweeping a path across the Place, doing what all retailers and caretakers should do: remove the snow from the pavement to avoid accidents, particularly when the temperature drops and it becomes icy.

Ducks on the first pond in the Tuileries

In the Tuileries, there were no sailing boats on the first pond – just the ducks swimming busily around the unfrozen section.

Neither was there anyone sitting on the green chairs facing the Louvre and piled high with snow.

I checked out the pond next to Café Diane, one of my five favourite lunch venues near the Louvre, but the tables were deserted there too.

In the distance, the Big Wheel was just a haze and the whole scene looked as though it were in black and white!

Closer up, I could see the seagulls on the pond near the Big Wheel with the Orangerie and Place de la Concorde in the distance.

There were still two people kissing further down, though, undeterred by the cold snow.

Thomas Moore's "Reclining Figure" — Henry Moore’s “Reclining Figure”

As I made my way back, Henry Moore’s Reclining figure seemed to be making the most of the snowfall.

Family having a snow fight in the Tuileries Gardens

Further on, a family was having a joyous snowfight, and aimed a snowball at me when they saw me taking photos. But I ducked just in time!

In front of the first pond in the Tuileries

When I reached the last pond, I asked a photographer with his tripod if he wouldn’t mind taking a photo of me with my iPhone. I figured he’d know how to take a good photo first off. And he did! I’m wearing my new headband which is the warmest thing I’ve had in a long time – much more comfortable than a woolly hat and wonderful protection for my ears, not to mention my rabbit-lined leather gloves. It was about 1°C after all.

Africans selling hats and gloves in the Tuileries Gardens

As I walked back to the Triumphal Arch, I saw that the itinerant sellers were spreading their wares – hats and gloves – to the relief of unprepared tourists.

By the time I got back to the Palais Royal, there were people galore!

Paris, Travel photos

Monday’s Travel Photos – Paris in the snow

January 20, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 10 Comments

It doesn’t snow a lot in Paris – probably once or twice a year – and the snow doesn’t stay on the ground for long. This year, however, there has a been a decent fall, enough for the more adventurous to get out their skis and sleds! We stayed within our neighbourhood because it snowed most of the day and it was pretty cold after a couple of hours walking around.

View from our balcony in the Palais Royal

Vélib' and Blanca Nieves — Vélib’ and Blanca Nieves

A snowbear climbing a tree in the Palais Royal gardens

A long snowman in the Palais Royal gardens - the scarf is one of the safety tapes around the fountain! — A long snowman in the Palais Royal gardens – the scarf is one of the safety tapes around the fountain!

A miniature snowman in front of Miss Bibi's — A miniature snowman in front of Miss Bibi’s

The Louvre pyramid with the water iced over

River boat carrying tourists on the Seine

Art, Lifestyle, Paris

I Love My Kindle

January 17, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 8 Comments

It’s about 1°C and I’m taking the metro to meet friends for lunch. As I walk through Palais Royal, I see that one of our regular pavement artists has begun work. I’m cold just looking at him. On the metro reading, I open up Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility” which I’m reading again. The French lady next to me asks if I’m happy with my Kindle. “Oh, yes, I love it!” “My husband bought me one for Christmas but it hasn’t arrived yet”, she says. I then proceed to tell her about my favourite features: you can increase or decrease the size of the characters which is wonderful when your sight diminishes and you can download an extract of a book before you buy it.

Pavement artist on Place du Palais Royal at 1°C.

As I mentioned in a previous post about Kindles, I’m one of those people who can’t survive without reading. I hear many book lovers say they have to have the physical object but I must confess that that I’ve now been reading on my Kindle non-stop for nearly 10 months and I don’t miss paper books one little bit! My preferred place to read is in bed and some paperbacks are just too big to read comfortably.

If you’re eating breakfast alone, you can prop your Kindle up in front of you. It fits easily into your handbag when you take the metro. If you’re going on holidays, you don’t have to find room for several heavy books and with the 3G version, you can download a new book anywhere! When you’ve finished one book by an author, you can then proceed to read all their other works. I’ve nearly finished the complete collection of Jane Austen, which I’ve never been able to do before.

Pavement artist nearly finished three hours later

It’s a great space saver of course and extremely environment-friendly. I unfortunately don’t have the back-lit version but I now have a little light that I can clip on so I can read when Relationnel’s asleep – a big boon for an insomniac like me.

