Saint-Émilion

Hello from Saint Emilion - where it’s never too early for wine tasting.
Mike and I happily returned our rental car without incident on Monday. There was a moment where we took a wrong lane, and ended up doing a u- turn on a 4 lane bridge… but … deep breaths… no one got hurt.
After rendezvousing with my sister Helen we had a full day of seeing the sights in Bordeaux. First we chose a small wine museum where we got lots of information about the wine industry in Bordeaux and got to sample a few of the region’s wines. Next we visited an old German World War II submarine base. The huge, concrete building still stands where it was built in 1940 and it was amazing to see the huge bays where the U- boats were stored. Evidently, the allies tried to bomb it repeatedly but had no luck because it was so thick. The building currently serves as a rather unique place for art installations.
Tuesday night we met our cycle group led by our friend Marg Kavanagh. The group includes two of Marg’s brothers - Tim and John , one spouse Beth and three other biking friends. It’s Marg’s 70th birthday this month and this was how she wanted to celebrate and we were happy to join in the fun. The Kavanagh gang have already completed loops cycling in Champagne and the Loire, and Helen, Mike and I joined in for the last 6 day Bordeaux loop. On Tuesday the group treated us to some great Champagne that had travelled with them from that region but wasn’t going any further in bike panniers. Tough job but we did it.
On Wednesday the gang of 10 biked out of Bordeaux to Langdon. The geography got less flat as we travelled along and the group of 10 quickly split into 2 groups. A number in Marg’s group are more serious cyclist and can pound up the hills so their pace of riding is much faster. Helen and Mike are on hybrids without the “e bike” assist so the 3 of us have taken the cycling at a more “leisurely” pace. I’m on an e-bike which I’ve been very glad of over the last few days of ups and downs. Not quite as extreme as our Dordogne biking trip but pretty close! Helen and Mike have been real troopers tackling the hills. Hats off to them.
In Langdon - our first stop - our hotel stay included dinner at their Michelin star restaurant. It was a culinary treat although a couple of folks in our group whose tastes run more to “ 1 meat, 2 veg “ struggled with the exotic choices. Helen and Tim had the sweetbreads which were reportedly sublime. I wasn’t as adventuresome and settled for the duck as my main. You know you’re at a really fancy restaurant when a server fully attired in black appears beside your table to “announce” each course - an explanation that often includes phrases like “essence of….” and “ infused with” …… and “ complimented by”….. All good stuff and I know I was very full at the end of it all.
Our second cycling day took us to the hilltop castle town of Duras. The castle has been fully refurbished and so touring it was fun. We managed to snag some excellent pizzas in Duras so the non- foodies in the group were finally happy. Our 3rd cycling day was a loop out of Duras and included many ups and downs. I was even more glad to have an ebike that day. The countryside is a sea of vineyards, old churches and château’s. One big drawback, On this trip we have been a bit hard pressed to find places for morning coffee.
We are now in Saint Emilion. The Romans planted grapes in this region as early as the 2nd century and in the late 1800s the local wine producers formed the first wine growers union in France. The town is very old ( medieval??) and chock a block full of tourists and wine shops selling wine at eye- watering prices. Who buys this stuff and when they do , do they actually drink it???

A few of us decided to take a day off the bikes and headed out this morning for a long walk around the town and through the surrounding countryside. Along the way , we happened across a winery busy with production of this year’s wine ( we are told it will be an excellent year due to the intense heat) and the staff invited us in for a “ dégustation “ or tasting. Only 11 in the morning but it would have been rude to say no. The reds we tasted are very typical of the Bordeaux reds being a combination of merlot, Cabernet franc and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes . Lovely and dry!!
Our big adventure ends tomorrow with a 50 km, relatively flat ride back to Bordeaux. It’s also Helen’s birthday so we’ll stop along the way for lunch.
It’s all been loads of fun biking with this gang but it’s time to get back to Canada and swear off the baguettes and wine for awhile.

Hope our fellow traveller friends out there are having fun. Unfortunately, Fiona and Jiggs are coming back from the maritimes early having been caught up in Fiona’s namesake hurricane!

That’s all the news from here. Thanks for traveling with us and we’ll see some of you shortly after KLM whisks us back to Canada on Wednesday.

Hugs from France,
Mom/ Heather Czytaj więcej