Wines and macaroons in Saint-Emilion
February 14, 2013 39 Comments
Saint-Emilion
France is simply one country which has everything for any traveler. To those who love the water, there is the cold Atlantic coast on the west side and the balmy Mediterranean in the south. Height lovers can go for either the Alps or the Pyrenees, those who love the cosmopolitan life had choices of Paris or the Riviera and those who love the tranquil life in the countryside had plenty of choices too. Vineyards, orchards, gardens, lavender fields, flower fields are endless and so are the chateaus and manors.
On this post, let me take you to the lovely town of Saint-Emilion. Listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, Saint-Emilion’s history goes back to prehistoric times with fascinating Romanesque churches and ruins. About 32 kilometers northeast of Bordeaux, it is a very popular tourist destination because aside from having that step back in time, it is also famous for its red wines and macaroons.
The drive to Saint-Emilion was a very pleasant experience, passing through gentle hills of vineyards and bewitching sunflower fields. Parking was quite a challenge in this small town but despite a bit of a walk from the parking to the town centre, we enjoyed the stroll through its narrow streets that seemed as old as time.
We did not have a fix agenda of things to do so we had a leisurely lunch at a restaurant on the foot of the hill leading to the King’s Castle Keep. Nothing fancy, we had the “plat du jour” on offer which consisted of a salad, main course and dessert. French meal never disappoint for even in their simplest, they are still top notch.
After lunch, we were off to do the sightseeing bit with hubby and daughter opting to climb the King’s Castle Keep which with its 118 steps was quite something for the little girl. She was so proud of this accomplishment.
Before leaving town, I made sure to get myself a dozen of various flavored macaroons. While Laduree is being extolled in Paris as the mecca for macaroons, Saint-Emilion is said to be the birth place of this simple almond biscuit when they were first made in 1620 by Les Ursulines, a small community of nuns who resided in the village.
Saint-Emilion
One of the many wine cellars
The road leading to “The King’s Castle’s Keep”
Father and daughter climbed this well-preserved 13th century keep.
Father and daughter climbing the King’s Castle Keep
Our family
Sunflower fields along the way
Vineyards
Me and my little girl
Salad
Entrecote steak with fries
Main course of the plat du jour
Warm chocolate cake with summer fruit compote
Ice cream dessert
Father and daughter
Saint-Emilion
Father and daughter
The Bell Tower of the Monolithic Church
Church interior
Taking a peak of the church courtyard
The Mr. always finds interesting the geological history of the stone blocks used for this church
Narrow street
Saint-Emilion
Museum
My little girl
Me and my little girl
Raspberry macaroons
Passion fruit macaroons
Rose macaroons
About Malou
Another place I want to go. Love the food photos. Yum!
Definitely worth the visit.
Beautiful town right in the heart of Bordeaux country. I’m so jealous.
True. Pleasant town to explore and I’m not ruling out a return one day.
I loved this post! I am trying to get up the nerve to make some macaroons myself. I was also a french major so all of your beautiful pictures really tug at my heart!
Making macaroons is quite an art in itself. My first attempt was a failure because the meringue deflated. I decided to check some youtube clips and I was pretty successful in my next attempt.
France is beautiful as it has everything. Good that you are a French major as communicating with the French is then a lot easier.
YUM! Macaroons! The scenery was exquisite as usual – the vineyards and sunflower field were fabulous! Thanks for the mini-trip!
A place that I can very well recommend. There’s also nearby Bordeaux if you want to do and see more.
This reminds me of the things I am missing being so far from Europe.
Come and visit then, Mike.
Great stuff! something very appealing about Romanesque architecture.
Lovely photos. Time-worn walls.
And what a mouth-watering salad! The dessert… no words!
Thanks Michael. I always love places where I feel transported back in time. Certainly Saint-Emilion has all the trappings of the old world still well-preserved.
What a lovely tour you’ve given us…and how were the macaroons? Thank you!
Thanks Catherine. The macaroons were super delicious. I had 12 different flavors, even the black licorice-flavored one (which I thought would not be up to my liking as I’m no fan of licorice) and they were all wonderful.
I love everything France is about here …. the wine, old towns, markets .. food, sunflower, desserts and the macaroons – of course the wine yards … Saint-Emilion has the best red wines in the world. Thank you so much for bringing me along .. and for the stunning photos.
The waiter found it weird that I asked for white wine to go with my lunch because of course Saint-Emilion’s red wines are celebrated the world over. I love red wines to go with dinner as they are quite heavy to go with lunch on a very warm day.
*smile
Yes, they have one of the best wines in the world – my favorite red come from there. I think in over all that the French drink more red wine than white. I totally agree with you about red wine it a bit too heavy for lunch time – but I don’t even drink white wine for lunch. It makes me sleepy. Want a siesta after lunch with wine.
Thank goodness my clock says lunchtime is close! I haven’t visited for a while and was surprised by how your little girl is growing, too… I still envy your ability to travel to all these wonderful places. Nearest community to here is 145 km away, no castles, no gardens… *sigh* Don’t eat too many of those macaroons!
Oh, too bad that you don’t have that many interesting places nearby. Come and visit Europe then. Lots to see and pretty compact too. I’m jealous too of the many nature areas you have out there. Can’t have it all, can we?
LOL. You’re so right!
As always, another awesome post!
Thank you.
Just this past week I was wondering where you were and why no posts for a while and here you are back. This town makes me think of the town in the movie “Chocolat”.
Got too busy the last couple of months with my little girl’s activities, Juliana. Still busy but I am trying to get back to the rhythm of blogging again.
I still have to see that movie “Chocolat”. I just checked where it was filmed and strangely enough, two of the locations (Beynac and Sarlat) were visited by us during this holiday without knowing this fact.
Welcome back, Malou!!!
Thank you, Mary-Ann.
Gorgeous photos! Another great photoblog!
Thank you.
What a wonderful post, filled to the brim with delicious tidbits. The wine and macaroons would be enough, but there was so much more, and very inviting. I send my congratulations and admiration to your little girl. She has every reason to be proud of such a climb. And I hope she enjoyed the macaroons when she returned.
Thank you, Shimon. This place is a true delight to explore. Though appreciating the old world charm is still not in her scheme of things at the moment, she found the climb a real adventure.
Whenever I travel to Europe, I plan to use your posts as a guide for beautiful places to visit!
Let me know which countries you plan to see and I will try my best to give you some tips of which to see.
You had me at wine! HAHA! Great blog, always so much fun
If you are such a wine lover, this is mecca. The best wines in the world are here and you can go on endless vineyard tours and wine-tasting too.
WOW! This is added to my Places-I-Must-Visit List lol
There’s also Paulliac which the French owner of the chateau we stayed at in Alencon told us about. The wines there are also very good. Another place where you can do your wine-tasting tour.
Amazing! Thank you so much Malou
Truly enjoying your spectacular images here, Malou! And the food…oh, la la! Though I have a bag of cookies from my latest batch sitting on the counter, I think tomorrow I may rush to my little nearby market which carries many imported foods…because I remember seeing macaroons at one point…and you have made me so hungry for some!
Thank you. You can try making macaroons yourself, ha, ha, ha! I tried a few times and was successful at the third attempt.