We celebrated Jim's birthday this week-end, with the most fantastic overnight stay on Friday night at the Chateau de Pizay in Saint-Jean-d'Ardieres, in the Beaujolais region. The weather for the past week has been amazing with temperatures close to 40 degrees, and the week-end was no exception. We hired a Ford Fiesta for a bit of luxury, rather than arrive at the 4* Chateau in our trusty red Fiat Ducato van! The countryside was absolutely amazing and the setting unbelievable. Our room had a beautiful private balcony with sun lounger and chairs overlooking a fish pond, and what a sun trap it was. Their gardens were beautifully cared for with 'hedge' chess pieces and lovely flowers. After a relaxing afternoon walking through the gardens and around the wine trail on the estate, we had a nice afternoon siesta on the sun loungers and chairs soaking up the rays, before dressing up for dinner in the Chateau's outside courtyard, which was first class. We enjoyed starters of melon and parma ham, then dover sole stuffed with spinach & bresse chicken with macaroni, followed by a chocolate dessert, coffee and french macarons, washed down with a lovely bottle of Pouilly Fuse wine.
After breakfast, we headed to Hameau Duboeuf which is a wine park in Romaneche-Thorins, a short drive away. What great value this was, a day ticket costs 19€ per person and you can enjoy the Winery, the Beaujolais Garden with beautiful panoramic views, crazy golf, chess and stunning flowers and herbs, the Wine Station with Napoleon III's carriage and a history of trains of yesteryear, and Wine Hamlet with a museum, mechanical puppet shows, 3d films, exhibitions, an interactive cinema where you fly through the Beaujolais region (literally!), a tasting hall and a fabulous shop where the wine is such a bargain! Jim spent some of his birthday money on 8 different half bottles of Georges Duboeuf wine from the region, and treated us to lunch of a dozen snails each followed by fruit salads. Yummy, but very garlicky, glad we both had the snails! We also got some lovely metal door signs for the hallway, and we are going to name each of our 5 doors different wine regions.
Then, it was a drive to Charolles, to our next overnight stop in the Hotel De La Poste, where we had a lovely 'Kiwi Villa', set in beautiful garden surroundings with delightful water features. Our dinner in the Restaurant Frederic Doucet was fabulous. First class amouse bouche of crab balls in tomato soup, tuna & quails eggs and foie gras with blackberry, were served in a very modern reception area as we studied the menu and plumped for the Menu du Charolais, which was Entrecote steak from the Charolais Region, simply served on a sizzling platter with butter, and some garden vegetables. Jim chose the Saint Amour wine from the Beaujolais region, which was quite light, but complimented the meat very well indeed. The meat was so tender and perfectly cooked, and massive - so much I couldn't finish mine! We skipped the cheese course and enjoyed lovely desserts of Grand Marnier souffle and Banana ice cream and Raspberries with dark chocolate and sorbet. An amazing meal, in presentation and quality. This restaurant definitely lives up to the 1 Michelin starred rating, and to be honest is very under priced, which was good for my pocket!
We couldn't face breakfast next morning, being still full of food, so headed off the short 30 minute drive back to La Brulerette, in the pouring rain - great while it lasted!
Une week-end superbe!
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