Wine Region- Chatuea de Criux

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On contiki we start the days early... Well early for us young adults anyway. And after two nights in Paris, (cabaret, the Eiffle Tower, crepes and croissants) we rose out of bed, headed down for a continental breakfast at our hotel (the ibis budget) and then started a long, arduous journey on the bus to the Beaujolais Wine Region. Our bus seats 56 people, but our tour is 36 people plus two contiki staff members. On the tour we have: 1 New Zealander, 1 Japanese, 1 American, 5 Canadians, 3 British, 1 Portuguese bus driver, and the rest were of course Australian.
One thing about Paris is the fact that there seems to be a whole new driving system- one that the Parisians don't even seem to follow. For instance, they all leave their handbrakes off in the car- this is so they can touch park. And although there are nice cars in Paris, they all seem to have dents in them.. Wonder why.
Anyway, back to bus driving. The drive from Paris to the chateau was stunning. We stopped in a town called Fontainebleau, a town that is situated around an old castle. And the old castle features a pink elephant. There's also wonderful cafés around, mini markets- really reasonable, a pharmacy (which contiki travellers love- they became our favourite place) and a few supermarkets and stores. It was a great way to break up our drive. We then continued on the journey, arriving at the 16th Century Chateau de Cruix, which is owned by contiki, at around 5pm.
We then had a surprise wine taste testing. It turns out that the chateau has a family business in making wine and contiki wine has been made there since 1971. They sell their wine bottles from €7-€20.
The first night at the chateau was loud. There were three other contiki groups there, and one thing you learn is that you are very proud of your contiki group. So there was of course several dance offs at the "P" -Party. A party where one has to dress up with something beginning with the letter "P". For example: pirates, punk, princess, pizza box( difficult but doable), the Pringles man, and prince, just to name a few. Now for those drinkers, the prices varied depending on what you wanted, but you had to pay in cash. They had beers for €4, wine for €3 soft drink for €2, desperado (a mix of tequila and beer) for €3, and a few other drinks that were quite reasonable.
The next day, we set out on a group picnic to the top of a mountain. Gorgeous views and salad baguettes= perfection. We had the day to ourselves and could watch movies or rugby on tv, hang out by the pool, take advantage of the quiet day to score an early shower ( there were communal mixed bathrooms- showers and toilets placed in the middle of the chateau, so it was a luxury to shower in peace) or we could read in the vineyard. The Chateua de Cruix was a beautiful place, surrounded by natural/ untouched beauty, that offered up a relaxing atmosphere. The only downside was the fact that the bunk beds squeaked every time you moved.
Top tips: take cash in € to spend on drinks (either alcoholic or non-alcoholic). Take a pair of ear plugs or head phones if you have good hearing- the music from the parties was loud. Lock your balcony window at night- other drunken contiki members might decide it's a good idea to get into their room through your window. And take an extension chord, and travel adapters. You never know when someone will pinch yours by mistake, so take a spare adapter. The extension chord is convenient because there is only one power point per room in the chateau and many people had fights over who got to use it first.

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