Of all the art forms that Japan adopted from China, chanoyu, or tea ceremony, had the most profound influence, perhaps because “the way of the tea” so well suited the way of the Japanese. “Minimalism, balance and composure,” the three essentials in chanoyu, were fundamental to life.

Nothing Left to Chance

In a Japanese tea ceremony nothing is left to chance—the simple atmosphere is a result of careful calculations. The plain, straw-mat room is sparsely decorated with a seasonal scroll or flower arrangement, and tea is served in precious yet unpretentious ceramic bowls. A kimono is chosen for its design, perhaps a cherry blossom scene for spring, or autumn leaves for fall. Each design reflects simplicity and natural beauty.

In the 14th century, chanoyu was a luxurious pastime exclusively enjoyed by the aristocracy. It was not until the 17th and 18th centuries that the Japanese tea ceremony was brought to the masses, thanks to the merchant class who strove to emulate the elite. Merchant homes had a formal tea room, always four-and-a-half tatami in size, just like the 15th-century tea room used by Shogu Ashikaga Yoshimasa at his Kyoto villa, Ginkakugi the Silver Pavilion. From the room, chaniwa or tea garden, with ferns, mosses, shrubs, bamboo fences and stone lanterns are carefully tended to for guests to enjoy in quiet contemplation.

“Courtesy, politeness, modesty…”

Many of Japan’s feudal warriors were lovers of the tea ceremony. Oda Nobunaga, the ferocious mid-16th-century leader, was forced to honourably disembowel himself when he was ambushed by a treasonous general after taking a chanoyu interlude en route to war. He was avenged by another fan of the tea, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The expansionist leader once held an elaborate 10-day tea ceremony after a successful campaign in Kyushu. His interpreter, the Portuguese Jesuit Juan Rodriguez, wrote of the Japanese tea ceremony: “Courtesy, politeness, modesty, exterior moderation, calmness, place of body, and soul without any pride or arrogance, fleeing from ostentation, pomp, external grandeur and magnificence.”

The Japanese tea ceremony uses a special green tea that is very bitter, so a sweet, pounded rice-and-bean paste is presented before the drinking. Cha kaiseki, a special type of kaiseki-ryori, evolved as part of a full-length ceremony. Today, as in feudal times, it consists of a seemingly unending course of tiny porcelain or lacquer dishes with artistically arranged vegetables, fish and rice.

The entire meal is a combination of texture, flavour, aroma and seasonal foods. Like nature, the tea ceremony provides balance.

Palpable is a funny word. If you plug it into Google right now you’ll see it defined, in part at least, as “so intense as to be almost touched or felt.” It’s usually used to describe an otherwise intangible feeling, but in my attempt to put into words the flurry of activity that was B&R’s 2013 Guide Kick Off, it’s the first one that came to mind. The more I thought about it, the more I realized just how fitting it was; while B&R guides are a diverse group, gathering so many of them together in one place results in a kinetic energy that makes so many of their shared traits seem palpable.

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Enthusiasm

The first thing I noticed about our assembled recruits, from the greenest new guides to the savviest veterans, was their enthusiasm. While new guides conveyed a slightly nervous energy, anxious with an excitement they could barely contain, returning veterans simply beamed as they reunited with old friends and welcomed new ones. (In both cases the process involved a smile, a kiss and a hug.)

Whether scouring Beaune in search of items for a scavenger hunt, racing to change bike tires during their mechanical training, heading out together for a morning ride or performing (extremely important) skits, the guides did everything with gusto.

Generosity

The theme permeating the kick off was service, and while we only occasionally discussed it explicitly, it was everywhere on display. What became obvious through the guides’ many acts of kindness was how intimately service stems from generosity of spirit.

It’s the motivating root that compels a person to offer the perfect word of encouragement when you face a challenging uphill climb, fill a dining companion’s glass before their own and share a delicacy with their neighbour.

Gather together a team of generous hostesses and hosts, and marvel at how seamlessly things happen—never have so many needs been so immediately anticipated. Nary a glass went empty, a (delicious) meal unshared or a moment of silence unfilled with laughter and conversation.

