Saturday 30 June 2012

BORDEAUX OR BUST


Having rested a while in Lascazares we set off on the next part of our “Tour de France”. Now in possession of our trusty steed and “Helpful Helene” we programmed in Bordeaux and headed north to her dulcet tones. Keeping off the motorways we trundled through the beautiful French countryside and quaint towns. A stop for some picnic provisions at a large supermarket in beautiful Bazas and lunch was catered for! A scenic spot outside a Chateau in the Sauterne region was perfect for our first picnic!

 Where did I put the cheese?

Vineyard versatility!

Of interest to our viticultural friends was this amazing “contraption” that passed by at lunch. He couldn’t keep it moving - he tried everything, and the traffic was mounting up – when he finally moved off we gave him the thumbs up and he laughed back at us. It looked like it did just about everything you wanted in one amazing machine. Hedge pruned, herbicided and tilled the undervine weeds!!! We saw more modern versions later.



Chateau after Chateau, vineyard after vineyard became the scenery stealers.

Our accommodation in Bordeaux is not quite what we expected. I thought it would be nice to be a little out of town to be handy to the vineyards, well, we’re certainly out of town, not really handy to the vineyards and in a rather strange place, Macau. No TV, none of the river views promised and apparently the last occupant stole the fridge! It’s all a little weird. No wifi in the room either. The owner is a little eccentric, not unexpected I guess, he and his wife are artists, she’s a cook and he’s been a wine maker and is an author and wine judge!

We escaped the accommodation disappointment and headed into town – a good 20 minute trip away. Helene was great, she got us through a maze of expressways and city streets straight to the car park we wanted! Phew!, at least something was going well! It just happened that the annual wine festival is on – wine and food stalls all over the place. Bordeaux is a very beautiful city and we can’t wait to explore it fully later.

Ancient gatehouse 

Thirsty anyone?

More my size!

Back to Macau and a very pleasant dinner by the river in a restaurant down the road. It looked a little shabby but the food was fantastic and later full of locals out for Friday night dinner. It was fun and we had a good laugh about our situation.

Happy now, great dinner



1 comment:

  1. I suppose, over three months, there are bound to be some duds! What's going to compare favourably with Al and Cheryl's?

    ReplyDelete