[Itinerary Page][Top] [Email Restaurant Doctor]The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur
May 29 - Nolay
Another day that started at noon! I cannot tell you how long it has been since I have been able to sleep in this way. While the late start does restrict our general circle of travel, things are close enough that it doesn't present any serious problems. A little after noon, we decided to drive to the village of Nolay, a bit west of Beaune. It turned out to be a little less than 90 minutes taking the motorway. Nolay is quite different from many villages in the area, having a number of ancient half-timbered buildings in town in addition to the more common stone ones. The market hall dates from the 14th century and has a roof of sliced stone supported by a web of chestnut timbers. We stopped for lunch in a little café that is part of a small hotel. I was surprised how many places stopped serving lunch by 1:30. We got in around 1:45 and our choices were rather limited.
After a little time wandering through the town, we started north and east, following the Ouche valley along one of the barge canals. The scenery is gorgeous -- rolling hills, trees and the river running through small towns. The Burgundy region is criss-crossed with canals and it seems like there is a lock every half mile or so -- probably the only way you can put rolling hills and water together successfully! The canal we followed seemed to parallel the river, rather curious I thought. If you have the money, you can rent elegant barges that will hold 10-12 people in great comfort and style and just cruise around for a week with a full crew to cook and cater to you. The tab is steep but I suspect the experience would be marvelous. We are still looking for some smaller boats that we can rent ourselves for part of a day but haven't found them yet.
On the way back, we stopped in beautiful downtown Dijon to buy -- what else? -- mustard! At the mustard shop, you can buy a couple of dozen different blends of bottled Maille Dijon mustard (including mustard with raspberry and other combinations I had never considered) but it is particularly fun when you buy a crock. I thought you bought them as empty containers that you would fill with the stuff from the bottles. Not so. They have a couple of taps on the counter, not unlike beer taps. They fill the crocks with bulk mustard and drive the huge corks firmly into the top with a wooden hammer. I don't know if I trust the seal enough to pack these inside the bags we check with the airline for the trip home, but it definitely elevates mustard to an art form for me!
Dinner back with Patrick and company. Gary and Marrit from London are still here but the Belgians from Bangkok are probably nesting in their house outside Avignon by now. New players for the evening include a couple from Uraguay and another couple from Belgium (who joined us for aperitif but had dinner elsewhere.) Dinner tonight was more basic -- a mixed vegetable salad with hard-cooked eggs and homemade Dijon mayonnaise, a casserole of lentils and sausage with fruit salad for dessert.
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