Sunday 24 September 2017

Today after a leisurely breakfast we plan to drive to Cave de Tain, about 30 minutes away. We made a rather late start after a substantial breakfast of orange juice, prunes and apple, fresh fruit salad, poached egg and croissants. Plus coffee. Laura and Dan joined us for the feast.

The Valrhona Chocolate Museum was fun, with free samples!

We drove up the national road to Tain L'Hermitage and saw a chocolate museum, Valrhona. A very interesting place with interactive displays and free samples! But we weren't tempted to buy any.

We checked out the winery Cave de Tain, and booked a wine tour for later in the afternoon.

The Isere River at Romans

Then we drove to the nearby town of Romans, where we visited a collegiate church and saw the market and the river d'Isere. We had a beer in a cafe and saw a historic clock tower. It was very sunny.



Then back to the Cave de Tain for a tour of the cellars, founded in 1933, where they now store wine in concrete vats as well as in different sized barrels. We also saw their wine library containing examples of past vintages.

We tasted three wines and bought two bottles each. They had Crozes Hermitage white and red, plus St. Joseph and Cornas reds.


Back to the hotel for a bath and a short rest. We hope to have dinner in Valence.

Some of the many barrels used at Cave de Tain

We got a taxi to Valence with a lady taxi driver. She took us into the old city to Chez Grandmere, a typical French place with lots of choice on the menu. We sat outside. I had veloute of cep mushrooms and lamb stew with roast potatoes and ratatouille. Very nice meal.


We had a bit of trouble getting a taxi back but Laura contacted the hotel and the same lady came to collect us. I slept badly waiting for our 6am start.