Our visit to Spain was part of our “Gourmet France & Spain” tour hosted by Ian Parmenter. As usual, our stay in the Bordeaux and Dordogne regions was simply beautiful, some of the highlights being:

Our two day sojourn at the magnificent Hostellerie de Plaisance at St Emilion – this Relais & Chateaux property is well up on my list of most outstanding places to stay in France, and our special dinner, presented by Michelin star chef Phillipe Etchebest, was simply stunning. And the location, in the UNESCO world heritage village of St Emilion, isn’t bad either!

As usual we passed a great day cooking with Ian and chef Jim Fisher at Jim and his wife Lucy’s beautiful stone farmhouse near Sarlat, “Bombel”. We also discovered anew the charming little restaurants hidden away in the streets and hidden corners of Sarlat.

A new addition to the program this year, when visiting the prehistoric sites of the Dordogne, was that we had renowned archaeologist Christine Desdemaines accompany us for the day.

Christine’s phenomenal breadth of knowledge on this topic made our discovery of the Grotte de Font de Gaume, which is one of the only remaining caves with original paintings open to the public, and the troglodyte site of La Madeleine, an extraordinary experience. The Grotte de Font de Gaume is home to hundreds of polychrome paintings of bison, mammoth, reindeer and horses, created by Homo Sapiens Sapiens (our direct ancestors) around 17,000 BC. Christine’s explanations and descriptions of how these people lived, hunted and created these astonishing works of art were incredibly evocative and informative.

SAN SEBASTIAN:
Where do I begin? Our itinerary was filled with delightful experiences which introduced us to the warmth of the Basque people and their FABULOUS food! We stayed at the superb Maria Cristina hotel in the old quarter; discovered delicious wines in Rioja; did a 3 hour coastal walk in the pouring rain, ending up like wet rats in a fishing village drinking red wine with the locals; had a rustic Tapas lunch on an old tuna boat; and an utterly fantastic Pintxos (the local name for Tapas) tour of the old quarter. What we anticipated as a good evening became a highlight of the tour as we went from bar to bar sampling the specialty of each establishment – our guide, Inaki, introduced us to his favourite haunts and we tasted delectable squid in one place, yummy beef cheeks in another, crispy prawns in the next; velvety risini, fresh mouth watering tomatoes, and finished with the most delicious baked cheesecake that I have ever tasted. A glass of local wine in each of course helped each successive bar become more and more fun, as we stood out in the street chatting and meeting the locals. Street musicians completed the entertainment at one place and had a few of our guests displaying their dancing skills!

Another huge highlight was our dinner at the Michelin star restaurant Arzak, owned and run by the Arzak family for numerous generations. Juan Mari Arzak, a friend of Ian's and chef/patron of this restaurant that was recently voted 8th best in the world, was a total sweetie - as was his daughter Elena, who now presides over the kitchen and personally presented each dish to us. As we worked our ecstatic way through the 10 course tasting menu, some of us commented that we could never describe this to our friends afterwards. The food was so out of this world and the presentation so unique that you really CAN'T do it justice with mere words!

We also passed a great day at one of San Sebastian's exclusive "secret" societies that used to be men-only - a place where men met and exchanged ideas and COOKED together - and where now (in some) ladies are welcomed - we prepared and cooked a lunch of regional specialties with a very cute Basque chef, watched over closely by Ian - and then of course ate our efforts, washed down with local wine!

I was last here in 1991, when the city was in chaos, seemingly half pulled down in preparation for the Olympic Games. At that time I would never have imagined that this city could recreate itself into such a stunning destination; a city to be compared with the most beautiful in the world. The historic Gothic and El Born quarters are full of street life, colourful Tapas bars and cafes, and EXCELLENT shops and boutiques (you know I love my shopping!). Add this to a setting of ancient cobblestone streets, alleyways, churches and unique architecture that can ONLY be found in Barcelona (Gaudi, Cadafalch) and you have an intoxicating, one-of-a-kind, captivating city!

