Christopher Bollen’s ‘Orient’: Book Review

Christopher Bollen begins his gorgeous new novel with an epigraph from the philosopher Paul Virilio: “The invention of the ship was also the invention of the shipwreck.” It’s a fitting motto for this story of island murder, an inventive whodunit that’s also a profound meditation on how the vehicles we construct to enable our lives and keep us safe—families, towns, identities—conjure the very disasters we fear.

On one late summer afternoon, two bodies appear in Orient, Long Island, a beach community that—long the Hamptons’ less sought after sister—has begun to be invaded by the stylish rich of Manhattan. One of these bodies is a strange, unidentifiable creature that washes ashore, a mutant carcass that locals fear drifted over from a nearby government facility. The other is a man.

Even before these first casualties—and there will be many more—Bollen makes Orient a menacing place, crawling with hunters and “lethal with ticks.” Beneath their friendly veneer, the locals boil with envies and resentments, the usual conflicts of a small community exacerbated by the changing dynamics of the town, as prices rise and ancestral properties are purchased and altered by outsiders seeking beachfront views. It’s a town at war with itself for its own future.

Into it comes Mills Chevern, a homeless, gay, nineteen-year-old runaway from the California foster care system. He’s taken in by Paul Benchley, who finds him shivering and high in the hallway of his Manhattan building and brings him to his family home in Orient to get sober. Their relationship is ambiguous at first—like so many LGBT homeless youth, Mills has experience with survival sex work, and he wonders about Paul’s expectations. But it quickly becomes clear that Paul’s intentions are benevolent, and Mills finds in him the father figure he’s never had.

When a neighbor’s house burns down, killing all four members of the family inside, Mills quickly comes under suspicion. As he tries to find evidence that will exonerate him, we learn just how deeply divided and perilous Orient is, how many of its residents—among the “year-rounders” and weekenders alike—harbor motives for murder. Bollen constructs his murder mystery well, drawing the reader forward to the steady pulse of suspense and surprise.

But the real achievement of the book lies elsewhere. Bollen is an indecently gifted writer, able to capture a character in a quick gesture and with a startling gift for the perfect simile or metaphor. A hunter’s taut bow is “wired like a mosquito hungry for blood”; the disorder of a house is “the kind of headache that might induce the aspirin of divorce”; “grown men crying were like deep-water fish against aquarium glass.”

More impressively, he has a masterful sense of the micromaneuvers of human interaction, the tiny gestures and shifts in temperature that make up our relationships. Mills finds his best ally in Beth Shepherd, an Orient native who has returned to her childhood home after a failed career as a painter. Bollen’s portrayal of their friendship provides some of the book’s most moving moments. Beth is, in her way, as lost as Mills, bewildered by her faltering marriage and lost career, and unsure whether she wants to keep the child she has just learned she’s carrying. Even as she grows increasingly frightened and disoriented by their discovered, Beth’s relationship with Mills allows her to imagine a livable future.

“A family wasn’t forged out of steel,” Mills thinks late in the book. “You dig a hole in a person and then you fill it with yourself.” The real mystery Bollen explores in this beautiful book isn’t murder. As he examines not just scenes but entire lives from different characters’ perspectives, his profounder subject is our irreducible opacity to each other, how even when we intend to strip ourselves bare we hide behind battlements of delusion and fear. “The truth of what a person needed in order to feel human wasn’t always something you could discover by asking the people who knew him best,” Bollen writes. “The answer was in the moments he went missing from his life.”

Previous reviews… 

Michael Klein’s ‘When I Was a Twin’

Ryan Berg’s ‘No House to Call My Home’

Vivian Gornick’s ‘The Odd Woman and the City’

David Crabb’s ‘Bad Kid: A Memoir’

Connect with Garth Greenwell on Twitter.

 

The post Christopher Bollen’s ‘Orient’: Book Review appeared first on Towleroad.