Some people use their iPads to read, but I find it’s too heavy and the light isn’t comfortable for reading. The Kindle is just perfect. Another thing is that you don’t have to keep track of a bookmark. It always opens at the right place. The only thing I don’t like is that it’s a bit tricky to flip back to check on something you’ve already read though maybe there is a trick to it that I don’t know.

Kindle books are much cheaper than paper ones and you can get most classics free. I was amused to see that the only novel by Austen that is not free is “Sense and Sensibility” but it costs less than a euro. I love it when someone talks about a book and I can immediately download the extract and see if I like it. There is also a “share” function that I haven’t explored yet.

So with all these wonderful possibilities, what have I been reading apart from Jane Austen that I can recommend? I’ll let you check them out on Amazon as book reviews are not really my thing.

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman, which I really enjoyed, though it’s pretty tough. It tells the story of a returned soldier in Australia who went to live in a lighthouse. I chose this book after reading an excellent review on a blog called Word by Word.

The Blindfold by Siri Hustvedt who is one of my favourite writers and did not disappoint me. Its about a poor young graduate student struggling to find an identity.

A Month in the Country by J. Carr which combines the return of a WWI veteran with mediaeval church restoration.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, an Indian writer living in the US. It’s a collection of short stories whose main theme is the clashes of culture.

The Summer Without Men by Siri Hustvedt, whose main character is a mature woman whose husband decides he needs a « pause » in their marriage.

The Secret River by Kate Grenville who follows the lives of a family of convicts and first settlers in Australia and there relationship with the aborigines.

Sarah Thornhill by Kate Grenville, the sequel to the previous book.

Paris: A Love Story by Kati Marton, my favourite in 2012: the autobiography of a Hungarian woman who married two famous men, the ABC anchor Peter Jennings and the diplomat Richard Holbrooke.

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult, which is a bit strange but readable nevertheless. It explores a man’s relationship with wolves and how it affects his family.

Do you have any books to share?

Architecture, Loire Valley, Paris, Sightseeing, Travelling

House Hunters: Castle Chapter – The perfect gift for someone who is addicted to social media! – Paris Photo Giveaway

January 15, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 2 Comments

The three posts on my Wednesday’s blogger round-up today were all written by fellow bloggers whom I met up with in Paris this week. Searching for Home is a young blogger who presents some of my favourite châteaux in the Loire in an original and amusing way. Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris has encouraged me to revise my (over)use of the iPhone with comments from her children while offering the perfect gift for a smart phone user! Carina Okula, a most talented Australian photographer and blogger living in Paris is running a photo giveaway that you shouldn’t miss.

House Hunters: Castle Chapter

by Searching for “Home”, a half Swiss, half American citizen of Earth who shares the adventures and musings of an adult TCK* finding a place in the world.

“A man’s home is his castle and fortress, et domus sua cuique tutissimum refugium (and each man’s home is his safest refuge)”

– Sir Edward Coke

Come one, come all, Ladies, Gentlemen, step right up, step right up. Looking for a palace to live out that “happily ever after” fantasy? Look no further. We’ve got the castles you want at the prices you’ll most likely never afford. Read more

The perfect gift for someone who is addicted to social media!

by Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris, an American by birth, Swiss by marriage, resident of Paris with a Navigo Pass for the metro that she feels compelled to use

It’s not always easy being the mother of adult-aged children, especially when they start discussing my foibles like I’m not even in the same room as them. I mean seriously, don’t they know that my hearing is still intact?!

Sara (sighing): Mom keeps tweeting.
Philippe (in an exasperated voice): I already told her that she had to stop tweeting at the table a long time ago.
Sara: Well, she hasn’t tweeted at the table…yet…but she has been tweeting on the metro…and the bus. And she even tweeted in the D’Orsay Museum even though I told her not to.
Me: (attempting to get a word in edge-wise) I was checking me email not tweeting.
Philippe: (completely ignoring my explanation) She would have never let us tweet at the table when we were young. Read more

Paris Photo Giveaway

by Carina Okula, an Australian photographer and rhildren’s craft creator living near Paris. She also has a blog

I’ve decided to have a giveaway, only I’m going to vamp it up somewhat.

Whenever I’ve run a giveaway in the past, I wanted everyone to win but there was only ever one gift waiting to go out. It got me thinking about how I might be able to make it possible to do a giveaway on a larger scale, and then it came to me; I could give away images!

