La Charité sur Loire

Today was a travel day to our next stop, La Charité sur Loire, which is on the Loire River in the centre of France, in the lower west-end of Burgundy. Our morning was very crazy and quite challenging. Everything seemed to go wrong…wet laundry to pack at the laundromat because we had no time to finish it, a taxi that misunderstood and almost caused us to miss our train, suitcases that seemed to grow and not close, dragging luggage up and down train steps, my purchased wine left on train…totally exhausting and overwhelming.

But it was all worth it when we reached La Charité sur Loire . Our host, Barbara Jo, met us and the station, and we walked to her house, stopping on the way to see the most incredible view of the small town. She runs a chambre d’hôte (Bed and Breakfast) called La Maison des Mots which means The House of Words. We signed up for the excursion stay which is 5 days. Each day will be different. Barbara Jo is from Vancouver where she owned a culinary bookstore for 20 years. Thus, the name of her house. Actually, the city is called City of Words and you see words, phrases and sentences all over the buildings in town. Well, she bought this house 150 year old house and has completely renovated it. This is the most incredible home that I’ve ever been in, and I hope my photos show this. I love everything about it. Her decor and detail to the history of the house and French design is fantastic. Today, Barbara Jo took us on a tour of the house and then Elizabeth and I had an hour to take a short walk in the town before returning for what they call apéro dînatoire which is like an appetizer dinner with wine. Big meals are usually at lunch. I can’t believe it, but I loved it all and you all know how picky I am. We had radishes that we buttered and dipped them in salt…the good kind of salt and butter! There was duck sausage sliced paper thin. She made a beautiful zucchini flan, and also a tart with sliced potatoes and onions. Oh, I also had a French blue cheese spread on bread with honeycomb honey spread on top of it and then topped with walnuts. I really truly loved it all! Shocking, huh! Oh, the watercress salad and dressing were also fantastic…red wine vinegar, Dijon, and olive oil! I can do it!

The excursion stay includes all meals and excursion/activities everyday. We can help cook, watch her cook, or just enjoy the food. Her friend, Paula, is here from Vancouver, and it will be the 4 of us. We had a wonderful “apéro dînatoire with great conversation. Oh, there’s also Minette, the cat, who lives here!

Oh, by the way…this is now my favorite place!

All of today’s photos are from our short walk here in La Charité sur Loire and also some photos I took of the house tour. I’ll include others tomorrow!

She has a blog and website is you’re interested https://www.maison-des-motsRead more