Garth Greenwell

Christopher Bollen’s ‘Orient’: Book Review

Alabama High Court Hands Down Homophobic Adoption Ruling

Proving itself once again to be one of the most homophobic high courts in the nation, the Alabama Supreme Court Friday refused to recognize a Georgia adoption by a lesbian mother.

The woman, known only as V.L. in the case, adopted her partner’s three children while they lived in Georgia in 2007. After the women broke up, the biological mother, known as E.L., moved the children to Alabama and denied her ex visitation rights. E.L. argued that the Georgia adoption was invalid in Alabama, according to AL.com, a website for several Alabama newspapers..

V.L. sued for visitation, winning and losing several times before the case went to Alabama’s highest court. Working with the National Center for Lesbian Rights, V.L. argued that she was an adopted mother in Georgia and, in effect, should be one in Alabama. But the notoriously antigay Supreme Court didn’t agree.

All but one of the Alabama justices “ruled that Alabama did not have to respect the Georgia court’s adoption because the Court believed that Georgia law did not allow same-sex parents to adopt,” the NCLR wrote in a statement last week.

One of the Alabama justices, Tom Parker, went even further, writing in a special ruling that adoption is a privilege, not a right, and children should be raised “with both a father and a mother.”

“The biological mother in this case chose my client as a second parent to these children, before their births, during their conceptions, and in formal adoption proceedings intended to ensure my client’s rights — wherein she stated that having my client as a parent was in the children’s best interests,” Heather Fann, one of V.L.’s attorneys, said in a statement. “Because, many years later, she chose to contradict her own decision-making regarding the establishment of a family for those children, a court ruled today that my client is not a parent. Not only is that not true, its harm extends far beyond my client, to children who have called her mother their entire lives, and now to adoptive families throughout Alabama.”

V.L. released her own statement: “It is extremely difficult to see the distress in my children as they realize that the courts who are tasked with putting their best interests first won’t recognize our family. I am just a Mom who wanted and prayed for these children and raised them from birth, and I hope every day that we can be together again.”

Neal Broverman

www.advocate.com/families/2015/9/21/alabama-high-court-hands-down-homophobic-adoption-ruling

Stop Hoping for More and Start Hoping for the One
Growing up in a small village in Scotland with 600 people is tough. Especially when you don’t fit into the norm of what they expect a young boy to be. I liked singing and acting. They liked rugby and beating the shit out of me. I won’t labor on it, because High School is the best time of our lives, right?

As I became older I flew the nest to my next port of call: University. Not a large population of people, but enough for me to come to terms (to a degree) with who I am and some self-discovery along the way.

Then came another leap — South Korea. A place where I quickly discovered homosexuality is hidden and reviled more than salacious stories of celebrities that fill our news columns daily.

Then, the day finally came. I was accepted into Grad School in NYC and I couldn’t have been happier. After ten years as an out gay man, I would become a fish in one of the most thriving, accepting, diverse and supportive gay communities in the world. It would be a far cry from Scotland, England, Korea, but I was ready. I wanted to make it work.

But despite my cheery disposition about the whole thing, I realized pretty fast that making it work here could be the hardest of all. Even harder than Korea. Which is really hard.

The most recent date I went on was a total bust. It started off well, a nice hug, a warm smile. But it was pretty evident that as we began to walk, there was absolutely no chemistry there. Mainly because he had such a heightened sense of self-worth that couldn’t even allow him to ask any questions. Not one. Well, he mirrored mine — which is like the biggest sign of failure in every sense of the word. The most awful part was that he used me as a way to walk. He liked to walk. We walked all the way from Harlem through Central Park. I walked four miles. And with every step my mind was telling me to stop and just walk away, because I could have got more conversation from an unhappy looking runner than from him. Blood from an actual stone is the only term I can use, but when the stone did bleed, he was an interesting and smart man. Some things just aren’t meant to be, right?

