I was fortunate enough to spend Christmas and New Year’s Eve in southern France this time, to be precise in Romagnieu – a small commune in the département of Isère. For me, the most beautiful thing in France, next to brilliant football players in the likes of Zinédine Zidane and Franck Ribéry to name just a couple, is the gorgeous landscape. Oh and not to forget – the exquisite French cuisine is also a marvel to be discovered at some point in a European’s life.
Romagnieu is a very small commune with about 1400 inhabitants. Even though you notice the sounds of a motor highway nearby, one still gets to enjoy the beautiful scenery. I suppose even in rural France it is impossible for the traditional and modern worlds not to collide.
Even though we did not have any snow over the Christmas holidays, we managed to see quite a lot of it at Fontcouverte-la-Toussuire, a commune with a prominent ski-resort. The foothills of the Alps became eminent on our way to the resort.
The ski-resort at Fontcouverte-la-Toussuire is well visited during the winter season…
On December 31st, our host took us for an outing to the wine cellar of Jacques Barlet at the Cellier de Sordan in Jongieux, which was about a 30 kilometer drive away from Romagnieu. Self-evidently, we bought two crates of wine – one of white and one of red wine. Suffice to say they were worth the drive. The landscape at Jongieux with its vineyards is also quite easy on the eyes on top of the excellent wine.
An antique plough outside the winery…
And before I forget, if you ever happen to be in the area, I can only recommend you also visit the town of Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin. What’s so special about it? Well, it actually consists of two towns, very similar to each other and each with its own church, town hall and so forth. This is due to the fact that Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin is located on the very border of two départements: “Pont-de-Beauvoisin” on the side of the Départements Isère and “Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin” on the side of the Département Savoie. So you’ll see pretty much everything double, even if you’re not a wine person 😉
The Germafrican 