Bordeaux

  Cestas, Aquitaine, France
Thursday, June 19, 2008

Enjoying our TGV ride

Tuesday 17th June
Alison: We woke early as there was a huge truck drivers strike throughout France that also was affecting the availability of taxi drivers, leading to us needing to catch the Metro to the Gare de Lyon to catch our TGV. Tom was subdued but alright after his accident the night before, but we all walked VERY carefully down the steep spiral staircase so as to prevent any more bumps. I'm glad we left our luggage downstairs. Tom wasn't really up to dragging anything much and with 5 suitcases and 3 pieces of hand luggage, the Metro system during morning rush hour with its almost complete lack of escalators and many stairs was a bit of a nightmare. The long change at Concorde really tested us, with endless corridors turning and twisting punctuated by sets of stairs going up or down, but eventually we made it to the station in plenty of time.
The TGV was extremely fast and comfortable and we were having a delightful trip until Mike uttered the fateful words "You know this is so nice I'd be happy for it to go for another two hours!" Within ten minutes of this the announcement came in French that due to a problem with the line we would have to wait and return to Poitiers before going on. We sat in that spot for a long time, watching other trains go past us on the other good line, out of mobile reception so that we couldn't warn Bernard and Marie-Rose that we were going to be late! When we finally chuffed our way back to Poitiers Mike got through to Marie-Rose, but Bernard had already left from Cestas where they live, so he ended up having an extended time in Bordeaux... We waited a long time in Poitiers, then finally moved forward again, but just 30 minutes short of Bordeaux they made us get off our train and change to another one, 3 carriages smaller than ours so sitting space was at a premium! Luckily we had an English speaking conductor who gathered all the English speaking passengers from our carriage together and squeezed us onto a second class carriage where we all had seats, much to the chagrin of some of our other first class compatriots who were left standing up or sitting on their cases in the corridor.

A lovely meal of pancakes with the Mocquots

Eventually we arrived, almost 3 hours late in Bordeaux, ecstatic to see Bernard, but sorry that he'd had to spend so long waiting for us. We somehow managed to squeeze all our luggage and selves into his car, and after half an hour arrived at the village of Cestas where the Mocquots live. They live in a beautiful home, very spacious and surrounded by greenery which felt instantly peaceful. The children were excited to learn that they also had satellite TV which had children's shows in English - something they had sorely missed.
Having arrived so late, we only had time for a nice walk around the village before heading back for dinner. Marie-Rose had a fun pancake maker on the table so we assembled our pancakes with various yummy things and had a great evening before heading off to bed.
 

Chante Alouette winery chateau

Wednesday 18th June
Alison: After a gentle start to the day, including Bernard and I investigating (and ultimately rejecting) the possibilities of posting some of our excess luggage back to our Australia, we headed off to Saint Emilion, one of the great wine regions of France. Bernard and Marie-Rose are friends with a winemaker from there and he very kindly allowed us to tour his winery and taste some of his yummy wine. It is called Chante Alouette which Michael enjoyed singing loudly! Unlike in Australia, you actually need to book to visit a winery in France, so we felt very lucky that the Mocquots were able to organise this visit for us.

Tasting the wine

The only problem for the day was Tom refusing to get in the car initially because French law requires children under 10 to be on a booster seat. Rachel, who had just turned 10, didn't need to be on one, so you can imagine the fuss he made! I think the bumps on his head were also affecting his personality as for the next week or so he spiralled into extraordinary fits of temper which were hard to stem, but which have gradually diminished over time.

Looking over St Emilion

After a lovely time at the winery we drove into the gorgeous little township of St Emilion, where we had a glorious lunch in the plaza underneath a huge tree and then wandered up through the town and its steep, narrow cobbled streets. At the top we looked out over the lovely tiled roofs and beyond to the green fields of vines under a blue sky - very idyllic! The mediaeval church was also beautiful - very peaceful and ancient with fading frescoes and quiet cloisters.

