Touring the region of Jura, France--post 3 of 9

The sky at sunrise in Tavaux

Just one of the villages we walked through in Jura

On this morning, I awoke just in time to snap a photo of the sky at sunrise. I love sunrises and don't tire of seeing the beautiful color combinations. We had a typical French breakfast. J and B had walked to the bakery to pick up a half hour before breakfast to pick up baguettes for the day. This bread was the center piece of the meal.

J's mom toasted slices and put these in a basket until the basket was filled. There was butter and jam to put on the toast and because it was bread. . .there were no plates! We just used the table. There was a selection of fruit--apricots, peaches and nectarines--coffee and juice. The butter in France can be plain or salted. The salted butter comes with chunks of salt in it which I found to be really delicious on that wonderful baguette! Oh yes, we managed to eat all the bread that she toasted and she even toasted more!

Artists painting a river scene 

Ju and B showing a starter of mashed
potatoes in cream and zucchini

Green bean salad

After breakfast J's mom, M, took me to the SuperU market.

It is like a Fred Meyer store in that it is a one stop shopping except that it has even more items! You can buy washers and dryers there in addition to clothing, school supplies, plants, gas for the car and of course groceries. We left after purchasing cantaloupe, yogurt,  lettuce, nectarines, peaches, lemons, vinegar, mustard and cheese.

The vinegar and the mustard were for me to take home. The brand of vinegar I purchased has a little honey in it which makes great oil/vinegar salad dressings. The capital of the region, is Dijon, so of course I had to purchase mustard! Yes, you can purchase the same brand in the states; but, this one was cheaper! One of my favorite spots to go when traveling is the grocery store as I like to see what various items cost, what sorts of products are available and how the products are arranged.

J's entree trout with braised fennel

We then toured the region of Jura, although the French call the area a department. The area is mountainous with green rolling hills instead of  snow covered steep mountains which we have in Oregon. There are a lot of grapes grown in this region for wine which reminds me of a sherry. I also learned that every area that produces wine has its own shape of bottle. The Jura bottle does have a distinct shape and often has the name, Jura, stamped on it.

My pork tenderloin with ratatouille

As we walked through town, there was a neighborhood garage sale going on. It was fun to see what people were selling. We tasted some regional wine. We even saw a group of artists painting with watercolors a section of the river. The river had large trout in it which we could see from the bridge as we crossed. Then we had lunch. Once again, the flavors were wonderful and each dish was beautifully presented.  I really am of the opinion that one would have to work to find "bad" food in France!

Paris-Brest served for two

Many in our group had the froie gras as a starter, a couple people had the mashed potatoes in cream and zucchini and I had green bean salad with egg, red onion, lettuce leaves and bacon marinated in oil and vinegar. I hope to recreate this salad at home as it was not only pretty on the plate made with simple ingredients; but delicious as well!

Entree choices were chicken with three kinds of mushrooms, trout braised with fennel and pork tenderloin with ratatouille.

Ju, S, J, N, M, B and me after lunch

Of course, we sampled each others entrees so we were able to taste EVERYTHING! Let me tell you the braised fennel was wonderful and the ratatouille was so good that I didn't care if I ate any of the wonderful pork tenderloin! The three types of mushrooms were good too!

Then there was dessert. One of us had the apricot panna cotta and the rest of us had had the Paris-Brest. The Paris-Brest was amazing. It is pastry filled with layers of flavored cream and comes in the shape of a wheel.

J, S in back row, M, me and N front row

With all the eating, we still managed to stand up after lunch and head out for more touring of the region. We traveled in Ju's and S's newly purchased SUV which seated seven. J and Ju took turns riding in the back row. I was impressed with how S managed riding there the whole time!

We next went to Château-Chalon which was one of B's favorite places of the day. It truly was beautiful as the view from above was breathtaking. The amount of vineyards in portion to buildings is huge!

Back row: B, me, Ju and S     Front row: J, M and N

View of the countryside and green rolling hills
from Château-Chalon

We still had "day" left and J took us to two more places. The next stop was one of my favorite places of the day. J called it the Cascades.

The Cascades

Although it is summer, there were a few trickles of water flowing from the hillside. I have seen photos of it in the spring and the hillside is bursting with flowing water which is beautiful.

A view of the walking trail

There were people camping in the area. There were people hiking the hills and exploring the caves. I'll admit, I checked out one cave that was nearby. There were also people wading through the pools at the bottom of the hillside. Ju and S did a little wading and said that the pools were deep!

Me and N in one of the caves

N snapped a selfie so I can prove I really was there. My knees tolerated the climb and the descent okay although by evening I was feeling it! Aleve continues to be my friend morning and evening!

Stone wall that provided privacy to someone's garden

J took us to one more place and that was Baume-les-Messiures. It was an idyllic setting; but, I couldn't imagine in winter having to drive down the "hill" for bread because in this village, there were no shops like a bakery, grocery or butcher shop.

We visited the Imperial Abby which has an interesting story about its origin. You can click the link to learn more. Standing in the Abby and knowing human hands built the structure without motorized tools is astounding. Humans can find a solution to a challenge.

Imagine how old this stone wall is and how artisan it is with the layout of the stones. . .especially those that decorate the top of the wall.

A little vegetation growing from the stone

It was a wonderful day and I thank J for taking us to such special places which were not full of tourists; but, more the locals having an excursion. I walked three miles and the blister is almost healed! I also appreciated Ju and S going along and offering their car for transportation. Of course, it was extra special that M came too!

For dinner, M made one of her signature salads (lettuce, shallots or chives, vinaigrette dressing). We had fillets du canard, canned mackerel, cheese and of course, wine and bread! It was the perfect light dinner. The wine was great both at lunch and dinner!

Entertainment for the evening, well. . . we played poker! I wasn't the winner but it was fun anyway!