Sa 5/3 Our Final Trip Into French Wine Country

Know what happens when you have 30 people on a bus?  Half of them start coughing.  

Now it is not as bad as it sounds.  When we were in Paris we walked down one street and both of us started coughing.  It lasted about an hour or so and then it stopped.  As we have been touring the cities and vineyards there have been periods of time when large numbers of people in the group, including us, felt the need to cough.  Alice has a little congestion, I not so much.  We are fairly certain there is something in the air that many of us are allergic too.  Some say it is the sycamore trees.  Others say it comes from all the gardens entering full bloom.  And of course there are the 250,000 acres of vineyards.  If it is an allergic reaction it will likely follow us to Portugal tomorrow.  You take the bad with the good (and it's not that bad).  We will still have more fun than we are entitled to.

This morning we were up and out on the busses at 8:30 am.  Thank heaven for the expresso machines that allows us to get started each morning.  I usually opt for the decaf macchiato (lots of good foam).

As our bus pulled out of the parking lot we were able to see Oliver, our Program Director, out turning tricks on his skateboard in the skateboard park that is right outside our ship in the waterfront park.  We learned tonight that he is 58 years old and in a prior life was a professional juggler.

We drove for about an hour to arrive at the medieval town of Cadillac, an ancient walled city that was constructed in 1280.  Here inside the sea gate to the city is a chart showing the water levels that have occurred in the city from the flooding of the river.  While locks and other water control devices allow the water level to be better controlled, as recent as February of 2021 the river was more than 8 meters above flood stage which began to bring flood waters into the city.

Most the buildings have covered, arched walkways on the main floor which through the centuries have provided a place to operate the local market.  Vendors of all types through the years have regularly come here to buy and sell their wares.  The market was continuing even today as we walked through.

Here we stopped outside the castle inside the walled city.  The owner of the castle had to put a moat around it (even though it was inside the protected city walls) because he destroyed the homes of many peasants to build it.  They kept threatening his life for doing so.

There was a beautiful old church in the center of the city constructed in 1450, with the spire being added in 1853.

Inside the walls were very cold and dark.  It had an impressive alter with both paintings and statuary.

The carvings and statues above the alter were especially intricate.

Back out in the market Alice kept wanting me to buy her some of the local strawberries, but we really had no easy way to clean and eat them.  (And, it is not like we don't have plenty to eat already.)

We drove by many, castle like chateaus as we toured around the vineyards.  Many of these have been purchased by wealthy business people and are no longer associated with the wine estates they sit on.  Others sit virtually empty as their owners are no longer living on the estates.

The final wine tasting of the French portion of our adventure took place at Chateau de Rayne Vigneau in the Sauternes region.  Just the opposite of the Medoc region where we were yesterday where they make only red wines predominantly from cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and cabernet franc grapes; here they make only white wines utilizing sauvignon blanc, semillon, and muscatel grapes.  The wines from this chateau are sweet white wines (that worked well before lunch 😉).  This chateau was ranked highest class by the 1855 panel making it the highest rated chateau in the district.  We started out by walking out into the fields and looking across the vast vineyards.

 

Next we went down into the cellars where they had a unique display of their premiere class wine by vintage.  On the far left (almost clear) was last year's vintage, all the way to the deep amber/gold on the right which was the 1994 vintage.  As the wine ages it develops deeper hues along with richer flavors.

A unique aspect of the cellars was the bird collection that was created by the owners.  These birds were fascinating to look at, the taxidermy was exquisite. In other parts of the winery they displayed an extensive butterfly collection.

The tour ended with (tah-dah) a wine tasting.  We tasted three wines, a dry sauvignon blanc and two sauternes that were sweet.  We may have purchased a half bottle of their Madame de Rayne to bring back to have with dessert this evening.

On the drive back to the ship we went by and paid homage to Chateau d'Yquem, the legendary chateau of the Sauternes region.

The Mirror Pond on the waterfront park was reflecting much better today as we drove by.  You can see the reflection of the people in the water, and even some of the clouds in the sky.

Returning to the ship we went to lunch.  Because all the tables were full outside on the Aquavit Terrace, we went down to the dining room (for only the fourth time all week).  I had fish and chips that may have been some of the best I have ever had.  The batter was very crisp and flaky, and the cod too was flaky and nicely cooked.  We then returned to our cabin for an afternoon nap.

We spent some time packing (we have until 9 am tomorrow to put our bags out for pickup).  We then went up to the lounge for the final toast by the captain.  There we met up with Jack and Susan from Connecticut who we agreed we would join for dinner.  Because outside dining was full (again) we went down to the dining room for dinner.  We were joined at out table by a mother and her 24 year old daughter who is a post-partum nurse in Tennessee.  It was fun to listen to some of her thoughts and experiences knowing what Amy has gone through in that exact same position.  We stayed talking around the table until after 9:30 pm.  It is now time to get to bed and get rested for our travel day tomorrow.  We leave the ship at 11:30 for our 2:05 flight to Lisbon.  Bonsoir.

Tonight's Dinner Menu:  Brie Pan (breaded warm brie with cranberry jam), Coq au Vin (tender braised chicken in a red wine sauce), Key Lime Pie.

Daily Step Count:  4,882 steps walking around Cadillac and the chateau