A week-end in Bordeaux

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Our next stop is 2 hours south of La Rochelle, in the city of Bordeaux. This stop is about family, friends, more food and more wine...and obviously, more sunny time!

I haven't been to Bordeaux for years. The new tram system is now fully in place, but we didn't use it. The front of most houses has also been cleaned up the last 5 years, giving a new youth to the Grand Dame of Bordeaux.

We could have made a single entry for the vineyards of Bordeaux and the city itself. But here it is, Bordeaux wine region is pretty huge with areas that are really different from each others, and it can take over two hours to cross the Bordeaux region vineyards from one end to another end. So for this entry, we stick mainly to the city itself.

Our first meeting was Saturday night with the cousin of my Dad. Frank has been living in Bordeaux forever, but I haven't seen him for years, last time, I was merely a teenager. We had dinner together with Mari in Rue St Remy, for more fois gras, more magret de canard...yes, the full power of the duck is blossoming here!

We woke up ealry morning for a walking tour of the Vieux Bordeaux on Sunday morning. The street are pretty empty at 9am, but with the sun, the less people the better to enjoy the place to ourselves for few hours in the morning.

For lunch, we met old friends from the time I was living in Vietnam, this date back to the period of 1996 to 2000. Around the table were Ann, Marc and Pierre-Jean. Ann and Pierre-Jean are currently involved in the wine business, so yes, we got some pretty good inside for our lunch wine choice. Marc has picked up a great terrace for lunch on the Quais (aka, the banks of the Garonne). We had such a great time that we didn't see the hours pass by. It was already 4pm, and we were only starting our dessert!

For coffee/tea, we are back in the car, 20 minutes drive, direction Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte just outside Bordeaux. This was the plan A for lunch, but already fully booked when we wanted to get a table. So Marc and Ann brought us here for some more sunny terrace and a good cigar. What a Sunday!

Thanks a lot Marc to have made this day such a great time. Was really nice to see Ann again , as well as the surprise of having Pierre-Jean joining us! Great times guys, hope to see you again soon!

We left Bordeaux late, as usual, this time for nearly an hour drive, direction South-East...but this, is the next entry!

Great time, great friends, great food and wine, what to ask more for a little week-end under the sun?!?

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