Category: food & drinks

  • Saint-Emilion snapshots, part II

    Saint-Emilion snapshots, part II

    A few more snapshots … Saint-Emilion is on the east in the Bordeaux wine region and the right bank of the Dordogne. In the region, there are 5400 hectares for growing vines, 800 wine estates and 127 that are listed and opened to the public. The vineyards of Saint-Emilion are ancient. Back in the Roman…

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  • Hostellerie de Plaissance, Saint-Émilion

    Hostellerie de Plaissance, Saint-Émilion

    Saint-Émilion is rustic and picturesque. Hostellerie de Plaissance is located in the center of it sitting above the Place du Marché next to the Monolithic church (Clocher de l’eglise Monolithe). The restaurant has a private courtyard that overlooks the square and restaurants below. We could have sat outside but due to the pollen, we opted to be inside.…

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  • Saint-Emilion snapshots, part I

    Saint-Emilion snapshots, part I

    Saint-Emilion is a popular place because of its environment, history and produce. The communes of Saint-Emilion, there are 22 of them, extends over 238 sq km between Libourne and Castillon-la-Bataille, and bound to the south by the Dordogne river. The town is named after a monk named Emilion (duh) who came to settle in the 8th…

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  • Le Pré, Clermont-Ferrand

    Le Pré, Clermont-Ferrand

    Today is the day of the French presidential election. The future of Europe depends much on this result. Apt that we blog about France here aujourd’hui. We spent a week on the west coast of France over Easter. On our drive towards the Atlantic from the Alps, Clermont Ferrand is roughly the midpoint after Lyon.…

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  • Librerie Coop + Eataly, Bologna

    Librerie Coop + Eataly, Bologna

    In our bookstore tour of the world, we increasingly see the merger of bookselling with another retail concept – for example, the T-site in Daikanyama 代官山 in Tokyo and the Eslite Spectrum in Hong Kong – see our posts here and here. In Bologna, I (Chris) visited the Librerie Coop + Eataly Bologna – a…

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  • Jamonería, Madrid

    Jamonería, Madrid

    Spanish cured ham (Jamón Ibérico) is well known worldwide. They are sold and consumed in specialist shops – Jamonería – in Madrid. One such store situated just off the Puerta del Sol named itself Museo del Jamon. Its location suggests that it is a touristy place, but surprisingly, it was packed with locals or domestic…

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