Instead of choosing one person to send a gift to, I’m going to give everyone – yes everyone – an image of Paris, and I’m super excited about it.

Rather than select one person to send a printed photo to, I’ll send everyone a high resolution image that you can use however you wish. You’ll be able to print it out and frame it, or, use it as a screen saver. I don’t even mind if you want to use it on your blog – I just ask that you credit and link back to me if it used online for non-commercial purposes. Read more

Flowers & gardens, Paris

A Rainy Winter’s Day in Paris

January 14, 2013 Rosemary Kneipp 5 Comments

It’s Saturday and I’m back in Paris at last. The scaffolding has been removed from our windows so we decide to replace some of our house plants because I’m not the only one to have suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder. We go down our four flights of stairs with the shopping trolley and discover it’s spitting. Neither of us wants to walk back up for an umbrella. I have a hood and Relationnel has a hat. That will have to do.

We walk down Rue de Rivoli to the end of the Louvre then turn right towards Quai de la Megisserie. On our left we see a brass band and some sort of stall being set up in front of the Town Hall. It looks as though the neighbourhood association (1^er arrondissement) is going to be handing out galettes des rois. If you don’t know what they are, you can read my last year’s post, Galette des Rois – King’s Cake. We decide we’ll check in on the way back, despite my diet.

It’s winter of course so most of the traditional pet and plant shops don’t have much out on the pavement and the largest, Vilmorin, is closed for renovation. Relationnel wants to find a new fern to replace the one he loves best which I think is a fishbone fern. We also need a bird’s nest fern and at least one other plant. None of the stores has a fishbone but we buy a bird’s nest and another plant at Casa Nova and Relationnel sees two little maidenhairs that he wants. I object because, in my experience, they keel over within weeks of buying them.

He insists however so we get them. We decide to go and get the car and go to Truffaut, an enormous nursery on the other side of town. We go past the Town Hall again and there are lots of people eating galette and drinking cider and hot chocolate while the band is playing a catchy tune in the background. There’s a big banner up on the Town Hall that mysteriously says “La viande est un métier” (Meat is a profession).

I nearly crack my tooth on the fève, which is a tiny red handbag of all things. I go and claim my reversible crown (Reine on one side and Roi on the other which I’ve never seen before!). A lady comes up to me and asks to see my fève obviously very sad she didn’t get one herself but I don’t hand it over because I want to add it to my collection.

We move off and go past a bag and luggage store which is having its after-Christmas sales and buy a suitcase with four wheels to replace the one that disappeared on our way back from Australia, plus a cabin bag to match. I’ve been wanting a four-wheel model for a while. I love the way people just glide them effortlessly along the ground. We chose dark red so the suitcase will stand out better than black on the carousel and not get pinched again.

Jazz band in front of the Louvre on Place du Palais Royal — Jazz band in front of the Louvre

As we reach Place du Palais Royal, just opposite the Louvre, we hear more music. It’s a jazz band this time with a big pink and white tuba. They’re all clowing around and enjoying themselves. The classical orchestra that is often on nearby Place Colette hasn’t made an appearance. I guess they were put off by the rain which fortunately has ceased.

At Truffaut, there is a still no fishbone fern, so Relationnel very reluctantly settles for another kind instead. I promise to cut the old one right back and see if some TLC and a lot of light (in my office) will revive it. We get home and replace all the dead plants, taking particular care when replanting the maidenhairs. I’ll let you know how long I manage to keep them alive!

Lifestyle, Paris, Renovation

SAD and Au Vieux Campeur

December 27, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 20 Comments

I don’t know if displaced tropical Queenslanders are more likely to suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder or Winter Depression) than others but I can’t find any other explanation for having felt so down this week. Already the days are short (it’s only light from 9 am to 5 pm max) but the scaffolding on the balcony cuts out most of what natural light there is and gives artificial neon light from 8 am until 7 pm. The flower seller at the market found me so down on Sunday that he gave me a kitchy little pot of four-leaf clover!

Relationnel was told the scaffolding was moving to the next set of windows today so about 10.30 am, I went downstairs to find some workmen to ask. They reassured me it was D-Day so I raised my arm and said “yey!”. They looked a little surprised so I explained that they were my windows that had been obscured for the last four months.

