Jazz on a Friday night! Oh and with a little bit of a wine tasting as well!

We went with a group of friends Friday evening, to Domaine Noiré, which is en route from Cravant to Chinon. We've met Jean-Max the owner/producer a few times now either at the domaine, in Chinon and when Cravant still had them, the annual village wine fair. Lovely guy and family. Make some rather nice wines as well.

This year for the first time, Domaine Noiré are hosting a series of apéro concerts. We weren't able to go the launch in June as we were in the UK. But we went to the second (Friday) and are going to the third in August.

Photo courtesy of Domaine Noiré

Really well organised, they'd set up a marquee on a raised section and put in lighting, sound and tables and chairs for the punters. Everyone had to reserve,so they knew how many people were coming. Worked so well. Lovely atmosphere. Really sultry, humid weather at the moment, so the sides of the marquee were rolled up. What air there was could circulate, but it also gave us great views across the valley and la forteresse at Chinon.

Entrance was €10 per person for the evening, which included three wine tastings of their rosé and reds, along with a lovely plate of rillette, fromage, beurre de saffran et some little sweet gateaux. Les Barons du Bayou provided the music - Louisiana Jazz, all of which was sung in English. They do another ticket price for 5-12s (fruit juice+something to eat) and the under 5s have free admission. A really good deal. 

Terrific evening. Had no idea what it was going to be like. We'd seen the leaflet about it and thought it was worth a shot. Better still to go with French friends who join us for the bi-monthly music evenings we put on in Chinon.  Nine of us went in all, and everyone said how much they'd enjoyed it.  The August concert has a different music - a mix of soul and folk. We'll be going and hopefully the others will as well. Although there may be extra friends coming along. 

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Back to Chris and Linda for a moment. We had an email from them just after the got back. Taking off from Loudun they flew over Cravant and Chinon and sent us some photos.  

Cravant

In this first shot - on the left 9o'clock position, there is a group of houses, one with a red roof and the two end houses facing into the road. This is our road. Big forest area over on the right. Vines all over the place and wheat fields.

Cravant

The second shot is more of a close-up. Our road is now in the left-hand corner. There's a better idea of the size of the forest.

Chinon

The third shot is over Chinon: the one bridge which connects the two sides of the town. Over on the left - 8 o'clock position - is the forteresse. Vines and forest. On the right side of the photo down from the bridge is the swimming pool and the camp site, lurking amongst the trees. During the summer, where the sandy section is, there'll be live music, barbecues and open air film shows, which the cinema in Chinon put on. They've organised a series of Jacques Tati films in August. Some are open air, others are at the cinema.   Being Jacques Tati fans, we're going.Don't want to miss anything. We have most of the films on DVD. But haven't been to an open air film show here before or for a very long time. Can't wait. 

A view of France from amongst the clouds. Thanks Chris and Linda. Terrific.  À très bientôt.