A Burgundian feast with Burgundian friends

And... because the day wasn't French enough, or fun enough, we returned home from the fabulous festival, gathered a few things together, did a quick blog post (now *that's* dedication) and headed back out the door, to Géraldine and Thomas's house, where they had promised us a true Burgundian lunch.

To get a sense of just how wonderful a true Burgundian lunch is... I will simply say that we arrived just after 12:30 -- and returned home almost seven hours later. In between, we experienced this:

Thomas preparing the kir (an aperitif of creme de cassis and white wine). In the front, you can see the parsleyed ham appetizer.

This, apparently, is the best kind of creme de cassis to buy. Always good to know these things!

The delicious ham, which was offered with a kind of cheese-puff (not the Cheetos kind)... I will ask Géraldine for more specifics on this and some of the other food.

The table, which Jeanne had set (and included beautifully drawn name cards for the kids -- all nine of them! Three of Géraldine and Thomas's, three of ours, and three of an English-speaking colleague of Géraldine's and his wife).

Ham and rice for the kids -- that's Pierre sitting next to Jack. Even the "simple" children's food was prepared with a tomato, creme and wine sauce. The kids were not expected to linger over lunch for several hours. They ate first -- and went off to play.

First course -- escargots, made in a Burgundian style. The shells were stuffed with the snails which were mixed in a parsley, garlic, and butter sauce and baked for nine minutes. Below, Géraldine and her colleague discuss how to prepare the escargots, which we all loved.

The giant bowl of snails, in time, became a giant bowl of shells. Géraldine and Thomas said the shells can be reused -- I think Géraldine said she has used her grandmother's shells for escargot, but said these are different shells. (I could be completely wrong about that, too... there was a steady flow of English, French, and wine).

 The main course was chicken prepared with a mushroom and "yellow wine sauce", as well as potatos (baked with cheese, wine, and other good things). Our hosts said it is more typical of the Jura region just to the east of Burgundy (in the mountains, and home of the tasty Mont D'Or cheese). It was as good as it looks.

 To balance out this food, we enjoyed these wines:

 And then had cheese -- a Comté, a Camembert, and a stinky (and very tasty) one called Epoisses.

Jack and Pierre became engrossed with the Wii after a while -- whereas John and I were engrossed with the vineyards you can see right outside the windows.

And more time passed, and more talking, and then Thomas brought out dessert -- pears prepared in a Dijon way.

I asked if they were somehow prepared with cassis. Nope, he said. Just dependable Burgundy wine (and a little pepper, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla).

The kids played and talked and nibbled on bread and played as we leisurely enjoyed our meal. As always, I felt like taking a nap at the end of the feast -- but instead, after the last sweet pear bite was devoured and fortified by good coffee, everyone put on coats and scarves to take a walk.

By the time we ended up back at Thomas and Géraldine's house (in the background), Olivia was sobbing because she WAS. NOT. TIRED. So we hurriedly (for the first time during the whole visit) put the kids in the car, kissed goodbyes, and thanked mille fois for such a wonderful experience. We also promised to have a meal for them at our home soon.

With kids asleep and time to look at these pictures, both John and I are still marveling at this day. The beauty, the food, the view, the friendship, the fun... it was so rich in every sense. This feeling of being so lucky, almost blessed, to be here is balanced with the knowledge that we just purchased our tickets to leave France for England (on May 23). It will be so hard to leave -- and not just because of the fabulous food.