The sun was out, the sky was blue and just going downstairs seemed to cheer me up so I thought I’d go to Rue de Rennes to look after the missing suitcase invoice problem. First stop was a shoe shop called Arcus. I gave them the date and amount. They were very friendly and immediately tracked down the purchase and gave me a receipt.

Then I walked down to Boulevard Saint Germain to one of the Au Vieux Campeur shops. Parisians swear by this shop, though I don’t really understand why. It used to be just one shop on rue des Ecoles selling outdoorsey stuff. It is now a series of speciality shops – 29 in the Latin quarter alone – selling everything to do with sport and camping.

My objection, apart from the prices, is that the shops I go to (mainly for walking shoes) are always full of people. I spent a full hour trying on every possible pair of shoes in the shop before we went to Australia in September. I finally bought some ugly looking turquoise and grey shoes that gave me horrendous blisters in Tasmania. And then, when I had finally worn them in, they disappeared with the suitcase!

So I went back to the shop where I bought them, stood in line and asked for a receipt. I was sent to the “main shop”, two streets away. I queued there as well only to be told that I had to go back to the first shop. The lady rang up the guy and told him he had to give me a receipt. I went back and stood in line and gave him the details. He couldn’t find my purchase of course. “What time was it?” You gotta be joking – I’m supposed to remember the time I bought the shoes? I only know I was there for too long.

He finally sats it is not in his cash register. “Is this the only place I could have paid for the shoes I got downstairs?” “No”, he says relunctantly, “there are those two as well”, indicating a couple of computer screens further along the counter. “You mean, these three cash registers are not connected up ?” “Er, no.” “Are you telling me I have to wait until there are two more sales people to check?” “Well, I could turn them on.” Which he eventually did and I queued again while he served another few people.

The bistrot with the awful food - Le Cluny — The bistrot with the awful food – Le Cluny

Not that I blame him, it must have been very annoying for the other customers. Anyway, he still couldn’t find any trace of my purchase so I dispiritedly went out, by which time the rain was absolutely pouring down and I didn’t have an umbrella. I took refuge in the closest brasserie, Le Cluny, and ate an absolutely awful meal of spare ribs and potatoes. The young waiter commisserated and gave me a free coffee.

So, here I am, back home, still waiting for the scaffolding to move and it’s already 4.30, which is terribly close to knock-off time.

Next day’s update: removal of the scaffolding is now postponed to 7th January.

Paris, Restaurants, Sightseeing

From Pont des Arts to Ladurée on the Champs Elysées

December 25, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 9 Comments

It’s Sunday afternoon. We’ve recovered from our early Christmas celebrations on Saturday night and I want to take some photos of Paris in its end-of-year finery. Our first stop is the Pont des Arts, shiny with lovelocks. It’s nearly 6 pm so we wait, with a number of other people, for the Eiffel Tower to shimmer and shine. I regret not having taken the camera, just the iPhone because the result isn’t quite what I hoped.

Eiffel Tower shimmering and shaking from the Pont des Arts

We then decide to walk to the Champs Elysées along the Left Bank of the river. We walk down to the water’s edge and past the Calife and look back at the bridge with Pont Neuf in the distance. We go up the next lot of steps and past the closing bouquinistes who are all selling lovelocks of every shape and kind. It’s become a real business!

Padlocks for sale at the bouquinistes near the Pont des Arts

As we go past rue de Seine, Relationnel remarks that it’s very rare to see Christmas decorations in the streets of Paris, unlike the provinces. We can now see the Louvre on the right and Big Wheel on its left, having moving from its summer spot near the Louvre. As we get closer, we see a lit-up pencil shape and wonder what it is. We cross over via the Solferino pedestrian bridge and realise that it is a Christmas tree, apparently the largest in Europe.

Big wheel from the Tuileries Garden with the biggest Christmas tree in Europe

We walk down the Tuileries towards the Big Wheel avoiding the enormous puddles and are amazed by how commercial and popular the wheel has become in recent years. I think one of the reasons is that the cabins are closed in now. I’m annoyed about my fear of heights because the view from up there must be amazing.

Christmas decorations at Rond Point des Champs-Elysées

As we cross Place de la Concorde towards the Champs Elysées, we’re suddenly in a huge throng of people all attracted by the so-called Christmas market. We’ve been there before though and haven’t found anything interesting – no handicrafts, just a lot of cheap food and factory-made items so we walk along behind the stalls until we reach Rond Point des Champs Elysées. The decorations are stunning and there are fewer people.

