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Ex-cursion

image

Indulge me in a bit of time-travel.  On Day 2 of our enforced stay in Lyon, while most passengers were being bussed 4 hours to Beaune, we rented a little Alfa-Romeo and took to the road to rekindle memories of our first trip to Bourgogne, during Roger’s 1998 sabbatical.  We’d rented a gite (a French farmhouse) in the village of St. Martin-du-Tartre and even though 18 years have passed, time hadn’t changed the village nor our sweet cottage.

This is our cottage, not the wisteria encrusted home on the top.
This is our cottage, not the wisteria encrusted home on the top.

We spent hours gathering wild raspberries and listening to the goats bleating and chomping on the other side of our ivy covered fence.  Every day, I’d walk to the top of the hill and gaze at this view –imagewhile being serenaded by a herd of Charolais cows, their curly-topped heads bobbing, as they grazed in the next pasture.  Occasionally, the TGV (train) would zip by in the distance, reminding me that time had NOT stopped.  Inexplicably, this village and view from the hill are what I return to time and again when it’s suggested I try to find my inner ‘happy place’.

A newer farm has encroached on my hilltop view, but the village felt as peaceful as ever.  (I still can’t shake the knowledge of the door-to-door slaughterer, though.  We never saw or heard him, but he IS the substitute abattoir for small farm communes such as this.)

Chateau d'Ige
Chateau d’Ige

After renewing our souls in St. Martin, we revisited the Chateau d’Ige, a few miles from our farmhouse.  If you are looking for an outstanding hotel recommendation, this is it!  Our red-toile covered room (seriously!  Ceiling, walls, draperies, carpeting, linens) is not easily forgotten; this was also our first experience with French aristocracy (or French eccentricity).  A tall, thin gentleman in a bespoke suit was seated next to us at dinner in the Michelin starred restaurant at the chateau.

Doggie dining room
Doggie dining room

We nodded at each other and then noticed a subtle gesture he made, beckoning his equally tall, thin hound to take its place next to him at table.  Throughout the course of an exquisite meal, the hound was treated to each course and invited to make his own choice when the cheese trolley was wheeled round. The hound behaved impeccably (and was far less demanding than his master), but we were gobsmacked by the entire experience.  (Obviously, we’re still not over it.)

Riotous red in the chateau gardens
Riotous red in the chateau gardens

The gardens at Chateau d’Ige are a delight.  One can relax for hours while sipping aperitifs under the plane trees.  And forget about … Everything.

Roger, forgetting everything.
Roger, forgetting everything.

Another episode of Things You Don’t See in America:

A well attended outdoor gym
A well attended outdoor gym
Unsuspecting male caught at a public 'pissoir'
Unsuspecting male caught at a public ‘pissoir’

 

 

 

Next:  Back to the Future

Written by:
Elaine Haydock
Published on:
May 24, 2016
Thoughts:
5 Comments

Categories: FranceTags: Chateau d'Ige, Ige, St. Martin-du-Tartre

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gabriele Sweidel

    May 24, 2016 at 8:04 pm

    And why did we not get to see an unsuspecting lady at the public pissior?

  2. christine cunnington

    May 24, 2016 at 9:09 pm

    I want to eat at the puppy restaurant!

  3. Morgan Wood

    May 24, 2016 at 9:43 pm

    Can you please bring me a bleating goat?

  4. celie kennedy

    May 26, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    I love your happy place! I grew up with bleating cows, but not the beautiful scenery!

  5. judy stewart

    May 26, 2016 at 9:37 pm

    I just stared at the wisteria covered cottage and dreamed of what it would be like to live there and how long my truffles would last. Thanks for the tour of the cottages and gardens

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