Kings, architects, poets, writers, painters… Throughout history, the unique village of Vézelay, now a Unesco listed world heritage site, has charmed the world’s artists and influential figures. It was also from this cradle of Christianity that the second and third crusades set off… At his restaurant L’Espérance, a former café and grocery store in the middle of the vineyards, Marc Meneau is leading another crusade: his is a taste mission. This self-taught chef learned his art from books and this has generated a real sense of inventiveness. His oysters in a salty aspic, his shellfish and caviar tureen and his “Marie-Antoinette - Sofia Coppola” strawberry dessert (an allusion to his culinary contribution to the film) are just a few of his claims to fame. Marc’s other battle is to defend traditional winemaking techniques - “Because freshness is priceless” - and to preserve the local vines from the phylloxera bug that has ravaged them in the past.