Jack ordered filet de boeuf and pommes Lyonnaise. They drank local burgundy in moderation. They lingered over caramelized apple tarte Lyonnaise. It was mid-afternoon when they were back on the road. Jack was driving.
"We will soon leave the territory, that in 1940 after the Fall of France, was initially officially called The Free Zone and enter what was then the Occupied Zone." Nico said. "Not surprisingly, the winemaking regions of Burgundy and Champagne fell immediately under Nazi control."
Jack drove silently along a road that passed vineyards, hedgerows, wineries, and ancient chateaux. Watching the road, he listened to Nico without questions.
"Uncle Henri's vineyards and winery lie between Beaune and Dijon", Nico continued. "War destruction of some walls has never been restored, but in the chateau hallway, you will see a photograph of my father in his Armee de l'air uniform. It was taken before his plane went down defending Paris against the June 1940 Luftwaffe attack."
Jack drove. Nico continued. "My father, Jean, and his brothers Pierre and Henri were the three oldest sons of my winemaker grandfather. During the Battle of France, Henri and his father delivered barrels of burgundy to French forces on battlefields in the low counties.
"After the Fall of France when millions of French people loaded with household belongings seeked escape south on crowded roads, Uncle Pierre found safe passage for his mother and the younger children. From Marseille they sailed to Quebec where we have family -- while in an environment of Nazi reprisals, my grandfather and Henri worked with Resistance groups in the back country off this very road on which we are driving."