TheCraigs

July 21 We almost missed today. Sinclaire, fortunately, was up and ready to go. At 10 am she woke us up. We took a walk to Les Halles de Paul Beaucuse – the most amazing market with fish vendors, meat vendors, cheese…and the most amazing pastries. We stopped for lunch at a fish restaurant. Sinclaire had escargot, I had salmon tartar, Glenn had oysters. Mmmmm… check out the food photos! A short walk to Old Lyon brought us to the funiculaire. The short ride up the hill was worth the three Euros. At the top is the Basilique – super old church…but not as old as the roman theatre, made around 200 A.D. Dinner was a La Maison Marie. She's the owner - her husband is a tennis expert.... read more

Our last full day in France we headed east from Bordeaux to the Saint Emillion area. We visited Chateau Canon in the morning, before heading into the town for lunch. Walked around this very old and beautiful town. Authentic, but with a touch of a touristy feel. Another excellent lunch at L'Enver du Decor outside in back courtyard. After lunch visited the local church before heading over to Chateau Figeac and then finally to Chateau Petit Village (a next door neigbour to Chateau Le Pin). Back to Bordeaux. Walked to the local shopping mall near the hotel. Shopping in the grocery store was a very different experience to what we have in North America for sure. Aisles and aisles of wine... a 10 euro meal that night. The most expensive item was 4 euro for the ... read more

We took a taxi to the Gare Montparnasse and got on the super fast TGV train to Bordeaux. Amazingly, the train, which holds 457 people was loaded in about 20 minutes and we zoomed 600 kilometres in just over three hours. We were going up to 300 km/h. After checking in at The Hotel Burdigal, we took a walk down to the waterfront. Dozens of people were playing in the water mirror (splash pad), there was a cruise ship in port and there looked to be a circus in the park. Back at the hotel we picnicked on Viennese baguette from Bordeaux and Stilton cheese and a terrine that we brought from Paris. Not much else happened, it was Sunday - definitely a day of rest.... read more

With tickets for the Regional Train in hand we found the East Station easily and found our seats easily (after finding a chocolate croissant). A 45 minute ride brought us to Reims, where Champagne come from. We stopped the Notre Dame Cathedral where 25 kings of France were crowned - quite a dinstiction! A hike to the other end of town in one hundred percent humidity and thirty degree heat brought us to Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin. The tasting tour we booked was limited to eight people and was excellent. Our guide, a young lady from Russia, gave a clear explanation of how the wines become classified based on where the grapes are grown. An aroma garden of plantings from around the world allowed us to touch, taste and smell plants and get a feeling for what ... read more

Up at 6:30 am. Ugh. We were up late last night - internal clocks are re-setting. The plan for today was to take the RER train to the the Palace of Versailles. With our bellies still full from dinner last night, we skipped breakfast. I stopped to pick up a Starbuck (yes, even here) for a mocha (tastes just the same). The train was easy to find and a half hour ride brought us to the end of the line. The museum hadn't even opened and the line was already snaking around the courtyard and grew while we stood there. Inside, there was room after room of gold, paintings and opulence beyond reasonable. We headed out in the noonday sun toward the garden. 250 acres of garden. It went on, and on, and on... We stopped ... read more