The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur
April 27 - Saint-Médard en Forez

It seemed to take forever, but we arrived without incident and even managed to connect smoothly in London with my sister, Janet, who was arriving from Boston on a different airline in a different terminal. Since you asked, we flew into London because those were the only award seats we could get (frequent flyer miles are a good thing!) which meant we had to connect to another flight into France.

RyanAir is the low cost airline in this part of the world (would you believe $30 from London to St. Etienne?) so that part was fine. What I didn't grasp at the time was that it was a $50 bus ride from Gatwick airport where we arrived to Stansted airport where RyanAir is based! Ah well, live and learn.

We were just loading up the rental car in St. Etienne (just west of Lyon) when the rain hit. Nothing monumental, at least by Seattle standards. The drive to Saint-Médard en Forez was only 15 miles or so, albeit on back roads through small villages. We had driving directions but quickly found ourselves on different roads working primarily off the old "direction bump."

We once again proved to ourselves that the best part of travel is always the people. Our B&B is operated by Michele and Jean Gouillon who also run a small store out of the building. She speaks no English and his is not too much better ... although still a step or two ahead of my stumbling French! We did manage to make ourselves understood, however, and found them to be truly warm and hospitable folks. They were also excellent cooks. Before we arrived, we had opted for dinner at the B&B, figuring that after 24+ hours in transit, we would not want to go out for dinner. This proved to be a wise choice since the restaurant in town was closed and the next closest dining option was miles away!

The rain stopped and the ambient light was theatrical, so I took a quick stroll around town to capture a few photos -- not too dificult a project since it was only a few blocks in either direction! Then we settled in for a typical local meal -- cold asparagus and sliced tomotoes, country sausage, boiled potatoes followed by a cheese plate with four local cheeses and a wonderful strawberry tart. All this was accompanied by a bottle or two of Cotes du Forez, the local red wine, made from Gamay grapes. (We are very close to the Beaujolais area.)

All this was just too much fun ... so it was off to bed at a civilized hour in the hopes of getting the body clock re-set. All in all, a good start to the trip.

In and around Saint-Medard en Forez

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