Bordeaux

After four and half years living in Europe, we’ve been extremely blessed to have visited so many special places. One of the remaining spots on our ever-growing “must see” list was Bordeaux. Finally we made it there for a weekend in October.

We stayed in the beautiful village of St. Emilion. Before arriving we wondered if there would be anywhere in town for wine tasting. Ha! The town consists of nothing but wine shops and caves. About 125 miles of tunnels, stocked with wine, extend under the town. Besides drinking Bordeaux, mostly one wonders the twisty cobbled lanes, samples macarons (said to have been invented here), admires the vista from various towers and takes in the constant scent of cooked duck fat. Sunday was a pleasant surprise with music piped through loud speakers over the airwaves, a number of small art exhibitions and a tasting market in the old church cloisters.

It was a great time to be in the Bordeaux region because many of the chateaux were in harvest. At Chateau Beau-Sejour, we got to meet the owner and his family as they were busy loading, sorting and processing the grapes. It was great to see the entire famille chipping in. We were surprised to see them put dry ice inside the wood barrels along with the grapes!

One weekend was just right for knocking around town, visiting chateaux and day tripping over to the metropolis of Bordeaux. We set a personal best for “degustation menus” consumed in one weekend (tasting menus – otherwise known to us as “menu disgustings”).

For more pictures, check out our Bordeaux photo album dated 14th October 2014