BARGING THROUGH FRANCE PT 8 -BURGUNDY

In this episode of the video series about barging through France, host Richard Goodwin begins with a fishing competition which like most fishing competition is held in the rain. Fishing is incredibly popular in France and Theodore Zeldin has said that at any one time in the summer in France 70% of the male population are fishing. This fishing competition is on July 14, which is the day that the Bastille was stormed by the angry mobs. Afterwards there is always a party and this evening they had a really fine accordionist.

Then we go to visit a wine maker in the Chablis district, where allegedly the finest white wine in the world is grown or so they say in Chablis. After that there is a very interesting set of bottle sizes : Magnum 2 bottles
Jeroboam 4 bottles
Rehoboam 6 bottles
Mathusalem 8 bottles
Salmanassar 12 bottles
Balthazar 16 bottles
Nebuchadnezzar 20 bottles

After that a general's daughter with 5 children shows me how to make ham in white wine sauce. Her father the general had always told her that you must give your instructions clearly and precisely. She certainly does that very well with this recipe. The result is good.

Then in Tonerre see the fosse which is where the village women used to wash their clothes. Unremarkable to look at but in fact two divers have descended to find where the water came from and neither of them ever resurfaced.

Then we go to a man who makes the horses for carousels. It is interesting to see how he makes up the volumes of wood to make the shape of the horse. Next door is the children's toy museum which is worth a look if you've ever had a teddy bear.

Then I go to Flavigny to the factory that makes the famous aniseed sweets. Catherine Trubart explains in great detail how this old fashioned sweet invented by the monks hundreds of years ago, is made.

The last section in Burgundy is about two old aristocrats who when they retired started to make delicious bottled fruits and preserved vegetables in salt and herbs in jars. They were an instant success with the discerning Japanese buyers at the most exclusive food shop in Paris, Fauchon.