A day in Saint-Émilion

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Like many people, I'd been hearing about Saint-Émilion for many years before setting foot here. Its reputation knows no boundaries. I was nevertheless very surprised to discover that this city is not just another ugly village busy in supplying the world with one of the finest vintages. It's actually a quaint, fortified medieval city -- founded by some monks if I were member correctly -- that fully merits its inclusion in the list of UNESCO world heritage sites.

Of course, it would have been quite ridiculous to spend a day here without actually tasting the wares. One of our problems was that we were still quite fully jetlagged. After having gotten our day off to a late start, we found ourselves in Saint-Émilion in the middle of the afternoon, quite tired, between two meals. On top of that, since we had made our way here by car, it wasn't possible for us to imbibe in too much of the skillfully fermented grape juice. We thus decided to buy a half bottle of one of the Grand Crus and then practice being our plebeian selves by sitting on the steps in front of a three-star restaurant (which was, of course, closed... we may be plebeians, but we still have some class) and eating our requisite baguette and saucisson.

Red, red wine. Neil Diamond