A Market and the "Redemption Dinner"

We generally eat dinners out when we travel, but we like to eat breakfasts and most lunches "in" (which is why vacation rental properties are so great).  We planned on doing the same in Burgundy, so we needed to hit a local market to stock up on staples - cheese, sausage, fruit, produce, olives, bread - you know, all those foods that make life worth living (apologies to our vegan/vegetarian friends).

We slept in on our first full day here to alleviate the sleep deprivation and  jetlag, then went to Chagny, a good-sized village about 25 km south of Villers-La-Fey, and the only local market on Sundays.  It was beautiful - cool and sunny. We got to Chagny about 11:30, a couple of hours after the market opened, and it was packed!

The market was huge, going on for block after block - food, clothing, candles, soap, furniture, jewelry - along narrow village streets lined with cafes filled with people having a post- or pre-church(?!) aperitif.

Our shopping list included bread, cheese, dried meat like salami, olives, fruit, and any veggies that looked good.  We aren't interested in cooking, just in picnic-type foods to have for lunch and on those nights for dinner when we've had a big lunch out.  We had the woven shopping bag over our arm just like every other housewife, and I trotted out my bad French with those vendors that didn't speak English.

Of course we scored - big time.  It's still harvest season here, very similar to Boston.  Tomatoes, squash, potatoes, peppers, apples, pears, melons and every other late season fruit or vegetable you can think of.  Oh my goodness, the melons!  Small, greenish outside, screaming orange inside and sweet enough for the most candy-addicted.  Bliss, especially with local goat cheese.

Here's a photo of the spread with our market gains:

A typical lunch with local market and vineyard items...

Now onto what we call our 'redemption dinner' (which we almost missed because we were setting up this blog and blogging is a TOTAL time-suck).  My restaurant intuition had been bruised on Saturday night but I was ready to try again.  We chose a restaurant about two villages away and made reservations there this morning, after being turned away last night as we had no reservation (we found it listed as a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Red Guide).  It was Les Terrasses de Corton in Ladoix-Serrigny, and wow, did we choose right!

The room wasn't much to speak of, but the service and the food was really nice.  We had...

• Escargot (for Valyn) and foie gras (for Craig)
• Monkfish (for Valyn) and filet of beef (for Craig)
• Poached peaches in local wine with ice cream (for Valyn) and coconut creme brulee (for Craig)

I, and my restaurant intuition, were totally redeemed, and we went to bed just on the edge of a food coma.