Little Beautiful Villages in Côte-d'Or, Burgundy, France 1
It was my most exciting day during our trip to Lyon/Dijon! We rented a car and drove to little beautiful villages in Côte-d'Or. Most of the roads were surrounded by green fields. Driving in French countryside without traffic was peaceful. First village we stopped by was Flavigny-sur-Ozerain. The history of the village started during Gallo-Roman period (50 BC–486 AD). The Carolingian crypt of the 8th-century Benedictine abbey was very interesting to see. The village was very quiet. There wasn't stores or restaurants/cafes open (oh, wait, there was a tiny local grocery store open) except a shop/factory of Anis de Flavigny, the village's famous anise bonbon (candies). According to wiki, "Anise candies were first made by the Benedictine monks of the abbey. After the French revolution, several confectioners began making this delicacy using the same recipe. Only one manufacturer remains today at the abbey, Maison Troubat, who claims to follow a recipe which has been in use since 1591." Wherever we were in the village, we smelled anise! The entire village has been flavored with anise for centuries.
The second village we visited was Semur-en-Auxois. It used to be a fortified town. The most parts of the castle have gone; the four tall towers and main wall still remain. We didn't plan to visit this village originally. Since we couldn't find any place for lunch in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, and we hoped Semur-en-Auxois, which was nicely located on our way, would offer a nice lunch for us. Although we didn't spend enough time to explore there, the village was quite lovely with the remains of the castle, cute houses and cobblestone streets.
Most importantly we found a place for lunch in Semur-en-Auxois and it was fantastic! Les Minimes was a cosy restaurant that offers traditional Burgundy cuisine.
Apéritif was foie gras on baguette. Yum. J's starter was millefeuille de sandre, créme fine de moutarde et échalotes - mille-feuille made with zander (a kind of freshwater fish), cream and shallots. It looked tasty. Mine was velouté de chou-fleur a l'Epoisses - cauliflower soup with Epoisses cheese. Very creamy and nicely Epoisses-y.
My Plat was Joue de Boeuf a la Bourguignonne - Beef Cheek Burgundy. I wanted to compare one by this restaurant with Beef Burgundy that we had in Dijon a few days ago. This was great. Not only the difference of the beef cut but the whole dish - the sauce and flavors as well as garnishes was much better than the other place. Bravo! J had Piece de Boeuf a l'Epoisses - beef steak with Epoisses cheese sauce.
We had desserts, too. I enjoyed Clafouti aux griottes, sirope au Ratafia - cherry clafoutis with Ratafia syrup. There are multiple types of Ratafia in Europe, but in this case, it was Ratafia de bourgogne (a fortified wine). It was wonderful! I was able to finish it up so quickly even after the rich starter and main dish. J's was Crème Brûlée aux anis de Flavigny - crème brûlée flavored with the anise candies from Flavigny-sur-Ozerain. The restaurant utilized local specialities here and there, which I liked very much!
To be continued...