It wasn’t until we neared the end of the park he seemed to perk up. Obviously, he was happy to be released from the prison that is my toxic personality but also because he had reached his daily goal of 15,000 steps. Round of a fucking applause for him. He said something that summed up what my life in this great city of diversity and culture could become: “Every time a guy you date hugs you, you’ll either want to hold onto him forever or instantly let him go for the one you’re looking at over his shoulder — or the one he’s looking at.”

Huh? Then it clicked: That’s why he hugged me when we met. Why didn’t I see that coming? Did you?

He went on to tell me that when he arrived he was nice — nicer than he is now, and a guy from this city knew he was an out of towner because of it. Chivalry and manners really are dead. It seems to be that in Gay Male Land working out fast food from our diets is officially over and working in fast sex and even faster relationships is officially in.

Even the couples are looking for more. The dating apps are filled with men married to men who want that third, fourth fifth…not because they don’t love each other or find one another attractive, but just because (insert bullshit reason here).

I am most certainly not the first, nor will I be the last to feel this way. But my main question is: Where is this diverse and accepting gay community that people led me to believe existed here? We are now in a world where we have over 100 choices at our fingertips and still, we want more. Younger, fitter, healthier and sluttier more. And the Gay Community wonders why we suffer so much with all of the over-sexualized versions of us we see on TV and in film. The Average Joe doesn’t stand a chance. We are giving the world what is now expected and feeding into a stereotype that is slowly become less stereotype and more fact.

However, despite these abrasively depressing truths, which I didn’t want to believe but now see are true, I refuse to give up. Like the men on these apps who hope for more, I hope for something much greater: The One. I’m also pretty sure that there are others out there who feel the same as I do. I refuse to accept the NYC side effect of refusing to settle for less, because I honestly believe that I can find my more — without hugging him and looking over his shoulder at what else is on display.

To the young men who are dealing with their sexuality, don’t feed into this world that has been constructed through media representation and fueled by the community itself. The only way that this will change is from within our group. Coming to terms with your sexuality is difficult enough as it is without adding these additional pressures of washboard abdomen muscles and giant…well, you catch my drift. Be strong, be you and have hope for the one. And to the different man who told me that I wasn’t beautiful inside because my outside wasn’t up to scratch: Fuck. You. My inside is a rainbow.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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REVIEW: Klaus K, Helsinki

Found in an ideal location just 10 minutes walk from the pretty waterfront and the center of town, Klaus K is the first design hotel in Helsinki, and lives up to its name in both style and substance.

Most of the décor and furnishings have been specially tailored for the hotel. Although the general aesthetic is modern Finnish design and minimalist luxury, the website explains that, ‘the heart and soul of the hotel was found in the Kalevala – Finland’s dramatic national epic.’ The artistic myth has subtly inspired all elements of the design, creating a common thread that ties all of the different elements of this quirky and eclectic hotel together.

As you enter the modern lobby, you are greeted by the white, specially made, wooden reception desk that has been carefully constructed to depict a bird’s nest. Following the tale of the Kalevala upstairs, even the carpet leading to your room has aspects of the mythical creation story woven into it.

This level of attention to detail is evident in every part of the hotel. From the comfortable and inviting communal ‘Living Room’, to the hotel’s very own bar and nightclub on the lower ground floor. Even the warm and welcoming, Italian-inspired restaurant Toscanini – which serves a mean brunch – is an ode to an artist who painted Kalevala-themed ceiling frescoes.

As well as the two downstairs bars, there’s also a trendy rooftop bar, but this is only for the exclusive use of guests staying on the very top floor. This doesn’t matter so much in the winter when you would need a strong whiskey and a soundproof thick coat to consider sitting up there, but in the summer it’s a perk worth paying for.

The rooms on the top floor, or the ‘Sky Lofts’ as they’re known, are flooded with light, which is complimented by the spacious room design. The high ceilings and neutral color scheme mean the rooms are as heavenly as they look – and also some of the most sought after in the whole hotel.

If your budget won’t quite stretch to the Loft, then you certainly won’t feel shortchanged staying in one of the hotel’s other individually designed ‘Original’ rooms.

