One Day You'll Find Me

Chapter Seventeen

Over the weekend, we finished our souvenir shopping, visited more gardens and beautiful old sandstone buildings, enjoyed pastries of every kind, relaxed for hours in cafes, and checked out quaint little shops. Layetta finished teaching us how to make a Parisian lunch, imparting her secret that dessert was always bought. Not made. And seriously, why go to the bother of cooking dessert in Paris, when just down the road is an exquisite cake or pastry or something? Walking around the city was truly a pleasure. It was so beautiful. The streets were pretty and made for walking. You never went far without seeing a bench to rest on. The canal that snaked through the city reminded me of Venice. It always made me smile, because I'd remember Carlo and Caprice and Antonio.

Sunday afternoon we decided to take a relaxing boat ride on the canals. I nearly fell asleep. And then nearly fell in, thanks to their methods of keeping me awake. They scared me well and truly. I stood up so fast, I lost balance, teetering on the side of the boat. The pair of them were laughing so hard, it took long enough for them to grab me and sit me down again.

***

The last day we had in Paris started with breakfast at the cafe where we'd all met. Croissants with jam, coffee with cream. Then Rosina and I were going to refine our wine and champagne tasting skills at this place that runs classes on the banks of the Seine and brush up our non-existent knowledge, while Layetta ran a few errands for her mother.

There turned out to be nineteen of us in the class, and the sommelier introduced himself as Quentin.

"Welcome everyone! Today we will be tasting wines from five regions, Burgundy, the Rhône Valley, Bordeaux, Loire, and Alsace, with a champagne from its namesake. Why don't we start with the wine itself before moving onto labels and backgrounds of the wines. To start off with we have a 2010 Pinot Noir from Burgundy. It's a medium-bodied red, with a gorgeous colour. What does it smell like?"

"Cherries, and... currants?" someone ventured.

"Strawberries."

"Very good. This particular bottle is from Vosne Romanée, which has the distinct aromas of cherries and strawberries. Does it taste like it smells?"


"Yeah, it does." I smiled.

"About nine hundred thousand bottles come from this area every year. It goes very well with red meat or coq au vin, and Maroilles or Chabichou cheeses- particular favourites of mine. See for yourself and try both cheeses."

I grinned at Ros and pulled out my packet of crackers.

"Now we have a 2010 red from the Rhône Valley. This one is from the northern half of the valley, a Côte Rôtie. We'll come back to reading wine labels later, but in the Rhône Valley there are four levels of labels which differentiate between the quality of the wine: the highest being where the name of the village is emblazoned on the label. This is a level four wine. What does it smell like?"

"Raspberry, vanilla and..."

"Spice!"

"Spot on! Does it taste like it though?"
A ripple of agreement ran around the room.

"This wine is best with lamb, duck, or venison, and St Marcellin cheese, which is the one in the little terra cotta crock, for those who want to try it."

"Wow, that's so creamy!"

"With an almost mushroomy flavour..."

"Let me try!"

Everybody was suddenly desperate to try the delicate cheese, momentarily forgetting about the wines.

"Oh my goodness, I'm in love with this!" Ros cried. "I totally just found myself my new favourite cheese. They better stock it in Australia. Although, I'd be perfectly happy without it if a certain fellow was around." She gave me her meaningful eye. I rolled mine and sighed loudly. Léon had been dropped into practically every conversation since I'd regrettably told her and Layetta what had happened between us. Ros grumbled as I sipped the Côte Rôtie red and ignored her.