Day
15-19
At
the end of a two month trip around the world, followed by two weeks
on European Railways, I am very much in need of a week of rest and
relaxation. Domaine Geoffray (http://www.domaine-geoffray.com/en/)
provides exactly that.
Although
I am accommodated in the very spacious gite that adjoins the
farmhouse, I am officially a guest in the bed and breakfast
accommodation, so breakfast is provided for me. I have also opted, as
over 80% of visitors do, to take my evening meal with the family.
Weather
permitting, both meals can be taken in the front garden, with a
lovely view over the vineyards to the valley below. Early in the
morning, you can even see Mont Blanc, many kilometres distant.
Brigitte
is very particular about the quality of her bread and pastries and
when, on a trip to a boulangerie, I ask her why she uses that
particular shop, she says 'Because I am certain it sells the best
bread in town'.
I
love the French tradition of saying 'Bonjour' to everyone when you
enter or leave a shop. Alain and Brigitte are surprised that it
doesn't happen everywhere. 'It is just politeness', they say. Even
French youngsters expect you to shake them by the hand or kiss them
on both cheeks upon meeting or departing.
Brigitte's
breakfasts include lovely fresh bread and croissants, about eight
different varieties of home-made jams plus locally-produced honey.
There is Alain's red or white grape juice and coffee, tea or hot
chocolate, as you wish.
Evening
meals include nibbles with your aperitif, followed by a wonderfully
varied four-course meal featuring local charcuterie, cheese and other
seasonally available produce. Starting around 8pm, you are unlikely
to be finished before 10. While the food is excellent, the best bit
is that it is all washed down with Alain's splendid wines,
Beaujolais, Brouilly, Gamay and Morgon as well as sparkling versions
of the white Beaujolais and Gamay Rose.
You
don't have to stay at Domain Geoffray to try the wines or local
produce; there is an excellent shop at the farm which stocks things
like Brigitte's home-made jam and local honey plus a cellar where you
can try out the wines before deciding what to buy.
The
conversation at dinner is wide and varied, but I love listening to
Alain on the subject of wine How to graft vines, the complex rules of
domain and vintage, what soil and terrain is best for a good vineyard
and much else. When the sun shines, he is away on his
specially-designed vineyard tractor at 0530 in the morning, finally
returning home shortly before sunset.
With all the neighbours doing
the same, the term quiet countryside can be, at times, a misnomer!
The
local town is called Belleville-sur-Saône, but sometimes marketed as
Belleville-en-Beaujolais. Officially, it is just plain Belleville.
There's
not a great deal to see really, but there are some delightful
historic aspects of the town if you venture just a little way off the
beaten track.
On such a mission, I spot some lovely old gates with
ancient advertising painted on them, plus the entrance to what used
to be the municipal bath-house.
The
12th century Notre Dame church certainly deserves an hour
of your time. Started in 1168, the church was consecrated 11 years
later. Some 14th century decoration of the pillars is
especially striking.
The
Hôtel-Dieu, opened in 1733 and in use till 1991, is certainly well
worth a visit. Like many French towns, the name refers to the main
hospital, originally set up by the church and commonly run by nuns.
Belleville has a particularly well-preserved example which you can
experience by using an audio-guide or as part of a guided tour. I was
disappointed that, as an audio guide user, I couldn't see the
apothecary, but three perfectly preserved wards and the 18th
century chapel are fascinating.
Three
display cases have a wide variety of surgical instruments including a
display on enemas and the guide informs you that Louis XIV had one
almost every day. Colonic irrigation is certainly not a new concept!
There are even live leeches as part of a display about blood-letting,
plus some very fearsome looking dental forceps which remind me that
my toothache is so severe, that I cannot wait until my appointment
back home next week.
But
help is at hand. Brigitte has booked me an appointment almost next
door to the Hôtel-Dieu. My French is challenged severely when I have
to complete my medical details on the registration form, but, having
done so, I am seen very quickly.
