Bordeaux

Bordeaux – July 26 – 30.

5 Days in Bordeaux – Brian is excited. There are a lot of famous wineries in the various regions of Bordeaux. But first of all we are going to see the departure of “The Tour” from Pau. We had a copy of the day’s paper and could tell that big things were happening, especially regarding Rasmussen. Unfortunately everything is in French! But I have figured out that for some reason his team have sacked him, another rider has tested positive for testosterone and Cofidis have been kicked out also!!! I think that was the press conference we had seen.

It is all happening at the start line. A lot of spectators, cyclists and media all mingling. We hoped to be able to get close to Cadel to give him a cheerio, but just missed him. We got a good position just past the roll out line next to some other Aussie’s and as the Peleton rode past gave them a loud rendition of Waltzing Matilda, much to the amusement of some of the crowd and several of the European riders, but Cadel heard it and looked up at us with a quick smile.

Off to Bordeaux and our cottage via the Motorway. The cottage is on the outskirts of Bordeaux and is semi rural and is set in the grounds of a Chateau. It looks just like the picture on the Internet and we are looking forward to our 5 nights, and being able to cook our own meals – a little easier on the wallet too. The guy who owns the Chateau is a wine dealer – quite a successful one I think judging by his house and car collection. I had done all the bookings through his wife, who was away when we arrived. Didier was very polite and showed us the ins and outs of our cottage, but we got the impression that he did not often deal with the “common guests”. But he was very helpful and gave us several wine maps of the region and advised us not to visit the Medoc region on the weekend as they are all lazy and do not open on weekends.

We decided to visit the Medoc region on Friday, have one last look at the Tour de France on Saturday, and have a rest day on Sunday and visit St. Emillion on Monday

Friday was nice and sunny – something of a rarity this summer in Bordeaux France in general is having a very poor summer, with many cloudy days and quite cool temperatures. The beach resort people were all complaining. We have been quite lucky apart from the first few days in the Haute Savoir region.

We started the day the French way with a visit to the bakery that was only about 100 meters away. Fresh croissants, baguette and coffee. We are on the north east side of the city of Bordeaux and the Medoc region is west of the city, so the trusty GPS was used to guide us through the city. Soon we were amongst rows and rows of very neat vines. Our first stop was Margeaux, followed by Pauillac. Some of the famous wineries around here are Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Latour, Chateau Margeaux and many more. Brian is the expert here and at one stage the girls though he may actually start drooling. Unfortunately as these wineries are so famous and their wines sell all over the world for hundreds and in some cases thousands of dollars a bottle, they do not need Mr and Mrs Average like us, and do not open to the public. Mouton Rothschild is probably the most famous, and the only exception. They do guided tours that are booked on site. The only English speaking tour that was not booked out was the following Tuesday, so it looks like we will be coming back. The Artisan wineries (small family owned and operated wineries) were running a long weekend promotion and we collected a tour route from the Office of Tourisme, and visited a couple. They all had some lovely wines – most of them only made 2 – 3 varieties, and only produced 10 – 20,000 bottles a year, and they were really cheap – only about 7 – 10 euros per bottle. A good opportunity to stock up on some wines for drinking each evening for the rest of our stay in France, and to maybe get a couple to take home.

We had also promised the girls a trip to the beach – wine tasting is not really their thing! I was also looking forward to the chance to dip my toe into the Atlantic. It was nearly 4.30 when we got there, but the beach was still very busy. It was a very long straight strip of sand, and this one even had waves! But like the Mediterranean the bathers did not actually get in – preferring to stand knee deep in the water, and no boogie boards – what is wrong with these people.

We stayed only about an hour as we had promised Courtenay that she could visit the chocolatier we had seen and have a chocolate tasting. It was back in Margeaux, but by the time we got back there it was closed – she was not happy!!!!

