We 4/30 A Perfect Day in Bourg

It doesn't get much better than this!  This morning we were in Bourg France. It was 59 degrees moving to the low 70s. We went to the Aquavit Terrace for a coffee, croissant, yogurt, and fresh strawberries.  We then got off the ship for our morning excursion.  On the dock were all the supplies (mostly food and beverage) that have to be manually toted onboard the ship across the same gangway we come and go by (a labor intensive task). Oliver, the the Cruise Director, was busy taking inventory.

Lined up in the parking lot were 20 electric bikes and our two guides led by Alexandre.  We took a few spins around the parking lot to get the "wobbles" out and understand how the controls respond. These bikes were "pedal assist" which means you must be pedaling for the power to kick in.  They responded very nicely and were fun to ride.

We headed out along the river and beside the city wall.  While it was a Wednesday morning, there were very few cars on the roads we were on.

Every couple kilometers we would stop and Alexandre would tell us about the area and what we were seeing.  His English had a very heavy French accent which was endearing.  The paved road we were on followed along the Gironde River.

Too bad I couldn't take pictures as I was riding as the experience we had was phenomenal.  It was like we were part of a movie being filmed to capture biking through the French countryside.  For awhile we would be riding through small little towns with the road lined by small and not so small homes.  

Then we would break out into the vineyards and be able to see thousands of rows of vines.  The bud break has occurred and there were itsy-bitsy grapes just forming on the vines.

On occasion we would come to an intersection so it was nice to have our second guide along who would ride ahead and stop any cross traffic for us.  It was so refreshing, the pleasant breeze blowing in our face as we riding along at 10-25 km/hr.  We did have to climb up (and go down) several significant grades for short distances but the power-assist made pedaling easy.

In one village there is a church, with existing sections being constructed in the 11th century.

It did have a musty spell to it as you would expect in a very old, stone building.  Throughout the country we have been amazed by the good job they have done in cleaning the limestone taking it back to its original, butternut color.  Years of burning coal for heat and pollution turned many of these facilities black in color.  Now they are beautiful again.

Riding out in the vineyards we went by many chateaus.  Chateau is French for house.  For a wine to bear the name of a chateau it must be made from the best grapes grown on that site, and the grapes must be made into wine on that site.  To be "classified" and receive an AOC seal it must be approved by the local authority.   To place the name of the district on the wine label it must receive the AOC certification, here it would be "Cotes-de-Bourg".  Only wine with AOC certification can be exported from the region.  Wine made but not certified is sold in local markets and restaurants.  Below is Chateau Cayac, a rather ornate looking building.

Alexandre lives in a house, a chateau.  If he made wine in his garage (maybe a dozen bottles) he could label it as Chateau Alexandre.  However, it is highly unlikely it could receive AOC certification, so he could not identify it as being a product of the Bourg region.  About all he could do with his wine would be to sell it to his friends in the local area.

Root stock in the region is used for 60 to 80 years.  Roots 40 to 50 years old produce some of the best wine.  At some point, however, they do not support growth as much so they must be replaced.  I love how Alexandre put it ... "Vines and people have much in common.  The older you get the better you get but maybe not so productive."  These were 80 year old roots.

The final stop on our 3 hour, 15 km ride was a restaurant overlooking the river and our ship. We had plates of croissants and chocolatine (pastry with chocolate), a coffee and local juice.  

They had a phenomenal wine cellar of local wines.  Very good wines were available from 8€ to 11€.  High quality local wines were available for 25€ to 40€ (1 euro = $1.13).  I wish Willamette Valley wines were so reasonably priced.  

There is no better way to see Bordeaux than to do it by bike.  You can see and appreciate much more of what there is to see, at a pace and up close that you really enjoy it.  We will definitely be looking for more bicycle tours in the future.

And that was all before lunch.  The captain was waiting for us to return so he could begin sailing to our next destination, Blaye.

When we arrived at the next dock it was occupied so we had to raft along side the Bon Voyage, a UniWorld boat.  To ashore we had to go to our top deck, go across a gangway to their top deck, and then down the outside stairway to get to the gangway to shore.  Here are the two ships rafted together, ours on the left. 

It is always comfortable relaxing on the lounges on the sun deck in the shade.

We went out on deck for lunch where Denis, our waiter, took very good care of us.  Alice had grilled salmon and I had pasta.  It was then time to head back ashore on our next walking tour to see the Citadel of Blaye, a fortress on the river's edge that at one time was the old walled city.

