Day 1 Overview

We tried 59 wines today according to my count. In addition, we drove for about 2 1/2 hours total. No small task. It was cold and snowy and somehow only sleeping about ten hours in the last three days has not affected me by this stage in the trip. The dinner at Minet's was the perfect end to the trip. The hotel we stayed in was this quaint little country-side inn. This day started my technology troubles, so I only had my iTouch as a time-keeping device and because I hadn't accessed the internet since arriving in France, it was still on Chicago time. So, we were told to be ready to go at 8:45am. If we weren't ready, the vans would leave without us. Unfortunately, I stayed up late the night before and talked on the phone and smoked a cigar. It was the first time to use my alarm on the Touch, so I didn't know how well it worked and when I woke up, I looked at the Touch and saw it was like 11:40 and somehow added up enough hours to think it was 8:40. I promptly jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes, threw everything in the suitcase and bolted down the stairs in four minutes, exactly. Much to my chagrin (and to the fright of the morning desk clerk as I came busting through the door wild-eyed and rather noisily) it was really 6:45. Once my adrenaline died down, I was able to peacefully get ready and enjoy breakfast. And can the French do breakfast or what. Boiled and poached eggs, three different kinds of bread and cheese, fresh squeezed OJ, jams and jellies and the best butter you've ever tasted, three different kinds of yogurt, dried fruits, cured meats, cereal, milk and pastries. Wow. I can get used to this, I think.