Bordeaux

---

The flight from Milan to Bordeaux was brief, only an hour or so. We hitched a ride as soon as we arrived on the easybus. Making the initl transition from Italian to French was difficult at times we caught ourselves saying grazie as opposed to Merci, which made us look a little stupid.

Our first impression of Bordeaux was one of beauty. It's a lovely city, very clean and well presented, we never really saw any horrible old architecture or suburban type living areas, it was all genuine to the original architecture. Maybe we were just in the right areas. The night before we had panicked and book an Ibis, it was a one off luxury and the only expensive place we have stayed at this entire trip. I loved it, a touch of home comforts for night night was a blessing. We've been gone nearly three weeks, a long time when you have two outfits, minimal makeup and no hair dryer. none the less I'm coping fine, but this one off stop over made my day. I never thought I would say that an Ibis was fancy but after some of the places we have stayed it was like the Ritz to me.

The weather in Bordeaux was perfect, a little icy, quite crisp but sunny. It was fresh you could say. I was just happy it wasn't raining! We had however arrived about 2 weeks late for the grape harvesting. We were in the land of wine, all around Bordeaux were chateau or vineyards where the finest rose, red and white wines were produced. We had briefly thought of perhaps getting in contact with a vineyard to see if we could work during the harvest and in return learn a little french, get fed and get drunk! Turns out, there are very formal organised ways of doing this, through an employment agency. We were told on several occasions by different locals that we were too late and that harvest was now done. We were disappointed at missing out on the experience but more so we were sad we were now going to have to pay for the expensive accommodation offered in Bordeaux as opposed to living it up on a nice countryside Chateau. We are still thinking of working a harvest but possibly next year or the year after, we are keen to learn french and what better way to do this than working with French people and drinking their wine.

On another note, France loves kebabs. I would have never thought this true, what with French cuisine being some of the finest in the world. I'm talking stock standard chicken kebabs topped with a generous helping of frites. Unfortunately, I don't think there is much of a choice when it comes to the price of eating out in France. You either eat in the cafes, bistros or brasseries from 13 euro and up or you eat in the takeway shops and patisseries for under 5 euro - which usually means baguettes or kebabs. For us our first meal was a chicken kebab and frites - that was also our last kebab on the entire trip. We have managed to stay away from all things rubbish including takeout type food like McDonalds. Trying our best to sample all types of local foods has become a highlight of the trip. That kebab was not however. We tried to have a proper typically French meal the entire time were there but it was just too expensive. You can't very well stay in a hostel or budget hotel and then go out and pay what essentially would be an entire nights accommodation on fois gras and duck a'la range now can you? I could have, but thought of the consequences - so I didn't. If I eat another baguette though, I will be sick. Bread is the devil when all you eat is bread.

Our first night we had made an effort to go into a wine shop and ask a local some questions about the types of wine produced in the region. We stumbled into a small wine cellar type place with a crazy Frenchman named Jorgen running it. He was drunk, I imagined that he was probably always drunk - being a wine merchant. It was his red stained teeth and lips that were the first giveaway signs. He certainly did know his wine though. He told us everything we needed to know about some of the wines we were sizing up in his store, in English no less. "ah yes zeaze are fruity wines from a local varnyard jewst outzide of Bordeauuux" He was comedy value so we bought two bottles.

Trekking back to the hotel we picked up a bread stick and some Camembert - this was to be dinner. It was god but after half a bread stick and half a kilo of Camembert one tends to feel a little ill. I certainly had some cheesemares that night.

Checking out of the IBIS the next morning, we decided that we wanted to stay in Bordeaux another few days. We had hardly seen anything and hadn't nearly drank enough wine. So we checked into the Hotel Regina, an 18th century hotel built just opposite the Gare St Jean Train station, handy for investigating our next trip. The hotel was cheaper than the Ibis and had way more character so we were happy. We were still only about a 15-20 minute walk from the centre of Bordeaux where all the action was too, so it seemed like a bargain.

The next day we walked around for a while and just took in the city, it really is a beautiful place, very old but pleasantly preserved and super clean. I thin it is a bit of a university town as there seemed to be a lot of trendy young people riding incredibly cool bicycles around. I imagine that they were all poets or perhaps writers of some description, they just looked intelligent.

We booked ourselves on a half day wine tour, it was the cheapest option and you got free wine at tour chateau, seemed like a good one to go on. We left the hotel at 11am and made our way to the tourist information centre in the city, where the tour bus was leaving from at 1.30pm. On the way we were met with crowds of people chanting and waving flags, there must have been close to a thousand of them. Apparently it was a protest as the government was trying to make an increase in the age one is allowed to get the pension, from 60 to 62. A good cause to rebel I thought.

We boarded the bus with about 50 pensioners, it seemed we were two of only a few young tourists in Bordeaux. The tour guide was quite the character, speaking i both French and English she basically talked us to sleep on the way to the first chateau. Essentially Blake and i had paid 0 euros each to have a cat nap in a bus. Reaching the first Chateau, Chateau Lestille we were greeted by the owner who was a fourth generation wine maker. His daughter the only female in his families history to run the vineyard was due to take over in a matter of weeks. At this particular winery they produced white, rose and red. the red was a favorite of ours, so much so we bought a bottle of of, it was woody and smooth, very unusual. We toured the Vats and the storage before the tasting, it was all very interesting. We were informed that there is apparently a limit to how much wine you can produce from a single vine, no more than one bottle per vine I believe he said, that's why they grow them small and closer together so that they can fit more on their grounds.

Our tour guide was telling us that young French people are not drinking much wine these days, instead preferring harder liquors and beer instead. This in turn was affecting France' wine industry having to export a lot more than ever before. She told us the health benefits of red wine and said she drinks at least a glass a day, "and look at me, perfect health" I was convinced! The second Chateau was also a family run business, not as old as the first the property was purchased in 1977. Some of the vines however were 70 years old, the youngest only 2. The gentleman that now ran the property was the son of those that had purchased the property in the seventies, he since took over in 1994. This vineyard produced red and a little rose, they also made compotes and jams which we couldn't resist buying. A similar tour was had, the processes explained and the tasting at the end. All very nice wines. We had a great time and would recommend a tour like this if ever you are in Bordeaux you can do all day trips for 90 euro including lunch at a chateau but for those who want to cut to the chase these half day tours are more than fine.

Leaving Bordeaux we were a little sad. We had enjoyed our time so much there - the beautiful weather, the great wines, it was all that we had expected and more. Again this is a place I would come back to when I had money to do it properly.

Next stop: Toulouse - where Toulouse lautrec wasn't born.

---

Photos

stumbled upon a carnival
We stumbled upon a carnival on our first day where you could win actual weapons - throwing stars, rifles and wait for it...nunchucks!