Ian Zipfel is here

Our friend Ian Zipfel came to visit, Ian is a bespoke shoe maker.

We spent lots of time eating, drinking lovely wine and watching Downton Abbey.

 We also took advantage of the beautiful autumn and shot some of his shoes. 

 Here we are celebrating Florents 25th birthday,  you can see Ian far left

 ian setting up a shot

getting another shot 

 We had several photo bombers 

 Ian at a church lunch 

Ian and tatiana discussing life 

but first..............

 we went to Bordeaux and had buffalo burgers that were made from cow! 

 his work shop

 his leather

 his shoe  

 Ian at work

 he sure puts a lot of passion into every shoe 

 detailed painting 

 the finished product 

 we went to Saint Emilion to shoot another pair  

 found a really cool door 

last shot by the river

Ian it was great having you, we wish you all the best with your shoes :)

Fall in the Saint Emilion region

Its the most beautiful time of year!!

Its been about 5 years since we had a beautiful Autumn.

The weather is stunning usually its cold and rainy by now but its

been about 80 degrees with blue skies! 

Morning run

Running in the vines this morning, enjoying 

the colors of Fall. 

Gordon Ramsays Pressoir D'Argent

We were invited to Gordon Ramsays new restaurant in Bordeaux the Pressoir D'Argent, it has only been open for 1 week. We were lucky to get a reservation. The food is really art on a plate.

I have to give it a poor review since there were a few glitches in the service such as Neil our host ordered venison and got lobster, I ordered a coffee with milk and got cold coffee with full cream (yuck!) I sent it back and got a cappuccino.
Michael who is lactose intolerant had to send back his plate three times because they put
cream in it! They just couldnt get that right.

Their specialty is the lobster where they bring out the lobster press (hence the name of the restaurant) and squeeze the lobster shell to get a juice that you then drink as a tea infused with herbs. Each course was brought out on a plate that looked like it was made just for that course. 

 Our hosts Neil and Trudy

 no prices~scary

 amuse bouche

 pan seared fois gras

caviar

 the famous lobster press

 preparing the sauce 

 viola the lobster

 lobster infused tea

 a palate cleanser

  time to powder the nose 

 this coffee got sent back, they gave me cold full cream, yuck!

 a sorbet 

 The bill ended up being over 1000 euros!! Yikes! I am so grateful to Neil and Trudy

for taking us there to be able to experience such a luxury.

We had some friends go to Le Pressoir and got this gift bag. I saw them as

we were leaving and wondered what they were. They forgot to give us one.

Not what I expect from a Michelin star restaurant.