We finally countdown to the days we depart for France to attend the wedding of #ziqiandjames, held at the beautiful Chateau Rigaud, in the region of Bordeaux. The nearest train station located at Libourne is about 3.5 hours away from Paris and a further 20 minutes drive away. The quiet town makes it really chill and relaxing, where we dine in fine champagne, wine and food every meal and we had to make it up by going for morning runs every day when we were there. A balance of feasting and exercising was hard indeed

The chateau was made up of 2 stories, surrounded by lush greens, heated pool, barn, gardens and comprises of many spacious rooms

The favourite corner for some – open tap for beer!

The gorgeous dining area where we mainly gathered for wifi since we can’t really detect the wifi from our room

And the kitchen, where we popped in during meals to see what the chefs are preparing for the day

Having champagne and canapés at the lawn before meal

This is what it looks like every meal – champagne, red, white & water (for sure)

I shall skip the commentary on how each dish was so delectable, cos I would probably use the same vocabulary for every meal but in essence, the food there was pretty impressive with the chefs put their heart to prepare each dish for us

We got to choose our arrival dinner, and here’s my pick:

Seared Scallops, Cauliflower Puree and Peppered Caramel

Confit Duck Cassoulet, White Beans, Pancetta, Red Peppers, Summer Vegetables

Banoffee Pie with Caramelised Banana

Apple Tarte Tartin

And I took a shot of the other party’s dessert that looked like it could be presented in a magazine anytime

Star gazing at night just cos there was no light pollution

The next morning was a day trip to Chateau La Dominique where we took a quick wine tour and had lunch at La Terrace Rouge, supposedly famous for their view. But first, breakfast in the morning

Breakfast was a simple affair with mainly pastries, ham and yoghurt

Even a simple croissant makes us happy

Tour at Chateau La Dominique (€18), located at the famed St Emilion

The wine tasting was okay, not particularly loving the wine since I had drank better. So I did not buy any back

Lunch next. I doubt the restaurant is famed for their view, or perhaps it is the only decent restaurant in the area. Lunch was a 3-course meal at €35, not inclusive of drinks

Parma Ham with Rock melon

Pleasant starter. Very very sweet slices of rock melon, so sweet you might think they are artificial

Hangar Steak, Shallots Confit, Potatoes and Vegetables

We didn’t like the cut of the steak. A little too chewy, somewhat similar to chewing tendon

Valrhona Chocolate Fudge Cake, Vanilla Icecream

Very gao chocolate, decent end to the meal

Madeleine to accompany some very bad coffee, that tasted like the beans were over roasted. So bad I don’t recommend you order them

That marks the end of the not very impressive tour, where we got back to the chateau and chill before our barbecue dinner beckons, but before that, freshly made figs and chocolate cupcakes for us to enjoy

Never got to try these cos I was still full from lunch, but I heard they were delicious

And snapping the bts of dinner

Hummus

Various selection of tomatoes grown in their garden and all very sweet

Offered with canapés while waiting for dinner

And we all agreed this was better than what we had for lunch. ha

The chefs came from various cities, around the world, and decided a change of environment and hence landed a job here

SO MUCH FOOD. Gosh

Roast Carrot, Raddichio, Feta Salad

Potato, Red Cabbage and Mint Slaw

Pork Ribs with Maple Glaze

Moroccan Chicken

Sausages with Honey & Mustard

Lamb with Spiced Yoghurt

Grilled Mackerel with Mango & Pepper Salsa

And something for the young ones

It was a feast with champagne, red, white and rose. It was a nice change to have bbq for dinner though I thought the execution was a little short of perfect. Still, it was a filling meal with too much food to handle

Vanilla Cheesecake

Love the bits of honeycomb, watermelon and peaches to the crumbles at the bottom

And this marks the end of The Prelude, while we prepare for the Actual Day