Maison Joseph Drouhin, Beaune

Look!! this car is even tinier than my Mini Cooper Miss Poot Poot Poot. Don't think my fat ass can fit into the really little leather seats. It even came with an open roof top!! Cool~~~~~

Autumn showers in France are really weird, it comes and then it goes....and then back again. On and off than the piston engine. So our dearie hotel concierge was so worried when we usually headed out without any protection and quickly gave us umbrellas before we head out.

and in less than 3 minutes, the sun was out again....so weird right?

We were waiting for our appointment with Maison Joseph Drouhin situated at the same square with Basilique Notre-Dame. This church was one of the very last great romaneques architecture in Burgundy. Its construction was started in the mid 12th century, took ages to complete....apparently it was only completed the next century, hence additional architectures and looks were added in which were not 12th century. If u know wat I mean? We were quite confused to see some gothic columns and spires.

The maison doesn't look big huh? Don't be fooled by its exterior. Underneath this building with kilometres of wine cellars stretching throughout this lil town and the church were so many hidden gems and history.

We were introduced to Joseph Drouhin by Dr. Epicurean a few years ago, so it's kinda of recent. JS and Monkey have been appreciating wines but bcoz of biasness and preference, we tend to stick to a certain "group" of wines and winemakers. Sometimes you really do need a certain someone, especially with strong opinions and a lil bit of "selling" skills to change our palate and to further enhance our wine collections.

The wineshop was pretty medieval with original walls and bricks. Some wonderful lightings, displays and merchandising, it has turned this old place into a rather modern and yet with deep heritage wine house.

JS was storming from racks to racks....I WANT THIS!!! I WANT THAT!!!! SHALL WE GET THESE TOO? 

Monkey -_-"
worse than me inside a Faure le Plage boutique.

and so I waited for him to choose his candies. JS knows his wines so well, with deeply rooted knowledge from parcels to parcels, appellation, makers, characteristics, weather conditions for that particular vintage, terroir and viniculture.

as for Monkey, my first priority was to check out the huge map of Drouhin's parcel of lands/vineyards. Stretching from Cote de Nuit, Cote de Beaune, Cote Chalonaise to Chablis and finally in the United States as well.

Founded in 1880, wines from the Drouhin family has been prized by the Kings and Dukes of Burgundy. Today this family business is run by the great grandchildren, I've calculated based on their family tree - 5th generation. 

and our wine journey with Joseph Drouhin begins as we stepped into the dark cellar underground the lil town of Beaune. Our nose was penetrated with the beautiful smell of french oak. With respect to the aging process, we kept our voices down, as in the to honor each barrels as we past rows after rows of casks.

oh hello hello there Marc de Bourgogne. Though u guys were made with leftover grapes, I still enjoy a glasses of two and sometimes use them to boil chicken essence/soup. Opppssss I shouldn't say that, winemakers will come after me!!! But seriously just a piece of drumstick with nothing else, and a bowl of marc de bourgogne, throw in some red dates or goji berries, double boiled it for 45 minutes and u have the most heart/stomach warming pure chicken essence. Sorry I have stopped taking Brand's Chicken Essence when I found out its list of ingredients.

Basically Marc de Bourgogne is almost like brandy, high in alcohol content, soft and dry.

What is Monkey starring so intently at?

Really really aged bottles from the 1920s. Private collection of the maison. They need to be kept this way to protect them. The thick dust/mold *Do u even call it dust/mold anymore at this stage??* are like cushion and pillows, enveloping the bottles comfortably.

Madame was explaining and her passion for winemaking, the trade and the maison shows in her eyes. It sparkled in such a suave like when you pour a good bottle of red wines into the glass.......smooth and charming :))))

The intern of the maison was busy taking notes. I should be taking notes too, but that would be too academic!!! So as usual, being a notti Monkey I did grabbed the intern's notepad to scribble things to his horror bcoz he couldn't spell a certain word.

Intern: "Sa s'ecrit comment??"
Monkey: "U-M-A-......"
Intern scribbled but.....U got it wrong!!!!

arghhh I got to do the alphabet pronunciation the French way
Monkey: "Ueh-Am-Ah-..."
He scribbled again, still incorrect!!!

