Bordeaux

I mentioned here a few weeks ago that herself and I have booked
flights to Bordeaux for a break at the end of January (five nights).
Why? I don't really know, other than we like Bordelaise wines and I
have an uninformed impression that it is a pleasant city. And we
generally enjoy being in France.

We are not particularly drawn to the idea of vineyard tours. It's not
the time of year for it, and we will not have the means of bringing
home any reasonable quantity of wine.

Neither am I drawn to the idea of hiring a car, although I do not rule
it out. I imagine that if we want to visit any place nearby, we can
use public transport.

So, people, I invite your suggestions for what we might find
interesting in or near Bordeaux.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED
My travel writing: http://www.iol.ie/~draoi/

Padraig Breathnach wrote:
I mentioned here a few weeks ago that herself and I have booked
flights to Bordeaux for a break at the end of January (five nights).
Why? I don't really know, other than we like Bordelaise wines and I
have an uninformed impression that it is a pleasant city. And we
generally enjoy being in France.

We are not particularly drawn to the idea of vineyard tours. It's not
the time of year for it, and we will not have the means of bringing
home any reasonable quantity of wine.

Neither am I drawn to the idea of hiring a car, although I do not rule
it out. I imagine that if we want to visit any place nearby, we can
use public transport.

So, people, I invite your suggestions for what we might find
interesting in or near Bordeaux.

Unfortunately, you've accidentally picked a "not as interesting
as I thought" kinda place. If you're deep into medieval european
history, or potentially renaissance, you may have done well.
Other than that, you're basically in a river valley, a flat one
at that compared to other regions. You might want to consider
that car for a day or two and visit the nearby region of Durdogne.
A bit hillier and more scenic. Now you have picked a good
food and wine area and lunch and dinner could be fantastic.
You don't have to do the vineyard thing. Assuredly there is
some sort of tasting facility in the city itself which (for a
fee) would allow some rather friendly tasting. And one could
assuredly develop a good list of lunch and dinner spots.

Additionally, if you are staying any place with cooking
facilities, a bit of day shopping for dinner materials and an
evening of preparing and consuming them could be enjoyable
by some. Heck, maybe even some sort of tourist focused
cooking "school" might be of interest or use.

" wrote:

Padraig Breathnach wrote:

So, people, I invite your suggestions for what we might find
interesting in or near Bordeaux.

Unfortunately, you've accidentally picked a "not as interesting
as I thought" kinda place. If you're deep into medieval european
history, or potentially renaissance, you may have done well.

Not deep into history, but not uninterested either. I'd consider such
a dimension a plus factor.

Other than that, you're basically in a river valley, a flat one
at that compared to other regions. You might want to consider
that car for a day or two and visit the nearby region of Durdogne.

The idea of motor touring in January has only limited appeal to me.
The idea of visiting St. Emilion has a lot of appeal. Some of my
favourite wines come from that area, and I understand the town is very
attractive.

A bit hillier and more scenic. Now you have picked a good
food and wine area and lunch and dinner could be fantastic.
You don't have to do the vineyard thing. Assuredly there is
some sort of tasting facility in the city itself which (for a
fee) would allow some rather friendly tasting. And one could
assuredly develop a good list of lunch and dinner spots.

That's my kind of talk! Good food, good wine. I am drinking a Bordeaux
wine at the keyboard, and it's not a consciously chosen artifice --
that's what I wanted with my dinner this evening.

Additionally, if you are staying any place with cooking
facilities, a bit of day shopping for dinner materials and an
evening of preparing and consuming them could be enjoyable
by some. Heck, maybe even some sort of tourist focused
cooking "school" might be of interest or use.

Herself might not be that interested, even though I might.

Thanks.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED
My travel writing: http://www.iol.ie/~draoi/

Padraig Breathnach wrote:
" wrote:
[snip]
A bit hillier and more scenic. Now you have picked a good
food and wine area and lunch and dinner could be fantastic.
You don't have to do the vineyard thing. Assuredly there is
some sort of tasting facility in the city itself which (for a
fee) would allow some rather friendly tasting. And one could
assuredly develop a good list of lunch and dinner spots.

That's my kind of talk! Good food, good wine. I am drinking a Bordeaux
wine at the keyboard, and it's not a consciously chosen artifice --
that's what I wanted with my dinner this evening.

You're preaching to the chior here. Been a long fan myself.
I agree with your St. Emilion leanings as well. Although I have
to admit that on this side of the pond, the South Americans,
especially Chile, have been giving them a good run for their money
in my price point range. You sure about not being able to
transport a bottle or two home with you?

" wrote:

Padraig Breathnach wrote:

That's my kind of talk! Good food, good wine. I am drinking a Bordeaux
wine at the keyboard, and it's not a consciously chosen artifice --
that's what I wanted with my dinner this evening.

You're preaching to the chior here. Been a long fan myself.
I agree with your St. Emilion leanings as well. Although I have
to admit that on this side of the pond, the South Americans,
especially Chile, have been giving them a good run for their money
in my price point range. You sure about not being able to
transport a bottle or two home with you?

Can't bring it in hand baggage -- there is a fear it might be
explosive. I wouldn't risk bottles in the hold. Besides, a bottle or
two isn't much.

I take the car to France once or twice a year, and bring back proper
quantities of wine.

It hit me since your earlier comments: we're going to Aquitane.
Herself is a big fan of Eleanor.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED
My travel writing: http://www.iol.ie/~draoi/

Use your google or ask Donovan

"Padraig Breathnach" a écrit dans le message de
news: ...
I mentioned here a few weeks ago that herself and I have booked
flights to Bordeaux for a break at the end of January (five nights).
Why? I don't really know, other than we like Bordelaise wines and I
have an uninformed impression that it is a pleasant city. And we
generally enjoy being in France.