On the downside, some of these rooms on the lower floors have only one small window in the room, meaning they can feel slightly cave-like at times. However this can also feel cozy when you’re bedding in for the night, and if you’re visiting in the winter when the country gets less than six hours of sunlight a day, who needs windows anyway.

For an even more unique experience at Klaus K, you can take advantage of their concern with being at the forefront of cutting edge and modern design in Helsinki, and book a night or two in one of the ‘Special Rooms’. If the name for these five one of a kind, and exclusively designed, rooms doesn’t already have you feeling like a VIP when you check in, the distinctive design that surrounds you as you enter the space should have you feeling very special indeed.

Championing homegrown talent, the rooms have all been designed by famous Finnish artists. Original art is plastered across the room – often directly onto the walls, pieces of the furniture that have been on display in incredible art galleries all around the world such as the MOMA have pride of place, and one room has even been designed for the sole purpose of using it as an ultra-modern home cinema.

Booked easily through Booking.com, we stayed in ’The Art Room’ by Riiko Sakkinen and were greeted every morning by a giant painting of ‘The Hong Kong Curry Flavor Cup Noodle Robot’. Needless to say we loved it.

Klaus K manages to retain its ultra modern and cutting edge design aesthetic throughout every floor, without once feeling cold or unwelcoming. Every room has its own very unique and distinctive vibe, meaning the whole hotel feels like its brimming with personality. A trip to Helsinki is well worth the gasp-inducing price tag on a pint, and you shouldn’t pass through this idiosyncratic city without a stay in Klaus K.

www.klauskhotel.com/en/

For all the best deals and to book this amazing hotel quickly and easily, visit Booking.com, which has over 787,000 properties to choose from in over 221 countries worldwide with over 56M reviews. It guarantees the best prices for any type of property – from small independents to five-star luxury.

The post REVIEW: Klaus K, Helsinki appeared first on Gay Star News.

Rachael Martin

www.gaystarnews.com/article/review-klaus-k-helsinki/

Anti-LGBT Candidate Scott Walker Drops Presidential Campaign

Walker notoriously launched his campaign for president under a firestorm of criticism after he said that Boy Scouts needed “protection” from LGB volunteers.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/anti-lgbt-candidate-scott-walker-drops-presidential-campaign?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Matt Damon, Eddie Redmayne, Ellen Page & Hot Guys Make The Toronto Film Festival Extra Special

It’s one of the world’s most important film fests, widely seen as the first big indicator of next-year Oscar glory. And while mainstream in scope, the Toronto International Film Festival is also increasingly becoming one of LGBT cinema’s biggest annual bashes, with some of the most exciting gay, lesbian and trans titles marking their splashy debuts to the world.

This year the gay buzz was TIFF’s strongest yet, with the star-studded world premieres of two especially eagerly anticipated films, The Danish Girl and Freeheld — and nearly as many LGBT sparks flying offscreen as on. Tom Hardy’s shoot-down of a press conference question about his sexuality went viral, Ellen Page made her public debut with girlfriend Samantha Thomas on the Freeheld red carpet, and young director Stephen Dunn’s first full-length film Closet Monster won the festival’s Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film. TIFF is also an ever-bigger event on Toronto’s local gay scene, with some of the season’s hottest parties packing in the city’s (and the visiting world’s) cutest film nerds.

Eddie Redmayne on The Danish Girl premiere red carpet.

Matt Damon and Kate Mara at The Martian press conference.

David Ebershoff, author of the book The Danish Girl, at the film’s premiere:

STIFF 6: The Legend of Tom’s Hardy at Handlebar:

A photo posted by Mitchel Raphael

(@mitchelraphael) on Sep 16, 2015 at 5:01pm PDT

STIFF 6: The Legend of Tom’s Hardy at Handlebar:

A photo posted by Mitchel Raphael (@mitchelraphael) on Sep 15, 2015 at 9:55pm PDT

STIFF 6: The Legend of Tom’s Hardy at Handlebar:

A photo posted by Mitchel Raphael (@mitchelraphael) on Sep 16, 2015 at 6:20pm PDT

Hosts Judy Virago and Bruce LaBruce at the latter’s TIFF party at Bovine Sex Club.

