I LOVE GOOGLE maps

I am now "driving" around Chateauneuf du Pape. Combination of "peasant" and "boutique" culture. Very cool!

Well, I hope you're using Google Earth, and the 3-D topo perspective toggle that's included....

One of the best things to come along for winers in a long, long time.

Nah. Just Street View. I've never loaded the Earth program.

[Jenise]

I am now "driving" around Chateauneuf du Pape. Combination of "peasant" and "boutique" culture. Very cool!

Ooh. Gotta check out the village of Sablet. That'll be home for a few weeks later this year.

Nah. Just Street View. I've never loaded the Earth program.

Dude!

Load it. 21st Centry, and all that.

I'm serious. Load it (FREE), and you can just type in an address of location, and you will zoom in as if you were sitting in a satellite with a voyeur (or spy) camera, and you can see from directly overhead. Then just hit the control in the corner of the screen and you can change the orientation so you can see if full topography.

You can go to Chassagne-Montrachet, for instance, and see from the point of view of the national road all of Chassagne-Montrachet, St. Aubin, and Puligny-Montrachet looming before you. It's awesome!

Ditto Tain l'Ermitage. Ditto each one of the vilages in the Cotes du Rhone Villages. Ditto Cote Rotie/Ampuis. Ditto any of the wineries or vineyards in the Napa Valley (no accounting for some people's tastes). Some great views of the Santa Maria. Good views of the Mosel.

Street view is fun....but Google Earth is more.

Thanks for PM Hoke. I will try to be more patient, LOL.

I am now "driving" around Chateauneuf du Pape. Combination of "peasant" and "boutique" culture. Very cool!

Ooh. Gotta check out the village of Sablet. That'll be home for a few weeks later this year.

Make sure you eat at les Abeilles. When will you be there?

Nah. Just Street View. I've never loaded the Earth program.

Dude!

Load it. 21st Centry, and all that.

I'm serious. Load it (FREE), and you can just type in an address of location, and you will zoom in as if you were sitting in a satellite with a voyeur (or spy) camera, and you can see from directly overhead. Then just hit the control in the corner of the screen and you can change the orientation so you can see if full topography.

Well...the video card on the previous (old) box wouldn't support it here at work. I would probably have to have "Administrator" approval to load Google Earth, and I haven't really wanted to ask.

I was tired of paying Comcast, so no internet at Home.

I never realized that BORDEAUX proper (the City, not its somewhat ugly outskirts) was such a beautiful city. Sorta like the wine, very austere and formal, yet lovely. I really like the grey Northern French classicism!

Brian,

Zero in on rue Barada where I live in Bordeaux (number 10).

Bordeaux *is* a great city, and was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO two years ago.

Best regards,
Alex R.

I really like the grey Northern French classicism!

Not sure how Northern French it is.

But it is certainly classic and dowdy. Just like the wines

Dowdy is sometimes good.

I have a liking for neoclassicism...for the same reason I really like Scandinavian modern and baroque music and...believe it or not...serious heavy metal.

Alex...Will do!

Ah...Red door? Nice!

I say "northern" in error because with its cool gray architecture, the City looks so stereotypically "northern" in character...like I envision Aberdeen, Scotland or Oslo. Not Helsinki, which looks woodsier and sunnier.

(This is diverging 110% from a wine topic. I guess it should be moved!)

Dowdy is sometimes good.

I have a liking for neoclassicism...for the same reason I really like Scandinavian modern and baroque music and...believe it or not...serious heavy metal.

Alex...Will do!

Ah...Red door? Nice!

I say "northern" in error because with its cool gray architecture, the City looks so stereotypically "northern" in character...like I envision Aberdeen, Scotland or Oslo. Not Helsinki, which looks woodsier and sunnier.

(This is diverging 110% from a wine topic. I guess it should be moved!)

Heavy metal111111 You've finally gone over the edge. A cacophony of sound. That's the nicest description of heavy metal that I've heard so far. This puts everything you write politically into great jeopardy of having any possible earthly merit.

I am now "driving" around Chateauneuf du Pape. Combination of "peasant" and "boutique" culture. Very cool!

Ooh. Gotta check out the village of Sablet. That'll be home for a few weeks later this year.

Make sure you eat at les Abeilles. When will you be there?

Is it good? We'll be there Sept/Oct.

I say "northern" in error because with its cool gray architecture, the City looks so stereotypically "northern" in character...like I envision Aberdeen, Scotland or Oslo. Not Helsinki, which looks woodsier and sunnier.

I'll give you the classic architecture bit about Bordeaux, and the similarities with Scotland.

But Oslo's a different world. Closer to Helsinki in that respect.

Is it good? We'll be there Sept/Oct.

Here is a restaurant run-down for the area that I give to people who rent our place:

A moderate one is Le Tourne aux Verres. It offers a single prix fixe meal at about 25 Euros and it is always good. The inside is modern looking and has a younger crowd. It has a very good wine list with prices from 20 Euros to expensive for ritzy wines. You can buy good wines by the glass for very reasonable prices.