We keep going until we reach Virgin and decide to go and buy a card for the camera. Despite the number of people, we also buy a couple of DVDs and a CD and don’t even have to wait in line to pay. CDs don’t seem as popular any more! By then, we’ve been walking for an hour and a half and my feet are killing me. We look around for a suitable café but all we can see is Starbucks and other similar places.

We cross the road and I take the typical tourist photo of the Arc of Triumph halfway across and I see Ladurée in front of me. Now, strange as this may seem, I have still never been into Ladurée’s, famous for its macarons. We’re informed that the tearoom is closed (well, it’s nearly 7.30!). We have to choose between the restaurant and the bar.

Art deco wall in the bar at Ladurée Champs Elysées

Well, I’m perfectly happy with the bar. Despite appearances, Ladurée Champs Elysées only opened in 1997 although the original bakery near the Madeleine dates back to 1862. The bar is decorated in what looks like authentic Art Deco and you sit on high stools that keep swinging around. We order a class of Saint Véran and a plate of tapas each.

They aren’t really tapas, more like bouchées, but they’re delicious. I use my Evernote Food app for the first time and record what we’re eating: crab & mayonnaise puff, foie gras, candied aubergine, Provençales tomatoes and salmon prestige. When we come out, there aren’t nearly so many people, so we take the metro home to spare my feet. It’s good to be back in Paris!

Closerie Falaiseau, French customs, French language, Paris

The Carpet Salesman

December 11, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp Leave a comment

There’s an expression in French: “C’est un vrai marchand de tapis” which literally means “he’s a real carpet salesman” but which actually means someone who haggles over small sums.

I’ve managed to find nearly everything I need to make our gîte in Blois as perfect as possible, but I am still missing two small bedside rugs. I can’t find anything I liked, new or old, at a decent price although I have found two large rugs without much problem. With the arrival of winter, especially for barefoot Australian guests, I am starting actively to look again.

fish_market — Our favourite fishmonger at Saint Eustache market

It’s Sunday and we’re at the market. I’m waiting for the fish to be gutted so I stroll over to a little stall selling carpets and rugs. This is not a particularly cheap market, I might add. I ask the lady how much a small one would cost as there are obviously no prices. “Oh, I’ll ask my husband. He’ll be here in a minute”. A friendly man arrives and says, “One hundred euro. Pure silk”.

“Oh, that’s too expensive I’m afraid,” I answer. “It’s for my gîte and I can’t afford to spend too much. I’m not saying it isn’t worth that much, just that it’s above my budget.” I don’t really care whether I buy them or not and am certainly not paying a hundred euro each. “Well”, he says, “tell me how much you’d be prepared to spend.”

“More like two for a hundred,” I say. “Ok, you can have two for a hundred”, he says, just like that. I’m flabbergasted, but I don’t show it. “I just need to check with my husband”, I answer. He goes off to his truck to find the second rug while I go back to the fish stall and tell Relationnel that I’ve found the rugs I’m looking for. “Go ahead,” he says. “You know what we need.” “Yes, but I still want you to have a look.”

I’m wondering if maybe these rugs are fake or something. I go back and chat with the lady. The man returns without the second rug but says that he has two others that are the same, just a different colour. I hum and ha, though I really think the second colour is probably better anyway.

carpet_insitu — In-situ to keep our guests’ feet warm

Relationnel arrives and turns the rug over and looks at the label. He approves so I hand over the cash and the man rolls them both up. As we walk away, I explain to Relationnel what happened. He is astonished, “Bravo!” he says. I never bargain for anything usually – I’m totally hopeless, he’s much better at it. “He’s not a marchand de tapis for nothing”, he says. I walk along feeling very pleased with myself!

N.B. The Expat Blog Award closes on 15th December – don’t forget to leave a review if you haven’t already – http://www.expatsblog.com/blogs/526/aussie-in-france

History, Loire Valley, Paris, Sightseeing

The Renaissance Supermen – Rue View – 75003 Paris

November 27, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 2 Comments

This Wednesday’s bloggers’ round-up features two fellow Australians: Susan from Days on the Claise, compares two larger-than-life Renaissance monarchs, one from each side of the Channel, while Carina from Carina Okula captures Paris’ charming façades with her photographer’s eye before they disappear!

