Stars Bordeaux Gare

... in a certain location and must be handpicked so that only the grapes affected by the fungus are used. This makes the wine very expensive and a basic bottle costs 40 Euros. Chris loved the wine but wasn’t willing to spend that much.

Because of the time of year we visited the vineyards all the grapes have been picked and have already been processed. They are now all in the barrels aging. The amount of barrels depends on how good their harvest ...

... venue was changed to France. This was a disappointment to Helen’s friends in Michigan, but an unexpected joy for Hervé’s friends in France. There is a saying in French that translates roughly as "the unhappiness of some makes for the happiness of others." So the congregation in Michigan held services in such a way that they wedding could be heard during the announcement period of services over their ...

This morning I worked in the hotel room, and then drove to the Audoins' home again where I had been invited for lunch along with Hervé Dubois and Helen Hayes who will be married tomorrow. Helen doesn’t speak French, and the Audoins don’t speak English, so Hervé and I did a lot of translating during the meal, which was very enjoyable once again.

After lunch Hervé and Helen and I went through the details of the wedding arrangements and agreed to have a brief ...

... out, and from there one can locate the Arc de Triomphe, Sacré Cœur up on the hill and other landmarks.

In Bordeaux, I picked up another rental car and drove to the hotel where we will have services on the Sabbath and where the wedding will be celebrated as well. I picked up a bottle of wine (such wonderful choices here!) and drove to the home of Mr. Mrs. Audoin for ...

We spent our first day in Bordeaux relaxing and wandering around the city. Ate a few baguettes.

The next day we caught a train to St Emilion to check out the beautiful little village.

On our last day we did a wine tour of Medoc ...

Hilarious day on a wine tour. Tour itself was great, but there was a guy on the tour who was the village idiot. He was the guy that ate a whole bunch of grapes in the vineyard when we were all told to take one only. He started to eat the bread and meats before anybody else even knew where they were. And as for the complimentary glasses of wine at the end of each vineyard tour, he would appear like the shopkeeper from My ...

... as it was obviously very elaborate. One side featured a large, defiant-looking rooster, which I told Doug I thought was sort of a regional symbol, but which he thought was hilarious anyway. With some research, we learned that the French rooster was the symbol of French resistance against the Prussian eagle in World War I. The fountain also featured several women with their bosoms hanging out, and some interesting sea-horse creatures. After ...

... started served in a delicious creamy sauce, it sounds extremely rich but it was surprisingly light and very tasty. The entree was followed was the most delicious piece of duck I had ever eaten. It was apparently prepared by slow cooking it with herbs and then maturing it for a year in fat and then briefly cooking or heating it before serving it. It sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen but the final cooking process left a delicious dark piece of duck with a light ...

... to Paris for sunday ready to fly to Lisbon on monday. Neither of us can believe that it is four weeks since we left home, time really has flown by, and although not fluent our french has improved! This evening we have a wine and cheese tasting planned, whihc has a selection of five different wines from Bordeaux and three different local cheeses. We will let you know how they were. Hope you are all well,lots of love xxxxx