We arrived in Ligny Le Chatel on Thursday after a long day on the roads of France. At least it felt long as I had slept only about 10 hours in two days.

However, we arrived in the small town of Ligny in the valley of the Serein River about 7 miles north of Chablis about 7 pm. Old, and quiet the Hotel or Relais Saint Vincent was a delight. The rooms are well set out and tidy but the vital point was the restaurant. We had a sumptuous meal of local food and wine.

The 'Oeufs meurette' were excellent and this was followed by Coq au Vin - not a young ready to fall apart bird but a tasty, slightly older bird steeped in a decent marinade and tasting fantastic. And then the cheese course consisted of a series of local cheeses, not cold and fridged but just at the correct temperature so they 'moved!' In the case of the 'epoisse', literally!

The wine was excellent. A 2008 Chablis from Domaine Garnier, which is just behind the hotel, was wonderful and went well with the eggs and my wife's salad. Moreover, this was followed by a 2008 Irancy, a wine we had never seen or drunk before but this complimented the Coq very well. A good nights sleep followed!

Today,Friday was a wine buying day so we went to Chablis to explore the region and learn about the wine. This proved interesting but also complex as we had to develop an understanding of the complexities of the burgundy wine owing regime. Anyway, don 't know if we did but we think that we have made gained some idea but in one day one has little chance of experiencing the range of wine available. All main producers have a Grands Cru from one of the key slopes where the grapes grow, so to determine which ones one prefers requires an awful lot of tasting!!

We did decide to but some Garnier but then found it shut!! Shut!! Why??