The next day we toured Paris and did some lightweight sight seeing. We nibbled light hotel food that night. I believed that they were setting us up. The next day we boarded a train to Saulieu, a town in Burgundy, where we the guests at Mr. Loiseau’ Relais & Chateaux. Madame Loiseau and her famous husband had refurbished an old chateau, opened a hotel, installed a state of the art kitchen and dining area and let it rip.

Benard Loiseau’s Cote D’or proved to be a class act. The suites were wonderful, the chateau was beautiful, the Burgundy countryside was picturesque in a storybook sort of way. But the real star of this show was the food. Judging by the clientele in the dining room this place had an international customer base more than willing to shell out $800 (plus) on a meal for two. In our case this is where the serious consumption started.

Every day – for five days straight - started off with a hearty breakfast. I’m talking HEARTY here. Some sight seeing ensued and that was followed by another hearty meal. All of this was topped off in the evening by a seven course (that’s right, seven) gourmet meal from the “Grand Menu Degustation” in the formal dining room. Every meal was the full Monty - appetizers, soup, salad, the main course, a second main course, the cheese cart, desert, coffee, sherry, brandy, fine cigars. The works. And of course everything came with some of the finest wine available. The presentation of each dish was a work of art in itself. The whole dining experience was, for lack of a better term, beyond special. The Loiseaus put on quite a show.

Now bear in mind that these fine, three hour minimum meals were being served to working Americans who are lucky to eat one good meal a day. The food was outstanding. Every meal was better than the last. It sounds crazy but it is true. My taste buds and those of my fellow travelers were on some kind of unforgettable junket in which once they were awakened they would never be the same again. And I thought that I knew what good food and wine tasted like prior to the trip. You learn something new every day, right?

Incidentally, Raschinna is a vegetarian. The same meals that everyone else enjoyed were prepared for her in a vegetarian mode. She still talks about how good they were and enthusiastically recommends this property as a vacation destination.

But then on day four a curious thing happened. We collectively hit the wall. The unpassable wall of too much gourmet cuisine. If there is such a thing as way too much good food we had reached that point. I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as too much good food but, trust me, there is. I couldn’t believe it. I was in hog heaven. I am enjoying the best food in the world and then suddenly the very thought of eating any more …

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