Day 2 - Le Mans to St. Emilion

Bon Jour!

It is a lovely morning here in Saint Emilion. The sun is out, the air is crisp and the birds are singing. Cup of coffee number two has just been poured and all is right with the world. Almost. Unfortunately Axel has a terrible toothache and his face is swollen on the side. He suspects that there might be a return of an infection where he had his wisdom teeth extracted last month. Hopefully we can get him into a dentist here quickly today and find him some relief. Not exactly the type of activity we had on our agenda, but such is life.

Yesterday was a day of driving. We left Le Mans after stopping to buy some fruit, yogurt, and croissants for breakfast, ice for the cooler, and snacks for the long drive ahead. What a gorgeous drive it was! We chose to drive the smaller non-toll roads on this trip in an effort to save a little money, but the biggest benefit to this option is seeing all the little towns and beautiful fields filled with sunflowers, corn, and of course grapes. Early August and the peak of growing season means tall lush fields with bursts of yellow sunflowers, golden silk of the corn stalks waving in the breeze and vines full of luscious green leaves gathering the sunlight to feed the grapes which will become the delicious wines of the region. It is truly as idyllic as it sounds.

Our lunch stop late yesterday afternoon was in the town of Saintes, which is in the area of Cognac. Again not knowing anything about the place where we chose to stop – we were thrilled with what we discovered. I know very little about the history as all the signs were in French, but even without the details it was most impressive.

The first site to catch our eyes was this arch along the river front. After we had a light lunch of salad and quiche we decided to take a walk along the riverfront. (I would like to mention how thrilled I am that when I say we took a walk that means all of us were walking! No wheelchair or scooter. Heaven I tell you!)

Just beyond the arch we came across an unassuming building.

A few arches near the entrance gave a hint of what waited inside for us.

What we saw inside was unexpected and quite breathtaking. Since I know nothing about the history I will let the pictures do the talking for me.

They had reconstructed a building (temple?) of some sort inside the building.

A perfect short break, just 90 km from our final destination of the day.

Once we arrived at St. Emilion we set up our tent and went into the town for dinner. We ate in the Plaza, seen below from a point above.

In a poetic and perfect nod to the inspiration that led us to take the leap and leave our home in America to pursue our dreams, the perfect bottle of wine awaited us. Biodynamic Demeter certified!

With that I leave you for today. I may or may not get on again this evening to update. While I have been writing this Axel has scheduled an appointment at a nearby dentist for later this afternoon. Until then we will be relaxing at the pool and enjoying the campground. You can have a peak into where we are staying here. Camping in Europe is not the rustic experience that it is back home!