Day Fourteen| Thursday 16th August 2018
City: Bordeaux, France
Accommodation: Ibis Bordeaux Centre Gare Saint Jean Euratlantique
Weather: 32
Photo: Dessert from Brioche Doree
Today was very much a relaxing day, with a sleep in until 8am. We both had a much-needed early night and finally had a long sleep. We opted for breakfast at the hotel, it’s not included but is only around €11 each. It had a similar menu to Paris, with pastries, cakes, cold meats, toast, rolls, yoghurt and fruits.
Our first activity today was a wine tasting course. It’s run by Bordovino, who were the same company I looked at for the bike tour we considered for today. The wine course is the activity I mentioned yesterday which Anthony organised after finding it online. We had planned to catch the tram there, as it is a 45 min walk, and the tram stops right outside our hotel, and right near the tasting course. But, looking outside the hotel window about 20 mins before we planned to leave, I noticed the train station was closed off, and there were fire engines and police there, with cordons to stop people entering.
The tram line was also closed off. We had no idea what was happening, I assumed some fool had left a bag behind and that became a ‘suspicious package’ which had to be dealt with. This meant that we had to walk the 45 mins to the course. Along the route, it was already very hot, and we could see the trams stopped at stations along the way as they could not head in the direction of the station. I then managed to find on google why the station was closed, and I was right, some fool left a backpack behind with a pair of shoes in them. Thankfully it was some fool, and not a terror attack. The trams were back online as soon as we arrived at the wine course.
The course is run on the ground floor of a terraced building in what looked to be a residential street, with some businesses on the ground floors. We were greeted by an Irish woman who was our course leader for the day – I cannot recall her name. Also taking part in the course were three other Australian guys in their 20’s, Cameron, Ashley, and Nat. They were from Perth and are travelling around Europe for eight weeks. There were only the five of us participating today, and it was great fun as we all got along really well. Our host was also good fun and entertaining.
The course began with her talking to us about the French wine regions, and the wines themselves. She mentioned that the region is more important than the grape, as some grapes will grow anywhere, but what makes them different is the climate, soil, salts, minerals, the proximity to rivers, lakes, or oceans. Another interesting point was that a wine label can only have the word Chateau on it if the grapes were grown, picked, processed, barreled, stored, then bottled all on the same site, and had no grapes from another place added during the process.
We were also given a little wine guide which was our little helper in guessing the types of wine, and how to drink them.
Our first wine was a 2016 Sav Blanc, and after poured, our host went through the five S’s of wine tasting, “See, Sniff, Swirl, Smell, Savor”. She had us see then the sniff the wine straight after the pour, and it was a very stong scent, then after swirling the glass for a little while and giving the wine a chance to breathe, we then smelled it, and the scent was much less heavy, and more light and enjoyable. We then tasted the wine, which was really nice.
We then had two reds, a Merlot and a Cabernet. We were asked to taste them, and decide which one we liked the most, I preferred the Cabernet. Then we were asked to mix the two wines together, mixing the percentage of each of our choice, so I had mainly Cabernet, then a 1/4 merlot. This mix was really nice. The rest of the table mixed more of the Merlot, with only a dash of Cabernet.
Following these four wines, we were given some more information on the regions, what makes a good year or a bad year. An example of a bad year might be that you have lots of grapes but they are not ready to drink for a few more years, then the following year might be a good year where you can process drink the grapes very soon.
A food board then came out with dark chocolate, almonds, chorizo, bread, and cheese. We then received anther four glasses of wine, but this time, we had to guess the type of red wines given, and also tell her which food we best paired it with. The wines we did get were.
My favourite combination was the dark chocolate with a Cabernet. But there was also a really nice Pinot from Burgundy which everyone loved, and it was good without any food pairing. At the end of the course, Anthony purchased a bottle of this. The course went for a little over two hours, and all up we had about 8-10 glasses of wine, but this was such good quality wine that we didn’t feel drunk, we were all feeling quite good. We ended up staying a little longer as the three Perth guys shifted to the table next to us, from the one they shared with us, as they commenced another activity with this company. It began with a lunch, then they were to head out in a mini bus with more people who arrived for that tour to two wineries for the afternoon. We hadn’t booked this activity, it’s around $150AUD, and we have another 2 and a half weeks of activities to put our money towards. We continued to chat to the Perth guys as they had their lunch. Coincidentally, they are also heading to Barcelona tomorrow like us, although they are flying. We might try to catch up with them if we’re all available.
Once we left the wine course, we caught the tram back to the hotel without any delays from the earlier closure. It was about 1:30pm, so we picked up the same sandwich and drink combo we purchased yesterday, and also went back to Brioche Doree for a lunch time dessert, today it was a banana and chocolate tart for me, and a mojito tart for Anthony. They were so good, they didn’t last long at all. Mine had a layer of mashed banana then a layer of gooey chocolate ganache on top.
After lunch and a bit of a rest, we caught the tram out to the city which is only a 10 minute journey, but 30-40min walk, to do the river cruise I organised yesterday. It was at 4:30pm and run by ‘Bordeaux River Cruises’. It was an hour-long cruise, which went about an additional 15mins over time, but that wasn’t a concern. The cruise took us along the River Garonne and the tour guide talked about various sites along the river, speaking in both french and english. Some things we learned were that after WWII, when the Germans left, they had to sink their ships in the river, so today there still remains partial wrecks visible by the water’s edge. There is also a former submarine yard where Hitler demanded one be constructed. The main building is still there, but is now used as a gallery for alternative art. The humidity in the building won’t allow for historical paintings and other priceless pieces to be displayed there. This trip was the last of our Bordeaux activities, and it was a good way to end what had been a relaxing day. The wine tasting course is Anthony’s biggest highlight of the trip so far, and I certainly rate it too.
As mentioned, we are off to Barcelona tomorrow. We’ll be up about 5:15am, our train leaves at 6:48am, and with the train station being over the road, we don’t have far to travel to get there. France has been good, but also we’ve really noticed their dislike to english speaking people, even when you do make an effort to speak in french. There is very little translation to english on any signage, which considering how close France is to the UK, and the amount of English speaking tourist they get, it’s disappointing and confusing. Also, so many people in France still smoke ciggarates, and smoking in outdoor dining areas is still allowed. It’s not just the adults smoking too, I’ve seen many teenagers smoking too.
tomothy travels 