Saint-Emilion was founded in the 8th century, by a monk from Brittany who fled his hometown for reasons unknown. He sought refuge in one of the natural caves in the original village called Ascum bas. Unsurprisingly, his name was Emilion.

He lived the life of a hermit, though accomplished a few miracles and rapidly became famous. Soon he had gained many disciples and with their help he evangelized the area and created a religious centre. Even after his death his followers carried on his legacy, naming the town after him “Saint-Emilion”.

We had some time to kill before our room was ready or our luggage arrived. I imagine that driving a vehicle into the village, through the tiny cobblestone streets overflowing with people, would have been a challenge and explains the late delivery.

We wandered around the town a bit, passing a shop that Cathy had really loved on her last visit, and a wine shop called Paddy O’Flynn’s that Ken recalled fondly. Both will appear again later.

Our primary goal was to find a place to eat, and perhaps a glass of the local wine to sip in the sunshine. Cycling, even on an e-bike, seems to create a perpetual need for fuel that cannot be satisfied with multiple bags of nuts and the occasional piece of fruit. And the pastries….

We wandered down to one of the squares for a glass of wine. The square was overflowing with people eating, wandering and taking photos. It afforded some beautiful views of the architecture and the church bell tower.

Rick and I shared a delicious, and entirely overdone crepe with Nutella, banana, and 3 immense mounds of whip cream. The wine was lovely and the crepe satisfying. We took our time, chatting, people watching and enjoying the ambience.

There were wine shops everywhere, offering tastings and willing to ship cases of wine almost anywhere. I have tried some of the St. Emilion wines in the past, and although not the most lauded and expensive ones, and they were excellent. The number of exceptional wineries in the area is quite small, though the wines they produce have a mighty reputation.

In our short walk, I could already sense the opportunity for some great photos and maybe a wee bit of shopping. Tomorrow.

Much later, showered and changed, we headed out into the dusk, in search of a restaurant for dinner. Although we tried several places, they were all full. The opportunities were further reduced by the number of restaurants that had begun to close for the season, we had arrived with only a week or two remaining.

We finally found a lovely place by heading back towards the town gate. Ken managed to talk us in by chatting with the host about rugby. (Ken played rugby for many years.) The World Cup was on, and France had made it to the quarter finals against South Africa. We were shown into a back room and given the last remaining table there with a promise that we would not stay for the entire game.

Our best food was most definitely in St. Emilion. Some of our best wines were also there and it all began with that dinner. We especially appreciated the funky giant wine glass that was used to decant our wine :0)

We did stay long enough to watch much of the first half. It was a very competitive game and France was leading when we left. We had hoped to watch the rest of the game in the hotel though were unable to find it on the TV (the only time we turned on a TV in the entire trip). We did check out the highlights in the morning. France lost by a single point. What a disappointment.

The next day was spent in and around St. Emilion. Ken and Rick decided to take a short 18km ride in the surrounding countryside while Cathy and I stayed in town exploring a few shops, admiring the architecture and peeking in the shop windows.

We particularly loved one area of town, an artist co-op located around a tiny square, tucked behind a wall. Almost all of my gifts were purchased there, all locally made.

We also checked out the shop that Cathy remembered. The clothing was all french, unique, and beautiful. I purchased a linen sweater, a beautiful flowy dress, and a belt. Belts and I have not been friendly for 5 or 6 years but I was so pleased with the way the shop-keeper had styled the dress, reminding me that I had a waist again; I had to get it. Cathy bought some table linens. And we both came away with beautiful scarves. So chic!

By this time we were ready for a coffee and ended up eating a much appreciated salad for lunch in the square at the top. (Unknowingly we had ordered our lunch at the same restaurant where we had enjoyed dinner the night before). It was so tasty, I had to include a photo.

We loved our stroll through the streets and I took a ton of photos.

After lunch, while in search of a washroom, we ended up in the church cloisters of Collegiate Church, originally built in the 1100’s. It has since been enhanced by the addition of stunning artwork in the cloister: “The Apocalypse” by the painter François Peltier. It is 38.5 metres long and 5 metres high, and took 2 years to paint (2015-2017) using 5 different types of woods: lebanese cedar, oak, chestnut, lime and poplar. The set of paintings was conceived as a whole and not as a succession of paintings. I would try to tell you how impressive it was, but a few photos will hopefully tell that story better than I ever could.

We eventually made our way back to Paddy O’Flynn’s to meet the guys. They were already on glass #2 of red wine. The wine bar is named after the owner, who is in fact Irish and settled in St. Emilion. He owns 22 wine shops in Ireland! Rick and Ken and been by in the morning and had a long chat with Paddy.

Paddy’s Spanish wife, Pilar, was our host that afternoon. Cathy and I could not leave France without a glass of champagne; we took her recommendation. It was amazing. I mean really delicious. The bubbles were tiny and never stopped. The flavour was clean and crisp but delicate. 18 Euro. I would drink it again, though I was so enamoured with the drinking of it I forgot to get a photo of the bottle.

Our dinner that night was literally steps from the hotel. I believe it was the finest meal we have had so far. I had chicken bollontine which is essentially wrapped around a thin filling of herbs. We were all busily looking up recipes after dinner trying to understand how it was so moist and tender with crisp skin. It may be worth an attempt when we are home. Rick had the steak, basted and served in butter. The wine was fabulous and not the most expensive. Rick enjoyed his after dinner french coffee (with cognac) while Ken had an irish coffee (with irish whisky).

(I know I mention wine a great deal – not surprising given that we are in the land of wine. All of my wine consumption has been limited to small tasting servings. After not drinking much for so long, I have lost the resilience required to tuck in and share a bottle. I am actually quite satisfied with small tastes and expect this trend to continue when we return home.)

I would return to St. Emilion in a heartbeat. Tomorrow is our final ride to Bordeaux.