We arrived at our home for the evening around noon on Monday afternoon. We stop every night and stay still so that we can walk around and explore about (albeit in the rain ;). Monday we visited the town of Chablis, obviously known for its Chablis wine. It is made from Chardonnay grapes and the wine is named for the town where it is produced. In Chardonnay they as well use Chardonnay grapes and it is therefore called Chardonnay for the town.
Wine tasting there at a beautiful chateaux in the center of town. We tasted 5 different wines from Petit Chablis, chablis Chablis Premier Cru and finally 2 different Chablis Grand Cru’s. The Grand Cru is the finest of the grapes in the region because of the location of the hill where they grow – facing more into the sun making for sweeter grapes.
We also hiked a bit through a path in the woods to look over Grand Cru hill where those amazing grapes are grown.
Our driver and guide for the week, had a surprise for us on the way back to the barge. It was amazing. Below is a wine cave. You literally drive into the cave, park your car, and there you are at your wine tasting. We all shared a glass of bubbly together and some passengers purchased a cherry liquor which we all enjoyed with dessert.
Once back on our barge, we settled in for the evening. The salon was toasty and welcoming. We enjoyed a cocktail all together and then enjoyed a lovely meal of roulade of rabbit with stuffing, filet of veal with celeriac and potatoes, carrots of every color, our new cheeses for the evening and chocolate rasberry molten cake with mango sorbet. Off to sleep to rest up for the day to come.