OFF TO FRANCE, AVEC LA MERE ET LE FILS

It was just a little over 21 years ago that I gave birth to my only child, James Shields.  As the birthday approached, I wracked my brain to think of an appropriate gift for such an important birthday.

I had put back a case of Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon 1985 from his birth year and we planned to drink a bottle on that special day, but I wasn’t sure my college student would be all that impressed. Actually, he was.  I had called ahead to the restaurant in Lexington, Virginia to be sure they would allow me to bring the wine in with dinner.  James looked at me and said, “Mom, this is the best wine I have ever tasted, I can taste the fruit and the wood.”

It occurred to me that since he was so enthusiastic about the French classes he was taking; perhaps we should go to France!  Not sure he would really want to travel with mom, I offered the invitation and was delighted to find out that he loved the idea!

I had been to France a few times, but felt a little uncomfortable trying to plan the trip myself.  One of my customers came in the store and told me about taking her daughter on a barge trip through France, and I thought that sounded perfect.  A few phone calls to her travel agent and off we went on our adventure. Although the true purpose of the trip was for my son to sightsee and get a feel for the culture, I did want to make sure that we would visit some wineries as we chugged down the Saone River through the Burgundy region among the finest Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vineyards in the world.

We had two nights in Paris before and after the barge trip where we were on our own.  Exhausted when we arrived in Paris at 9 a.m., we slept for several hours before heading out.  It happened that our hotel was located right across the street from Notre Dame and after dinner we walked over to the famous cathedral to find they were having a slide and light show inside that was awesome.  Since Notre Dame is actually located on a little island, there are all kinds of bridges connecting to Paris.  Groups of 8-20 students are clustered together on the bridges, drinking their wine with baguettes and cheese among the art displays. What a fabulous environment for young people to socialize. 

We took a midnight walk on the Champs Elysee and the streets were teeming with people going to clubs and cabarets or sipping wine in the sidewalk cafes. 

Day two, we made our way to the Louvre and my son was fascinated with the size of the Mona Lisa (small), and all the treasures housed in the setting of The Da Vinci Code.

That night we took in a glitzy Cabaret show in the Latin Quarter, as any young man is Paris should. 

In the morning we hooked up with the other 18 people on our barge trip and took the speed train to Dijon to board the barge. The barge, named “Libellule”, (Firefly) had ten cabins for 20 passengers from all over the world.  We would take off every day and dock in a different little medieval village each night.  Fortunately for James, there was a Canadian family on board with 2 young men his age.  They managed to find the local pubs in each stop and watch the semi finals for World Cup Soccer.

We toured the Hospice De Beaune and had wine tastings in Meursault, Pouilly Fuisse’, and St. Veran.  Some of the best Chardonnays in the world come from these areas and it was great to see my now legal drinking age son sniff and swirl and try to identify the different flavors.  The French are adamant about the concept of “terroir”, in wine, which loosely translated means that the soil, the climate and the environment of a particular vineyard imparts a taste to that wine that is totally unique.  It cannot be duplicated in flavor by any other place in the world.  I am a firm believer in “terroir” myself.  These Chardonnays are definitely French; the same grape from California and Australia are totally different.  This was James’ first visit to a working winery, and it is laughable how different the European wineries are from those in the U.S.  California wineries, ever obsessed with hygiene, are pristine and climate controlled with expensive equipment.  Europeans, however, are proud of their mold.  The wines are stored naturally in caves, covered with mold and dust, nature’s preservative.  The owners of the wineries are not NASCAR drivers who got bored and bought a winery, they are third and fourth generation family owned operations.

We took a bus to the Beaujolais region of France and sampled the wines from Julienas.  What a perfect time of year to be in Beaujolais, with the deliciously fruity chilled red wines from the festive Gamay grape.

Each day on the barge we would have two different wines with lunch and dinner. The wines were not necessarily from the Burgundy region so it was fun to try the local wines and talk about their flavors.

And talk we did.  If you really want to get your kid to talk to you, try taking him to Europe for 10 days, works like a charm!

Finished with our barge cruise, we returned to Paris from Lyon on the speed train.

Back in Paris, we jumped the subway to the palace of Versailles.  This was James’ favorite stop on the trip.  Inside the palace, it’s a king’s overkill of materialistic bling, but the outside was incredible.  We spent four hours walking through the maze of gardens with secret, opulent fountains at every turn.  

Our last night in Paris was great.  France was playing Brazil in the World Cup semi-finals.  Brazil was clearly the favorite to win the World Cup, odds were 4-1 they would beat France.

An hour before the match, we walked to a local pub and grabbed a sidewalk table with a clear view of the large screen the owners had brought in for the match. 

Once the game began, the enthusiasm was infectious.  The French harassed Ronaldo, the premier player from Brazil who had gained weight while recovering from an injury.  Finally, thanks to Thierry Henri who scored the only goal, and Zidane who fed the shot to him, France beat Brazil. 

Paris exploded.  People flooded into the streets, honking horns, waving French flags, screaming, dancing and rollerblading in the streets.  We walked to the plaza of Notre Dame and it was full of revelers, joyous with victory, I truly believe they were happier just to beat Brazil than if they had won the World Cup from Italy.

Then, back to reality and good old Southern Pines.

The next day back at work, someone came in the store and said to me, I heard you were in Paris. I hope you went with the love of your life!  I just smiled and said, “I certainly did, I went with my son.”