Mick and I were in Sancerre at the right time. During our four day stay, there was lots on, and because tourist numbers were down, we were able to book into everything.

Our first experience was to attend a concert inside the church in Sancerre. But we were not allowed to take any photos. So I will do my best to describe the experience.

I mentioned in a previous post that Mick was not that thrilled that I was able to get the tickets to hear (and watch) Mykrokosmos, a cappella group made up of 30+ singers aged between 18 to 30 years old. But this photo shows his mind was changed!!

We arrived at the church at 8.30pm, and along with the other 150+ people, Mick and I waited for whatever was to come next. (As a side note – Mick and I lowered the average age of the audience by about 5 years!).

A single male performer, wearing interesting make-up and a long dark flowing robe adorned with fabulous jewellery, entered humming and chanting and clicking something in his hand. A few seconds later, the other members of the choir flowed in singing in amazing harmony.

Sometimes the music they made was a chant, other times there were some words we could understood, but mostly it was the music and the rhythm of their movements through the church that had us enthralled. Some singers would be standing right beside us one minute and then were back near the altar of the church. In another section of the performance, some members of the choir sat next to people in the audience and continued the performance. No words were spoken for a full hour.  Our heads were literally spinning around for the whole show. Wow!

Although I could take no photos inside the church, I did make a short recording on my phone to remind us of the beauty we had experienced and to share with you.

I was thrilled that the performers were waiting outside to meet us when we came outside around 10pm. And, because Mick and I were amongst the younger ones there, we got out first to thank the performers.

We certainly got our €15 worth from our tickets.

The older gentleman in the picture below was the conductor, and perhaps is the man who actually formed the group. He did an amazing job.

I hope the short recording works for you. And remember as you listen to it – it is only voices of the singers you can hear. No accompaniment.

Michelin Star Dining – La Tour Sancerre

Yes, La Tour de France is on at the moment, but one thing we had been told by our hosts in Samois was to try to book into the restaurant La Tour for lunch one day if we could.

They suggested lunch because the prices are very high, but the lunch menus are reasonable.

The reviews I’d read about the meals were mixed, but Mick and I took the risk and made a booking. And luckily we did as we noticed three groups of people turned away during our meal.

Mick and I chose the two course meal and a local Sancerre rosé.

A pre-starter of beautifully-presented gazpacho was served to whet our appetites.

Mick and I chose the same starter of carrot gnocchi.  The dish on the right did not look like what we expected – the gnocchi actually provided a flat bed for the rest of the course, which comprised rhubarb purée, cacao nibs and garam masala sauce. It was delicious –  and Mick took away a few tips for a special meal he said he would prepare at a future date.

The meals were not huge, but they were beautifully presented and so tasty. I chose the fish and Mick had a piece of veal that had been cooked for 30+ hours.

We both were tempted to try some samples from this next table as well. The only non-French cheese was a Stilton. And, you could have as much as you like.

Wine Tasting at Château de Buranlure

Not quite a private tour, but almost. There were only 20 places for this special event held in the grounds of the Château de Buranlure, ten minutes drive from Sancerre.

These wine-tasting events are held in different locations in the Loire region only during certain months of the year, and we were lucky enough to be here on the day it was being conducted in the grounds of this château.

It is set in a gully with a moat surrounding it, and only certain times during the year does it open up to visitors. It can however be hired for special events such as weddings as well.

Part of our wine tasting experience included a guided tour and short history of the mansion. If 45 minutes can be considered short.

Mick started to get a bit impatient when 6.30pm came and went and it was obvious that not everyone had arrived. It wasn’t until 6.45pm that the tour finally commenced and we followed this attractive French woman inside. She was very interested in every single fire place, going into great detail about the decorations.

 

There was one problem for Mick and I, the guide spoke extremely quickly, even though she knew we were the only non-French people in the group. We could tell she was nervous, hence the speed, but every now and then she’d pause and look at us and ask ‘comprenez-vous?’.

Of course Mick and I nodded. What else to do?

Although after one of her very long speeches explaining the history of the château when she stopped again to check if we were keeping up,  I said in my clumsy French – “so long as there is no exam at the end”, and that did get a few giggles.

Château de Buranlure commenced its life as a fortified house in the 15^th Century, and played an important defensive role for the closest, ruling noble family.

At this point, the guide is explaining (not only to Mick, although it looks like it) about the small stained-glass panels. Something to do with David and Goliath Mick and I thought, but who really knows.

Whatever is written here about this castle, please take with a grain of salt. We gained our information not through “Chinese Whispers”, but rather through “French-Super-Fast-Whispers”!!

It was deemed a historical monument in 1944 and we could tell that the guide was thrilled by this fact. But really, we wanted to taste the wines.

We were surprised that the wine tasting started with the red wine – Pinot Noir – then the rosé then the white. The wines tasted exactly the same, or similar, to the ones we had tasted at other wineries during our stay in Sancerre.

Mick and I were the first to leave and we headed to this very cute traditional bar we found the day before, to see if we were too late for dinner at 9pm.

Not at all.

We shared the fried white bait and Mick then had a very artistically-decorated plate of foie gras and balsamic vinegar.

This, and the previous activities provided a good chance for us to get into some of our ‘going out’ clothes. Mick took the following photo of me with Saint-Satur (where we stayed) in the background.

And, I took this one of Mick checking out an old Morris on the way back to our car.

We had fabulous weather during our stay, and tomorrow, following my haircut, we are heading closer to Samois. We will spend two nights in Montargis. We don’t know much about it yet, but hopefully after 48 hours we’ll know quite a bit.