Patience is a Furr-Chew

Nikki took this great shot of Dessie, lounging in all her majesty. These cats have a biological desire to chew on couches, particularly Knoll flavoured couches :-)

Starlight-isqatsi

Our own version of the nature and wildlife as seen through the lens of an outdoor cam. Nikki had the great idea to capture life, and in particular a supposed mountain lion that was apparently loose in our neck of the woods, and she got one of these outdoor cams, that take pics, when motion activated. Fab idea, and nice to see the shadows and light, in Starlight, from March to May, with deer, turkey, bear, coyote, dog, porcupine, bobcat, fox, hawks, eagle, bluejay, finch, pheasant, and ravens .... all part of the cacophony of rural life. Co-starring our buddy in Starlight, Arthur, who cuts the lawn and keeps an eye on the place with his trusty shotgun :-)

We have yet to capture the mountain lion, however, as she has done a bit of a Loch Ness monster on us   :-)

Beaune bottles

The local bottle bank. Someone in Beaune had a good time. Nikki has a nice way of selecting subject matter for our pics .... and she thought this would make an interesting pic, which it does. This was outside the tourist office, and across from one of the more popular restaurants in Beaune. Bottles were strewn everywhere :-)

 The Central Hotel (my paternal grandparents had a hotel in killarney, called the Central Hotel - this must have been my subconscious taking this pic)

 The hallowed tiles of Beaune, seen from an angle that give you no clue whatsoever, as to what all the fuss is about :-)

 A famous butcher shop in Beaune .... Where you can find pork brains ... larger than i thought they would be :-0

 All other sorts of meats

 A meat not found in the butcher shop, happily enough

 A very nice Puligny .... good value for money is Monsieur Pascal

 This was morels with something with something, from the prepared food part of the wonderful butcher shop. Excellent indeed. Made for a nice farewell dinner. Thx babes.

Fuzzy Muzzy

The guy looks fuzzy, the wine is not. Good tasty Meursaults.

 Domaine Bouzereau is worth finding. They guy is very funny, opinionated, and interesting.

 This was a food station at the hall that we visited

 In a restaurant in Pommard, was this "grande Dame" taking lunch. She looks so perfectly coiffed, I had to ask Nikki to take a pic. And Nikki did take a pic, to capture the moment. So quintessentially french, a grand dame.

 Inside Pommard, the hard work continued.

 And there was quite a crowd indeed.

 The food was good though, and long queues to get it. But, it was worth it, as the food was spectacular.

 Inside the tasting area, were many different wineries. For us, we liked Domaine Lejeune. Just as well, as we were renting an apartment from the owner's nephew. Lejeune is a seriously good wine, of good repute, and worth tracking down, or even visiting if you get a chance to do so, in Burgundy. Really nice people.

 

 Underneath Chateau Puligny, with a nice moody shot by Nikki, of the barrels in the basement

 A menu of wines for sale we came across

 Exiting the chateau

 The Italian cousins were a bit late to the testing, but arrived in style.

 Our crazy bus driver, complete with Doc Maarten boots, in patent, and regular leather, depending upon the day. Wicked crazy driver. Almost got us killed numerous times :-)

The Fox & Raven

We needed to shop for some supplies. Now if I called this a deli, I would be shot, as it was much more than "just" a deli. They had a tonne of stuff. And stuffed animals to boot :_)

 Prepared foods such as you see below

 Mmm, getting hungry now.

 And presentation is as important as food quality

 Aren't these not gorgeous?

 If you wanted fancier food haunts, you can get it ... such as Michelin starred Lameloise !!

 Wine crew at lunch ....

 With a tonne of stuff to try and taste and eat.

 What a selection to choose from

 Ahh, the 246 cheeses were well represented

 A nice big for Dave Conklin, with a Conklin daisy on the steering wheel

 Some nice choices at a local restaurant

 The restaurant was in a cave ..... very good place to eat, mind you. We had a great time. In fact, Niiki and I decided that you cannot go far wrong in visiting Beaune .... we have been converted to tourism advocates for the town. Great restaurants, great wine, small enough to walk around. Nice people. 'Nuf said....

Again all pics, by Nikki, our ace family photographer.

Another day in wine paradise

I think that this was Pouilly Fuisse day, but pretty much any pics we took of wines, were wines we liked

 Macon was on the menu, and for price-quality -value type wines, they cannot be beat.

 Here is another shot of one of the halls, to show you just how many wineries were represented (lots !!! ) and how tough a job we had.

 Macon Pierre Clos --- nectar of the gods !!

 Overview of the hall again

 Pouilly Loche .... and its cousin Pouilly Vinzelles ..... outlying areas with really good quality wines ...

 Esus, Ary and Oseph, what is going on with the wine -- its so ood !!!

 More food. In Beaune, it was generally buffet type deals, not that we were complaining !!

 The Corton brothers, together again !!

 Ahh, the breathalyzer .... given to all participants, and coming to rental car near you, as of July 2012. Apparently a serious drive to curtail drink driving will result in all rental cars as of July 2012 having breathalyzers on board. That way, if you get stopped for being over the limit, its Devils Island for you for 25 years. France used to have a "laissez-faire" attitude to drink driving, and then did a 360 degree tilt and now are completely the opposite. If you drink, and think of driving, you will pay a hefty penalty. Better to walk, or take a cab, is my advice.

The hallowed halls of Vougeot

Below is the entrance to Clos Vougeot .... hallowed ground in Burgundy.  Some of the most expensive real estate in the world lies outside this castle ...

 It was traditionally a monastery until the monks got sense, and use the wine profits to head off to the Seychelles for the winter, and hook up with russian prostitutes.

 Some secret service agents on the right, fresh from a DSK refresher course on security

 Inside Clos Vougeot, where we got to taste some outstanding wines from some of Burguindy's finest estates. This means wines that we could never afford, but are very happy to drink for free.

 Outside was a father and son operation, showing how wine barrels are made. They were doing these from scratch, the real deal, with the oak wood, the metal rings, the fire to expand the wood

 Finished product or almost finished. Nikki has a nice video of all this (she is photographer in chief) but we'll have to upload it via Vimeo one of these days.

 Another view from inside Clos Vougeot

 Getting into the monk's france of mind !! Cheeky pic babes ... catching me while i was not looking

 The real estate that counts ..... expensive fields.