Advertisement
Published: June 21st 2006
View from my bedroom window, Bordeaux
My cheap, but fabulous, single room at the Hotel Famille in Bordeaux was up 81 stairs. This was the view...In Pushkar, India a tarot card reader solemnly predicted my future. He drew the nine of cups, which meant that every happiness I wished for in my life would be fulfilled. He also had a warning, 'avoid over-indulgence', he said and specifically advised me to be cautious where food and wine are concerned. It was with those words ringing in my ears that I embarked on a gastronomical and wine adventure through Bordeaux and Paris!
Re-visiting France became an unexpected highlight. I didn't dislike it last time, but back then I wasn't overwhelmed by the experience. This time was different, my attitude and perspective toward France (and French people) has completely changed. I reveled in the spirit, the culture, the people, their attention to detail and presentation and their appreciation for the good things in life. As many of you know, four of my greatest passions in life are wine, cheese, travel and books... so the only thing I really found lacking in France was that the french are not big readers! I suspect that traveling alone also made a big difference because I found that locals are far more inclined to interact with someone traveling alone - particularly someone
Dining in Style, Bordeaux
Lunch was included in the wine tour and to my delight was three courses of mouth-watering food! Shown here is the duck ... that tries to speak French despite a very limited vocabulary and has a sense of humour about it! Who said that the French aren't friendly?! Shopkeepers, people on trains and in the street struck up conversations with me, despite my complete and utter lack of style! I was quite self conscious about my backpacker wardrobe in France - if you look at the photos I repetitively wear the same clothes. One day in Bordeaux to my absolute joy I was mistaken as a frenchwoman - it made my day!
The French men and women are incredible - so completely stylish and well heeled. The look for men seems to be ponytails and I saw many children dressed all in white like an advert for Napisan. I did not spot one single pair of tracksuit pants during my time in France (and believe me I was looking!). Though it did humour me to read some interesting (possibly contradictory) stats about the French - apparently only 47% of French people shower every day, but at the same time the French buy more beauty products (creams, masks, etc) than any other people on earth! In both Bordeaux and Paris, on every street
The restaurant in Bordeaux featured a brilliant selection of wines!
Wine was also included as part of the tour. We made sure we got our money's worth! I wandered, there were women riding bicycles of the retro thin tired and basket variety (no mountain bikes to be seen). Wearing skirts, heels and with baguettes and vin in their baskets they rode to the office, to the park or to their homes. Take it from me girls, this is the next big thing - so 2006! Dogs are also taken everywhere in France. You'll find dogs at your feet in food and clothing shops and carted around in handbags Paris Hilton style. The worst thing is the dog poo - fail to keep an eye on where you step at your own peril! At my hotel in Bordeaux, the owner's little fluffy white ball of a dog was prone to making deposits on the hallway carpet outside my room ... I also found the French put so much care toward the most simple tasks like giving directions. Getting served might take longer - but is done with exceptional presentation and beautifully executed. Sometimes the wait takes patience, for instance I was made to wait 30 minutes to get a seat for coffee at the Louvre (even though I could see plenty of tables available), but the food and
HEAVEN in the form of an all-you-can-eat cheese cellar!
Armed with a cheese knife I heaped my plate high with so much cheese for dessert I felt sick when I was done! the setting were certainly worth it! The other places you notice the French flair and style is in shop windows - the window dressing is both immaculate and eye catching and florists here prepare bouquets more beautiful than I've ever seen!
Bordeaux is soaked in wine - it's arguably the wine capital of the world with 5,000 odd chateaux and a population of 700,000 to boot. I arrived in Bordeaux by train from San Sebastian, having tracked down the fantastic Tourism office (promoted by a particularly schmick marketing effort) which runs local winery tours throughout the region. A city completely devoted to the pleasures of wine and gastronomy - there was no better place to begin my journey. My hotel, the quaint and chic-shabby, Hotel De Famille offered single rooms (shared hallroom bathroom) for a pittance - the only downside that to get to my room meant climbing 81 stairs. Absolutely worth it though for the privacy of my own hotel room, a luxury I had not enjoyed since St Petersberg in early May!