Our tour guide, Elaineme, walked us all over this huge structure designed in the shape of a star for defensive purposes.  There are original barracks for the soldiers in the courtyard, officer quarters, and administrative buildings (many turned into shops and restaurants).  The Citadel was built around an existing medieval castle, parts of which are still in existence. 

Also remaining are a set of four cannon bunkers outside the wall of the citadel, built and manned by the Nazi's to control traffic on the river during the war.

According to our guide, the doors on the Citadel are the original wooden doors from the 17th century.  Defenses included drawbridges, ditches (dry moats), multiple sets of gates, and swinging guillotine like blades that would automatically release from the ceiling if people came uninvited through the entry.

Today it was getting warm, around 77 degrees.  We found ourselves getting tired both from all our activities and the temperature.  We headed back to the boat, took a shower, and then attended the reception for return Viking passengers.  Jack and Susan invited us to join them for dinner and share the bottle of Merlot they purchased at a Chateau they had visited the day before.  It was very good.  We spent some time on our veranda this evening watching the sunset.

Tomorrow we have a quiet morning.  In the afternoon we are visiting an winery, then the whole ship is going to a Chateau for dinner.  It should be fun.

Dinner Menu:  French Goat Cheese Soufflé, Gambas Sauté Provençale (prawns), Crepes Suzette

Daily Step Count:  9,712 steps  AND 15 km by bike

Tu 4/29 Libourne and Saint-Emilion

This morning to make Alice happy I made a run to the coffee machine to bring back coffees to the room.  We then were off for our 9:15 am walking tour of Libourne.  It is an historic town dating back hundreds of years.  Below is a picture of our "longship" with the dining deck on the front.  Our cabin is on deck 2 (the middle deck) about three quarters of the way aft.

Our tour guide this morning and again this afternoon will be Lori (I know, we have had a Laura, a Laure, and now a Lori) who is from San Francisco.  

We started out by entering the city through the main gate tower. At one time there were nine such towers with draw bridges and drop down gates, and they were all connected by a wall.  This is the only tower remaining. The river is just across from the gate where they would load all the goods arriving by ship and reload the ships with wine to return to all parts of the world.  The walls were six feet thick.

We made our way up one of the building-lined city streets, most of which were built in the 18th and 19th centuries.  The street ends at the town square.

The oldest building in the city is on the town square and was constructed in the 1600s.  

You can see the produce here that was on sale at the farmers market which filled the square.  The market is in operation 3 days a week and all the produce looked exquisite, particularly the strawberries that were available in many varieties.

Our next stop was to taste chocolate at a shoppe on the square.  This chocolate company grows their own cacao and hazelnuts along with all the other ingredients.  I had a dark chocolate with a ganache center and dried strawberry bits on top. 

We then visited the art gallery on the top floor of the Hotel d-Ville (city hall).  They had an impressive collection of paintings.  There were statues on the walls of the stairwell leading up to the gallery.  I loved this one (kind of reminded me of Doug).

We are not big art connoisseurs, but there are certain paintings that catch my eye.  Below is the scene from a bar of men smoking, drinking and gambling.  I noticed the one man in the corner who appears to be relieving himself.

We then broke away from the group and just explored some of the backstreets on our own.  Everything is clean and well maintained (or as well maintained as 300 year old buildings can be).

We returned to the boat for lunch in the dining room.  We sat with Norman and Lisa who live in Minnesota, but have lived in Vancouver and he is an OSU grad. Below is a wine warehouse on the waterfront across the river from our ship, our view as we sat at our table at lunch.  There are many such buildings along the river.

After lunch we boarded our busses and joined our guide Lori for a trip to Saint Emilion.  We drove through Libourne and then through the countryside and vineyards.  There were many, many large chateaus on our route.

We drove by the Perthus chateau (no picture) that is argued by some to have consistently made the best wines in the world over the past decades.  In a wine shop we passed you could buy one of their 1954 bottles for $3,200 and a 1945 for around $15,000.  Thought about it .... well, not really. 

 

We took a break from our walking around to enjoy a Cremant Rose and a baguette in the courtyard of a church that has been converted to a retail shoppe and restaurante.  (Note: to make words French you can just add an "e" to the end.) 

Saint Emilion is on the side of a hill with all these homes and buildings crammed together. ( I couldn't get a picture that did justice to this fascinating city.)

