Bordeaux

We awoke in our very funky room in the Hotel Yndo to a grey day. The hotel is a converted 18th-century private mansion, and every room is unique. Our room was complete with our very own Chihuly-esque sculpture on the wall (which made us feel at home having looked out at the Chihuly exhibition in Adelaide for 6 months, and also why we recognised it as Chihuly-esque, we're not art snobs!). Having seen our fill of old buildings in the last 3 weeks, we were slow to get moving to see what Bordeaux had to offer.

Eventually, we set off for a slow walk around the streets of Bordeaux to the key sights. With its wide straight streets lined with 18th-century mansions, it felt like a mini Paris, although we heard later that Bordeaux was actually the prototype for how Paris was built. I am pleased to report that the streets are mostly not cobbled (while charming at first, after London, Cornwall, Bath, Amsterdam, Lausanne, Lyon, Clermont Ferrand and Saint Émilion, cobbled streets are wearing a bit thin). We took the obligatory photos at the Miroir d'Eau, which cleverly gives a lovely reflection of the Place de la Borse. It's a shame there is a road and tram line in between but, full disclosure, that's nothing AI can't fix!

From there, we went to the Medieval gates - Porte Cailhou and Grosse Cloche. There are five gates dotted around the city but these two are the oldest and most ornate. We continued our slow walk back to the area near our hotel and stopped off for a burger (our first meal since eating our body weight in cheese 🧀, charcuterie 🥓 and a croque Monsieur 🥪 for lunch the day before. After 20 hours, we still weren't particularly hungry but thought we should eat!)

For dinner, the hotel had recommended a nearby restaurant, Le Zephirine. They do a small, changing menu using seasonal, local produce. The food was amazing, with Adrian declaring the shared veal dish the best veal he's ever had. We chatted to the couple at the next table, Frank and Barbara, from Sonoma, California, who happened to be staying at the same hotel. We had a nightcap with them in the hotel courtyard before heading to bed at midnight (late for us).

The next morning was sunny but still cooler than we'd expected in Bordeaux. After another slow start and a banana each for breakfast, we headed towards Chartrons, a neighbourhood that was once the hub of the Bordeaux wine trade, which was more charming than the busier old town. Our destination was the Museum of Wine and Trade, a small museum dedicated to the wine trade in Bordeaux, housed in a former dwelling of a wine merchant. We were handed plastic folders on arrival (reminiscent of a school project on the wine trade in Bordeaux), which we read as we went through the exhibition. Despite its lack of sophistication, it was very informative and interesting and we learnt about the history of the wine trade in the region, the establishment of the wine classifications, how to make a wine barrel and the meaning and reason behind phrases on labels like "bottled at the chateaux" (to address fraudulent bottling) and "returned from India" (shipping it to India and back was a way to accelerate the wine maturation process). At the end, we had a wine tasting of a clairet and Bordeaux superior with an explanation of the 7 regions and terroirs around Bordeaux on the two sides of the Garonne River.

Fully briefed on Bordeaux wine and its origins, we headed for a fish restaurant in the neighbourhood that was in our hotel's recommended restaurant list. We went for the shared turbot, which was nice, but we decided we'd prefer blue eye trevaller from Louca's in Adelaide any day.

We felt it was the responsible thing to do to try a canelé, a local delicacy with shops dedicated to them everywhere. A canelé is a small pastry flavoured with rum and vanilla with a soft custardy centre and a dark, thick, caramelised crust. It was as rich and delicious as it sounds, and although we aren't really pastry eaters, we can tick that cultural experience off the list. On the way back, we stopped by some Roman amphitheatre ruins in the back blocks near our accommodation. Having recovered from our cheese stupor of two days before, we bought some cheese and crackers at a local Carrefours to have with one of the bottles of wine we bought in Saint Émilion back at the hotel to save carrying it to Paris tomorrow!

For dinner, we decided to go with some comfort food and had a very good (acceptably hot) curry at a local curry house. Not very French, but just what we felt like!Read more