Trip report as posted on my blog:
www.amyburnis.com
The name of this ancient french city about 2o miles west of Lyon reminds me of Periogie, but that is likely due to my poor french pronunciation. Yes, I know better.
The day my friend Mary and I visited Perouges it was nearly deserted and eerily quiet. We arrived late morning mid-week, and we parked in an empty lot that is not doubt filled during tourist season. It was a cool spring day. At one point, rain quickly turned into snow flakes and then minutes later-nothing. Apparently, the weather there changes more quickly than in New England.
We walked along the cobblestone street past stone buildings. There were only a few other people strolling around. I felt as though we were sneaking around in forbidden territory, but a reverent town is best explored peacefully. I was grateful there weren’t droves of tourists to ruin the experience.You know how they are. :-)
Perouge is small. I suspect about half the size of one city block in Boston. street-view-perouge-2There are a few shops, galleries and restaurants in the historic town. Only two restaurants and one shop were open during our visit. We stopped in the shop and spoke in broken French to the women working there. She said the season is off to a very slow start, and people are afraid to spend money due to the uncertainty of the economy. Being a brave American, I bought a few small items including a jar of jelly and post cards. She recommended that we have lunch at L’Ostellerie du Viex Perouges. It’s a Michelin rated restaurant. Apparently President Clinton ate there in the 90’s. Now, they can tell people that I ate there in 2009! :-)
Lunch, as she warned us, was expensive at 40 euro/person, but reasonable when you consider it was 3 courses in a one-of-a-kind venue with excellent service . I had smoked duck with avocado, chicken with veggies. Their specialty dessert is galette pérugienne à la crème (the “pancake of Pérouges”). I realize chicken and duck sound boring, but I can’t recall the name of the sauce. Trust me, it was beyond fresh and flavorful. This region of France is known for gastronomy.
While the dessert looks like pizza crust, it’s not! It’s dough made with sugar, lemon, and butter. If that’s not fattening enough, the waitress arrived with a vat of creme and scooped a healthy portion onto the “pancake.” Not cool whip. 100% creme. It was so thick and buttery it looked like French vanilla ice-cream. I cried uncle! Could not eat another bite, but somehow I managed to eat the entire desert (a slice not the entire pancake). After all, I can’t have this dessert in Boston.
You see what I%26#39;m saying?
You see what I%26#39;m saying?
Oh, I should mention that at Noon, many people arrived in town to have lunch at the restaurant. All business men actually. Apparently, there is a car factory near by. Mary and I were the only two women eating at the restaurant. The other women worked there.
There were many impressive details to note from this lunch, but I think the wine list stands out. Not just for the fabulous selection of regional wines available, but specifically because it was hand written on a very large sheet of parchment paper. You can’t tell in this picture, but the wine list was about 3 ft x 2 ft. Check it out!
It was a short day trip, but a very memorable experience. If you are in the area, I recommend a visit to Perouges.
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