'Dons, dons, Paree dons'

A weekend away in France for Scouty's 30th!

On Friday (24th November) night Brad, Jackie, Robyn, Eugene, Heidi, Ben, Michelle and I boarded the Eurostar for Paris and what would be a great weekend away. Our first stop – Moulin Rouge (Direct translation 'Red Windmill'). After a customary Duval(8.5% Belgian beer) and a few Stella's we were raring to go upon arrival in Paris.

Moulin Rouge was excellent, despite being harangued by possibly the rudest people I've ever come across, I easily managed to put that behind me and really enjoy the show! Thanks largely to the free Champagne. The show was really full on. At first it seemed a little shallow but it soon developed into a full on assault of the senses. Bright colours, bosoms, miniature-ponies, pythons, acrobatics and easily the highlight, Eugene being pulled up on stage to participate in one of the mimes. I'm telling you Eugene, put that in your CV!

On Saturday we took a train from Gare L'est 1.5 hours north-east of Paris to a town called Epernay in the heart of the Champagne region. Nathalie, our tour guide picked us up from the station after we had lunch and it was off to their guesthouse/Winery, Domi-Moreau, to drop off our bags and start our tour of the vineyard with her. It was great to see how passionate she was about her job and it really was an informative few hours. Nathalie and her husband Max (Maxi-taxi) make 4 types of Champagne, 'Traditions', 'Blanc de Blancs', 'Cuvee rosé' and 'Cuvee d'argent'. We tasted the first two and were split down the middle as to which we preferred. Nevertheless, we all bought a few bottles in the hopes of actually taking a few back to the UK with us. How naive of us to think that we would not drink it almost straight away? It really was good though, not that I'm a connoiseur, but the best Champagne I've ever tasted.

Check out their website: http://www.champagne-domimoreau.com/pages/welcomepag.html

After some more wine-tasting and revelry, Maxi-taxi dropped us off in Epernay, where we would have quite an entertaining dinner, thanks to our wonderful understanding of the French language! Brad and Michelle both mistakingly ordered kidneys, which they thought would be veal (voue?).

So it was a great night and our accommodation was excellent, I would highly recommend staying with Nathalie and Max should you ever find yourselves in the Champagne region, which you should. Apparently September is the time of year to visit, when the vineyards are being harvested and everything is in full bloom.

On Sunday we did a tour of the 'Mercier' Champagne house, which has a very proud history of producing top quality Champagne. Whilst it was both interesting and informative the tour of Nathalies was infinitely better.

Thanks Brad and Jax for organising everything and to Euegene, Heidi, Ben and Michelle for making it all the more memorable!

Au revoir, Shaun

Some interesting facts about Champagne and so on…

Champagne can be made from any one of only three different types of grape, that is Chardonnay (a white grape), Pinot noir(red grape) and Pinot Meunier(red grape) pronounced 'Munye' like 'Simunye Grooooves'.

Rather embarrassingly for me, because I honestly didn't know this, white juice comes out of red grapes.

Champagne undergoes 2 different fermentation processes. The second one is what creates the bubbles and is also to reduce the acidity in the Champagne.

You aren't allowed to use any machinery when farming your vineyards in Champagne. Almost everything is done by hand.

Champagne consists of only 35,000 hectares of which Nathalie and Max have 6.

Roughly 1 hectare of vineyard is valued at €1 million.

Nice one Nathalie and Max.

Robyn has a surprisingly excellent grasp of the French language and was our interpreter for the weekend.

One of the reasons why the Champagne area is so unique and conducive to producing top quality vineyards is the chalk content in the soil. Brad is currently searching Google for any similar such soil types in South Africa.

The Cotswolds

What a relaxing weekend in the "real" England. Shaun and I, Brad and Jax all caught the train up to Moreton-on-Marsh last Friday (3 November). We arrived in the cold and dark and made a pit stop at a local pub as we waited for our personal chauffeur to collect us. Eugene arrived in no time and kindly escorted us back to our home for the weekend. The cottage was fab - a traditional buiding, possibly a converted barn with fantastic open plan lounge and dining room with a big fireplace and 4 bedrooms. Shaun and I got the kiddies room and Uncle Brad and Aunty Jax got the ajoining parents room. Our room came equipped with a baby camper bed, cuddly toys and Beatrix Potter bedspreads! That night, after Jen and Clint had arrived and after Heidi had opened her presents (30 today woohoo!) we went off in search of food. Chipping Campden was like a ghost town and the only place willing to serve us dinner after 10:00pm was a small Greek restaurant. The meal was great - possibly a little bit pricey but we certainly got our money's worth. We went back to the warmth of the cottage, full and tired.

Saturday we had perfect weather, chilly but sunny with clear skies. We awoke to find our neighbours roaming the fields in front of the cottage - the neighbours being cute, white cows and a couple of horses.

We then set off to Bourton-on-the-Water to hire some bikes and explore Lower Slaughter and Upper Slaughter from the reasonable discomfort of a cheap bicycle saddle - aside from the aching bum, and the replica of Polly Shorts, it was a great day and excellent way to see the countryside.

We then all went on a well orchestrated shopping spree to stock up for the evening's meal of roast pork, chicken and lamb along with all the trimmings and more. We made a roaring fire, drank wine, played trivial pursuit (the other team got the easy box of questions!) and then ate a phenomenal meal prepared by Heidi (with assistance from others). We got to bed late that night, relaxed and appropriately, well oiled.

Sunday we went off for a walk to Chipping Campden and back and almost got chased by the cute, white neighbours (let me tell you they don't look so cuddly when they're jogging toward you with a look of acute hostility in their beady eyes!). Not sure if cows jog, but anyway! After our safe traverse of the cow field and a pub lunch in Chipping Campden we made our way back. We then had a lazy afternoon of rugby, tea and biscuits then finally made our way back to London. Thanks everyone for a fantastic weekend!

Robyn

Tour de Wimbledon

Stop laughing Dad!! Yup here it is - my new bike! A silver, red and black Trek 3500 with 24 gears - my (belated) birthday present from Shaun. I've been out, tearing up the tarmac, a couple of times and am slowly getting the hang of it. Unfortunately I haven't had the balls to hit the main roads yet because it's somewhat frightening when a giant double decker bus comes hurtling past you, millimeters from your right ear!! BUT, as soon as I've invested in some padded pants (coz my butt is aching) then Lance Armstrong better watch his back!!