Beautiful country

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My day started off with another long training run. This time is was 18 miles. I’ve about had it with the long runs, but at least this one was through Bordeaux wine country.

I set out around 7:30, heading Southeast towards a point with which I was familiar. Around the second mile, I saw some girl out for a run and paced off her for a few miles. This was a huge help. Heading mostly north, she wove us through several vineyards until she finished. Either that or she “fake finished” to get away from the perceived stalker that followed her for four miles.

I continued into the hills to the north of Blaye, passing by several more vineyards, a couple churches and some cemeteries. That was about all I saw on this peaceful Saturday morning.

I navigated successfully back to the B&B at mile 12.5 to refuel. Then I set out again to finish up. Struggling around mile 16, I came upon another girl running through the vineyards. As I passed her at one turn, she became startled, thinking the crazy, sweaty guy was going to pounce at her.

Now I only have two more training runs to go. I can’t wait until this training is over. Then it’s short, quick runs from now on.

While I was doing my run, a few miles away and across the bay to the west, there was a marathon taking place. I wish I would have known about this before a couple days ago - I might have tried to get in it just to make the training run a bit easier. There were three other Americans and some Latvians that were staying at the B&B that participated. They said it was a great time, with wine an option at the various water points. And it’s one of those crazy marathons where people wear costumes. I would have gone as a sane person.

After showering off, I had breakfast at the B&B with Jules and a Latvian guy named Yusilov (or something like that) who didn’t run in the marathon. Each morning, freshly baked breads and pastries are brought from a local baker to the B&B for its guests. A plethora of pan chocolat (bread with chocolate in it), sweet breads, baguettes, croissants, fresh jams and jellies (including a homemade blackberry jam), juices, coffees and teas were all there for our enjoyment.

The day turned out to be a crazy one for the B&B workers. Les, the owner, was supposed to be back the night before but was stuck out of town due to some fires on the train tracks. That meant Jules had to cover all day and take care of some airport pickups. So we didn’t get to do any vineyard tours.

I was pretty tired and was actually a bit happy that it turned out to be a relaxing day. I grabbed Civil Disobedience and Catch 22, a couple of the books that the B&B had in English, and headed up to the Citadel to lay out in the sun and read.

The weather was gorgeous. It probably reached about 80°, with little humidity and a nice breeze. I even got a little color.

After I came back, the B&B was quiet. I decided to pop open a bottle of the wine from the cellar and have my own tasting while I continued to read. I went with a bottle of Chateau Rousselle from Bourg, a nearby town. Delicious. It, along with some other Bordeaux wines, reminded me a lot of the wines I tasted in Tuscany a couple years ago. But I still have to give the Tuscan Chiantis the edge.

After making a couple phone calls home, I heard the group return from the marathon. Everything went well for them and they were running out to grab pizza from a local pizza shop. I joined in.

When we got back, about eight of us sat around the table, ate pizza and drank wine from the B&B’s wine cellar. Bottles were passed every which way and we must have each tried four or five different wines. There were four Americans (myself included) and three Latvians. Later on, two Canadians joined us.

As part of the day’s fiasco for the B&B workers, there was an issue with some French people and them having showed up with too many bodies for the beds they had. So Yusilov, the Latvian from breakfast, and I split a room with two beds in it and got a rate cut. That worked fine for us since we’re both on budgets. It worked out even better since we are both heading to Madrid tomorrow and we’re on the same train. And he has a car so I’m hitching a ride. That will be much more convenient.

I’ll be sad to leave this part of the country. I really like it here. It’s very laid back, with great people, great food and drink and great hospitality. I’ll undoubtedly be returning here someday - hopefully soon.

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Photos

Breakfast
One of the tables set up for the guests for breakfast.

Wine tasting
My bottle and glass for my own wine tasting while I read.

Wine and dinner
Fine dining on bottles of wine and pizza.