Saturday, and off to see if Cadel can achieve a miracle, and knock 1.50 off Contador’s time and take the lead in the Tour. We decided to try for a spot near the finish in Angouleme. It was only about an hour’s drive from Bordeaux, and we got there and parked just before the caravan arrived – another large collection of freebies. We were still 4 km’s from the finish, so Rebecca and I walked in that direction while Brian and Courtenay tried to park a bit closer to the finish. There did not seem to be a lot of people around, so a spot close to the line looked promising. Sure enough we made it to the 50 metre line and in front of a big screen so we could see what was happening. Brian left us 3 there and went off to visit the nearby town of Cognac, and the staring point for the time trial. As the afternoon wore on the crowds increased and so did the excitement level. Leipheimer was obviously pulling out something special – we could tell from the screen, and the pitch of the course announcer’s voice. The commentary was all in French, so we only had those 2 factors to rely on. Cadel seemed to be doing quite well and was gaining time on Contador, but Leipheimer was the worry. To take the lead Cadel needed to win and get the bonus 20 seconds. The excitement level was at fever pitch and you could not help but get swept up in it. As Cadel rounded the corner for the final straight we all started yelling, even though he was about 1000 meters away still. He put in almighty effort, but unfortunately was 23 seconds too slow. I saw him about 15 minutes after the finish and he looked absolutely stuffed. You could tell as he came up the home straight that he had given it everything that he had. Although the world will not remember who came second in the 2007 Tour de France, we will!.

Sunday was a bit drizzly and we wandered off into the city of Bordeaux for a look around. It is a very historic city, with a lovely big park in the middle off it. We had a wander around a couple of markets, but were not really in the mood for doing much, so went back to our Cottage to watch the end of The Tour and a relaxing evening.

Monday was our visit to the medieval village of Saint Emillion, which is also a premier wine area. The village is on the top of a small hill and has very narrow cobblestone streets. It was established in the 7th and 8th century by the Saint “Emillion”. We took a tour of the catacombs and monolithic cathedral, which was built in the 12th century. It was surprisingly well preserved, though the bell tower had begun to damage to “sag” a bit so the columns supporting it had been reinforced with a steel “corset”.

We shouted our selves a proper French lunch. The food was OK, but the service was lousy – disappointing as the Frogs are supposed to be good at this stuff, and lunch is their big thing!. Brian left the restaurant after his main to go off and explore the wine “caves”. The girls and waited 30 minutes to order dessert and another 20 to get it. We have worked out that you are supposed to order dessert when you order the rest of your meal if you are ordering A-La-Carte. Brian returned from his wine explorations just as we were finishing our dessert and we had another 15 minute wait for the bill – we were very tempted to just walk out.

We drove home via the Dordogne, which is the “foodie” area of France and the home of Fois Gras and snails. We did not stop for either, although Brian has had some Fois Gras at various times during the trip and will have some snails before the trip is over. I intend to have neither. I don’t like Pate so Fois Gras is not even an option and the thought of snails is just plain Yuk – very boring I know, but that is the way it is.

Tonight we had to do some laundry. Not exciting stuff really, off we trotted to the “laundry room” that we had been shown earlier – obviously one does not have a laundry within ones chateau, but rather a separate building for the servants to take care of such menial tasks. There was a washing machine and a dryer, but all the instructions were in French. We got the washing machine to go – all front loaders over here, but could not figure the dryer. We thought we had it figured and went back 1 hour later; only to find that the clothes had not dried at all – there was no heat So we gave up and spread them over couches and chairs in the cottage – they were mostly dry in the morning. What a drama – just for a bit of washing!

Tuesday July 31, and time to move on. First, our booked visit to Mouton Rothschild. We made it just in time. It was very interesting – first a short film narrated by Baroness Philippina Rothschild about the history of the Chateau and winery, then a tour of the wine making areas including the great barrel hall that holds 100 oak barrels. The climax of the tour was the tasting of 3 wines from the 2006 vintage: d’Armailhac, Clerc Milon and Mouton Rothschild. Mouton Rothschild sells for $600.00 per bottle + depending on the vintage. 2006 was considered a “difficult” year – you never have a bad year, but it tasted just fine to us – even though it would not be bottled for another year, and 15 years before it was considered ready to drink. All in all, very pleasant and interesting - in my next life I think I might like to be a Baroness and the sole owner of one of the worlds most famous wineries!

Time for our next stop – Amboise and the Loire Valley!