Melanie
Muller learned her craft in Strasbourg and very quickly establishes
that I had, as I thought, broken a tooth some six weeks ago in
Australia. An X-Ray reveals that the nerve is very close to the
damage and that is why I am having such intense pain. What I thought
was another problem on a tooth above the broken one appears just to
be a reaction to the inflammation below. All this detail conducted in
French! After a jab and a bit of drilling, Melanie puts in an
emergency filling, good for two weeks and sends me back to reception.
I
am expecting a large bill and have my credit card ready, but the
consultation fee, including the filling and the X-Ray is just €21,
much less than I would have to pay under the Health Service in
England. Melanie has also given me a prescription for painkillers and
an anti-inflammatory drug and, at the pharmacy, that costs a little
over €6.
But
the pain relief is almost immediate and I am immensely grateful.
I
have planned an away-day to Switzerland to organise an emergency
passport. Luckily, with several days left on my InterRail pass, I can
get from Belleville to Bern without additional expense.
It
means a very early start though, because I need to be at the British
Embassy by 11am. Alain kindly gets up before dawn to run me to the
station in time for the 0525am 'TER-Car'. In railway-speak, a TER is
a regional express train, but the 'Car' tag is anew one on me. It
turns out that it means a bus. A little one is waiting to go to the
TGV station in Macon, while a big coach appears to take 25 or so of
us to Lyon Part-Dieu station. Under a somewhat surreal blue light,
the waiting passengers look like something from a theatre set.
The
coach takes the auto-route to Lyon and deposits us right in front of
the station and well in time for my train to Geneva. This turns out
to be a very stylish and comfortable new TER, with a small First
Class section immediately behind the driver's cab.
Swiss
and French customs and border officials are in evidence, but nobody
asks to check my briefcase or see my non-existent passport.
The
connection to the Swiss Railways double decker Inter City train to
Bern is made within twenty minutes and, almost exactly five hours
after leaving Belleville, I am on the tram for the short trip to the
British Embassy.
I
have filled in the forms in advance and have all the necessary
documentation to hand, so the paperwork doesn't take long. An hour
later, I hand over 147 Swiss Francs (Around €122 or £100) and I
have my Emergency Travel Document as the bureaucrats call it,
although it says Emergency Passport on the front.
I
am asked to fill in a customer satisfaction survey and am happy to do
so. The staff at the Consular Service in Bern have been completely
polite, professional and efficient, but the call centre you have to
deal with in the first instance is truly awful and makes the
experience of losing a passport much more traumatic than it needs to
be. If one of the Bern Consular staff hadn't given me a direct email
address on my first visit, I am certain I would have completely lost
it with the call centre.
I
have been in Bern for under two hours and just manage to catch the
fast train back to Geneva. There I am in plenty of time to catch the
TGV to Lyon but, same old story, there are plenty of seats if I pay
the full fare, but none are available for InterRail pass holders.
So
there is time to repair to the nearby Lebanese/Moroccan restaurant
Al-Amir, which serves a delightful lamb stew lunch for 17 Swiss
Francs (£11.50 or €14), a pretty amazing price for hugely
expensive central Geneva.
As
it happens, there is an old-style TER which, because the line is not
to TGV standards, takes only ten minutes longer than the high-speed
train to reach Lyon. And, amazingly, it's one of the most comfortable
and best-appointed carriages I have had in almost three weeks of
travel.
Some
13 hours after setting off, I am back in Belleville in plenty of time
for one of Brigitte's splendid dinners and, of course, copious
amounts of Alain's excellent wines.
On
Sunday, I take my final rail trip back to Geneva and have one night
there before I take, three weeks later than initially planned, my
final leg of my round the world journey
(http://mdsouter.blogspot.com).
The best of the rail trip photos are in a new album:
 |
| The very best of European Rail Journey 2012 |
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