Since I was in the US on April 5, Matthew spent his birthday this year alone in France. To make up for this, I told him I would plan a weekend in Bordeaux. Friday, after we both got off work, Matthew and I headed to Bordeaux. We were staying at a bed and breakfast that Bruno (you will meet him later in the post) had suggested. The B&B, Beau Sejour, is located in this tiny little village called Naujan et Postiac in the Entre-Deux-Mers area of Bordeaux. The area gets its name from the two rivers surrounding it. We arrived at Beau Sejour around 8:45pm. The B&B is run by an English couple, Maureen and Jon, that bought the 17th century house and completely renovated it about 6 years ago. The house is unbelievable! I had been impressed by the pictures online, but my jaw dropped when Matthew and I stepped into our room. I had planned for us to eat dinner at the B&B that night, so after freshening up, Matthew and I headed down to the salon. We were introduced to some friends of Maureen and Jon's that were visiting from England. The six of us sat down to an amazing meal prepared by Maureen. We had a great time comparing stories of life in France, and the ever present language challenge (although Matthew and Maureen both speak French beautifully!). Before I knew it, it was midnight! So Matthew and I headed up to bed, because I had a big surprise planned for him on Saturday!...
(the first 4 pictures are from their website)
Saturday
I planned a horseback riding tour through the vineyards for Saturday. I found a guy online that offered several different tours, and after emailing back and forth many times, Bruno Delmas (of BD Tours) created a tour for us (as well as suggesting Beau Sejour and setting up a wine tasting/vineyard tour for us...but more about that later). We woke up Saturday morning to the sound of rain. The forecast predicted rain for the rest of the weekend! We decided to tough it out and headed out to find the riding center. As we mounted our horses the rain started coming down harder. Between my helmet and rain jacket, the top half of my body was fairly dry, but after just a few minutes my jeans had soaked through. Luckily after the first few minutes, the rain slowed to a very light drizzle. Despite the rain, we couldn't help but fall completely in love with our surroundings. It is still early spring, so the vines are just beginning to sprout leaves, but even so, the countryside is absolutely stunning. We rode for about 2 1/2 hours through vineyards, around chateaux, past a church (that dates back to the 11th century!), and through villages (with Bruno narrarating and educating us on everything that has to do with grapes). We had several opportunities to trot, and even got to gallop a few times...although Matthew had a hard time convincing his very lazy horse that trotting was something fun to do. Because of the rain (and as Bruno warned, I might fall off the horse!), I did not take my camera on the ride, although there were so many things I wanted to take pictures of! Here are some pictures in the barn before the ride. I didn't want to scare the horses with my flash, so some of the pictures are pretty dark.
Saint-Emilion
For lunch, we headed to the village of Saint-Emilion, which is now classified by UNESCO as part of the world's heritage. After a superb lunch, we headed toward the center of the village along tiny, steep, cobblestone streets. Everywhere we looked there were ancient churches, buildings, and towers. The atmosphere of the village is hard to describe, but I highly recommend it to anyone heading to the Bordeaux region.
Chateau Minvielle
At 5:00, Bruno met us at Beau Sejour, and we went about 1/2 mile down the road to Chateau Minvielle. We were greeted by Pierre and Fannie. The vineyard has been in Pierre's family for more than 200 years. They gave us a tour of the vineyards, showed us the machinery that picks the grapes, gave us a tour of the building were the grapes are pressed, showed us the wine tanks, and explained the special process of mixing the different wines- which is what makes Bordeaux wines unique. We then had a wine tasting. Our favorites were the 2006 Bordeaux Blanc and the 2003 Bordeaux Superior Rouge. We bought so much that Pierre gave us an extra bottle for free!
Le Baron Gourmand
For dinner, we headed to Le Baron Gourmand, a restaurant Maureen and Jon had recommended. The restaurant was on this little one-land road in the middle of nowhere! It was in this really neat, old building. It had a very eclectic feeling because of all of the art work displayed on the walls. The meal was delicious. Matthew started with cuisses de grenouilles (froglegs) and I had cassolette gambas et St jaques, fondue de poireau (shrimp and scallops in a delicious broth with sauteed onions and leeks). We both ordered the entrecote a la gourmande (steaks) that were grilled in a chimney in the middle of the restaurant. YUM-O!!! We also had a wonderful Bordeaux Superior wine from a vineyard just down the road (Chateau Haut-Luchey).
Bordeaux
Sunday morning we woke up and had breakfast at Beau Sejour. Breakfast was included in our room price, and each morning we woke up to a full spread. Ham, cheeses, fresh bread (bought at the bakery that morning), freshly made scones, fruit, homemade jams, and tea or coffee. Saturday night a French couple had also stayed at Beau Sejour, so we ate breakfast with them on Sunday morning. The conversation was all in French, and surprisingly, I was able to follow most of the conversation. After breakfast we packed up, hugged our wonderful hosts good-bye, and headed to the city of Bordeaux. The French couple had told us at breakfast about the wonderful tram system Bordeaux has, so armed with a map and excellent directions from Maureen, we easily found the tram parking lot. It was only 3 euros to park (and that included 2 tram tickets that were good all day!). It was a quick tram ride across the river, and then we started walking, trying to decide what to see first. We found a huge flea market type thing set up in one of the squares. After wandering up and down a few aisles we headed to the river, where the Sunday food market was. We stopped at several of the booths and bought our lunch. From one booth we bought skewers of meat. I got a seafood one that had salmon, calamari, and shrimp. Matthew got a skewer with chicken, sausage, and steak. Then we stopped at a tiny little booth with a couple making sauteed shrimp. There was quite a lot of people in line for their shrimp, but it was well worth the wait. We also gave into temptation and stopped to get a tarte aux framboise (rasberry tart) for Matthew, and a little layer cake that closely resembled strawberry shortcake for me. With our stomachs full, we walked back along the river to our tram stop and then drove the 3 1/2 hours home. It was a very busy weekend, but it was hands down the best weekend we have had in France. We will definitely be visiting Bordeaux again!
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