My commitment to updating this blog ebbs and flows in a similar pattern to how I approach travel. When the ideas are flowing, it’s a fire hydrant of content I can’t seem to turn off, blasting my only regular reader (hi dad!) with a face full of posts. Similarly, when I’ve committed to a trip, I go all-in on planning for a solid 72 hours, mapping out an itinerary, booking transportation and accommodation, and obsessing over the destination 24/7. But once the blog post ideas dry up or the trip’s logistics have been nailed down, I am unmotivated and rudderless, allowing months to pass without a single post or thought about the trip.
All that to say, I’m recommitting to writing more blogs. And my first one, after a very long hiatus, is a recap of a weekend visit to Chateau Rigaud, our wedding venue from 2023. (You can read all about that here.)
After pledging to visit 50 countries before I turn 50, it wasn’t really in the cards to return to our wedding venue in Bordeaux anytime soon. We had visited Rigaud three times in the year leading up to our wedding. Not to mention we had knocked France off the list years earlier. But, returning to a place you love to get to know it even better is the actual ethos behind The Neighborhooders, so I was not one to object when my parents suggested we all go back to Rigaud for a French food & wine immersion weekend, where “no French stereotype would go unturned.”
When they’re not hosting weddings from May to September, the Rigaud team opens up the chateau for private bookings and weekend retreats. The first of its kind, our “French Weekend Escape,” was a celebration of French ingredients, wine, cooking and markets over a mid-October long weekend.
Here’s a day-by-day recap:
Wednesday: Flight to Bordeaux
Before we boarded a red-eye from Boston to Paris, we stopped into the newish Delta Sky Club in Terminal E. Despite being lowly economy passengers, our AmEx Platinum card allows us Sky Club access when flying on Delta.
Thursday: Arrival Day
We land in Paris at CDG around 8am and had about an hour and a half before our flight to Bordeaux. The amenities at CDG are slightly better than I remember but we still end up just waiting at the gate like zombies fresh off a red-eye.
A quick hour flight later, we land at Bordeaux and hop in a minivan with Karen, our wedding planner who is helping out with transportation this weekend. On the drive from the airport to Rigaud, we make a pitstop at the mairie to snap a photo of where we were legally married on October 6, 2023.
We arrive at Rigaud a little after 1pm and meet up with the rest of my family who had arrived earlier in the day and had caught up on some sleep.
Delusional from no sleep on the red-eye and a hefty amount of French white & rosé as soon as we arrive at Rigaud, I didn’t take as many photos of the rest of this day as I wish I had. Lunch was the best soup I’ve ever had in my entire life (cream of cauliflower), paired with a galette topped with a local blue cheese and fresh figs. While dinners ended up being more formal, plated and coursed affairs, the lunches tended to be serve-yourself rustic menus, all of which I loved.
After devouring our lunch, catching up with my family and meeting a few of the other weekend guests, we all gathered in the kitchen for the first of a few cooking demonstrations by the in-house chef, John Grabecki. In between sips of local crémant (the local sparking wine) and bites of chocolate cake put out for the daily Afternoon Tea tradition at Rigaud, we learned how to make a tarte tatin, prepping the dough and apples for our dessert later that night.
After the tea and the cooking demo, it was time to catch up more with family and kick off the weekend with more yapping and wine in the courtyard.
After a quick snooze (for Bill) and more wine (for Amelia) it was time to reconvene for cocktails and canapes in the library, followed by dinner.
Friday: Lunch in Branne and Exploring Saint Emilion
We woke up refreshed and feeling slightly more normal than the day before, heading down to the kitchen for one of the chateau’s famous breakfast spreads of homemade jams, fruit, fresh squeezed juices, eggs, sliced meats and freshly made pastries and breads from a local bakery. We learned that the chateau does twice-daily bakery runs to the local boulangerie, picking up pastries in the morning and bread in the afternoon.
After a leisurely morning, we were welcomed back into the kitchen for another demo; this time for pate a croute, a terrine of various meats wrapped in pastry. This would be served for dinner later in the day.
We then piled into the mini busses and were off to lunch at Caffe Cuisine in the nearby village of Branne.
Caffe Cuisine was a memorable prix fixe lunch of a lentil soup/salad with pork, swordfish over creamy lemon rice and beet mousse, and a baba rhum for dessert. The combinations/descriptions of each item seemed to lose something in translation, but the end results were stunning and delicious. At the end of lunch the server came by to ask if anyone wanted coffee and instead of offering options, he made the decision for us and everyone got a double espresso. No almond or oat milk, no tea, no americano, no decaf. One option. I loved it.
After lunch, we climbed the hills into Saint Emilion where we explored the medieval village for an hour, visiting wine caves and stopping for photos.
Back at the chateau, we were treated to Afternoon Tea of crémant and pâte à choux. After tea, we gathered outside in the courtyard for a wine tasting with a local producer.
After the wine tasting, we practiced some “candid” poses using the latest run-in-place TikTok trend, took a spin around the kitchen gardens of Rigaud, then got dressed for dinner.
Time for dinner!
Saturday: Market Day in Saint-Foy-La-Grande
Saturday was market day in the nearby town of Sainte-Foy-La-Grande, so after breakfast, we piled into a minibus and made the 25-minute trek through the vineyards and tiny towns. We landed in the heart of the market and strolled around for a couple of hours, checking out the wares, produce, prepared foods and more.
Back at the chateau, we got to work making some comte gougeres and our technique was judged (rightfully so) by Chef John.
Our final lunch on Saturday was another banger: quiches, soup, salad and cheese; all enjoyed outside in the courtyard.
Next up was a ‘fun & casual’ family photoshoot. We brought in two photographers to capture our group of eight, and while the creative direction was a bit silly, I’m happy we ended up with these photos with my parents. I’ve uploaded the full gallery here for posterity [password protected for the fam].
After the photoshoot, it was time for afternoon tea and once the cremant had hit, it was time to play some Monopoly Deal and a game of boules on the lawns of Rigaud. Similar to when we play bocce, the official boules rules went out the window and we added our own rules/flair, eg. must throw with your left hand, must throw behind-your-head without looking, must do a cartwheel before throwing, etc. Keeps things interesting.
After a rousing game of boules, it was time for our final dinner.
Sunday: Leaving the Chateau
We woke up to our final breakfast at the chateau, then it was off to the airport to catch our flight home. Other guests who had later flights were heading to a brocante (flea market) in a nearby village followed by a final chateau lunch.