A photo posted by Mitchel Raphael (@mitchelraphael) on Sep 11, 2015 at 11:35pm PDT

Bruce LaBruce’s TIFF party at Bovine Sex Club:

  A photo posted by Mitchel Raphael (@mitchelraphael) on Sep 12, 2015 at 4:44pm PDT

Bruce LaBruce’s TIFF party at Bovine Sex Club.

A photo posted by Mitchel Raphael (@mitchelraphael) on Sep 11, 2015 at 11:33pm PDT

Ellen Page and Julianne Moore at the Freeheld premiere.

A photo posted by Fabiola Garza (@fabgza) on Sep 13, 2015 at 9:45pm PDT

The Closet Monster’s director Stephen Dunn (center) and lead actor Connor Jessup (right) with filmmaker A. J. Bond.

A photo posted by Sarah Keenlyside (@missarahk) on Sep 13, 2015 at 1:50pm PDT

The cast (and director Adam Garnet Jones, center) of Fire Song, the first ever Canadian First Nations feature with an LGBT theme:

 

A photo posted by What She Said

(@whatshesaid167) on Sep 15, 2015 at 5:15pm PDT

Photos by Dan Allen, Mitchel Raphael, @fabgza, @missarahk and @whatshesaid167

Jeremy Kinser

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/mNeyerTWlPw/matt-damon-eddie-redmayne-ellen-page-hot-guys-make-the-toronto-film-festival-extra-special-20150921

LGBT Catholics #TellThePope of Their Faith in Powerful Video Series Ahead of Papal Visit: WATCH

Time will tell if Pope Francis addresses the plight of LGBT Catholics at the World Meeting of Families this Saturday in Philadelphia, but GLAAD is hoping to jump-start the conversation with a series of video portraits as part of its #TellThePope campaign.

From the advocacy organization’s website:

Each video includes personal memories of growing up Catholic for the featured subjects, and the impact it has on their lives today. All of them speak of the hope that they feel with Pope Francis, and the desire they have to be included and welcomed into the life of the Roman Catholic Church.

Related, HRC to Welcome Pope Francis to U.S. with Huge Banner Urging Him to Embrace LGBT Catholics

Featured Catholics in the video series include GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis and Nicholas Coppola, a New York gay man stripped of his involvement with his local Roman Catholic parish after church leaders learned of his marriage to another man.

Check out the video series below and visit the #TellThePope campaign Tumblr here.

The post LGBT Catholics #TellThePope of Their Faith in Powerful Video Series Ahead of Papal Visit: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Kyler Geoffroy

LGBT Catholics #TellThePope of Their Faith in Powerful Video Series Ahead of Papal Visit: WATCH

The Sometimes Very Socially Conservative Scott Walker Calls It Quits

Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor who tried looking socially moderate even while appealing to conservatives in Iowa, is dropping out of the race for president, multiple reports say.

Walker alternately tried to portray himself as a middle-of-the-road Republican while also putting all of his eggs in the Iowa basket — a phrase the candidate once bluntly used himself. On gay rights, for example, he tried to paint himself as a conservative in a less conservative family.

Back in July, just as the campaign began and Walker was faring better in polls, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum called out Walker’s wife, Tonette, for saying she’s “torn” on the issue of same-sex marriage. His wife had told The Washington Post she has “children who are very passionate” about same-sex marriage. “It’s hard for me because I have a cousin who I love dearly — she is like a sister to me — who is married to a woman, her partner of 18 years.”

When all of the candidates were being asked whether they’d ever attend the wedding of a same-sex couple, Walker let the media know he’d skipped that cousin’s wedding but attended the reception. 