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See For Yourself!

Click here to check out a slideshow of our 2013 Guide Kick Off.

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Optimism

Spend some time with one B&R guide, and you’ll quickly come to believe that anything is possible. Spend some time surrounded by B&R guides, and you’ll see why your belief is justified.

Ride a challenging 60 kilometres then head out for a (late) night of revelry? Bien sur. Dine at the most exclusive restaurant in town—without a reservation? Let them make a call. Find that rare bottle of wine you’ve been searching for forever? They’re on it.

A lowly editor, I was at first taken aback by the audacity of their optimism. But the more time I spent among the guides, the more sense it seemed to make. Expert cyclists, linguistic masters and exemplary hosts, this is a group of people who hold multiple degrees, count some of the world’s best vintners, chefs and hoteliers among their friends and have lived, worked and played in all corners of the globe. I can honestly say they’re the most capable, warm and all-out fun group of people I’ve had the pleasure of spending a week alongside—they’d be crazy not to think they can do anything.

Character

If I had to choose just one word to describe a B&R guide (and thank God I don’t), I would have to choose character. It’s the net result of a person possessed of enthusiasm, generosity and optimism.

Character means our guides have the work ethic to load up the van before each trip and the intuition that tells them a bottle of wine (or two) is as necessary as the bike equipment. Character means guides have the foresight to call ahead and make sure the restaurant is aware of any dietary restrictions, and have enough life experience to tell a great yarn over dinner. Character, in short, is as essential to B&R experiences as an amazing locale and a delicious meal.

And with the worldly, enthusiastic, generous and optimistic cast of characters we’ve assembled for 2013, there’s little doubt B&R experiences will abound this year.

For those of us at the kick off, the feeling was palpable.

Our 2013 European season kicked off with a bang earlier this month with the 2013 B&R Guide Kick Off. It was a week of training, riding and celebrating as we welcomed new and veteran recruits alike to our Beaune office. Check out the slideshow below for a visual recap of an amazing week in Burgundy, and click here to read all about the flurry of activity that was the kick off.

A well-preserved medieval jewel in the heart of the Burgundian vineyards, wine is more influential in the history and development of Beaune than any other item or commodity. Strategically situated in the middle of the famous Cote d’Or vineyards, halfway between the Cote de Nuits and the Cote de Beaune, it serves as an important hub of the region’s wine culture. Home to the region’s leading wine négociants (vintners), Beaune’s foundations are a maze of tunnels used for cellaring wine and its ancient ramparts have been converted to wine cellars, giving rise to the observation the city is defended with bulwarks of bottles.

B&R has had a love affair with Beaune ever since our first Burgundy trip in 1980. In 1985, when Paris became just a little too frantic for our office, Beaune seemed the obvious choice, given the unbeatable biking and walking, the town’s intimate size, its chic appeal, its medieval ramparts and cobblestone streets and, of course, the truly wonderful wine!

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Wine Museum and Notre Dame

Located in the 15th-century home of one of the dukes of Burgundy, you’ll find a comprehensive history of the winemaking process in Burgundy’s wine museum. Nearby is the Cathedral of Notre Dame, modelled after the Mother Church in Cluny. Begun in 1120, Notre Dame remains a prime example of Romanesque architecture, despite its later additions. A fresco painting of the raising of Lazarus can be seen in the second chapel on the left side. As well, an extraordinary set of tapestries, finished at the end of the 14th century and depicting the life of the Virgin Mary, is often displayed inside.

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Les Hospices de Beaune and La Vente des Vins

For centuries, this wealthy, charming town was the capital of the dukes of Burgundy. Beginning with the Capetian dukes and continuing through the Valois dukes, Beaune was the site of Burgundy’s parliament. Nicolas Rolin, one of the most famous chancellors of Parliament, commissioned the most imposing edifice in town—Les Hospices de Beaune (aka Hôtel Dieu).