Lemme do it!!! and grabbed his writing instrument and wrote U-M-A-M-I
yes I wanna tell madame that particular wine has got Umami-ness innit, the 5th taste that our tongues can detect.

Intern was upset coz my handwritting wasn't beautiful like his. Hihihihihihihihihihihihi I ruined his perfectly legered notepad.

you will notice the high concaved ceilings, columns and walls just like a church. Bcoz we were underneath the church!!!! Some parts of the cellar were dated back to the Merovingian Dynasty. Wow that's really long time ago.

the intern who dislike me bcoz I scribbled on his notepad, Monkey and Madame discussing some really important issues on feminism and Women Today.

Here we were looking and examining the original press dated from 1570 was still alive!!!!! there's a beautiful story behind it and I was pretty touched with the efforts by winemakers. So much of history here.
 

Happiest time = tasting time :)))))))))
while Intern was still bz scribbling and taking notes....

the limestone rock with a lot of seashells fossils. It's amazing how these affect the grapes and the terroir. Hence some grapes has got this limey notes and taste.

Just some of the bottles that JS wanted to bring home, and so he did. He was like a happy boy clutching and hugging his bottles. While Monkey's mind was fully aroused from the new information obtained form Madame on that afternoon.

I alwiz yearned for new experiences and new knowledge each and everyday. I hope you will feel the same way too about life. Knowledge is power and is something so precious that nobody could take away from you.

They say curiosity kills the cat. But if I don't learn and be curious it really kills and crushes me.....

Happy sourcing for new things in life today :))))))

First day :)

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel greeting the early morning sun

The beauty about midnite flight is u arrive at your destination early the next morning. I guess this apply to destinations like Europe and Japan. The time differences and our Msia GMT is just perfect whenever travlling to these countries.

The flight to Japan is 11.35pm and u arrive the next morning at 7.15am Japan local time. Just perfect to hit the Fishmarket for some awesome sushis!!!! As for Paris, the plane takes off from KLIA at 11.55pm and arrives the next morning at 6.20am. So u will get into the city by 7.30am, dump ur luggages and time for......COFFEE AND CROISSANTS!!!!


Sorry had to stop and check the windows out for a while. We were staying around the Vendome/Opera area so it's rather dangerous to the pocket as we needed to walk through Rue Cambon everyday to get somewhere. Hiak hiak hiak....next to the display window, with its black gate is Madame Coco Chanel's apartment. Yep we will visit it the next trip. It's alwiz our mission to leave something interesting for the next trip, afterall Paris is our annual destination.

Though it's her apartment, the unit upstairs was more of her atelier and lounges. She didn't sleep her though but at the Ritz which was just opposite.

So back to our breakfast, before Monkey could yell CROISSANTS here I come, JS needed to spend some time with his new gadgets bcoz the sun was just so perfect.

so he tested many many shots as the sun rises from behind the Louvre. He's now an expert with taking pics INTO the SUN.

as usual, poor hungry me had to be his test subject.

JS: "Why the face like that??? smile."
Monkey: "I'm hungry~~~~"

JS: "But but....u had so many sticks of satays and your specially ordered Roti Pratha for supper followed by a whopping plate of Nasi Lemak for breakfast!!!!!."

JS: "I demand u to smile now."

Monkey hmmmmm smile. There u go. Can I have my croissants now?"

frustrated, he directed his lens at other subjects and he found his. A japanese couple with the gal in Yukata. Didn't they said that Paris is the Capital of Fashion and ppl here are really trendy? Hehehehehehe it's really nice to dress up for any occasion bcoz it makes ppl happy. Don't u agree?

This picture provokes such emotional on me. It's exactly the same feeling when I was on top the bridge, looking at the Seine River dreamily while basking on the lovely morning sun. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, It's a LOVELY DAY!!!! and it's not only 9am yet. Hahahaha

It's really great to be early, bcoz the Seine River has yet to be filled with traffics. Yes traffics of tourist boats gliding up and down this river, with announcements in German, English, Japanese, CHINESE, Russian. Gosh, how tourism has driven and built this place. At the same time, damaging bcoz there's just too much of pollution and wastage in terms of human consumptions.