The Daily Beast noted back in June that Walker seemed to be undergoing an “antigay transition.” The governor’s rhetoric after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality was amped up in that direction, even calling for a constitutional amendment when other moderate candidates were saying the issue was settled. However, instead of calling for an amendment that would outlaw same-sex marriage nationwide, as some conservatives have, he proposed an amendment that would let states decide.

Still, it wasn’t his views on LGBT people that appear to have doomed the campaign. Booned by early leads in the polls, Walker was reportedly spending money quickly, and it’s possible he just burned through it, pundits already speculate.

But it is only speculation at this point. Front-runner Donald Trump offered his own theory during the last Republican debate. Trump said Walker was falling behind in polls because Iowans had learned the truth about economic failurse in Wisconsin. Iowa, whose caucus opens the primary season, is a key state for candidates in both parties.

Still, here’s how The Advocate reported Walker’s entrance into the race in July, outlining a short list of antigay accomplishments that Walker racked up while governor:

“As governor, Walker supported the state’s constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, opposed hospital visitation rights for same-sex couples, and repealed a bill that protected state workers from job discrimination based on sex. As Milwaukee County eExecutive, Walker proposed ending HIV/AIDS prevention programs, claiming that tackling the disease should not be ‘a core function of the county’ and vetoed a bill that would have given workers domestic partner benefits.

“After a court ruled same-sex marriage legal in Wisconsin, the candidate supported appeal efforts, but has backpedaled dramatically in recent months, declaring the fight for marriage equality ‘over.’ In 2013 he told Meet the Press host David Gregory, ‘When I talk about things, I talk about the economic and fiscal crises in our state and in our country, that’s what people want to resonate about. They don’t want to get focused on those issues.'”

Lucas Grindley

www.advocate.com/election/2015/9/21/sometimes-very-socially-conservative-scott-walker-calls-it-quits

Kim Davis: Not a Rosa, But a Dilemma

References and comparisons of Kim Davis to Rosa Parks and other iconic Civil Rights Movement leaders are not only offensive, they’re misplaced.

Firstly, Davis, the Kentucky clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, is fighting for exclusion rather than inclusion. Davis is selectively reading and interpreting Bible passages in order to strengthen her beliefs about the validity of excluding and discriminating against an entire class of individuals. Parks, King and their peers in the Movement fought to include others. They fought to protect and guarantee civil rights, to rightfully instate rights–not take them away. It’s simply preposterous to liken a process that facilitates a wedding license to a process that once facilitated slavery.

As an elected official, Davis took an oath to uphold the law–not to interpret it based on her own beliefs. If each of us was allowed to make a personal choice about which laws to follow and which to ignore, there would be total anarchy. The United States is a nation of laws; everyone, particularly someone in elected office, is expected to follow the laws even if they don’t fit our individual choice or belief systems. If Davis is so strongly convicted, she should step down from her job and allow someone willing to uphold the law and recognize the Supreme Court’s ruling to serve. She is working outside of rather than with within the U.S. legal system. And that is yet another way that she differs from our Civil Rights heroes: she is not effectively using the system to bring about change.

It’s ironic that Davis is citing Christian scripture when her actions are antithetical to Christian kindness, forgiveness and acceptance. She contends that homosexuality is a sin and thus she cannot support same-sex marriage. However, if sin is truly the issue that prevents her from handing out marriage licenses to LGBTQ couples, she should withhold licenses to any and everyone with any trace of sin in their lives. Fornicators, liars, gossips, self-righteous, judgmental people, fearful and prideful individuals, divorcees and non-Christian believers should all be denied marriage licenses. In fact, anyone in violation of the 613 Old Testament commandments given through Moses should not be allowed to get married, according to Davis’ standard for denying equal rights.

She, along with many Christians, has created a sin hierarchy, deeming one sin worse than another. Yet most Biblical scholars agree: if a person commits one sin, he or she is guilty of breaking the entire Old Testament Law. Davis might as well be homosexual because she is guilty of sin by operating outside of the commandment of love. Moreover, under her Draconian and distorted reading of the Bible, she should have denied herself the right to a marriage license since she divorced not one, but three husbands. Under Old Testament law, divorcing one’s spouse and marrying another (outside of infidelity) is adultery.