Founded as a charity hospital in 1443, over the centuries, vineyard owners willed portions of their land holdings to Les Hospices de Beaune as a gesture of charity. Consequently, the humble hospital has become one of the largest vineyard proprietors in Burgundy.

Each year wines from the vineyards of Les Hospices de Beaune are sold at an auction, La Vente des Vins, attracting buyers from all over the world to the hospital’s central courtyard. For three days, the entire city celebrates. Wine cellars and wine estates open their doors (and their bottles) for international visitors, and the entertainment includes wine tastings, bottle-opening contests, a fair and even a marathon around the Côte de Beaune.

Obviously, the wine auction is the main event. Each year, a celebrity presides over the international charity auction, selling an exceptional pièce (a barrel of wine). The auction is a traditional “candle auction,” where the auctioneer lights a one-inch candle and accepts bids only while the candle burns (20 minutes or so).

All proceeds from the wine auction go to a charitable organization. As a result, the Wine Auction sets the yearly pricing trends for French wines.

For a behind-the-scenes look at Beaune and (a few tips for bidding in the auction), check out this great video from Christie’s auction house, which has organized the auction since 2005:

“Wow.” I said it more times than I can remember—and the ride lasted barely two hours.

My first-ever B&R biking experience took place, appropriately enough, in Beaune, the heart of Burgundy wine country, our longtime European home. Pedalling an easygoing route through the forests around the city, I couldn’t help but feel that after six months with the company, I was only now coming to understand it.

On one stretch, ensconced by the luscious green of Burgundian trees, with a perfect breeze at my back and the sun on my face, I had the resounding sense that, though this was my first time on a bike in more years than I care to recall, I got it. The appeal of a bike trip was immediate and obvious.

Riding past renowned vineyards, with nothing in sight but blue sky above and fields of yellow grape seed in front of me, I could for the first time comprehend what it means to, if I may borrow a phrase, “slow down to see the world.”

And the best part was, I wasn’t alone. In my particular case, I was surrounded by three colleagues, which at B&R means three friends as talented as they are fun, enjoying their company as much if not more than the aforementioned scenery. “Car back!” we’d call to each other when a vehicle approached from behind, breaking from our habit of riding two across and forming into single file. (Amateur cyclists all, I have to admit that we were as interested in good conversation as we were great scenery. In fact, the two complemented each other perfectly.)

Alternating between leading the pack and bringing up the rear, we shared responsibility (along with a few laughs), learning firsthand that while biking is ostensibly an individual sport, there’s no better way to become a team.

When we pulled back into the atelier and put two feet on solid ground for the first time in a few hours, we ended our ride with a round of high fives—our sense of accomplishment diminished not at all by the fact that the brief forest loop we rode took us about twice as long to complete as it had taken our guides the previous day.

It wasn’t about the speed for us; it was about the ride.

Published in enRoute magazine | By Timothy Taylor

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I’m attempting time travel, no other way to put 
it. I’m trying to drill backwards, into some historic experience of this incredible place. And for a moment, on my very first morning in China – in a lush green valley north of Lijiang, in rustic Yunnan province – I’m pretty sure I’ve succeeded.

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To read Timothy Taylor’s full account of his trip to China with B&R, check out enRoute magazine.

Whether you’re slurping soup from the best cart in Chiang Mai or staring down a heaping helping of homemade pasta from nonna (someone’s nonna, anyway), partaking of the freshest, most delicious local fare is essential to becoming one with where you are.

While there’s no substitute for experiencing a cuisine in deep and up close, recreating a region’s signature dishes can bring a taste of its culinary tradition into your home—and whet your appetite in advance of your next trip. In Recipes from the Road, we help you do just that.

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Tarte Tatin

As they didn’t have an oven, the Tatin sisters, who ran a hotel and restaurant in Lamotte-Beuvron, just south of Orleans, had to cook this classic French apple tart on a stove. The pastry always ended up burned and the apples raw, so one day they tried putting the apples on the bottom, and then the pastry on top … et voilà! The Tarte Tatin was born.