Autumn has just arrived, so the leaves were not exactly brown yet, and the trees have yet to shed that much. Otherwise the entire floor would be covered with golden brown carpet.

and we walked to the Left Bank of Paris, famously known as Rive Gauche. The center of Paris artists in the 19th and 20th century. Poets, Artists, Writers and politicians *didn't know that's an art?* gathered here for creativity and sense of belonging. That includes the famous Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso.


and so we headed to my all time favourite cafe for breakfast!!!! Yea tee hee hee *smiling sheepishly* my breakfast number 2 for the day. This place serves the best-est CROISSANTS in Paris :))))


We got a nice table overlooking the Saint Germain des Pres Church. From the pic, u could see that Mr. JS has already mastered his INTO-the-SUN technique.
-_-"


So I made him sat INTO-the-SUN!!! more like facing the sun but he has got no complains at all. The morning sun here is just so so lovely!!!!


Fried eggs with bacons. Frying eggs with animal fats is the bomb!!!


oh yumsss my love!!! Crispy Croissants with chewy inside....u r the reason I walked all the way to the left bank bcoz JS said we must burn some calories after the Nasi Lemak onboard.

Look at the crust, it's seriously so crispy you can hear it when I munch on them. Krok Krok Krok!!!! and bcoz I finished JS's share of croissants once he was done with his Bacon and Eggs, we had to order more :P


and 3 more came :))))))))))
hehehehe....Look at the flaky crust, then the soft chewy thousand layers of pastry. The texture is just great with slight sweetness to it. The secret has to be the butter and technique of rolling the dough over and over with butter quickly, so it doesn't melt. Only melts in ur mouth I guess :))))))

We have eaten at so many places, and nothing can come close to the croissants served at Les Deux Magots. Not even Cafe Flore which was just 2 doors away.

It was a Saturday, the streets were so quiet!!! Perfect for photography :)))))

After our simple yummy breakfast with amazing coffees, we were downing cups after cups to the amazement of the Garcon, we walked over to Musee d'Orsay and got ourself drenched in the emotions and love painted by Vincent Van Gogh. Also I was happy that I found pieces that I've longed to see at the museum. Again the beauty bout being early, there isn't a queue for tickets, and there's lesser people at the museum with zero tour groups. Otherwise u would need to queue up just to have a good view of the great works by these great painters and artists.

by late afternoon, we were quite done. Feeling of great achievement we walked back to the other side of Paris through the parks and reminiscence bout the last visit to the parks.

so much of greenery :))))))) I can't remember how long we sat there and talked and discussed, bcoz we've been doin this almost everyday at our vacation. Idling at the park/lake/river/sea spending time together like this is really such a leisure.

As we were basking in the sun enjoying the sounds of birds chirping, we heard another sound. Kluuu kluuu kluuuu coming from Monkey's stomach....heeeeeeeeeeeee. JS then decided we should head down to our next favourite place for a nice salad with cakes and chocolates :)))))

So tell me how not to put on weight? JS answered that quickly, that's why we need to walk as much as we could every single day, which we did for 23 days :))))))))

La Madeleine, a roman catholic church near to our hotel.

JS said that he can't give me anything nor everything in the world. But he will ROAM the Earth with Notti Monkey together.
:))))))))))) that's a promise :))))))

Le Comptoir du Relais Saint Germain, Paris

Our Sunday afternoon continued on......after tea, coffee, hot chocolate and cakes we ventured into to Le Marais part of the city for some shopping. Yes I know, judging fr the picture above, u could see who was the impatient one.

Look Right then Left and Right once again before hopping on the road. We were looking specifically for some vintage shops to purchase vintage stuffs of coz. Poor JS was tagging along, but he's really sweet for being our photographer for the afternoon :)))))))

Eric caught the eyes of a chick hahahahaha. Good shot hahahaha.

I've forgotten wat were we discussing. There's like so much to be discussed whenever one is around him. Of life philosophies to the next project and creations, feelings, thoughts, outlooks. Yes JS alwiz tells me that successful ppl talk about plans, where else the other group of people will just talk about other people. That's so true!!!

Don't u just lurve the Metro signange? So belle-epoque!!! Yeah simple things like this makes me smile. It could be the nose of aromatic coffee with buttery croissants, or the greenish nose of falling autumn leaves, to the intense beautiful smell coming fr the bakery, the sights of imperfect trees lining the streets, the damaged walls full of graffitis. I can't describe exactly what will make me smile, it's just so impromptu.