Her supporters are quick to remind us that Davis has repented and evolved. No doubt repenting is a basic and fundamental tenant of the Bible. But these Biblical laws don’t apply just to Davis and her clan. Wouldn’t the same God she believes forbids gay marriages but forgave her sins also forgive those of the LGBT community?

The reality is comporting one’s behavior to the Mosaic laws proved to be an impossible feat thousands of years ago. Moreover, as a Christian, Davis would have to agree that the Bible teaches that the greatest commandment of all is to love thy neighbor. It’s time for Davis and her supporters to stop selectively clinging to the Mosaic laws that divide us rather than embracing the covenant of love that has the universal power to unite us.

In the end, the point is not about whether one supports gay marriage. If we allow citizens like Davis and others to interpret the law as it relates to their beliefs, there’s no end to the discrimination that could arise. In this instance, it’s gay marriage. But what prevents the Kim Davises of the world from making similar interpretations as they relate to African-Americans, Latinos, women, the disabled or any group currently marginalized in our country?

Clearly, the civil rights icons that she has been compared worked to unite and not divide. King and Parks never let their personal biases become a battle cry to deny thousands of Americans equal protection under the law and they absolutely never defied a Supreme Court order. Yes, Davis, King and Parks all went to jail for what they believed, but that’s where any comparison begins and ends.

This article was co-authored by Dr. Doveal Goins with Forensic Clinical Psychology Associate.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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A gastronomic journey of discovery in Burgundy

I grew up on a small, remote farm in rural Australia. For me, the region of Burgundy has always symbolised everything about old-France that fascinated me.

The history of this region stretches back through the ages but Burgundy began to take shape in the form that we know it today during the dissolution of the Frankish Empire in the 880s.

The Dukes of Burgundy emerged as a powerful political force across the centuries, steadily expanding their territories and influence before being largely absorbed by France during the 15th and 16th centuries.

One of the factors that made Burgundy such a strategic part of the world was its agriculture – throughout its history this area has been recognised as producing quality food and outstanding wine.

While I’ve travelled extensively over the years, one of the things that has always intimidated me the most is being confronted with an extensive wine list and seeing the wines of Burgundy (generally accompanied by some extreme prices) and feeling completely out of my depth.

My first expedition to this region in the heart of France seemed the perfect opportunity to try and educate myself a little and become a little more confident in the wine department.

If you are travelling from London, then the best way to get to Burgundy is to take the Eurostar train to central Paris, changing onto the TGV fast train to Dijon. If you’re arriving straight into Paris, then the fast-train to Dijon is still the best access point to this region.

Dijon is a spectacular city. A fascinating mix of architecture and building styles throughout the ages. City tours can be booked through the tourism office, but a more relaxed way to explore the city on your own is to collect the self-guided tour booklet. The route of the tour is marked by small owls set into the pavement, with major points of interest clearly marked and detailed in the free booklet.

The owl has become the symbol of the city after the builder of the stunning Notre Dame church included a small owl in the exterior as a subtle tribute to the Dukes of Burgundy (in French there is a similarity in the words used to describe the owl with the description of the Dukes). Visitors are encouraged to rub the small stone owl with their left hand – it brings luck, or perhaps it is an aphrodisiac, either way it is worth a rub.

Our meandering along the owl path was cut short by a tremendous downpour of rain, a storm that had trees crashing and the streets flooding. We took shelter in a small restaurant called Le Fine Heure. The owner, Jonathan (pronounced Jonaton in a French accent) was just opening up for the evening but very graciously offered to give us a tasting of some of the wines of the region. Jonathan was a ridiculously attractive man who effortlessly educated us on the complexities of Burgundy wine, plying us with snacks of saucisson as he explained the categorisation of the wines in a pyramid of quality – regional wines, wines from a specific village, premier cru, and the elite grand cru. Among our favorites were a Saint-Aubin; and a a Chorey-les-Beaune.

