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Thurs.15.11.07. Jo and I had a previously arranged a meeting with Olivier and David Auguste at the house in St. Martin du Tartre to discuss the renovation work schedule so we arose early for breakfast before the rest of the team. Upon leaving, Kenny and Norma were about to go in for petit dejeuner but were slightly apprehensive concerning procedures in particular ordering their food in French. “It’s quite simple, the waitress will ask you if you want coffee or tea, café ou tea, so all that you need to say is ‘café, s’il vous plait’ then she will bring it to your table. She will also ask you for your room number so that she can add the breakfasts to your bill.” Confidently they entered the dining room where they were met by the young waitress. No sooner had she posed the question when Kenny immediately went into ‘shut down’ mode, a la Mad John. His arms strapped to his side, head bowed with hollow eyes fixed to the floor mumbling only one word to the girl, ‘England’, a strange response for any occasion, with that he sat down next to Norma who by now had been joined by Dave and Julie, proudly reporting that he had ordered coffee for four people. He later accused Jo and I of abandoning them like behaving as ‘bad teachers on a school trip’, leaving the naughty ones to fen for themselves in a hostile foreign environment.
Thurs.15.11.07. Jo and I had a previously arranged a meeting with Olivier and David Auguste at the house in St. Martin du Tartre to discuss the renovation work schedule so we arose early for breakfast before the rest of the team. Upon leaving, Kenny and Norma were about to go in for petit dejeuner but were slightly apprehensive concerning procedures in particular ordering their food in French. “It’s quite simple, the waitress will ask you if you want coffee or tea, café ou tea, so all that you need to say is ‘café, s’il vous plait’ then she will bring it to your table. She will also ask you for your room number so that she can add the breakfasts to your bill.” Confidently they entered the dining room where they were met by the young waitress. No sooner had she posed the question when Kenny immediately went into ‘shut down’ mode, a la Mad John. His arms strapped to his side, head bowed with hollow eyes fixed to the floor mumbling only one word to the girl, ‘England’, a strange response for any occasion, with that he sat down next to Norma who by now had been joined by Dave and Julie, proudly reporting that he had ordered coffee for four people. He later accused Jo and I of abandoning them like behaving as ‘bad teachers on a school trip’, leaving the naughty ones to fen for themselves in a hostile foreign environment.
We caught up with the gang at the Logis de Montagny around 12.30. the journey time from Beaujeu to Belleville, Macon, Tournus, St.Gengoux le National and Buxy had only taken one and a half hours. This was a pleasant alternative to the many miles that we had travelled on previous days (we had by now clocked up 900miles) affording sufficient opportunity to see a little of the local market and Buxy town itself. Several possible activities had been discussed regarding the afternoon, the Voie Vert a green beautifully manicured walk along a disused single track railway line, a visit to the preserved medieval historic town of Cluny the equestrian centre of France, or even a hike up to the highest point in the region the top of Mont St. Vincent enjoying magnificent panoramic 360 degree views of Sud Burgoyne, but surprisingly it was the lure of European bottled beers at Wolfgang’s Papillion bar emerged as favourite.
With the assistance of Madame Girardot, the manager of the Logis, we were able to book a taxi for 2.30 from Buxy to Bissy sur Fley where the bar was located. Welcomed by Wolfgang, our genial German host, we sat cosily in his lounge wading through the five page menu of beers drawn from all the corners of Europe. Wolfgang had been in Bissy for 17 years with his now estranged wife making a living from tourists and strong support from the European ‘biker’ network. He introduced each beer knowledgably, enthusiastically interspersed with ‘tips on good life’ punctuated with a slight ‘phut’ when he wasn’t quite sure how to finish his statement. After much deliberation and advice we decided upon our preferred choices. Doc had gone for the ‘Bitburger’ wheat beer at 4.8% avoiding the temptation of the stronger beers reflecting on the later promise of the best meal of his life at Aux Annees Vins in the evening. Kenny and Norma went for it having the ‘Aventinus at 8.2% and the ‘Doppel bock Dunkel’ at 7.1%. Dave and Julie Young were more comfortable with the 5.2% ‘Wagners heffe Weisse’ followed by the 6.9% ‘Bergbeck Hell’ whilst David and Julie Green, having sampled the delights of the bar several times before knew exactly what they liked and went for ‘Das Naturtrube’, 5.0% and ‘Waldhaus Diplon Pils’ at 4.9%. Jo and I also played safe by having the weaker beers of ‘Franziskaner Heffe Weissbier’ 5.0% and ‘Konig Ludwig Dunkel’ at 5.1%. Each beer had been perfectly matched to the correctly shaped promotional glass in the background to further ease the flow, Wolfgang treated us to his some of his huge collection of ‘Blues’ music. A second round of beers quickly followed with the addition of ‘Rothaus Marzan export’ and a wonderful 7.2% export Guiness which everyone seemed to appreciate. The afternoon had been perfect, the bright high pressure sunny day, the beer the blues and the hospitality of Wolfgang brought tears of joy to Kenny’s eyes. He was in beer heaven, later sticking a lip on Wolfgang to thank him gratefully for a memorable few hours so much so that he was already planning his next trip by booking his ‘gite’ next door for next June. The taxi returned bang on time we made the very pleasant trip back to Buxy enjoying the rolling russet woodlands, tenderly cultivated valley sides bathed in the final throws of the afternoon light to Buxy.
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