Day's Progress: 18 kms : 3 locks (Total 537 kms : 226 locks)
I was quite sad to leave Villeneuve – lovely place and I would like to come back here – also Sens. There is a lot of exploring and things to see in these 2 places.
We stopped off in Villevallier for lunch. Moored the boat at a mooring next to a bridge and headed off into the town. It is an ordinary place, small and not very interesting. We found the restaurant after charging up and down streets… it was at an oldish house and had tables set in the garden. The restaurant was called the Pavillion Bleau and had bright blue umbrellas and gazebos sheltering us from the sun. There was what looked like an office luncheon going on at one of the tables and at another table was an elderly gentleman who looks like he is a regular. The waitress brought him water and wine as soon as he sat down and then without many words passing between them she brought his meal. The service was fantastic and we had a great lunch – again, I am always surprised at these quite classy restaurants in such little places. I had a smoked salmon salad which was made with finely chopped salmon on a bed of lettuce and a mild dressing with herbs. Then I had my favourite – fromage blanc.
The countryside along the canal was quite hilly and this is the first time we have actually been on a canal since we entered the Seinne river. The edges of this canal are disintegrating and there is quite a bit of work being done on them – you can also see where they have already mended some of the sides.
The entrance to Joigny on the canal is beautiful – Joigny sits on top of a hill so you can see the whole place – also, up on the hill above the town is a large sign for the Tour de France. The race has just taken place here and the route went through Joigny. Next to the bridge was this floral cyclist.
We moored for the night and Steve made a reservation at a Michelin starred restaurant called La Cote Saint Jacques. We had passed the place just before we went into Joigny but were unsure that they had mooring there – which was a pity because it would have been great to just tie up there for the night. But they organised for a taxi to collect us and off we went.
With our pre-dinner drinks we were given some little snacky things of fine bamboo sticks and instructed to eat from left to right or right to left – but whatever… it was tasty and nice sitting in such a super place. I nipped into the shop where there were recipe books by the great chef, Jean Michel Lorain, who owns this place. There was also Mustard Seed ceramics for sale – so nice to see local SA stuff albeit it is fabulous and deserves to be in the finest shops! We were escorted to dining room – we first had to order whilst we had our drinks – which was on the ground level – so we went down in a little lift. The dining room was fairly ordinary with fairly ordinary prints on the wall. But beautiful linen and tableware and a stunning looking cheese table in the corner…cant wait.
The people at the table next to us had something quite spectacular – a large ceramic pot with a pastry top was wheeled to their table – the waiter removed the pastry and removed a duck thing – it had black legs and feet. Not sure what it was. Then it was carved and served to the people – there were 2 of them and most of the ducky thing went back into the pot!
I had a Hereford steak – this huge piece of meat arrived and was then carved for me and little bit on the side for Steve to taste – quite cute. It was served with a few bundles of macaroni which had been stuffed with foie gras, green crunchy cabbage and leeks. The leeks had a hint of anise. I then had Rhubarb pie with hibiscus cream which was ok. I then had a tiny bit of cheese and a tiny cup of sorbet. There were little plates of home made sweets put on the table when we had our pud… toffees, tiny peppermint meringues, boiled sweets. We then went off upstairs for coffee and brandy and when Steve went to settle our bill, he asked them to phone for a taxi. Steve was told that it was too late but they would organise someone from the restaurant to take us back to the boat. And sure enough, about 10 minutes later, one of the chefs appeared, we climbed into his car and Steve asked him what section of the kitchen he worked in – and this guy says that he works in all of them because he owns the place – yip, it was the great chef himself. Can you imagine it – totally unconcerned about giving us a ride home. How is that for great service? It was a super evening.
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