But most of all, I realised I lurve talking to myself. It's a habit since I was young. So I've been talking to myself, asking and answering my own questions. Most of the time it's so hilarious to receive response fr strangers who were also tourists themselves.

Monkey: "Oh my gawd.....this is so brilliant!!! When was this thing built?"
Stranger: "I think it's called the amphitheatre. Built around AD 90."
Monkey: "geeeee thanks for the info."

While hiking a certain tiny ancient hill
Monkey: "arghhhhh this is so difficult....I think I am gonna give up *huff puff*"
Old Stranger with walking stick: "Oh come on now young lady, I'll wait for you."
Monkey: "Hahahahaha thanks. Think I'm gonna sit on this rock and catch up with my breath, while my housemate must have already been up at the top laughing at me."


and for dinner, we decided to try our luck at the yummy bistro runs by the famous French MasterChef jury *since 2010* Yves Camdeborde. Known as the father of Bistronomy, he's quite a celebrity. However he has left the reality show in 2014 to pursue his business goals and dreams.

Le Comptoir du Relais is open 7 days a week and this was like our 3rd visit and coincidence has it that it's always a Sunday. To book a table on weeknights require reservation months in advance. No Kidding and this ain't no fancy restaurant. It's a bistro. Weeknights have got only one service/seatings which is at 8.30pm with no menu. So basically u eat wat Chef Camdeborde prepares in the kitchen.

While on weekends, they don't take reservations, so hundreds and hundreds of folks will queue up for a table here bcoz it's on a first come first serve basis. There's a food and drinks menu for both Saturdays and Sundays.

We must have been that lucky bcoz the moment we arrived, we got a nice table. It has been our lucky day so far....we managed to do and gotten watever we wanted on that day. Hehehehehehe.

Le Comptoir du Relais serves mostly biologic and natural wines. I must say the wine list is pretty decent and we found some beautiful bottles :))))

Foie Gras on toast. It was really good with specks of sea salt. Just enough and balanced. Creamie and rich.


a cold appetizer of roots vegetables, green tomatoes, cheese with a souffle on the side. Really refreshing to start off our dinner.

Another typical french bistro food - escargots. With lots of garlic butter and parsley. The taste isn't as wat u've imagined, it's just green with a good texture. And mop down those garlic butter with lots of bread :)))) yumsssss

Assortment of hams and gherkins...and yes more butter!!! hahahaha the butter here is just too good!!

Grilled lobster salad with crunchy green apples, avocados and lettuces. The lobster was grilled just right and slightly rare on the inside. Sweet and rich in taste, balanced with the sourness from the green apple. So lovely.

Service was really quick, friendly and precise!!! We were happy diners the entire nite hahahaha


our main course of crispy pork served with velvety mash. 
So so so awesome, the coarsely chopped parts of the pork were wrapped in its own diaphragm, fried in animal fats. I know really sinful but darn good!!!



we couldn't decide on the desserts so we chose the classics. Creme Brulee and Tarte Tartine!!!! Yumssss. Check out the crispy burns.....

Hahahaha they immediately bonded and got to have a pic together. The friendly head staff who was so fun and jovial. Singing and creating conversation with us.

When we were done with out dinner, there was still a long queue outside waiting for a table. It's not a big place but they certainly have big HEARTS and serve gusty French food.

It was full moon that evening!!! Truly our lucky day, and we walked another few more KM to burn off all the calories and wines *hic*

JS framed this pic so well with the tree branches, it almost looked like an eye :)))))

and we walked and walked and walked until it's almost midnite when we returned back to our hotel. We went home feeling contented for such a beautiful day spent together. However I must say the tummies were definitely way more happier....kekekeke.

I would suggest to visit Le Comptoir du Relais on weekends for dinner. Best time would be from 6.30pm onwards. If you would like to drop by for lunch, it's 7 days a week non stop service from 12 noon onwards. For weekdays it's non-stop until 6pm only.

Le Comptoir du Relais
9 Carrefou de l'Odeon,
75006 Paris, France.
Tel: +33 1 4427 0797
Nearest tube station would be "Odeon"