|
Previous | Next
Bordeaux, France
On Monday, we flew to Bordeaux,
France. The flying time was just over two hours and was very
pleasant. Our flight path took us over Madrid, northeast across
the mountains and into France. We arrived at the Chateau Cordeillan-Bages
(a quaint but elegant chateau) in the early afternoon. This
is located in Pauillac, France. The drive from the airport
was beautiful. There were vineyards and old chateaux lining
the road as we drove north from Bordeaux. We ordered wine
and cheese to our room, which was served to us outside on
our patio which looked out onto the central courtyard of the
chateau. We were so excited to finally be here. We spent the
rest of the day resting and catching up with our Email.
The hotel restaurant, which is
highly regarded, has a fixed menu on Monday night so we had
to settle for potluck. In this case, potluck began with fois
gras (I never was particularly fond of goose liver) followed
by rare pigeon. When they served the pigeon, I started liking
goose liver. Anyway, the wine was excellent and we enjoyed
people-watching. My sleeping problem continued Monday night
as I only managed 2 1/2 hours of slumber.
On Tuesday our driver (Lauren,
as in Ralph) and guide (Lynn from Chicago) took us to Bordeaux
for a little tour around the city. I even found the "Apple
Store". It's sort of a smaller Paris with some similar architecture.
There was a huge, old fountain that the Germans had dismantled
and hidden during the war. It had been discovered and reconstructed
in the middle of town. There was a very tall ferris wheel
right beside it…bazaar but interesting. You can see photos
of this in our Snapshot section. There was a lot of construction
being done…just like home. Bordeaux's history dates back 100
years prior to Paris and is located on the Garonne River.
Most of the buildings in the center of town date back to the
16th and 17th century but some were much older. For hundreds
of years, the commerce of the area has revolved around vineyards.
St. Emilion dates back to the
8th century and, thus far, has to be the highlight of our
time in France. We visited the Chateau Canon vineyard and
Chateau Petrus both just outside of St. Emilion and had our
first wine tastings. Be sure and checkout some of the snapshots
we took of the town. Due to my continuing sleeping problem
we dined in the room (mushroom soup, cheese, and red wine)
and retired early.
Wednesday, we played golf at
Golf de Medoc. It is a links type course that lies very naturally
on the land and is very unlike the manicured courses in Arizona.
The course was not crowded and Ashley and I finished in 3
1/2 hours. I shot a 44 on the back nine and was generally
satisfied with my game. After we finished, we had a buffet
lunch at the clubhouse and, of course, another bottle of red
wine. Do you notice a trend here? Our tour guide told us that
red wine is a major factor in longevity so we think we will
live for at least a hundred years at this rate.
Wednesday evening, we dined at
the hotel and had a truly world-class experience. Ashley was
dressed to the nines and was wearing her "good" jewelry that
I had insisted she bring. She looked fabulous! They seated
us in the parlor for a before dinner apéritif. They brought
us several complementary hors d' oeuvres that were quite tasty.
We were then brought the menus and the wine list.
After we had made our selections
and were finishing our drinks, we were informed that our table
was ready. Germans, French, English, and Americans occupied
the intimate dining room. The meal was excellent with Ashley
selecting the pig's feet as her main course. As you might
guess, my select was a less adventuresome filet of beef. Worth
mentioning are the French cheeses. They are a wonderful complement
to the wines.
Thursday, we toured several vineyards.
We started with Chateau Beychevelle and concluded with Chateau
Mouton-Rothschild. We had wine tasting at both locations sandwiched
around a nice lunch including a bottle of red wine at Le Saint-Julien
Restaurant. I am revising my earlier estimate of our longevity
to 120 years.
I have to add one more comment.
Every day that passes on our journey, I am more aware of how
much I love my dear Ashley. By the way, I am sober at the
moment.
Until next time,
Pat
Previous | Next
|
