We
endured a bit of wet weather but still had a fabulous time in Bordeaux. They were celebrating the opening of a new
bridge so there were fireworks upon our arrival, how fun! I wasn’t expecting it to be so pristine and lively. The limestone buildings
and churches are squeaky clean and bright thanks to a big urban renewal project
launched by the mayor in the mid 1990’s.
They beautified the buildings and cleaned off centuries of soot, developed
the quays along the Garonne River and revamped the tram system. The end result is a majestic and elegant city! We enjoyed strolling through the pedestrian
streets in old town and meandering along the river.
We
booked a ½ day wine tour out to Pomerol and Saint Emilion on the right bank, home to the
original macaroon recipe and dozens of premier Grand Cru class wine
producers. Since it’s the low season, we were the only participants,
so it was like our own private tour, yee-haw!
Boris was our charismatic guide – he was a US baseball fanatic who
played minor league ball back in the day; he also lived in Japan for several
years. He was very well travelled and
spoke no less than 5 languages. He was
also very knowledgeable about Bordeaux and wine, of course. We had a really fun time with him. After driving through the vineyards and
ogling all the amazing chateaus, our first stop was to a bakery where we
sampled the local cannelés (amazing little French cakes with a crispy outside and moist
inside - delicous). We also visited a wine
shop where we sampled several different varieties, in all price ranges. We also walked a bit through the village,
which is super quaint and medieval (picture postcard perfect). However, it was very windy! Saint Emilion is made up of a monolithic church from the 8th century and has ruins stretching along its steep and narrow streets. So pretty!
Our tour also included a visit to the Chateau Ambe Tour Pourret, where we had a cheese and wine pairing (blends of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc), after a short tour of the vineyard and barrel room. Yum!
Bordeaux is also a gastronomic center. However, we were stunned to pass numerous cool, trendy, artsy, classic restaurants that looked so inviting but were empty at 8:00 p.m. on a Saturday night?! Yet the 2 we tried to go into were full. Go figure, it was like all or nothing. We would love to go back when the weather is warmer to enjoy the great wine and food al fresco (and perhaps see some grapes on the vines)!
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