Truffle Oil

Morning. We are currently on the TVG High Speed Train on our way to Paris. Trustmark has arranged for us to travel 1st Class to Paris. Pretty nice. So about yesterday….

We woke up in Macon and hung out on the boat for awhile. We enjoyed lunch on the boat. After lunch, we were to do the afternoon excursion to the Chardonnay wine tasting in the in the Burgundy area of France. We boarded the bus and toured the town of Macon on our way to the vineyard. We toured the vineyards and the distillery, and then once again we sampled 5 different wines. It was really nice. After the tour, it was a 1 ½ hour drive to back to the boat, as the boat went on to sail to the town of Tournus. We rode the bus and did a little sightseeing on our way to meet the boat in Tournus. It was a long ride, and we all agreed, we probably should have stayed on the boat and enjoyed the sail instead of riding the bus. Since we were on the excursion, we had didn’t have any choice.

We met up with the boat, and by this time it was time to head back to the stateroom to pack and get ready for the cocktail party and dinner. Dinner as usual was wonderful. We started out with soup in a shot glass,3 varieties of salmon, tomato basil consumme, main entrée was beef or halibut, Kim and Anthony shared both, Anthony also ordered the table goat cheese stuffed ravioli for the table (but we’ll talk about that later)and desert was Baked Alaska. As usual the food was spectacular – no complaints…

Now, back to the ravioli…After dinner (still at the table), while chatting with Chris, Dave (from Connecticut), Marcus and Anthony, Marcus stated he thought he tasted truffle oil in the ravioli. Of course being from Kentucky, New Jersey and Connecticut – we had no idea what he was talking about, so he asks our waiter to ask the chef. He returns and tells Marcus, yes there was truffle oil in the ravioli, but then tells Anthony no, there was not truffle oil…We all laugh and decide that Marcus is full of it and it becomes a running joke. Later that evening while hanging out on the Sky Deck, Marcus leaves the table to get everyone a glass of wine….He’s gone for upward of ½ hour. Kim then goes to check on him and find him at the bar in deep conversation with the Executive Chef. As she walked up to him, the chef stands and says – Yes, I used truffle oil – I do it on every cruise to see if anyone detects it and Marcus is the first one to discover it. Kim then found out that like Marcus, the chef (Stefan) is also from Germany – and they spent a long time talking about home . Kim returned to the table with the wine, and the Stefan (the chef) and Marcus quickly followed. The four of us spent the evening listening to the chef tell stories of past experiences and learning some cooking tips – but the main topic of conversation is truffle oil. Around 1 am, the chef invites the four of us to visit the galley and gives us the full tour, including a sampling of the famous truffle oil. Which by the way is wonderful - I don’t think I’ve ever smelled anything so aromatic…I can’t wait to get some for home.

This morning we woke up early and actually had breakfast on the boat for the first time! We both are disappointed that we only woke up early enough for 1 breakfast. Oh well. Like I said earlier, we are currently on the TVG train to Paris. Hopefully this will be a great ride!

Paris, here we come! Stay tuned more later….

Nicole & Kim

P.S. At the time of this post, we are in Paris!! 3 words....OH MY GOD!!!!