Lunch at Le Bouchon du Palais, Dijon, 27th June

On Tuesday morning, there was just time for a final trip to Mes Bourgognes to pick up some goodies to take home, and then we packed up our belongings and travelled slowly in convoy down to the station, fortunately only a five minute walk. We caught the train to Dijon and then attempted to make sense of the left luggage situation. Fortunately the boys had prior experience of this, which involves buying a ticket at the station but then depositing the actual luggage at a hotel a couple of minutes' walk away.

Duly unburdened, we strolled into town to our lunch destination, Le Bouchon du Palais. ACC and G discovered this place last year, and had raved about it, so I was intrigued. It's tucked away in a sleepy little square behind la Place de la Liberation, and there were tables set outside, so we decided to sit at one of those.

First up were some aperitifs. I foolishly went for a glass of cremant, while G ordered a Pontarlier which turned out to be an extremely superior anis and much research since we've been home reveals that it's not available in the UK, sparking dreams of starting an import business.

We had a pot of white wine with our starters.

G had this house terrine...

...but I was thrilled to get this fried camembert which was absolutely huge, in case you can't tell. And this was a starter! It was cooked to perfection, all gooey inside.

For our red, we had this Beaujolais Le Ronsay 2015 from Jean-Paul Brun, which is one of these very pure, natural Beaujolais which I particularly enjoy.

As a main course, I went for this chicken dish which I'd heard was the thing to have. The waiter asked me if I knew what it was, and as I wasn't entirely sure, he then explained it to me. It was a chicken supreme swimming in a cheesy sauce made with three different cheeses. Amazing.

For pudding, G had ice cream, while ACC and I went for profiteroles, which was scarcely necessary in my case, but I justified it to myself on the grounds that we weren't going to have time for dinner that evening.

We lazed around for a bit in the sun and watched a little dog wandering around the square. I had spotted a sign for "Luxury Flat in Dijon" on the wall behind us and it appears that they have three flats right next door. The temptation to pack it all in and just move there was very strong!

We also spotted an open window into some legal offices and ACC reminded me of the scene in Engrenages when Monsieur le Juge had his diary stolen. I was just waiting for Josephine Karlsson or Pierre Clement to walk past, but we were a far cry from that gritty series.

In case it's not obvious from the above, I loved everything about Le Bouchon du Palais. The drinks, the food, and the relaxed yet charming service were all perfect and this was possibly my favourite meal of the entire trip.

There was time for a wander round Dijon before catching the TGV back to Paris. I'd made the schoolgirl error of booking the Eurostar before booking the TGV and then finding that there wasn't a TGV that gave us a comfortable time to get across Paris, so there was a crazy rush involving the dystopian RER system, followed by the dystopian passport control at the Gare du Nord, but fortified by cheese, chicken and profiteroles somehow we made it onto the Eurostar train with seconds to spare!

Many thanks to ACC for organising yet another fabulous trip. We packed so much in to a short space of time and as always it was great to be in Burgundy, the place where the magic happens. Until next time...

Lunch at Le Montrachet, 26th June

Lunch at Le Montrachet, the hotel in Puligny-Montrachet, is always a treat and I launch a campaign for it to happen every time I go to Burgundy. This year we were able to find time to fit it in on the Monday, and Julien very kindly dropped us off right outside, en route back to his vineyard in Corpeau.

The woman on the front desk was very friendly, handshakes all round, and then we proceeded up the staircase to the wine bar where we were greeted by the maitre d' and the sommeliere. With such good weather, we were able to sit out on the terrace which is next to a large lawn covered in clover flowers. It was good to be back.

They have a very comprehensive and interesting wine list, and ACC selected this white to start with. I was excited to see several young women who seemed to be sommelieres-in-training, and immediately started planning a Mallory Towers style Sommeliere School series. If Netflix are paying attention, I'll be happy to discuss further with them. Anyway, one of them had the unenviable task of uncorking this bottle in front of an audience of three which I found pretty nerve-racking on her behalf, but it was all fine, and a very good bottle of white it was too.

We had the excellent value 32 euro set lunch menu and were amused at the translation of something as "sir-fired" which certainly confused the table of Americans sitting nearby. What could it possibly mean?

G didn't have time to take a photo of the usual plate of amuses-gueles before they were wolfed down. The starter was this take on a Caesar salad.

I'm trying for the life of me to remember what exactly this was! Damn le Montrachet for changing their menu every month so I can't check. Update: G has reminded me it was veal, ratte potatoes and peppers.

There was some excitement at this point as the main course had been served but we didn't yet have our red wine to go with it. Fortunately this was soon rectified by the head sommeliere herself (I love her little pin which is a bunch of grapes)!

