Day 18 & 19 – Rain, rain go away…

If we thought Sunday’s weather was miserable, you should have been here for Monday. It was cold, windy and rainy all day long. We made contact with the owners to find out how the heating worked as we needed to take the chill out of the house. Apparently stone and single pane glass doesn’t have much of an insulating factor.

Before you ask, the heating is actually controlled electronically by the owners and they obliged us by turning the heat on. I thought it was going to turn into a Scrooge scenario: “Just one more lump of coal, please, Mr Scrooge”.

We did bundle up and ran over to the corner boulangerie for a sandwich and a fresh baguette, then on to the small grocery store to get some water, apricot jam and a few other supplies. We are so glad that we brought rain jackets with us. Despite the dreary rain, we at least stayed dry.

When we arrived back at the house, we ate and then burrowed in for the day. It makes no sense to drive or walk around in the rain, so we’re hoping for a couple nicer days to venture out. We read, played games and listened to tunes and the day went by fairly quickly. The worst part was the sound of the wind and the pouring rain, especially knowing that later, we would have to go out in it for dinner.

As it was nearing time for dinner, we washed up and changed clothes, hoping that the rain would ease up – it didn’t.

The good news is that the restaurant is close by. Otherwise, it would have been a miserable walk. As it was, it was still a slightly miserable walk.

Our reward for going out was a delicious meal in a cozy restaurant called Maufoux Restaurant. On this night, it appeared to be a three man operation – the host/server, a sous chef and the main chef. Almost all of the tables were filled up by 8:00 pm. We had 7:30 pm reservations and we were just ahead of the rush.

We started with an aperitif to go along with our gougeres. Sue had a glass of chablis and I had a kir royal.

For our entrées, Sue had a terrine de cochon with cornichons and dijon mustard, while I chose the curry d’aubergine. Both were wonderfully full of flavor without being salty, though Sue’s dijon mustard provided a couple of eye-opening moments.

For our main, we both chose the Quasi de Veau or veal tenderloin with whipped cauliflower and mushrooms. They plated it perfectly, with the sauce an accompaniment rather than overwhelming the other flavors.

Of course, there was still dessert to come. Sue went with the pear tartare and I had the cheese cake with fruit and peanuts.

Now the surprising part…we also had wine with our meal. Tonight’s choice was another wine from Domaine Pattes Loup. We had a bottle of 2020 Pattes Loup Butteaux Premier Cru chablis.

We enjoyed our meal so much that before leaving, we made a reservation for next Monday evening.

Then came the downer…bundling back up with umbrellas in hand to walk back home. It wasn’t raining as hard as when we arrived, so we just sucked it up and headed off. No dancing and singing: “Singing in the rain” while splashing in the puddles, though I did grumble something about wet feet.

We locked everything up at the house, washed up and then relaxed in bed for a while before lights out.

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Tuesday morning brought sunshine and warm temperatures. Only kidding, it was raining and chilly once again. Most of the week is supposed to be like this, so we’re grinning and bearing it.

We hurriedly washed and dressed as the housekeeper was scheduled for 10:30 am. She arrived right on schedule and efficiently went about her tasks. Our communication is limited as she doesn’t speak English and our French is not really conversational. However, she is friendly and does a great job.

After she left, we bundled up for a quick walk to make a reservation for dinner and to grab a quick sandwich for lunch. It was a little brighter and just a misty rain, but certainly not a ‘soak in the sunshine’ kind of walk.

Our friendly boulangerie woman greeted us and we talked a little about being here until October 3rd. She was surprised that we were staying until then, but glad to see us stop by regularly. We both had simple sandwiches – jambon et beurre, then also had eclairs – chocolate for me and banana for Sue.

We enjoyed our lunch and then just chilled out for the afternoon. There may have even been a little nap involved, but I’m not positive.

We made the remainder of our dinner reservations through next week. It is hard to believe that next Friday we depart Chablis. We’ll talk about that when the time draws closer.

After changing, it was time for another walk in the rain. Tonight’s dinner was back at Kimm & Ridge Restaurant. After many rich dinners we needed to reel it in again and the food at Kimm & Ridge is delicious, but not as over the top.

I was distracted once again, so our apertifs and my appetizer missed the photo parade. However, we did start with a glass of 2020 Grand Crus Grenouilles from La Chablisienne. It was delicious with lots of minerality and layers of flowery citrus flavors.

My appetizer was an aubergine tart that was accompanied by a dollop of crème fraîche. Light, tasty and paired well with the wine.

We both ordered the pave de saumon with carrots and puys. The salmon was cooked perfectly to our liking.

Tonight we tried a 2020 Domaine Simon Billaud Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru Chablis and it was both delicious and perfect with the salmon. Our waitress gave it a ‘très, très bon’ review, so how could we go wrong ?

For dessert, Sue went with the cheese plate while I went with the pistachio creme brulée. There was enough cheese on her plate for two people and with the fresh bread it was a meal in itself. My creme brulée was also delicious and hit the spot.

Before leaving, we made a reservation for next week Tuesday. Since they’ve seen us a few times now, they asked if we were staying in town and we explained that we came for the harvest month. They thought that was cool and then complimented us on our proper use of verb conjugation. It was really nice to hear that they appreciated our efforts.

The best part is that our waitress speaks very good English but is talking to us in French and guiding us along when we get stuck. This is exactly what I was hoping for by staying in town for so long.

We bid them ‘au revoir’ and made our way back to the house. It was just a light misty rain falling, so it wasn’t too annoying. We decided once again to just wash up and relax upstairs for a while before calling it a night. Tomorrow is once again supposed to be be chilly, but we might have seen the last of the rain for a while – cross your fingers.