The drive out of La Rochelle was a comedy of errors. We were in the centre of the old city so lots of narrow one way streets. After missing a turn, Siri decided that it would be funny (as punishment) to take me the wrong way down an old town street :-)). Convincing Siri this wouldn’t work was quite difficult, but after driving down a street so narrow that we had to choose whether we saved the mirror or hubcaps, we eventually got a reroute, only to end up in a bus station and then a bus only lane, luckily it was early and no police around. After about 15min we found our way out and on to the open road – that Siri is a real joker.
Bordeaux was only a couple of hours drive, and we reached Place de La Bourse, in the town centre, by 10.30. On the banks of the Garonne river, it’s the one of the best known places in Bordeaux and known as the birth place of modern Bordeaux – which was historically a walled city. It was also close to both our Airbnb and the food tour we had booked starting at 11.15.
First stop for the food tour was some early wine tasting (of course). The venue had only bio wines, which is a huge movement in France with most winemakers making the switch to full biological techniques.
It was a great introduction to the Bordeaux wine regions and styles. Merlot is king, but for it to be a true Bordeaux wine it is always blended. We also tried a Clairet which is a Bordeaux style Rose to drink cold, but stronger like a Chianti.
A simple lunch was next before doing a small walking tour of Bordeaux while picking up a few desserts along the way.
First dessert was the local specialty Canalés, made from egg yolks, sugar and rum. It’s origin came from the wine making process which uses egg white to clarify the wine, which left a lot of unused egg yolks. Some nuns took advantage of this and invented the Canelés as food for the street kids. Very tasty, with a chewy caramel flavour.
The next dessert was Dunes Blanches, a Chou pastry ball filled with light fluffy cream and crusted with almonds and icing sugar. Delicious! Very similar to the choupettes we had in Paris.
The last dessert was a visit to a specialty chocolate shop Hasnaâ, supposedly the best in Bordeaux. We were able to sample a mix of dark milk to straight dark, praline and ganache. My favourite was the dark sesame seed praline, Bel’s was the dark milk coconut praline. We also sampled single origin chocolate from different regions, the difference in flavour was surprising.
After the tour we headed to our Airbnb, which was in the centre of the main shopping strip Rue Saint Catherine.
The street was crazy, with shops and people everywhere for miles. It was like Pitt St at Christmas time, but 10 times longer! Bordeaux’s Champs-élysées.
The apartment was lovely and spacious, but the view out of the window was a big contrast from our previous accommodation :-))
The good news was we could see a Maccas! We had eaten three weeks of traditional French food and our stomachs needed a break – so dinner that night was very cheap 🙂
The following day we went on a bike riding tour in Saint-Émillion.
We started with a ride through the vinyards, tasting some grapes along the way. They were Merlot grapes and were surprisingly sweet. We were very close to harvest time so the grapes were pretty much ready. It was beautiful countryside, covered with vines, stone walls and chateaux.
For lunch we stopped at a Chateau and had a picnic. The group we were with were really nice, all couples from different parts of the UK doing a weekend in France. The two boys were professional church bell ringers from Bath Abbey – interesting, I never knew there was such a thing.
We tasted some wines from the local chateau with lunch. A white and a lovely Merlot.
After lunch we rode into Saint-Émillion village and then toured on foot. A beautiful old town built around a church that was carved out of the limestone by Saint-Émillion.
Back on our bikes we headed off for some more wine tasting and tour of facilities. It was two chateau’s opened by the same family, Balzadoz, and Croizille – both Grand Cru Saint-Émillion labels.
We finished the day with a few purchases for our next Airbnb stop :-).
Our last day in Bordeaux was very relaxed, just strolling through the city centre catching the sites. We googled the top 10, and worked our way through most of them – we even had a ride on the local trams.
Our last stop in Bordeaux was a beautiful little wine bar that our tour guide, Clemence, had recommended. Beautiful decor and really great value. I got to try the Margaux Merlot, very nice. It was a great way to end our stay.