I took this picture for Tanner.  It is the bell tower that sits on the highest point in the city.

We went into the church that was built in four sections, the first section begun in the 12th century and the fourth section in the 16th century.

Like other cities, Saint Emilion too had a wall around it but the wall was made up of houses and buildings.  The picture below is one of the few remaining sections of the wall which is very tall.

While we were touring our boat was moving from Libourne to Bourg.  It took about an hour to catch up with our boat.

We went to dinner and sat with a couple who live in Connecticut but who have ties to Oregon and are familiar with Newberg.  After dinner a French cabaret jazz trio performed.  They were very talented musicians -- vocalist, violin and guitar -- who were very entertaining.  It was an intimate and rewarding performance.  Beats going out into a crowded club to hear.

From 9 am until 10 pm today we have been on the move.  It has been a very fun day.  Now it is time for bed.

Dinner Menu:  Three onion soup, roti de porc au four (pork loin), gateau au vin rouge (red wine cake).  Wine:  Chai de Bordes Rouge, Cheval Quancard, Bordeaux

Daily Step Count:  7,138 steps with our walking tours of Liborne and Saint-Emilion 

 

 

Mo 4/28 Special - Alan Wins Bordeaux Wine Tasting Competition

On Monday evening a wine tasting and competition was conducted onboard by Diane, representative of the Bordeaux L'Ecole Du Vin.  Around 100 passengers participated.

We went through a tasting of one white and two red wines from Bordeaux, Diane instructed us on the differences and characteristics of wines of the region.  We then were poured a mystery wine and were asked to answer questions about it.  The questions, based on what we had learned in the tasting included (the ones we remembered):

• Is the wine a Bordeaux left bank or right bank wine? (it was right bank, lighter with more merlot)
• Was the wine aged on oak? (yes as evidenced by the presence of a vanilla flavor)
• Was the third component of the wine Cabernet Franc or Merlot? (Merlot based on characteristic flavors)

People had to stand up or sit down based on their answer to each question.  After the qualifying questions only three people remained in the competition.  The final question was:

• What was the age in years of the vines used to make the wine?

One person guessed 17 years, one 25 years, and I guessed 32 years (knowing the vines in this region are likely to be older).  The actual answer was 35 years.  Diane said this was the closest answer she remembers receiving in the competition.   As the winner I received a bottle of the mystery wine, a 2015 Chateau Les Rocques, Cotes De Bourg.  

All those years of wine tasting are finally paying off with the recognition I deserve!

Mo 4/28 Bordeaux and Sailing to Libourne

 

When we went to bed last night we would look out our window and just see the concrete wall of the pier.  This morning when we woke up we were, due to the tide, more than 18 feet higher and looking directly across to the city's waterfront park and skate park.  Hundreds of bicyclists were riding to work  on the bike path going right by our window.

We have to taper back on breakfast so we went to the Aquavit Terrace (think solarium at the front of the ship) to enjoy our coffee, croissant, yogurt and orange juice.

Today was a beautiful day, it could not have been any nicer (thank you Jesus).  The temperature started out at 55 degrees and topped out at 70.  For the most part we were walking in the shade of the buildings with a light breeze blowing on us.  It could not be more comfortable weather for taking a leisurely stroll around Bordeaux.

Here is a look at our boat, the Forseti, tied up to the dock.  There were three river boats and one smaller ocean cruise ship tied up near us.  When the tide was low, only the wheel house poking up from the top of the ship was visible above the dock.

Most of the large, historical buildings in Bordeaux were built in the late 18th century.  Great care and effort has been taken to preserve them.  In some cases they have preserved the outside walls, but gutted out the buildings and replaced the interiors with modern construction.  We went to one square where we were told all the buildings were 18th century except for one that was built in 1992.  We were unable to tell for certain which was the new building.

The tower below, constructed in 1485, was the main gate into the walled city of Bordeaux.  The architecture is fascinating.  Most are constructed of limestone locally mined.  Many of the streets are cobblestone made from granite, stones that was used as ballast by English freighters who would transport wine to England (which was very heavy), but return fabrics and wooden items which were light requiring additional ballast to keep the ships seaworthy.

Imagine you parked your car in a parking garage only to find that it has rolled through the wall and was hanging there four stories above the sidewalk!  This garage was built and designed to include this actual Jaguar hanging out from one of the floors.  Who said the French do not have a good sense of humor?

