ST EMILION
25th & 26th November.
ST. EMILION – MORE THAN SUPERB WINE
We took a lovely country route to St Emilion, less than an hour and a half away if using the main road.
Instead, we chose a country route through some ancient villages.
The land was flat. We felt we were travelling through a sea of vineyards. I cannot remember now in which villages we saw not a few recognisable ‘wine label’ chateaux. All are very famous – both for their history and the wines produced in their vineyards.
I noted Bergerac, St Antoine-de-Breuilly, St Magne-de-Castillon.
A very narrow road followed, over a small bridge and into a tiny hamlet, which announced a wine festival the very next day – Saturday, 26th November.
OUR CAR IS SPRAYED WITH CONCRETE
But that was after we had been deviated through the outskirts of a small town where extensive road works were underway; and in a suburban side street our car was sprayed with concrete from a mixing machine; it displays splashes on one side to this day…
ST EMILION – DRIVE UP THE HILL – AND YOU ARE IN the 14TH CENTURY
We were enchanted when we drove up the winding hill into the southern end of St Emilion. We quickly found the Logis De Jurats where we had booked a room for two nights.
Our host met us at the door. On the telephone that morning he had kindly agreed that we could book in early, owing to our hasty exit from Chateau de Horreur.
LIKE US – THEY HAVE LOVINGLY RESTORED THEIR OLD HOUSE THEMSELVES
He and his wife are Dutch. In faultless English he explained how they had bought the attractive old house as a long-empty commercial building…
In a very dilapidated state, it had taken two years to restore and convert to this B&B, doing all the labour themselves. Such effort we appreciated and admired.
A GREAT TRANSFORMATION
They had kept the stone walls, cleaned to a lovely cream shade, and had done the minimum to ‘prettify’ the building – indeed, if anything, it had a bare look. But a décor of white walls and navy-blue door in our small room was very clean and attractive. We felt that Ikea had helped in furnishing both bedroom and ‘cupboard’ en-suite, as maximum use was made of limited space.
GOOD VALUE B&B FOR ST EMILION
The rent was not cheap compared to most we had paid. Breakfast was an extra item that we did not take; but great thought had gone into seeing that every need was catered for – including a good tea and coffee maker in the breakfast room.
This was, after all, St Emilion. One does not expect to get cheap lodgings in such a famous, exceptionally beautiful and expensive town. And our hosts were very pleasant, and happy to chat (in excellent fluent English) on all sorts of subjects; so we were well satisfied.
Logis De Jurats: email: contact@logisdesjurats.com
BORDEAUX – DIFFICULT TO ENTER THE OLD CITY.
We had all that afternoon and evening to explore the charming town of St Emilion. The next day, my requests to go back to the little wine festival were contested (we have an agreement regarding taking turns to make choices.)
We went instead to Bordeaux, which we felt was most impressive when seen from the other side of the wide River Dordogne. Such a pity it took ages of inching through traffic to get near the centre. We decided not to linger; the weather was still hot and a little sweaty. We instead returned to the large bar in Libourne where we had stopped that morning for coffee, this time buying refreshing citron pressè. The lady serving greeted us with a wide smile, as though we were old friends.
ST EMILION – DO NOT MISS THE TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE
That evening we entered the upper end of St Emilion and discovered the impressive Tourist Information Centre behind a colonnade of stately 12th century arches (we think part of a cloister), fronting a very ancient building that was presumably once the abbey. We did not have time to tour the famous, stately old wine cellars; but they look marvellous in the brochure.
ST EMILION – ALWAYS EAT WITH THE LOCALS!
At last we got over our ‘flu – and were suddenly ravenously hungry. Picking our way down the winding, cobbled streets we passed many pretty little restaurants, but we guessed that they would charge equally pretty little prices. So we returned to our first port of call; the Restaurant Amelia Canta in the main square.
ST EMILION – RESTAURANT AMELIA CANTA.
SO IT’S NOT IN THE TOP TEN – BUT IT’S VERY GOOD;
ALWAYS PACKED -AND IT’S AFFORDABLE
(We were watching our pennies; returning home from a long 10,000 MILE tour through Italy, Sicily and France).
This restaurant was always full in the three days (in late November) that we were in St Emilion. It was constantly lively; both indoors, and outside in the large courtyard. Best of all – it was used by a good proportion of locals. It had a wonderful, carefree atmosphere. Both the restaurant room and the courtyard outside were buzzing with happy chat and laughter – everyone clearly enjoying themselves.
INSIDE AND OUT – THE AMELIA CANTA IS TYPICAL SOUTH OF FRANCE
We found the food imaginative and of good quality – plus you could order glasses of quite good wines at reduced prices. We sampled several in this way before buying bottles from local traders.
I CALL THE YOUNGEST WAITRESS ‘BILLY WHIZZ’
Best of all – the waiting staff were all delightful; welcoming, always cheerful, despite being run off their feet giving good service to everyone. A Special Mention for the young waitress Alexandra (see pic.). She literally charged around as if rushing to a Rugby scrum. In one trip she was delivering food to one table, picking up dirties from another on her way back to pick up a bill, then seating people on her way to collect payment. She never muddled orders, was patient with boisterous children and always had a laugh and a joke. She merits an award!
ST EMILION –
AN EXCEPTIONALLY BEAUTIFUL MEDIEVAL TOWN
St. Emilion is an exceptionally beautiful town in a country that excels in them. It is also one of the best-preserved mediaeval towns. In our opinion (determined by the extent of our travels) it is rivalled only by Sarlat-le-Canéda in this respect: (not so far away, in the Dordogne).
St Emilion boasts two grand old churches. One, in the main square, next to Amelia Canta, was built into the attractive golden rock. To our chagrin it seemed only parties of tourists could gain access. There are also the remains of a castle; the high tower commands sweeping views of the vast plain of vineyards all around.
ST EMILION – BUYING VERY GOOD AFFORDABLE WINE
We did not find time, and had not the money, to buy the very best vintages, so we did not get to explore the impressive and historic underground wine cellars beneath some shops – but the photographs showed them to be very beautiful.
ST EMILION – YOU CAN’T LEAVE WITHOUT WINE – FOLLOW THE LOCAL FRENCH RESIDENTS
We could not leave St Emilion without buying some of the local wine. There was not now any room in our car for much.
In the end we went down a side street to a small, private shop, which was selling bin-ends. We had noticed all the French bearing home baskets and bottles from it. Now, since we have sampled it, we are well pleased with our purchases. (We do not have the details; it does not appear, like the high-end wine shops, in the posh town guide. We suggest you treat yourself to a visit to the town and search for it yourselves – just follow the local residents! )
Text by – Jackie Usher, SWWJ. (aka author Debbie Darkin, & ‘Graham Liverpool’ on Trip Advisor.)
Photographs by – Graham Usher.
