Blogs from Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France, Europe - page 6

It was probably only about ten metres from the entrance to the elevator. For inspiration I tried to bolster my confidence by recalling a scene from the movie Blow, “When you’re carrying drugs across the border, the idea is to remain calm. The way I do it is to think of something pleasant, a fun party, a moment of triumph. A sexual encounter. I actually project myself to that place. Anything to keep your mind off the fact that you’re going to jail for a very long time if they find the fifteen kilos of cocaine in your suitcases.” Okay, I'm not smuggling drugs; this is far more traumatic. I’m trying to walk through the lobby of a hotel, in France, without anyone talking to me, in French! There’s a young lady at reception, I try ... read more

First, biking is faster than walking, and definitely easier on the knees! So, we can actually get "somewhere" in the course of the day. We would not be having the experience looking down from an airplane or out a train window. We are certainly more aware of our surroundings. First, we must be vigilant about the path ahead, to avoid potholes (not any so far on the biking path) and people along the way. We hear more sounds: the church bells, the birds, the crunch of our tires, the gaggle of geese hissing at us as we passed by their water hole, the brown lumps of clay that turned out to be resting ducks! We have seen the lonely chicken, clearly lost from its flock. Often I have to stop to take photographs...the crops vary: vineyards, ... read more

What a wonderful morning! We followed our host, Celene, to near her workplace in historic Bordeaux, first settled by the Romans in the 1st century. She helped us make reservations for the 2 hour wine tasting class...which we thoroughly enjoyed! No wonder Bordeaux wines are so complex...all are blended, each by the local chateau or winery. So are the American wines. A couple from Southern California explained that if an American wine is labeled "merlot," then at least 85% will be from the merlot grape. Most of the wines in Bordeaux will include the percentage of each of the three wines that are used in the blend. Although we did enjoy the dry wine wines from the "right bank" of the Garonne River, we both very much enjoyed the red Cabernet. In fact, after we lunched ... read more

Somehow, overnight I've managed to do something to my neck. It's damned sore and hurts to move. Some medication required I think. Since we are in the region we figured we should visit Bordeaux which is about one hour away. Sue gave us good instructions on how to get to the Park and Ride but somehow we got ourselves off track off the motorway and with no idea of where we should actually be. After reassessing we got back on and eventually found (I don't know how) the place where we should be. Poor Lindsay was a little stressed with all the instructions and traffic in all directions! Duncan, Anita and Cherie in the other car had also gone off course and somehow got themselves back on track too. From there, we got a tram across ... read more

Bordeaux. The final leg of today's adventure took us north, about 200km to the City of Bordeaux. Along the way, Cindy advised that we were going to drive through the longest stretch of pine forest we have ever seen (she has never been to New Brunswick.) This was where I discovered the remarkable application of a beret over the eyes as a mobile sleep aide. Bordeaux is considered by many to be the wine-producing capital of the world. It lies along the Garrone River, almost 100km up-river from the Atlantic, but has a major sea-port presence. The twelve deck residential ship "The World" was tied up alongside the Bourse while we were there. During the war Germany kept a fleet of submarines in Bordeaux from whence they would transit to the Atlantic to harass allied shipping. ... read more