The Bordeaux 'Secrets of Great Wine tour' had an early morning start. My shaky French unpracticed I was too nervous to strike up a
Quaffing at Château de Pressac, St Emilion
86% of the wine here is red and Saint Emilion specializes in merlot. conversation with the other 7 people assembled for the tour. When the vivacious, sharp and charming guide Christine arrived, I was very amused to learn that they were all Australian!! We started the morning by wandering around the old Les Chartrons (wine makers district) and learnt a little about the history of wine in Bordeaux. Back in the day, women weren't allowed to participate in the wine making process as it was believed that they would turn the wine to vinegar! Wine makers and labourers in the region were paid with wine - three bottles a day, some of which they'd drink and the rest they'd save for their families. There are 57 varietals of wine today in Bordeaux alone and a strict governing body rules that at least two varietals (ie. Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc) must be in every wine that wants to put 'Bordeaux' on the label. Mid morning we were to learn the finer points of tasting courtesy of a 2003 Chateau Haut Gravier Graves Sauvignon/Semillon and a 2003 Grandes Vignes de Dypeyron Medoc red. We were instructed to smell for the '1st nose' and put a name to it like 'grapefruit', 'peppercorn, 'strawberries', before swirling our
wine to get the '2nd nose' - generally sweeter than the first - like 'flowers', 'vanilla' etc. Christine was adamant that like the French, we should never buy wine from a supermarket as the temperature is not right and the wine is not laid down. On my next visit to the supermarket I noted that she was right, it was only tourists going crazy over the 3 Euro wines!
We began the afternoon with a divine lunch at a restaurant in town, owned by a local French celebrity chef. We feasted on a entree of cooked frommage, followed by duck - washed down with some quality red. Next, to my absolute delight, we were escorted to the 'cheese cellar' for dessert - imagine an entire room full of odorous cheeses of every variety you could ever dream of! Armed with a cheese knife and plate, I heaped my plate high with cheese - the biggest trick was to negotiate the narrow steps back up to the restaurant, precariously balancing the plate, whilst making allowance for the wine quaffed during the morning! Christine had to practically drag us out of the restaurant. I could barely walk from all the food
Afternoon Champers, St Emilion
Kath, Kate and Michelle - our generous benefactor of one bottle of Billecart Salmon Champers. Thanks Michelle! I'd eaten - it was the first sit down meal I'd had in a good five days and it was included in the tour price - so I sure did get my Euros worth!
In the afternoon, our group grew from 8 Australians to a coach-full of French, Chinese, Americans, Germans and Italians. Christine pressed on, in both French and English, but only us Australians seemed to get her jokes. As we drove out to St Emilion, she pointed to our left and said 'here is the Ikea store that we are very proud has come to our city' and some idiots took her seriously and took photos!! St Emilion is a walled medieval city with cobbled streets, B&Bs, restaurants, wine bars, cafes and boulangeries. The town, its vineyards and its landscape are actually registered with the world inheritance of humanity by UNESCO which is pretty remarkable. 86% of the Bordeaux regions wines are red and St Emilion specializes in Merlot. We visited the medieval Château de Pressac and soaked up the atmosphere and stunning views of the vineyards. This is where the peace treaty was signed in 1453 that marked the end of the Hundred Years' War between
England and France, resulting in Bordeaux being returned to France. Whilst historically impressive, the wine we tasted was not impressive. Harsh to taste, David would call it 'cooking wine'! Fortunately, the day ended on a high when three girls I met on the tour decided to skip the church visit in St Emilion to sit in an outdoor cafe in the local Square to watch the world go by. Michelle, an Aussie expat living in Paris, asked me what my favourite french champagne was and I answered 'Billecart Salmon' (also the most expensive on the menu) and she pulled out her credit card and bought us a bottle!
Paris was hot - 30 degrees and far hotter in the metro and my stuffy hostel dorm at the Three Ducks Hostel. This was my third visit to Paris, yet I felt like I was seeing it for the first time. Blue skies, the Eiffel Tower, a wealth of massive galleries, gardens and people picnicing everywhere - it was great to be back! On arrival my first port of call was the Musee de Orsay, my favourite museum in Paris - where to my delight the girl sold me (without asking)
an under 26's ticket. From there I went across to meet Phippsy (my friend from Ford back home) and his brother outside the Louvre Pyramid at 2pm. But this rendzevous quickly turned sour, when the authorities moved in swiftly evacuating everyone from the square and nearby restaurants with a threat of a bomb/terrorist activity etc. By chance, we somehow found each other and spent a couple of hours at a local cafe people watching and catching up on the news from home. It was nice to see a familiar face from home (only the third in three months) and we decided to soak up the atmosphere with a walk along the Seine to Notre Dame.
