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Published: July 27th 2009
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Call Me Stubborn But I Still Think Australian Wine Is Better!!
Leaving the coast I made my way South back down to a little town called
Blois in central France in the Loire Valley. Made famous for it's concentration of Chateaux, I intended to get out to
Chateau Chambord which was built in by the monarchy with influences from
Leonardo Di Vinci who lived just down the road. Unfortunately I didn't arrive until late afternoon and I already had a train booked for 2pm the next day. With the bus timetable the way it was the earliest I could make it back to Blois was 3pm so that plan went out the window.
In saying that, I did manage to fill my time in Blois productively though as the town has numerous walking trails throughout the city marked with little medallions on the ground and information panels on some of the historic buildings. Walking through the narrow streets (which have mostly been made pedestrian paths), up and down stairs, and through arches and gardens, I fell in love with this little town on the bank of a river.
Culminating at the hill in the centre of town in
Chateau De Blois, a royal residence dating back to 13th Century and being added on to by subsequent monarchs as they stayed in the palace. Containing royal apartments, chapels, and two wings dedicated to art, it also held a performance detailing the life of one of the nobles that lived there. Although all in French, it was entertaining to watch none the less.
The French have perfected the art of people watching too. The way the streets are lined with tables from cafes enables one to sit and sip and watch the world pass you by. It was a lovely way to finish my stay in Blois before moving on to one of the best known regions of France.... Bordeaux.
My main aim for going to
Bordeaux was to sample some of the local produce... namely their wines. Not having liked most of the French wines I'd tried in the past, I was hesitant to write them off completely before tasting them from their origin. Splurging on a full day tour that incorporated tours and tastings at three wineries in the Medoc Appellation and lunch at one of them, I was going to give it my best at
liking French wine.
In 1855, Napoleon III wanted to lift the profile of wines from Bordeaux, so he got people to go out and classify the vineyards on a scale of one to five (one being the best with the likes of Chateau Marmont) based on the soil, growing conditions and quality and popularity of their wines. These classifications are permanent and can't ever be changed which seems a little unfair considering it means that if a winery is a class four, no matter how good it's wines are now it will always be a class four. As we made our way through the vineyards, we began to realise how little this means to anyone that doesn't actually work at the winery because each year, judges go around to all the vineyards and their decision on the quality of the vintage denotes what the wine will sell for anyway. Seems silly that they put so much stock in something out-dated and insignificant... but then, the French like their traditions.
So for now, I say
au revoir to France as I head into sunny Spain before returning to do the South coast in a couple of weeks.
"Don't simply seek interesting surroundings, but be continually interested in whatever surrounds you." - Anonymous
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