Ingredients

2 kg apples
butter
sugar
1 prepared pie crust

Directions

1. Peel, quarter and core the apples.
2. Melt some butter, adding some sugar and the apples to the pan. This can be done on the stovetop, or by placing sugared apples in a buttered pan and heating it in a hot oven. (You’ll want to use a ceramic or glass pie dish, or a solid cake pan.)
3. Cook until the apples start to caramelize. Remove them from the heat and cover them with the crust, pushing the edges down into the pan.
4. Bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.
5. Turn the tart onto a serving dish so the apple side is up, and garnish with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. You can also try to flambé the tart with pear or apple eau de vie.

At The Slow Road we believe that getting in deep and up close has as much to do with a region’s culinary culture as it does with its geography and people. After all, you can’t really call yourself a cultural adventurer if you don’t embrace the local food and drink—to partake of the freshest, most delicious local fare is to become one with where you are. In this latest edition of our Cuisine 101 series, we delve into “the garden of France” and take a look at Loire Valley cuisine.

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Loire Valley Specialties

Fouace/Fouée
Long a staple of Loire Valley cuisine, you won’t find this traditional bread in boulangeries any more, but you may taste it in one of the regional restaurants. One version is plain and baked in a wood-fired oven, while the other looks and tastes more like a brioche. These are often served with rillettes as an appetizer.

Rillettes
A shredded, textured pâté. You’ll mainly find pork rillettes, but also salmon or duck. You’ll be able to buy this in charcuteries for picnics.

Fish
Loire Valley cuisine has included freshwater fish caught locally since pre-Roman times. The dishes are often accompanied by a sauce that brings through the delicate flavour of the fish, such as beurre blanc, a butter sauce flavoured with shallots and vinegar. A few types of fish you’ll probably see on the menu include sandre (pike perch or zander), alose (shad), anguilles (eel, often stewed in red wine for Matelote d’Anguilles) brochet (pike) and
brème: (bream).

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Loire Valley Cheese

Fossils found in the area reveal that goats lived in the Loire long before men, so it should come as no surprise that goat’s cheese is a staple of Loire Valley cuisine. A few of the area’s best include:

Selles-sur-Cher
This round cheese, dusted with ashes, is well known for its blue (sometimes dark) colour.

Crottin de Chavignol
A small disc of mild goat’s cheese that becomes a Crottin when older and drier. Younger Crottins may be creamy enough to spread or to heat and serve on a bed of salad greens, while older ones can be grated. This cheese was originally conceived to accompany Sancerre wine.

Sainte-Maure
This creamy, ivory-white cheese of cylindrical shape and coated with bluish ashes brought fame—and AOC status—to the small town that produced it.

Pyramide de Valençay
This pyramid-shaped goat’s cheese, dusted with ashes and therefore called cendré, boasts a Label régional, a guarantee of authenticity not as strictly defined or regulated as AOC.

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For another example of Loire Valley cuisine, be sure to try our recipe for Tarte Tatin, a traditional Loire dessert.

When I told friends that I was heading to Utah for March break with my kids, they all asked which mountain I was skiing—which made me realize that my well laid plans for a week of hiking and other outdoor adventures may have been a little misguided.

Happily, it turned out to be a stroke of genius, since the most popular national parks in America, from Bryce and Zion to Arches and Canyonlands, were almost completely devoid of crowds, and the desert temperature was perfect for almost every outdoor physical activity, from hiking to mountain biking. You have to pass up on rafting and river swimming, but it’s worth the trade-off.

Jaw-Droppingly Gorgeous

We started our trip in Vegas (of which the less said, the better…) and then set off for Zion National Park. We pretty much had it to ourselves, and although some of the more treacherous cliff-hugging paths were a bit too slippery to take on, we hiked to magnificent waterfalls, followed a herd of mule deer, and had a lovely lunch at Zion Lodge.

