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Le Tour specialties: barbagiuan (ravioli)
Christian Prudhomme says: Everyone remembers the last occasion the Tour finished with a time trial, when Greg LeMond stripped the yellow jersey from the shoulders of Laurent Fignon on the Champs-Élysées in 1989, by just eight seconds. Thirty-five years on, we can but dream of a similar duel, involving two or three riders, an authentic athletic confrontation whose outcome would determine the final podium of the 111th edition, and the first to finish far from its familiar Parisian setting, the ultimate finale destined for Place Masséna, just a few pedal-strokes from the Promenade des Anglais.
The stage: This is an unusual end to the race. Not only are we not sprinting down the Champs Elysees, but we are not in Paris at all due to the Olympics. Plus, we are finishing with a time trial, so no ceremonial goodbye for Mark Cavendish and other riders doing their last Tour.
🚩 @MarkCavendish has started his last Tour de France stage! Enjoy this one Cav' you deserve it!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 21, 2024
🚩 @MarkCavendish s'est élancé ! Savoure cette dernière étape sur le Tour de France Mark, tu le mérites !#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/wF99J5uikX
🥹 Some people had messages for the legend @MarkCavendish. We showed them to him, and he wanted to send you a message too. Worth the watch💛
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 21, 2024
🥹 Certaines personnes avaient des messages pour la légende @MarkCavendish. On les lui a montrés, et il a tenu à vous adresser lui aussi… pic.twitter.com/h2haJHTjAq
The wine: Robert Barbichon Rosé de Saignee from Copake Wine Works
VINEYARDS…
The Barbichons hold a total of 9 hectares of vines across the Côte des Bar, most of which lie in Gyé-sur-Seine along with plots in the neighboring Courteron as well as just up the Seine river in Celles-sur-Ource. A large portion of their vineyards are planted to Pinot Noir, about six and half hectares, the rest is planted to Chardonnay, about 1 hectare, Pinot Meunier, just shy of a hectares worth and about half a hectare of Pinot Blanc. The overall average age of their vineyards are about 30 years.
The food: Barbagiuan
200g plain flour
dash salt
50ml olive oil
1 egg, beaten
50ml water
Vegetable oil for deep frying
For the filling
15ml olive oil
30g onion, finely chopped
3og leek (white part only)finely chopped
2 Swiss chard leaves (green parts only), shredded
and chopped
50g fresh spinach, chopped
pinch dried oregano, crumbled
50g ricotta cheese
30g freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg white, beaten
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.
Add the olive oil and half the egg white and blend with a fork. Reserve the rest of the egg for the filling.
Add just enough water to bring the pastry together as a firm dough.
Turn this out onto a lightly-floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 min).
Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Heat the olive oil in a shallow pan over medium heat and add the onion and leek and fry until golden (about 5 minutes).
Add the chard, spinach and oregano and fry until the chard is tender (about 10 minutes).
Transfer the contents of the skillet to a bowl and then mix in the cheeses and the leftover egg from the pastry.
Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to about 2mm thick.
Use a floured 6cm round pastry cutter and cut into as many rounds as you can.
Gather the scraps, re-roll out and cut again. You should end up with about 20 circles.
Place 1 tsp of the filling in the centre of each pastry round and brush the edges with the egg white.
Fold the dough over to form a semi-circle and press the edges with the ends of a fork to seal.
As you complete each pastry, transfer to a baking tray lined with foil.
Note: at this stage you can freeze the pasties and then thaw before cooking, or you can cook them right away.
Pour vegetable oil into a deep pan (you need at least 4cm) and heat to fry.
Working in batches, add the pasties to the oil and fry until brown and crisp (about 5 minutes).
Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen towels using a slotted spoon.