St Livrade Market

Today we all decided to caravan to the market at the neighboring town of St Livrade. This is a very small village and small market, but still fun. With Grammy, Pappy, Kimberly & the McCarty's in tow we began our day of 'treasure shopping for dinner even in the rain.

Doesn't Steve look great in my rain poncho?

Of course Steve loves the clothing stalls at the markets and had to stop for a laugh!

Yay Pappy!!! Can't wait for dessert!

Well the market didn't have EVERYTHING, so of course we had to stop by LeClerc for wine and some other dinner necessities.

Why doesn't our local US grocery carry Pichon Longueville/Comtesse ??

Love a Karen McCarty Salad!!!

London enjoying dessert in a princess gown....haha

Hey! How did one of our escargot escape????

Happy Shopping in Bordeaux....Is that Sun?????

The McCarty's decided to take the day and head over to explore Saint Emilion while Grammy, Pappy & Kathleen took a day to rest at the Chateau.

Steve, London, Kimberly and myself headed to Bordeaux for some shopping & lunch. As we get into Bordeaux, I see something that I haven't seen for the majority of our trip.....blue skies!!!

Grand Hotel de Bordeaux & SUNSHINE

Have I mentioned that I LOVE this city?!?!?!? It's all the beauty of Paris but on a smaller scale.

Beginning of Shopping Mecca

Heading towards my Mother's Day Gift....Fun!

Oh no, is the rain coming back? That won't stop us from the carousel!!!

London in her favorite place

 Dad  & Kimberly patiently waiting to run out of carousel tickets!

HAHAHA!! I have SO many tickets!

Blue Skies are Back!

Heading to the Chocolatier for some gifts

Seriously, Have I mentioned how much I love this city???

Where to begin?????

London is suffering from a sugar high in the middle of all this chocolate 

Now Dad is getting in on a purchase!

If I knew how to get these home, they would be my favorite gift to give - Chocolate Shoes!!!!

After shopping we were ready to have some lunch. On our visit back at Haut Brion they recommended this restaurant, La Tupina. We were able to sneak away and have lunch here last week on our date day, but after my glowing reviews Kimberly was interested in trying it too and I loved the idea of going back! There were a few things I wanted to try on their menu.

The entrance of La Tupina is this large fireplace where they cook everything. The walls are this think stone and it is seriously like entering your French grandmother's home. Foie Gras, Charcuterie, Veal, Boeuf, Canard all out on the counter -  yummy!

Very impressive and making me hungry

So after we ordered a bottle of wine, Kimberly & I realized that our 3 course meal came with wine at every course....I see a nap on our car ride home.

Kimberly decided to 'Double Duck Down' and start with a Foie Gras/Terrine and then have the Duck Confit. I had the Foie Gras/Terrine on our prior visit, so I went with the eggs which were served in a skillet with an assortment of vegetables. It all seemed like a genius move at the time but perhaps it was a little too rich of an afternoon! (Please note....Double Duck Down is an now official term on our vacations)

Amazing Chocolate Perfection

This was a perfect day of shopping and eating and great weather! London scored some macarons, Mommy got an awesome Mother's Day present and we all indulged at the Chocolatier!

Is there any better way to end such a fun day....2007 Chateau Pichon Longueville, My new favorite wine.

Villa Smeldera in Pujols......;->

The McCarty's took their first day at the Chateau to get acclimated to the time difference and sleep in. Steve then escorted them to their first trip to Le Clerc (French Walmart). It's quite the experience!

The McCarty's wanted to go out for dinner so while they were shopping we started looking into restaurant options. Restaurants in France have their own rules. Just when you think you have their schedules down, they change them. So for whatever reason, there are not many restaurants open on Tuesday nights. Fortunately we were able to find a restaurant open that had availability as well as many great reviews on Tripadvisor. When everyone returned from the store and various patisseries, we told them we had made reservations for dinner. I don't know if it was the rose wine we were drinking during the afternoon or if we are all just juvenile, but when I said we would be dining at Villa Smeldera in Pujols I just couldn't stop laughing. (and I still laugh as I type this even though I know the French pronunciation of Pujols is completely different than ours)

We had not visited Pujols yet, but as we drove there I was quite relieved that Steve decided to take the day off from drinking wine. Pujols is a medieval village on at the very top of a large hill.  It was the windiest road to the top of this hill and parking was quite a challenge. But is was absolutely beautiful.

We walked into the restaurant and they were prepared. Finding a reservation on a Tuesday is quite challenging, especially when your party has 11 people.

In Pujols....;->

They started with an amazing polenta with sun dried tomatoes, fava beans & vine tomatoes over this crunchy bread.

This restaurant has a few specialties and this mason jar salad is one of them. Baby spinach,  feta and roasted hazelnuts.....amazing!

London & Pappy causing problems....who let them sit together? Although when London turned her cup over to see the number on the bottom and spilled it everywhere, Pappy made her feel better by demonstrating what happened. Pappy didn't realize that Leno had filled his water glass and he spilled it everywhere too. We all had a great laugh!

This is their main plat specialty - 8 hour roasted lamb with a thym jus. They recommend that it is split for 2 persons, but in reality 4 people could have eaten from this platter!!!! Kimberly & I shared one and Grammy & Karen shared and we almost had an entire lamb on our table!!! It was amazing but definitely TOO much food.

Long day of playing and a full belly.....SLEEPY GIRL (with those annoying turtle jammies)

Afternoon In Villeneuve Sur Lot & The McCarty's Arrive!

Today our friends, the McCarty Family (Ken, Karen & their sons David & Stephen) from Fort Worth are arriving at the Chateau.We are also saying Au Revoir to Mike & Jean as they head back to the States.

We decided to go into Villeneuve Sur Lot for lunch and we needed a patisserie. Stephen, their youngest son was traveling  across the pond on his birthday, so we needed to get some extra special French desserts to help him celebrate!

Grammy, Pappy, Kathleen, London & Steve and me explored the Centre Ville of Villeneuve Sur Lot and found a cute place to have lunch. This was one of the first days that it wasn't raining and wasn't too cold to sit outside! Things are starting to look up weather-wise.

Little Lady Lunching.....

After lunch we headed to the patisserie to stock up on treats to celebrate Stephen's Birthday! The caretakers at the Chateau were preparing a special dinner to welcome the McCarty's and celebrate Stephen's birthday. So it was going to be an extra special night. We decided to continue the 'Honey Boo Boo' greeting style and waited for them to arrive on the front steps of the Chateau.

London and Pappy Playing While We Wait for the McCarty's

Steve Waiting With Wine

Here they are!!!!

 It was a lovely table setting and everyone was so excited for an amazing meal of open mushroom ravioli, Saute Chicken with Muscat Wine & Creme Fraiche and Sue's famous homemade raspberry and milk chocolate cheesecake.

What a good looking group!

London LOVES a birthday, so she helped Sue add our patisserie choices & candles to Stephen's dessert plate 

Surpreez!!!!!

We think he was surprised with his 'super-sized' French birthday desserts

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHEN!!! WE ARE SO HAPPY TO HELP YOU CELEBRATE!!!