In the evening, we headed to the Eiffel Tower for that famous (and slightly unnerving) view! Built in 1889 for the World exposition, apparently the locals call the Eiffel Tower the 'metal asparagus'. It was only supposed to be up 20 years, but Gustaf Eiffel convinced the government of its benefits as a radio tower and it stayed! Not only is it a distinct (and directionally helpful) landmark in Paris, the Eiffel tour has inspired many outrageous and daring stunts. In 1987, the crazy
Scared of heights?!
Phippsy and I at the top of the Eiffel Tower. An impressive view once you recover from the vertigo ... (Phipps - I still owe you a mars bar!) Kiwi AJ Hackett illegally bungee jumped from there to launch a powerful PR campaign for the sport of bungee. Another crazy bloke, this time a Frenchman, Alain Robert who calls himself 'Spiderman' owing to his various aerial daredevil acts has climbed it something like 7 times. In the early 1900's a Parisian tailor attempted to fly from the parapet with only a modified cape for wings. He plunged to his death in front of a large crowd and according to the autopsy, he died of a heart attack before even touching the ground. Fortunately, our visit to the Eiffel was far less eventful. The only danger I encountered was a particularly gusty wind which was causing a Marilyn Monroe effect with my skirt. Out of desperation I bunched it together with a hairband and thus further added to my lack of style!!
It was with Phippsy and his brother Harold that I tasted some of the more traditional and queasy-stomach-inducing French fare! It is said that the concept of a restaurant, where people could get served at anytime in the afternoon or evening - rather than set times, from a menu was invented in Paris by a bloke called
Paris style!
It was pretty windy up the Eiffel, so to prevent doing a 'Marilyn Monroe' I bunched up my skirt with a hair elastic... PS - you may notice I'm wearing the same clothes again - I'm sick of them too!!! Monsieur Boulanger back in 1765. At a few select restaurants in the area known as 'bacteria alley' near Notre Dame, we feasted on snails, frogs and creme brule. I bet you can guess which one I preferred! We also hit the town for a few beers, but unfortunately Harold and Phippsy had a 1am curfew at their hotel - so it was back to my hostel which was super noisy owing to world cup fever.
My next adventure was a cycling one. Owing to the fact I like to jump on board the latest craze (remember girls, cycling is so 2006), I signed up for a 'Fat Tires' bike tour, led by the loud-mouthed Marielle from Colorado. Marielle's loud mouth was perfect for the job and she brought to life Paris' history as we cycled around the city like the locals do to see some of Paris' most famous landmarks, and also some of its lesser well known areas. We even stopped in the Tulleries Gardens for lunch in the shade. So whilst my morning was spent cycling around in the sunshine and lunching in the park, my afternoon was spent in the cold, damp, darkness of the Catacombs.
Tour de France 2006
I did a fantastic tour of Paris by bike - a real highlight! Back in 1785, Paris decided to solve the problem of its overflowing cemeteries by exhuming the bones of the buried and relocating them to the tunnels of a bunch of disused quarries, leading to the creation of the Catacombs. Essentially they are over a kilometre of tunnels, 20 metres underground which are stacked with bones in disturbing patterns. Once in there, I couldn't wait to get out, it was creepy and smelt of rot and water was dripping on my head from the roof. The guard on the way out even wanted to check my bag for stolen bones ... seriously, they're the psychos with the warped sense of humour who let people over 60 get in for free!
My final day in Paris was purely French - filled with cultural activities and a picnic in the Rodin Museum Garden. I began with a visit to the Louvre where it is said it would take 206 days to see all of its 35,000 works of art. I only had a few hours, so chose to hit a few of the essentials - like 'Mona Lisa' and the 'Venus de Milo', as well as Napoleon's ritzy apartments, before a quick
Human remains in the Catacombs
There is no doubt the Catacombs were a cool respite from the 30-something temperatures of Paris, but I couldn't get out of there quick enough! coffee in the cafe. From here it was off to the Rodin Museum to check out 'the thinker' and have my picnic lunch in the museums beautiful gardens filled with roses, fountains and grassy patches perfect for an after lunch snooze. My final visit for the day was to the Dome Cathedral to see Napoleon's Tomb - he arranged for it to be designed so that you had to bow down to him (ie. lean over) to see his tomb. He was a short guy and spent his entire life looking up to people, so perhaps it is only appropriate!
France was sensational. Certainly one of my favourite destinations on this trip so far. I boarded the train at Gare de Nord, feeling sad to be leaving France behind - the only consolation was the chocolate awaiting me in Belgium!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.047s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 9; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0248s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