The Renaissance Supermen

by Days on the Claise, an Australian living in the south of the Loire Valley, writing about restoring an old house and the area and its history.

This portrait of Francois I at Chambord makes it clear to those of us who concentrated on English history at school and barely skimmed over the French that he is an exact contemporary of Henry VIII of England. (It helps of course to have done some costume or art history in the meantime too.) The two men were born within a few years of one another and died the same year. Neither were the expected heir to the throne when they were born. Both were very big men, physically, for their time, being 6′ or more. Read more.

Rue View – 75003 Paris

by Carina Okula, an Australian photographer and rhildren’s craft creator living near Paris. She also has a blog.

Since we arrived in France twelve years ago, little by little, parts of Paris could be seen to be getting a makeover. Unused shop fronts would be taken over with new stores popping up and injecting life into previously vacant spaces. It was a good thing, and the cycle of life went on.

Recently though, the remodeling of the city has started to gather speed and move direction as the number of charming corner cafés, bistros, and boulangeries undergoing facelifts has increased. Where once there were glorious mirrored panels and unique typography that housed the traditional establishments, modern lines of design are replacing those facades and interiors, and with them goes a part of history. Read more.

France, Paris, Wine

The Independant Wine Growers Fair in Paris

November 23, 2012 Rosemary Kneipp 8 Comments

This is just a quick post to tell you what we just bought at the Salon des Vignerons Indépendants at Porte de Versailles in Paris today – open until 26th November from 10 am to 8 pm (and on Monday until 6 pm). Be prepared for crowds!

Last year, we bought sancerre, margaux, jurançon, vacquéras and quincy.

This year, after eating our usual foie gras sandwhich, we went back to François Cherrier at Domaine de la Rossignole (particularly now that we have our own albeit delinquent nightingales) to buy sancerre for our spéciale oysters on Sunday, but took his Essentiel this time at €9.50 a bottle.

We also returned to Domain Jacques Rouzé for their excellent quincy, cuvée tradition, at € 7.20 a bottle, to have with ordinary oysters and scallops.

Domaine Pierre Adam from Ammerschwihr in Alsace, where we first tasted vin nouveau d’Alsace, won several prizes this year, in particular for their very aromatic Katzenstegel pinot gris at €13.60, a wonderful accompaniment for foie gras and Asian food, but I can recommend any of their wines: riesling (grands crus in particular), gewurtztraminer, etc.

chevalier — Les Hauts de Caillevel – bergerac

A few years ago, we visited Sylvie Chevallier and MarcDucrocq at Les Hauts de Caillevel near Bergerac (Dordogne) and had a wonderful wine tasting. Their Terres Chaudes 2009 at €8.00 a bottle and Ebène 2010 at €13.00 a bottle have retained their quality over the years. The grape varieties are merlot, cabernet Franc and cabernet sauvignon.

corbieres — Domaine du Grand Arc – corbières

We were rather hoping our minervois supplier, Domaine Malys-Anne, would be there but hadn’t received an invitation. They weren’t but we saw that Domaine du Grand Arc had received an award this year for their Six Terres Sienne so went to taste their wine. We settled on a corbières rouge 2010 Cuvée des Quarante at €7.60, containing the typical carignan grape (45%), grenache noir (35%) and syrah (20%).

So brave the crowds and enjoy yourself! And don’t forget your trolley.

Domaine de la Rossignole, rue de la Croix Michaud, 18300 Verdigny, Tel 02 48 79 34 93 cherrier@easynet.fr

Domaine Jacques Rouzé, 18120 Quincy. Tel +33 248 513 561 rouze@terre-net.fr http://www.jacques-rouze.com/english/swf/index.htm

Domaine Pierre Adam, 8 rue du Lieutenant Louis Mourier, 68770 Ammerschwihr, Tel 03 89 78 23 info@domaine-adam.com. http://www.domaine-adam.com

Les Hauts de Caillevel, 24240 Pomport. Tel 05 53 73 92 72. contact@caillevel.fr. http://www.caillevel.fr/

Domaine du Grand Arc, Fabienne et Bruno SCHENCK, Le Devez, 11350 CUCUGNAN, Tel/Fax: 0468450103, domaine.grandarc@gmail.com, http://www.grand-arc.fr

Aussie in France