Our ultimate destination was Amangiri, and if you don’t recognize the name, you’ve probably seen the photos (everywhere from Architectural Digest to Travel & Leisure); it’s a stunning property of modern minimalism set amidst the magnificent hoodoos and canyons of southern Utah. Like all Aman properties, the service was impeccable and discrete, the food was contemporary and creative, and the suites and public spaces were jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Every morning, we set off on excursions ranging from off-road hummer tours and private slot canyon explorations to guided hikes through the hoodoos and rock climbing adventures. And each afternoon, we ended up relaxing around what is surely one of the most magnificent pools in America.

We spent five days at the Aman, and could have kept going for another five, but we finally had to tear ourselves away to head to Moab, the epicentre of outdoor adventure in the Southwest. The most convenient solution is to charter a small plane to Moab, but we wanted a taste of the all-American road trip, and so spent a leisurely day meandering through the vast empty spaces of Monument Valley and other iconic American landscapes.

Every Parent’s Dream

We passed through Moab on our way to the Sorrel River Ranch, a rustic-luxe lodge that sits at a bend in the Colorado River, at the end of one of the most scenic drives in Utah, where the road snakes along the banks beneath towering 1,000-feet red rock cliffs. The ranch offers everything from fly fishing to horseback riding (and we tried our hand at everything), but the real adventure in Moab lies in the hikes through the extraordinary moonscapes of Canyonlands Park and along the slick rock mountain bike trails that follow the rim of the river canyons.

The mountain biking proved to be a little much for our youngest (who’s six), but other than that, he and his older sibling embraced every activity with surprising gusto. While we had initially fretted that they might whinge their way across Utah (“Daddy, I hate hiking!”), in the end we had to drag them back indoors at the end of every day for a cleansing bath and hot meal before an early bedtime—every parent’s dream problem.

Click the image below to see a slideshow from our trip:

An inestimable local guide who reveals an aspect of a region you had never thought to explore. A local delicacy you had never heard of but will crave for the rest of your days. A bottle of wine so good you want to buy it by the barrel, not the bottle.

While planning such immersed encounters has become old hand to us, for our travellers each trip is a unique and (dare we say) sometimes life-changing experience. So when travellers Bernadette “Bernie” Park and Veronica Chiang recently wrote to explain what a great time they had in Costa Rica, we were grateful for the reminder that our passion for planning translates directly into exceptional experiences.

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Bernie Park: “The Surprises Never Ended”

Back home and trying to get back into the swing of it here. No one to cut my pineapple or hand me warmed, scented hand towels! OMG we had the best time! Truly had no idea how spoiled we would be but B&R does a great job. You planned a fabulous trip for us and honestly could not do anything better!

We all had a great time and it has definitely raised the travel bar. Don’t think we will be able to travel without you guys ever again!! The surprises never ended. The highlight was dancing with a local youth folk dance group and private dinner on the beach in Punta Islita!! Everyone enjoyed the local adventures. Tortilla making and of course eating with Señora Olga, jewelry making with Señora Celeste and the other ladies in Punta Islita. Oscar, the chef at Finca Rosa Blanca, took us for a tour of their organic greenhouse and gardens. The kids loved it. A true farm-to-table experience!!

Elaine was the best fit for our group. We all miss her terribly, especially my girls!! We loved Randall and Gerardo. Marvin was probably the best concierge we ever met!

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Veronica Chiang: “Absolutely The Most Fantastic Trip”

It is with much mixed emotion that we are home. While it is always nice to come home, we had absolutely the most fantastic trip in Costa Rica. I do not think that any of us could possibly have any criticism about anything during the trip.

I would like to thank you very much for creating a wonderful itinerary, for choosing our fantastic guides (Elaine and Randall were amazing) and the seamlessness with which everything was done. It was the most stress-free vacation we have ever had and all three of my boys loved every second of it. Unfortunately it seems that it will be almost impossible to convince the kids to travel any other way again!

We certainly also left with a very rosy view of Costa Rica as a country and a respect for the people we met, all of whom were amazing.  I personally enjoyed their work ethic, the pride that the people had in their country and their self-sustainability philosophy.