We went for this Moulin a Vent from Jean-Paul Dubost - check out the trendy label. My only quibble was that every time our glasses were refilled, it was assumed that the boys would be partaking but I was always specifically asked if I wanted any more, which made me feel like a dreadful drunken woman. I'm probably way too prickly on this point, but this kind of thing irritates the hell out of me and I wish they wouldn't do it. Anyway, end of rant.

For pudding, I had this strawberry shortcake thing.

We also got a round of petits fours, which were beautiful to look at.

And finally, a glass of Roulot marc de bourgogne for the road.

We had some time to kill before our taxi was due, so found a nearby park bench on which to sit, and G took a photo of the fountain. The perfect reflection across the square indicates how little fountain action was actually going on. It was an incredibly peaceful place and just right for a half-hour snooze.

Dinner at Otto's, 20th May

On Friday evening, G, D and I went for dinner at Otto's. This was D's first visit, my second, and about G's hundredth!

Past experience indicated that the Canard a la Presse served more than two, so we had it between three of us on this occasion which worked perfectly. En aperitif we drank some Arteis 2002 champagne which was pleasantly mature, and then Otto recommended a white Pernand-Vergelesses 2011 from Girardin with our starters, which went nicely with my first asparagus of the year. I made sure that I limited myself to one piece of bread, remembering what happened the first time we went to Bocuse.

G had made a special arrangement that we could bring along a couple of bottles from our own cellars. D contributed this Sterling Vineyards cabernet sauvignon from 1973 which was really interesting. It had a heady nose of sweet fruit, then rounded out on the palate and ended very dry indeed with some serious tannins still present and correct.

I wrote about the duck press process previously, so won't repeat that here, but once again it was all very theatrical and D even got up to try his hand at operating the duck press! The results were as delicious as I remembered. I'd actually forgotten all about the pommes souffles which were like cushions of air inside a potato casing - like potatoes which have gone to heaven.

There was a much-needed lengthy pause before we were served the second course of duck, the legs along with curly bits of skin.

Finally, with the cheese course we had this 1907 Malvasia from D'Oliveiras which G had been keeping for this occasion. It had been standing open in my flat for a couple of weeks and transporting it safely to the restaurant was my key task of the day - fortunately I had my trusty bottle bag, made by Maman AduV, which did the job perfectly. G tells me that it was bottled in the 1970s so had spent around 65-70 years in cask and it was a deep brown colour. This was textbook Malvasia with notes of marmalade and toffee. We reserved a glass for Otto and had no problems polishing the rest off between the three of us.

Altogether it was a splendid evening and while the wine list at Otto's is excellent, it was lovely to drink some of our own things alongside the amazing food. I think this may become an annual event, because one of these days we must get round to trying the Poulard de Bresse and the Homard a la Presse! Until next time...

Lunch at Le Verre Volé, 31st October

On Saturday morning we were up early. ACC dealt with the gite owner while I dragged the suitcases down the alleyway - Monsieur Parize wasn't taking any risks with his people carrier - and had some weather chat in French. Fortunately by this stage I'd remembered the word for fog (memo to self: brouillard), and confidently told M. Parize that the fog was never like this in London. I was subsequently proved completely wrong when I got home and the next few days were incredibly foggy!

We arrived at the station in plenty of time so had some croissants and a coffee in the cafe nearby. There was some excitement when it appeared that our train didn't exist, but it turned out that actually the display was showing the wrong destination and all was well although it was running a bit late - they still seemed to be having trouble on the line. We were on the slow train which I'd booked, controversially, but I actually thought it worked well as it avoided having to change at Dijon and was emptier and more relaxed than the TGV.

We arrived at the Gare de Bercy, which is very close to the Gare de Lyon, only about half an hour late, and hopped in a taxi to our lunch destination, Le Verre Volé. This turned out to be a biodynamic wine shop / bistrot, with tables crammed in. In some ways being late was quite good as it was emptying out slightly when we arrived.

It reminded me of Caves Madeleine under the old regime where the wine is displayed on shelves around the room. I'm not sure if it's still the same as I haven't been back to Caves since it changed hands, although Lolo was complimentary about it in this month's issue of Bourgogne Aujourd'hui .

To drink, we went for this Cote de Brouilly from Laurence and Remi Dufaitre which was really excellent. It went very well with my hearty main course, and it was hard to believe that you could pack so much flavour into a wine that was just 12% alcohol.

We had a cheese plate between us to finish. The yellow stuff in the middle is butter!

It was a very enjoyable lunch, and then we went round the corner and along the Canal Saint-Martin to Chez Prune for a post-prandial Ricard. I hadn't been to Chez Prune before either, but it turned out to be a lively bar with a funky decor and was good for people-watching. Then it was time to head over to the Gare du Nord. We'd planned to get a taxi but inevitably there were none to be found, and it soon turned out that there was some sort of demo going on which meant the main road was closed.

