Rest day in St. Emilion

October 18, 2010

WEATHER: CLOUDY AND COLD IN THE MORNING; SUNNY IN THE AFTERNOON

We both slept well and woke up to a cloudy sky. Quite cold out as well. We had thought of doing a loop ride, but after breakfast decided to explore beautiful Saint Emilion on foot instead. It is an impressively picturesque town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, built in a 'U' shape up a steep slope with stone buildings, red tile roofs, and views of vineyards all around. We enjoyed a good lunch at a little brasserie just uphill from our hotel: brochettes de magret (duck) avec fruits with a glass of decent St. Emilion wine. Al had tarte aux pommes for dessert and Eva had tarte au citron, both excellent. Took a bit of a rest at the hotel, which is well located to pop in and out of during the day between explorations. Still cool, but the clouds were breaking up and there was some sunshine.

Ruined wall of old convent sits next to premier grand cru vineyard on edge of St. Emilion.

The hills and vineyards surrounding St. Emilion.

The Tourist office gives a tour of 'underground St. Emilion' once a day in English, so we met there at 2:30--about 15 people and a charming guide named Amandine. She took us through the catacombs and the monolithic church. The huge church was hollowed out of the limestone hillside over a period of about 20 years in the 11th century. Amandine told us that only 300 people now live in St. Emilion permanently--hard to believe.

The monolithic church carved in the rock, with another rather large church that was later built on top of it.

After checking out the underground, we climbed up the 53 meter bell tower for a panoramic view of the area. At the tourist office they gave us a key, and we were the only people in the tower-incredible view of tile roofs and vineyards. Came down and walked through some streets we hadn't visited before and found a restaurant with a promising dinner menu. After a rest at the hotel, we walked back to 'Le Medieval' and had a surprisingly good menu du jour. The portions were small, which was perfect after our big lunch. Al had terrine maison with mushrooms, and Eva had terrine de mer maison with tapenade and sun dried tomatoes. The plat was perch for Al and pork mignons in mustard sauce for Eva. A cheese plate with four different varieties to try instead of dessert. Back to our hotel, replete.

Looking down at a square from the church tower.

A view of the rooftops of St. Emilion from the church tower.

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0