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Purchased special french paprkia here, which cannot be bought in the USBefore we left Pau, we took a walk to the Chateau that was the birth place of Henri IV, one of the King’s of France. We missed the last tour so only saw the outside. On the way there we kept hearing loud racing car noises; we could not figure it out. Also, last night on the way to and from dinner we passed by a large place with tents and tons of people celebrating. We found out why. This weekend was a Grand Prix auto race, this weekend was the antique cars next week the modern cars. We watched a little and went on our way.
Today we head north to Bordeaux the half way point of our journey. The exit out of Pau was pretty easy; just follow the signs to Bordeaux. We again opted for the Auto Route to save time. It was a brand new Auto Route as it wasn’t even on our Map. The day was sunny the drive was boring, until we finally turned off to head for Sauternes. The Sauternes region is famous for the sweet dessert wine Sauterne. We were hoping to stop at a Chateau for a taste if they were
Street in Pau
The mountains are back there somewhere open on a Sunday. You notice the difference of the Aquitaine the moment you get off the main road; the Chateaux start to pop up everywhere. We got to the city of Sauterne and decided to have lunch. It was close the magic closing hour of two so we kept our fingers crossed. Sauternes is a very small village, on church about 20 houses a tourist office, bakery and two very good restaurants. We tried the first, but they were full and done serving. They were kind enough to point us to the second, but said they may be finished as well. We walked a block and found Auberge Des Vignes. We stepped in and they were more than happy to accommodate us, the only table in the house that wasn’t full just became available as a couple was just leaving.
We were seated right next to the open grill. Many of the meats were grilled, as in Aix, in the main restaurant. Since we are now in Bordeaux the wine of course will be red (there are a few white Bordeaux but hey are typically very expensive, as are the Sauternes. Lunch was very leisurely and very tasty.
We watched as several dishes were cooked including what looked like a roast. The place of full of nothing but French we were the only tourists in the place. We had a nice long lunch as we were only about 45 minutes from Bordeaux. We finished with a class each of a Sauterne (see Today’s Eats for details).
After lunch we headed off towards Bordeaux, we never did find an open Chateau but we had a Sauterne at lunch so all was good. We kind of got lost on all the small roads, but new the Bordeaux was to the north so that is the direction we headed. We passed through several small villages, with people on their way to vote. It was Election Day today. We finally found a sign pointing us towards Bordeaux and off we went.
As we approached the City (we had a map and address) Jerry expertly guided us into the center of town. Once we got there, it was a little confusing, typical French city, narrow streets, one way, pedestrian pods through out. Today was even more difficult because it was the first Sunday, The city closes large sections of the center
off to pedestrian’s only. We did find our hotel with out to much trouble and parking right behind, not free but very close). We checked in to the hotel and settled in. This hotel is also a 2 star, much nicer then Pau, but not as big. It is in the middle of the shopping district.
When we were settled in to our hotel we headed out to find and ATM machine and the tourism office. The tourism office was important since that is where they book Chateau appointments (more on the later). While we were out we purchased jamon sandwiches for dinner in the room. We had such a big lunch that we went light for dinner tonight. Once back in the room, we ate, Jerry read up on the wine country for tomorrow and I blogged. At about 9:30 the traffic started getting louder, horns honking, people yelling, we didn’t know why. On one of Jerry’s smoking breaks he found out while talking to the front desk clerk. As I said it was Election Day, and the reason for the celebration was that the conservative incumbent lost to the socialist. They are a little bit more exuberant
about celebrating such things in Europe than we are in the states.
The pretty much was the day, we went to bed early for our first day in the wine region.
TODAY’S EATS Lunch Auberge Des Vignes in the city of Sauternes
We shared a Crème de coco, croquettes (a cheese fondue, with croquettes of foie gras). It was rich and very good. Jerry had a Filet of goose for his main course, rich and good. I had a perfectly grilled pork chop with crispy pork belly still in tacked on the shop. We split a pain pedu for dessert. With lunch we had a bottle of Chateau de Budos (Graves Bordeaux). With dessert Jerry had a class of Domain Carbonnieux and I had a class of Haut Berger. Both very good Sauternes.
REVIEWS:
Sauternes: If you are a fan of dessert wines, then I recommend a day trip to this area. It is beautiful and the wines are great.
Auberge Des Vignes: If you opted for the day trip above, then by all means eat lunch here. The other restaurant in town seemed much more uptight and pretentious.
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Lunch in Sauternes
I don't know what I am shocked by normal;">DAILY TIP: If there is any place to get lost it is in the wine country surrounding the city of Bordeaux, you know you won’t die of thirst even if you are lost.
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