We are not particularly drawn to the idea of vineyard tours. It's not
the time of year for it, and we will not have the means of bringing
home any reasonable quantity of wine.

Neither am I drawn to the idea of hiring a car, although I do not rule
it out. I imagine that if we want to visit any place nearby, we can
use public transport.

So, people, I invite your suggestions for what we might find
interesting in or near Bordeaux.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED
My travel writing: http://www.iol.ie/~draoi/

On Tue, 12 Dec 2006 18:54:03 +0000, Padraig Breathnach
wrote:

The idea of motor touring in January has only limited appeal to me.
The idea of visiting St. Emilion has a lot of appeal. Some of my
favourite wines come from that area, and I understand the town is very
attractive.

St. Emilion is very attractive -- it's also very, very small, and most of it is
closed in January, as we found out the hard way when we tried to get a hotel
room there two years ago. None of the hotel lobbies were even manned, although
the visitor's center made a valiant effort on our behalf. 8

We also didn't find Bordeaux itself to be all that exciting. There's not much to
distinguish it from any other major city in France apart from Paris.

Actually, come to think of it, Bordeaux and St. Emilion are the only two
disappointments we've ever had in France. Hmm.

We would recommend three towns which are an hour or two away from Bordeaux, all
of which we've stayed in and to which we shall return this year: Cognac,
Bergerac, and, most emphatically, as it is the source of our favorite wine,
Cahors.

Cognac is one of our absolute favorite towns in France: nice shopping, good
restaurants, laid back atmosphere, as well as the Cognac Cafe (sample 100
cognacs and start arguments among the locals), the Cognac Museum (a wonderful
shop, actually), and the distilleries themselves.

The trip east from Bordeaux through Bergerac to Cahors is quite beautiful even
apart from the two wine towns. If you're into pilgrimage destinations with
astounding landscapes, you can continue on a bit north (about 25 miles) from
Cahors to incredible Rocamadour (wiki/Rocamadour).

It's quite special to remember sitting in a restaurant in Cahors having a rare
onglet and frites accompanied by a fine Cahors in the unique Cahors wine glass.

Damn, now I'm going to have to go open a bottle of La Commanderie and share it
with my wife...

-- Larry (doesn't mind the opening; it's the sharing that bothers me.)

pltrgyst wrote:

St. Emilion is very attractive -- it's also very, very small, and most of it is
closed in January, as we found out the hard way when we tried to get a hotel
room there two years ago. None of the hotel lobbies were even manned, although
the visitor's center made a valiant effort on our behalf. 8

I was thinking of a day (or part-day) trip out of Bordeaux.

We also didn't find Bordeaux itself to be all that exciting. There's not much to
distinguish it from any other major city in France apart from Paris.

Actually, come to think of it, Bordeaux and St. Emilion are the only two
disappointments we've ever had in France. Hmm.

I hope our tastes differ, or that I am luckier than you were.

We would recommend three towns which are an hour or two away from Bordeaux, all
of which we've stayed in and to which we shall return this year: Cognac,
Bergerac, and, most emphatically, as it is the source of our favorite wine,
Cahors.

I'll think about them, but I'm not very keen on hiring a car for
touring on short January days. It looks like bad value. Maybe I should
dig into the SNCF site.
....
Damn, now I'm going to have to go open a bottle of La Commanderie and share it
with my wife...

-- Larry (doesn't mind the opening; it's the sharing that bothers me.)

Don't share. Let her have a bottle of her own.

Thanks.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED
My travel writing: http://www.iol.ie/~draoi/

pltrgyst wrote:
[snip]
The trip east from Bordeaux through Bergerac to Cahors is quite beautiful even
apart from the two wine towns. If you're into pilgrimage destinations with
astounding landscapes, you can continue on a bit north (about 25 miles) from
Cahors to incredible Rocamadour (wiki/Rocamadour).

It's quite special to remember sitting in a restaurant in Cahors having a rare
onglet and frites accompanied by a fine Cahors in the unique Cahors wine glass.

We were staying in very small towns in Durdogne and eating at the
very small, I presume family run, restaurants. In every one the wine
list contained several "flights" of Cahors wine, often spanning the
better part of a decade. We had fun picking and choosing wines of
different years to contrast and compare. I'm told that Cahors was
what Bordeaux is many centuries ago, but that a feudal spat cut
Cahors off of major shipping routes and led to the rise of Bordeaux.
There is some effort these days to improve the quality, quantity,
and price of Cahors wine to try to recover what was lost. I can
only wish them well. We are starting to see more and more
bottles over here.

wrote:

pltrgyst wrote:
[snip]
The trip east from Bordeaux through Bergerac to Cahors is quite beautiful even
apart from the two wine towns. If you're into pilgrimage destinations with
astounding landscapes, you can continue on a bit north (about 25 miles) from
Cahors to incredible Rocamadour (wiki/Rocamadour).

It's quite special to remember sitting in a restaurant in Cahors having a rare
onglet and frites accompanied by a fine Cahors in the unique Cahors wine glass.

We were staying in very small towns in Durdogne and eating at the
very small, I presume family run, restaurants.
snip

IIRC Bordeaux to Cahors must be a 3-hour drive. Bergerac is only about
1.5 hours (past St.Emilion if you wish) and then you've got the
picturesque Dordogne valley including La-Roque-gageac, Domme and Sarlat
within another hour. Stunning landscape, pretty towns and villages with
history, more wine....
Also Perigueux is worth a visit, and Brantome ("Venice of Perigord"),
in the northern Dordogne region, but not on the same short trip
perhaps.
al