Monday, April 23, 2012

Day 9 - Macon, Last Riverboat Stop before Disembarking

We took a walking tour of Macon, passing through the city gates which are over 800 years old and encountered the oldest house, a wooden structure still in use.  And I couldn't resist taking a photo of the sign telling us Macon, GA, USA was approximately 4400 miles away.


 


I need to add a little more info today to explain the "bread run."  Grand Circle Tours prides itself on their "discovery tours" where we experience the locale, the food, the people, the customs.  Most days while we are sailing, there are Discovery Series offered in the lounge.

We were introduced to pastis, a licorice flavored drink considered France's national drink.  It is much like the Greek's ouzo.  While enjoying our drinks we were introduced to the Herbs of Provence and their importance in French cooking.

Another day we had a gourmet cheese tasting accompanied by wine.  Our chef gave us a cooking demo and Francis our tour director gave us a French lesson.  Foie gras was the subject of another talk and tasting.  Even the practice of force feeding geese to fatten them up was discussed.   Ted and I passed on the tasting, however.  We were taught how to make crepes and given the recipe.  Now that was a taste test I could get into.



Atelier de la Soie, a local silk manufacturer, came aboard and showed us the art of hand painting on silk. Of course I bought a scarf created and signed by "Ann." I even have a photo of her painting scarves at the factory. Which brings me to our assignment in Macon.

We were asked to pick up one Euro at the front desk and make a "bread run" in Macon.  We had to find "la boulangerie" and purchase a loaf of some kind of bread.  The beautiful basket of all the breads were used for our dinner that evening.


From here we would board a bus en route to Paris with a stop along the way.

1 comment:

Kristin said...

Did Daddy tell the chef that he knows how to make crepes and his granddaughter thinks he is very good at it?