Last night, I went on an evening river boat cruise on the Saône River with my mom and saw many historic buildings lit up. It was spectacular! The buildings looked beautiful illuminated at night. I also learned a lot of the history of Lyon, France from the tour guide. She spoke French and English. My mom and I sat on the top deck or upper level deck of the river boat. I took quite a bit of photos, but the darkness did not help with the image quality much.
Today, I went on a full-day wine tour to the Beaujolais region north of Lyon, France with my mom. We visited a family winery that was owned by the family of our tour guide, Sebastian, who comes from a large family of winemakers from the area of Beaujolais. His great-grandfather started the winery, so it really is a family affair. Many of his relatives (a large family) are involved in the winemaking. We learned about the terrain, the growing, the effects of the weather, and the enemies of the grapes--such as mildew, pests, and how winemakers deal with it. Sebastian's family has many vineyards, but the wine-tasting was in the cave (cellar) of his uncle's castle in the Clochemerle village. The castle is from medieval times. We tasted several varieties of Gamay wine and we had some chardonnay, which is rare for the region. (Beaujolais is known for its Gamay red wine). Their Gamay wines are light and fresh and somewhat fruity. We also toured the medieval village Clochemerle. Then our tour group headed to a bed and breakfast and we were served a full French meal with different wines and cheeses. We had a full meal with a fresh salad as the entre and chicken in a cream sauce with rice for the main dish. French bread was served on the side and a dessert of different tarts and fresh fruit served at the end. Some of the cheeses were from local farmers down the road (the goat cheese) and some were from the Swiss Alps. The meal was topped off with espresso and tea. The gîte was located high up on the hillside overlooking the Beaujolais vineyards near the Clochemerle village. The Clochemerle village is also the site of the famous book and movie from the 1940's by a French author.We also saw a museum and a small electronic animated theather dedicated to the Clochemerle books and the author. You can find out more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clochemerle
The novels became very famous and then was made into a movie in the village. Then, our minivan drove to the historic medieval village of Oingt, high up in the hills above the vineyards. There were beautiful picturesque landscapes, a church, and little shops on the cobblestone streets of the village. The buildings were made out of special yellow stone and limestone from the Saône River from medieval times. Many people still live here in little homes and apartments. It is a small, but beautiful village.
It was very beautiful weather, vineyards, buildings, and landscapes. Perfect weather for wine-tasting. It was a really fun group of people from Scotland, Belgium, and Hong Kong. Not to mention the gamay grape wine was very good, too!