Beyond Dijon, the other major centre of this region is the city of Beaune. There is some beautiful architecture in Beaune, and you can easily spend a day wandering around and soaking up the atmosphere.

One of the main attractions to visit is the Hospices de Beaune.

The history of this place is incredible. It was established in 1443 as a hospital, and continued to be used as Beaune’s main hospital until the 1970s when a new modern hospital was built on the outskirts of town.

Today, the Hospices de Beaune is open to the public as a museum. It’s medical history is fascinating, but it is a stunning example of the building styles of the 15th century – particularly the decorative tiles used to construct the roof. The museum also houses the stunning Rogier van der Weyden polyptych altarpiece – this originally adorned the hospital’s main chapel but due to the care of the nuns (who even managed to hide it from the Nazi’s during World War II) it has survived remarkably intact.

Definitely worth visiting.

While Burgundy is synonymous with wine, one of the other products that this region is famous for is its mustard. While in Beaune you can also visit the Fallot mustard factory.

Fallot is the fourth most popular mustard producer in France but, unlike the top three, Fallot is family-owned and is creating mustard using the local produce of the Burgundy region.

While a mustard factory may not sound particularly exciting on the face of it, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the brief tour of Fallot and the opportunity to taste some of the excellent mustards that they are producing.

When you come to Burgundy, you really want to get out into the countryside and see the vines being grown and to explore the small villages that are scattered across the landscape.

One of the best ways to do this is by cycling or walking – an incredibly relaxed way to meander between villages while working up an appetite towards your next meal.

We spent a few days with Headwater – a travel operator that specialises in walking and cycling tours across Europe. While you can certainly organize your own walking our cycling expedition in this part of the world, one of the advantages of using a locally-based operator such as Headwater is that they can take care of the logistics of getting your luggage from one accommodation to the next, leaving you to relax and enjoy the scenery as you cycle or walk along the well-marked trails.

I really appreciated having a sensible route for each day mapped out, as well as helpful suggestions on where to stop for lunch and snacks. Also, being able to use the Headwater bikes was much easier than trying to transport my own bike all the way from London. These are self-guided tours so you get all the benefits of a group trip without having to be part of a group.

Each little village that we stopped at was post-card worthy and a joy to explore. Perhaps the stand-out though was the village of Pommard, possibly because we fell in love with the chocolate shop – a total winner.

One of the surprise discoveries of this visit to Burgundy was my new-found appreciation of cassis. As well its wine and its mustard, Burgundy is also renowned as a centre for the production of the blackcurrant vines used to make cassis.

Le Cassisium near Nuits-Saints-Georges is effectively a museum dedicated to the celebration of the iconic liqueur of Crème de Cassis. This is the production factory of the Védrenne company – makers of the Super Cassis brand of liqueur.

As well as learning about the history of cassis and the production process, you also get to walk through the factory and see the production in full swing. In addition to cassis, the Védrenne company also produces a whole range of different fruit-based liqueurs – perhaps the best part is that you get to sample some of the products at the end of the tour. If you’ve never been a huge fan of Cassis, or the iconic aperitif of Kir or Kir Royale, then a visit to Le Cassissium will perhaps convert you.

I’ve emerged from my first expedition into Burgundy feeling a little more educated. The prices of these wines still intimidate me, but I now have a deep appreciation of not only the quality of the wines that this region produces but also the gastronomic heritage that makes Burgundy one of the unmissable destinations within France.

To help with your planning if you are considering a trip to Burgundy:

• Hotel reviews of where we stayed
• Restaurant reviews of where we ate
• Dijon has been announced as city of gastronomy in 2018 – there will be events scheduled throughout the year
• Headwater offer self-guided walking and cycling tours in Burgundy and other European destinations

Read more from Gareth Johnson

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Gareth Johnson

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