The city is filled with narrow Roman streets that curve around.  The street below is 1.25 km long completely filled with shops.  This street is known for window-shopping, the French word for which translate to "window licking".  Many of the streets are restricted each day to pedestrian traffic only (and delivery vehicles) making it easy to get around.

Our guide today was Laura.  She was English but has been in Bordeaux for 35 years (she shared with us that she is 65).  This is the second British guide we have had.  They make good guides probably because of their ability to speak fluent English that is easily understood.  Laura was fantastic in her descriptions of what we were seeing.  She clearly has done her homework into the history of the city and its attributes with lots of stories to share to make it fun to learn.

Alice is continuing our tradition of taking pictures standing in front of doors around the world (it represents her architectural and artistic side).  This one was located in the Chartron district on the Rue Notre Dame just a block from their cathedral.   

When we travel we are a caravan of four Viking buses.  These modern and comfortable coaches will drive to each of our stops to meet us.  Often we will have the same tour guides joining us in more than one city.

For lunch we dined out on the back deck.  Lunch consisted of a mixed green salad, Pinsa Romana (think healthy pizza with lots of prosciutto), and a delicious caramel sundae.  

We then sailed away to our next destination, Libourne.  It will take five hours to sail there (it is possible to drive there in an hour).  Below we are sailing under one of the bridges headed toward the sea.  In a ways we will reach the confluence of two rivers and turn and follow the other river to our destination.

Alice and I have been sitting out on our veranda watching the scenery go by while I have also been working on the blog.

After lunch we met with Oliver our Cruise Director who, assuming the identity of "Pierre" lead a lesson on basic French.  He had us laughing in this hilarious introduction to the French language.

The following pictures show some of the farmhouses and chateaus we went by as we cruised down the river.  

Before dinner everyone was invited to a reception where the officers of the ship were introduced.  This was also a time for the chef to introduce the dinner menu for the evening, and the cruise director to review the activities for the next day.

For the third time today we chose to dine outdoors on the aft deck. It was 70 degrees and clear skies with a slight breeze - perfect conditions for alfresco dining.

Dinner Menu:  Chilled asparagus spears with Gribiche sauce, Seared Sea Bass Fillet, Crème Brulee,  Wine: Chateau Haut - Saric, Bordeaux.

Daily Step Count:  8,112 steps walking tour of Bordeaux, walking decks on ship.

Interesting Observations

Bicycles -- while pedestrians have the right of way over cars, there are no French laws that restrict or govern bicycle riders.  Bicyclist are not even required to stop for red lights.  They are very bold, ride at high speeds, and are often not willing to slow down for pedestrians in their path.  All our guides are able to recount incidents where cruise passengers have been run down by bicyclists whose paths they have crossed.

Trams -- the cities, and in particular Bordeaux, have phenomenal trams systems for transporting their population.  The trams for the most part travel down the middle of the main streets.  They run very silently and so they can sneak up on you without much warning.  As we were first starting out on our tour one member of our group walked across the track of an oncoming tram that came closer than anyone would be comfortable with.

Smoking - now this is one place where the US is far ahead of the French.  Every where you go you have to deal with cigarette smoke -- walking down streets and dining outdoors in restaurants.  When we were at Café Gustave in Paris the people just one table over lit up.  We forgot how bad it once was having to tolerate this.

American Cars -- there are none!  We walked for 20 minutes back to the boat today passing hundreds of vehicles on the street and in parking lots (their parking lots are in groves of tall trees where it is like parking in a park).  The one and only US brand we saw was a single Ford van.  Lots of German cars (Mercedes and BMW), lots of Japanese cars (Toyotas), along with French Peugeots, Renaults and Citroens, but no US brands.  Seems like this should be an opportunity.

Water Bottles -- you can not get just plain water.  The only bottled water they have is mineral water.  And the bottles are required to have a lid that flips open and closed but does not detach.  This saves lots of bottle caps being discarded along the sidewalks and streets.

Graffiti -- there are isolated displays of street art, but they are very limited and not overwhelming.  Some appear to have political messages embedded in them (but they are in French so who knows what they are saying).

Homelessness -- Yesterday we saw a sweet looking elderly lady sitting outside a church begging.  She had a live bunny on a leash that was very cute, made your heart go out to her. In four hours of driving and walking around Bordeaux we saw just one homeless person with his dog sleeping on the street oblivious to the thousands of people walking by.