Joyeux Noel - Toulon 2010

A big tree with a few presents!!!!

Anticipation...

La Creche - Les santons de Provence

Guillaume & Tobias enjoying a magnum of Laurent Perrier

A great night

Sanary by night

Late day in Sanary sur Mer

Le pointu

Bordeaux Vinitech

A post a couple of weeks late, but a great trip all the same.

Ten Aussies invited by the organisers to check out the Vinitech expo in Bordeaux.  A great bunch of people and snow in Bordeaux to boot...

Jason, Ed and Toby in the Bordeaux snow

Dinner at Le Cinq 

Not-so-Smart driving....

Good mate Ed Swift (from Printhe Wines in Orange) and I came back to Toulon after Vinitech in Bordeaux.  We took the opportunity to have a look around the back-roads of Bandol in Uncle Francis' racing Smart car.  Crazy performance and braking for a tiny car....just average go-kart handling...but a lot of fun.  I think Ed was happy to get out for 5 minutes for a breather to take the photo....

Sunny skies in Toulon

Sunny but cold, Pam and Annie walking the streets of Toulon

Place " De La Liberte" Toulon

Interview of the kids for the French news... Do you like Christmas? YES was of course the answer!

Bourgogne

 A quick few days in Bourgogne and rather than post a whole heap of photos of people tasting wine, I thought it'd be better to post the early snow that blanketed the whole Cote d'Or.  Beautiful but very cold indeed!

 We managed to visit some great biodynamic producers including Benjamin Leroux at Domaine Armand.  Ben's negoce wines are looking pretty great too.  Also Domaines d'Angerville and Lafarge in Volnay.

We also made our obligatory stop at Dom. Jacques Prieur (Meursault) with Nadine and Domaine Dubois with Beatrice in Premeaux.

Deep(ish) snow 

Clearing skies...

Beaune Snow

Unseasonal snow in Burgundy

Place Carnot

Felix and THE snow ball

Getting heavier as the day went by

Market in front of the Hospice de Beaune. Love the pineapples (not local!)

Burgundy

Beaune under the rain

Yes you are not dreaming it is snow on the Clos Vougeot

More snow in the Hautes Cotes de Beaune

So cold we needed a slow cooked ham to warm us up

Pam challenged herself with Escargot de Bourgogne!!

Alice Felix and Pam

Again Paris

Watch out here we come!

The Metro

One little stop at Cafe Le Marly in front of Le Louvre

Two French girls in the metro

The famous Christmas tree of Gallerie La Fayette

Lunch at Laduree of course! 

The Bekkers