Our hotel was super-chic – set in a small 18th century palace near the cathedral but with groovy contemporary décor, it had a wonderful little restaurant and bar, which spilled out into a fascinating little square where schoolchildren played by day and lovers met by the fountain at night (along with a local tramp, various guitar players and assorted cats). Just wonderful. We were right in the heart of the Gothic Quarter and could wander the tiny little streets in the evening, attend guitar recitals in the local churches, and one night walked up to the amazing modernist Palau de la Musica to see a performance by the London Symphony Orchestra.

The Port area is also fabulous with lots of restaurants and cafes and vibrant nightlife against a backdrop of beautiful cruisers and yachts. Loved it!

A gastronomic highlight here was a visit to Escriba, a renowned bakery which has been family owned and run for several generations. They specialise in the most incredible wedding and birthday cakes ever created and we were lucky enough to visit their showroom, which displays some examples of their masterpieces, and watched a crazy video of how they are made and presented. Some of their brilliant creations can cost around 30,000 euros – not for your everyday celebration! We were then offered a mouth watering morning tea with a selection of delicious treats from the patisserie - absolutely yummy!

A visit to the Sagrada Familia church is a moving experience, not just for the evocative and very beautiful sculptures and features on the outside of the church. Often when we are at Notre Dame in Paris people comment on the length of time taken to build the cathedral, and that this sort of dedication is no longer the norm in our modern times. However here in Barcelona, building this astonishing and enchanting church, they are giving lie to this. Begun by Gaudi in 1882, the church is scheduled for completion in 2026. The church is to be consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI on November 7, 2010, during his visit to Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona.
 

While in Catalonia we also discovered the gorgeous medieval town of Girona and the lovely seaside village of Cadaques, had a seafood lunch on the Costa Brava, and visited the extraordinary Dali museum in Figuieres. “Extraordinary” is a word I know I am using a lot in this newsletter but really, there is no other word to describe the amazing work of this artist and the building that he designed himself to house his works; nor for so many of the other incredible sights and places we saw in Spain.

Yes, we will go back if we have enough interest! I loved the combination of south-west France and northern Spain. It makes for really exceptional holiday with so many diverse and rich experiences. If you would like me to put you on a list of interested people for our next tour, I will keep you posted for a possible departure in 2011! Email me if so!

Other tours currently in planning at present are more "Magnificent Italy & France" departures, the new tour "Walking in Provence & the Cinque Terre", and all our old favourites including "Spectacular South West & Barging through Burgundy", "Flavours of Provence", and "Scenic Southern France". I am also definitely running the repeat of my 10th anniversary tour which includes the Tarn Gorges, Provence and the Cote d'Azur - which I am calling "Splendid South" - and have had lots of interest for May next year. These will all be finalised by the end of July along with our new brochure, so stay tuned! We will be offering some excellent specials to celebrate the launch of our new brochure.
 

Having just finished the French Open Tennis tournament, here is a little tidbit of interest about Roland Garros, who the famous venue is named after!

Roland Garros – French Fighter Pilot…..
Roland Garros is most well known today for having a tennis club and tournament named after him, but not many people remember that he was an ace fighter pilot in World War One. Even before the war, Garros became known as an exhibition flyer, and in 1913 was the first Frenchman to fly non-stop across the Mediterranean. During the war, Garros invented the forward-facing machine gun (up until then pilots had only been able to fire ineffectually at each other with rifles or pistols), an innovation that was promptly stolen by the Germans when Garros’ plane was shot down behind enemy lines. He escaped from his POW camp by the simple expedient of walking out of the main gate wearing a German uniform. After a quick refresher course he went straight back to his beloved flying, but was finally killed just five weeks before the Armistice, at the age of 36, shot down by a Fokker D-7 operating the very machine gun system he had invented.

Until next month,

Sue Heine
Tour Director