We wandered around quite extensively today, visiting both the gorgeous 16th-century Notre Dame en Vaux, and the mainly 13th-century St Etienne cathedral, whose builders incredibly dispensed with walls in favour of acres of stained glass window. The market was closed, unfortunately.
In one of the nearby squares, we lunched alfresco at people-watching spot Le Comptoir Licorne: a €12.50 set consisting of a vlammekuech (a thin, pizza-like base topped with cream, white cheese and either savoury or sweet additions), a drink and a delicious crème caramel.
After that, we drove in the direction of Meaux to Vertus through vast, rolling landscapes, with the idea of finding a champagne house to visit. But that didn’t happen; you had to book through a tourism company, we found, or at least to make an appointment to visit. Never mind, we thought – we enjoyed following the Route Touristique through a couple of Champenoise villages, before turning back home. Happily, our hotel reception had a 20-euro offer on champagne, so we bought some of that to enjoy with daughter Wendy, who lives in St Malo, in a few days’ time.
Dinner was at Hotel L’Angleterre’s bistro, Les Temps Changent, and it was fabulous. (The food comes out of the same kitchen as the gastronomic restaurant, Jacky Michel). Roy started with thick slabs of le saumon fumé tièd topped with caviar, sticky potato salad, mustardy crème fraiche and a green salad; I with le mesclun de pieds du porc, unctuous medallions of pig’s trotter, breaded, deep fried and served on a thick bed of green salad topped with slivers of foie gras. He went on to the best beef tartare (French, grass-fed) he’s ever had, he says. I also enjoyed my tender “rosé” lamb chops, wishing I could cook lamb even half as beautifully. And then – only because we’d had to decide in advance – we shared a breath-taking soufflé chaud au Grand Marnier. Including a couple of flutes plus a half-bottle of Bordeaux, a reasonable 110 euros.