Inevitably at this point ACC's suitcase started making a worrying squeaking noise. It wouldn't be a trip to Burgundy without something like this happening. Anyway, all was well, I believe the suitcase survived and I was in plenty of time to catch my train, while ACC had other things to do in Paris so we said goodbye at this point. It had been another action-packed trip and I came away very much looking forward to getting some 2014s in my cellar. Many thanks to ACC for organising everything.

This will be the last post of the year so Happy Christmas everyone, and thanks for reading. We have a fun New Year's Eve planned including a mystery bottle (exciting!) so I'll be back in 2016 to report back on that.

Dinner at Le Cheval Noir, 30th October

On Friday afternoon there was some downtime for me while ACC visited another potential new grower, and then we wandered round town, including a useful visit to the shop that used to be called Magnum. We went to the locals' bar for an aperitif and then walked round the ring road past a shop selling waters of the world (I wonder how long that will last) to Le Cheval Noir.

Here they have a selection of menus and we went for the Menu Tendance for 31 euros which turned out to be on the hearty side...

First, an amuse guele.

Oeufs en meurette.

To drink, we had this Givry 1er cru from Domaine Joblot.

This blurry photo is meant to depict the beef bourguignon which came with pasta.

Finally, a really great creme brulee flavoured with "l'anis de Flavigny" which research tells me are aniseed balls. This was a great flavour combination.

As usual, the atmosphere was peaceful, maybe even hushed. It's run by a husband and wife team - he cooks, she oversees the dining room - and it always feels to me as though it ought to have a star, but perhaps the fact that it doesn't means the price is keener. My only regret was that having had a big lunch I wasn't able to do justice to it all!

Lunch at Le Montrachet, 30th October

No visit to Burgundy is complete without a visit to Le Montrachet and on Friday a table had been booked for lunch. I was very much looking forward to it!

We'll be taking a left then...

To start, we had this mushroom vol-au-vent, but to call it that doesn't do it justice - there was bacon and chicken liver in there too.

Salmon with potatoes.

Cheeses from the state-of-the-art cheese trolley (this was quite amazing - made of wood, it unfolded to reveal a wonderful selection), including some seriously good Epoisses.

This was a sort of praline concoction with different flavoured fillings, "comme un eclair" - they do like their visual jokes at Le M!

To drink, we had some Chablis 1er cru Montee de Tonnere 2011 from Raveneau, which I seem to recall cost less than it would have done retail in the UK.

As always, the service was impeccable and the atmosphere in the dining room very calm and content. I'd love to stay there some time and go for dinner!

Hanging out in Beaune, and dinner at La Ciboulette, 29th October

And so, we resume the story of October's trip to Burgundy, which at this rate might just be finished by Christmas...

Back in Beaune, there was time to do some shopping and there was one shop high on my agenda - Mon Millesime. It was great to see Philippe and have a wander round and, as always, there were some enticing goodies.

I picked up a bottle of Marc de Bougogne with a spectacular fossilised cork and label that made it look as if it dated back to about 600 BC - more about this another time!

Then we headed off to Casino to pick up essential supplies. I loved this Big Ben box of After Eights which brought back happy memories.

After that, it was time for an aperitif at Le Bout du Monde, the wine bar run by Fabienne Escoffier. Once again I had inexplicably failed to pack a lumberjack shirt but we were allowed in anyway. Their selection of wine is phenomenal.

ACC, however, was in the mood for something other than vino so he went for a G&T and then a super-alcoholic Belgian beer, while I had a kir and then a very fine glass of 1er cru Saint Aubin.

Once again, the place was buzzing and full of sophisticated people and it's a great addition to the Beaune wine bar scene. I was sorry that we didn't get a chance to visit La Dilettante this time round, but it was closed, something to do with half-term, whatever that is.

Then it was off to La Ciboulette for dinner. ACC is quite a regular and had been here just the other night which was handy as he was able to recommend a few things such as this lovely terrine with pistachios.

They now do wines by the glass and we had a white and a red but I can't remember what they were - next year I won't assume that I will write everything up within 3 days and will make better notes!

I do remember my main course, the slow-cooked joue de porc. Very nice food on a cold evening.

Wines lined up on the counter

For pudding, the assiette du chocolat, bien sûr.

Since I hadn't drunk a 13% beer earlier, I indulged in some armagnac and was able to have a comparison of the 1982 and the 1992 en magnum.

It was a great meal and the bill came to 82 euros, or 60 quid, for the pair of us. You can't argue with that! If only there was somewhere like La Ciboulette in London...