The restaurant L'Envers du Décor has won awards for its wine list. The blackboard which hangs behind the bar is chalked up with Médocs and Margaux, Moutons and Macaires, all served in measures ranging from demi to Jeroboam. Copper burnished tables are occupied by revelling friends, gazing amoureux, and dog-walkers, dropping by for a stealthy dégustation. In France, wine is part of the fabric of life. Like a prized vineyard, St Emilion is on a south-facing slope. Well-worn stone steps and cobbled streets provide passageway between honey-coloured houses, opening up in lively squares, where restaurant terraces are shaded with the leafy canopy of plane trees. A collection of treasures including Roman remains and Monolithic churches mark a history dating back to Prehistoric times and have earned the village a World Heritage Site stamp of approval. Surprisingly intricate Roman columns forming part of the defensive walls are clearly visible on the walk from the village to the Mas des Vignes, a four bedroom villa five minutes' stroll from the main square.