Cool cloisters of church of St Emilion

We also looked at a wine shop where they were selling the highly priced Petrus and we were all horrified by the price of the 1990 magnum at 7,400 Euros! That, mind you, was before tax...

Ridiculously priced Petrus wine

 
Eventually we drove home, ready to start preparing for a lovely dinner that night with Michel and his wife Christine. Michel had stayed with us many years before in Adelaide and it was great to see him again. We had a gorgeous meal with stunning wine - a highlight being a 1990 red that Bernard brought out from his cellar - and great conversations. Tom fell asleep in front of the European Cup Soccer quarter final and eventually we all headed off to bed.

Mike:  Staying with friends is always lovely, much more relaxing too than being in hotels, and Bernard and Marie-Rose are wonderful people and great hosts, so as soon as we arrived we felt a lovely contentment. They live in a very peaceful estate, and themselves are extremely calm and contented folk (unlike us at times perhaps!), so this was great timing after Tom's traumas, which had of course greatly unsettled all of us only the night before.
Our excursion to their friend's winery was a lot of fun. He was a lovely laidback guy and it was Bordeaux, so need I say the wines were quite drinkable indeed! The winery itself was set in a beautiful old chateau, many hundreds of years old. 
Arriving In Europe one quickly becomes blase about the fact that most buildings date back to 14th century or some such! Only pity was he doesnt yet export to Australia, though you never know.. it got me thinking!  Having being spoilt tasting a range of his fabulous wines, and of course (given their label) having rendered a slightly tipsy boisterous version of my primary school favourite ChanteAlouette, we headed off to Saint Emilion.
This would prove for mine theeee most gorgeous little village we are yet to see on our travels. Not 14th century but in this case more like 10th century(!), this is a moooooost beautiful village...  set on a hill, beautiful stone buildings running its length and breadth, narrow cobbled streets, and all framed by an exquisite backdrop of the rolling green conutryside, wooooooow!

Don't you love the tiled roofs?

Almost tooo perfect was wandering into the delightful central square, sloping down one of the hills, where two or three restaurants all shared their dining space with a huge tree in the middle.  Finding a table nicely shaded under an umbrella, we proceeded to indulge in a fabulous meal. The kids opted for (not your ordinary!) yummmmy pizzas and the rest of us  opted for variations of canard or duck which the French prepare so superbly.  The only argument amongst us was whose choice was best, as suffice to say we were all very pleased indeed!
Complemented by a great bottle of French white (sancerre I think), and sun beating down, the little jazz quarter playing in the background served to top this off just perfectly, and spirits soared.  After this lunch which I rate as all in all one of the culinary highlights of our trip, we wandered up the hill to sample the local specialty of macaroons, which didn't let us down, then happily windowshopped the little narrow streets full of delectable smells and sights.  
We then strolled into the local church, and I was met by theee most beautiful church we have yet seen on this trip (and boy have we séen some, including the Notre Dame!).  What captured me I think was the stunning simplicity of the layout, then the beauutiful high domed ceiling and artworks adorning the erstwhile plain walls, and the lovely calm tranquility that pervaded this place. All in all Saint Emilion was incredible, and its hard to believe we had only the one afternoon there!

St Emilion

Dinner that night was thankfully late, as is the European way, so when the first of what seemed like 10 courses came out we were at least vaguely hungry again! Michel and Christine are lovely people too, and Michel is your typical passionate Frenchman witrh an opinion on everything, so the conversation was lively and flowed as freely as the superb champagnes he kept pouring for us!   To follow were the vintage reds, so life doesnt get much better at that point! The meal itself was delicious, the highlight to me being the ratatouille of fresh local vegetables, yummmo!  Just when we thought we were done out came two amazing fruit-tarts courtesy of Michel and Chsistine, which immediately reminded me of that famous MontyPython scene of excessive indulgence.. ""One more dinnermint, waaafer thin""!!

Lovely dinner with Michel & Christine

That we went to bed replete is an understatement.. ready to head off in the morning on the train to Provence, where no doubt we would be punished by more ordinary food and wines!.. Note to self, burn the bathroom scales when we get home!