Lovely meal at Au Chapeau Rouge. Also Vouvray and Vendome

Day 12

Lovely meal at Au Chapeau Rouge. Also Vouvray and Vendome

Au Chapeau Rouge (The Red Hat), in the heart of Chinon and one of the best restaurants in the town, was the venue for this evening’s excellent four course dinner (€29.00).  You can see the picture of the menu above but briefly, after an Amuse Bouche, our starters were Marinated Mullet and Fondant of Rabbit with Foie Gras. 

Marinade de Mulet, almost a carpaccio.

Main courses were outstanding. CL enjoyed her Roasted fillet of young duck while my Mousseline of local fish with a saffron sauce was delightful. The local cheese, St Maure, was served with pear and was gorgeous. The desserts were perhaps the weakest course but were still good. And the wine. A 2008 Chinon by Philipe Brocourt, was light, bright and excellent.

 Mousseline of local fish with a saffron sauce

Chocolate and cherries. Great combo!

First call of the day was to Vendome, about one hour forty minutes from us but about half that for Parisians who have made it a popular weekend retreat. Sometimes called “Little Venice”, the pretty town (Pop. about 18,000), stands on a group of islands on the River Loir (yes, that spelling is correct, it is a different river!).

A beautiful children's garden at rear of abbey in Vendome

First call of the day was to Vendome, about one hour forty minutes from us but about half that for Parisians who have made it a popular weekend retreat. Sometimes called “Little Venice”, the pretty town (Pop. about 18,000), stands on a group of islands on the River Loir (yes, that spelling is correct, it is a different river!).

A 15th century wash house in Vendome

Flowers and water are well used by the council and there are some ancient buildings in the town that changed hands many times during the Hundred Years War. The best known is the Abbaye de la Trinite with its striking ornate facade. It dates back to 1034.

With the visit to Au Chapeau Rouge, we had to go easy at lunch time and found just the solution in the middle of Vendome, a €3.90 deal. It included a sandwich (mine a 12” baguette) with two fillings of your choice, a drink (eg Coke or organgina) and a cookie (from a choice of three). Good stuff and very good value.

At Domaine du Clos de L’Epinay in Vouvray with David (right)

Vouvray, where they put the white grape Chenin Blanc through its paces like nowhere else was an obvious call on the way back. We drove around the little town and then into the heart of the vineyards. Thought that the Domaine du Clos de L’Epinay looked inviting and we called in there.

Got a very warm welcome indeed from David who told us it is a small operation, just two of the family and two employees involved. They were badly hit by the hail earlier in the summer and may salvage just ten per cent of the crop. “That’s nature,” he shrugged.

We had a very good tasting here in a small and homely room. Started with the sparkling and here our purchase choice was the Tete de Cuvee Brut. The demi-sec Cuvee Marcus is a house speciality (named after one of the children) and is a gorgeous drink and the 2009 too formed part of the purchase as did their dry Vouvray 2010.