Les Floret, near the Dentelles is really a must. A 4 course dinner of much higher quality than Tourne aux Verres will run around 40-45 euros. The terrace is a beautiful place to eat. You can choose from numbers of Gigondases for 35-40 euros, but you would do much better to buy one of their own Vacqueyrases or Gigondases with some age on them. They make very good wines and the price for the Vacqueyrases in particular is quite reasonable. I frequently spring for the Gigondas because it is only sold at the restaurant or at the vineyard.

Two more expensive places are Les Abeilles in Sablet and Restaurant les Grand Pré in Roaix. Les Abeilles will be around 40 euros, Grand Pré runs between 50 and 70. Wines in Les Abeilles run 20 or so for a carafe to 35-40 for good Gigondas. The woman who is the co-owner knows her cellar very well and gives good advice. At Grand Pré you can get good Cotes de Rhones for around 25-30 and you can spend 50 and more on Chateuneufs and the like. We like Les Abeilles better because we are always impressed by the quality of the cooking and selection of ingredients. Grand Pré, though, is now a one star restaurant, has fancier dishes and is very good indeed. Whether it is worth the extra money only you can decide. We will keep going back to both.

One place favored by the locals, which we also like is Les Touilleries. It is run by a vineyard and is a simple Auberge. For 25 euros a person (the last time we were there) you get a full meal plus an aperitif and a bottle of wine per couple. The meal is more like French homecooking but is very good. And the outdoor ambience, surrounded by vineyards is also very nice.

Thank you for that!

Les Touilleries sounds particularly charming!

Heavy metal111111 You've finally gone over the edge. A cacophony of sound. That's the nicest description of heavy metal that I've heard so far. This puts everything you write politically into great jeopardy of having any possible earthly merit.

Every human being is full of contradictions, Lou. I also love Bluegrass, Baroque classical music, Americana (Johnny Cash, RIP) and ambient minimalism (Philip Glass)...and opera. And Classical architecture.

The type of metal I like is not the horrible American hair metal from the 1980s, by the way.

Heavy metal111111 You've finally gone over the edge. A cacophony of sound. That's the nicest description of heavy metal that I've heard so far. This puts everything you write politically into great jeopardy of having any possible earthly merit.

Every human being is full of contradictions, Lou. I also love Bluegrass, Baroque classical music, Americana (Johnny Cash, RIP) and ambient minimalism (Philip Glass)...and opera. And Classical architecture.

The type of metal I like is not the horrible American hair metal from the 1980s, by the way.

I have no problem with anything you've mentioned above except the heavy metal. Phillip Glass's music is melodious compared to any heavy metal. If I was religious I would pray for your sense of musicality.

Bill, a very hearty second to Jonathan's recco of Les Florets in Gigondas.

Not only is it surpassingly beautiful (stay there if you can, the rooms are wonderful, each one a different design by the owner), but the food and the wine are fabulous. And as Jonathan says, their own wines are tremendous.

This summer past, had the pleasure of having lunch with the winemaker, a lovely young lady who knew her stuff, and a remarkable meal plein air, gazing at the looming Dentelles above us through the abundant flowers and lacy trees. I can still remember the beef cheeks in a syrah sauce with syrah gelee!

The time before the weather was inclement, so we lunched inside, in their lovely little dining room, all cozy and warm, with an interesting Choucroute Auvergnaise (!).

Now I would not think of going back to the Southern Rhone and not scheduling a stop at Les Florets.

Oh, and when you go to Les Florets, you drive right by Saint-Cosme. Don't run over their dog!

I'd also recco, if you're in that area too, Le Bistrot in Vinsobres. Food is more rustic/country style, not as elevated as Les Florets, but damned good stuff nonetheless. You sit outside, underneath an awning, smack up against the side of the town church on the edge of a plaza. Friendly people, good food, relaxed atmoshphere, not expensive....it's the kind of place you'll remember fondly as being the kind of "French" experience you went there for. Step over the sleeping dog, and drop a little something from your fish plate for the importuning cat under the table.

Jenise, you are the organized one - we shoudl start a Sablet thread and compile all of these excellent suggestions.

My mouth is watering at the thought!!

[Jenise]

Oh, and when you go to Les Florets, you drive right by Saint-Cosme. Don't run over their dog!

I'd also recco, if you're in that area too, Le Bistrot in Vinsobres. Food is more rustic/country style, not as elevated as Les Florets, but damned good stuff nonetheless. You sit outside, underneath an awning, smack up against the side of the town church on the edge of a plaza. Friendly people, good food, relaxed atmoshphere, not expensive....it's the kind of place you'll remember fondly as being the kind of "French" experience you went there for. Step over the sleeping dog, and drop a little something from your fish plate for the importuning cat under the table.

Jonathan and Hoke, thanks. You're making it hard to consider staying home! We're also going there to cook--our 600 year old house that is part of the mideivil ramparts of Sablet has an 8 year old professional kitchen and four terraces which must be occupied, and often.

Bill, two weeks isn't going to be enough.

Bill, two weeks isn't going to be enough.

I'm staying for 3!! And that won't be enough.

Bill, two weeks isn't going to be enough.

I'm staying for 3!! And that won't be enough.

3 is just long enough to make you feel nestled in so that when you leave you will think you have been ripped from paradise. We go for three weeks in July.

Make sure you go to the market in Vaison la Romaine on Tuesdays. And Violes has the best butcher in the area, if you want to cook.