Bordeaux is a bit of a shock to the system after being almost solely on the beach and in small towns for the last few weeks of our trip. It is a lovely city, and we quickly warm to the excitement and atmosphere.
The city has a uniformly attractive appearance, after being rebuilt at the same time a couple of hundred years earlier.
Place de la Bourse
Lost in Bordeaux
After one day of city sight seeing, we have exhausted our excitement and head to the local tourist office to book a wine tour for the next day. We decide on a tour of the Sauterne region, one of 8 Bordeaux wine regions. Sauterne is a sweet, white wine, similar to a moscato and well suited to our palate!
Chateau Gireaud
Perfect travelling size
What we would have preferred!
Some facts about Sauterne wine:
- The grapes are grown in the worst available soil, something that is tested and governed by a ruling body
- The vines are not to be watered
- The wine must be a blend of different years for it to be labelled a Sauterne
- The wine achieves its distinctive flavour thanks to a mould called Botrytis, which infects the grapes
- One normal vine yields around 1 bottle of wine; One Sauterne vine yields 1-2 glasses
Sauterne vineyard
It is an unseasonably hot and sunny day, and we visit three beautiful Chateaus, with wine tasting at each and a delicious lunch at the second.
The aftermath of lunch
By the time we reach the last Chateau we are less than interested in hearing about the wine making and spend the time lying on the grass and drinking the wine.
Too much Sauterne
We leave the tour with full stomachs, fuzzy heads, and a bottle of delicious Sauterne which we intend to take back to NZ.... (if we don't drink it first!)
Happy shoppers
In Bordeaux we rent a little Peugeot to take us down to the beach-side town of Biarritz.
In Biarritz we return to our favourite activities of beach basking, swimming and excellent dining.
Main beach, Biarritz
Off to another delicious dinner
Our next stop is Hossegor, a surf town only half an hours drive up the coast. This town reminds us of Coffs, and of course we love it!
Hotel pool overlooking du lac
The main drawcard of this particular destination is the Quiksilver Pro France 2011 (part of the ASP tour - the world surfing championships), which happens to be on at the local beach.
Amazing waves Hossegor
Kelly Slater
Slater, well on the way to his 11th world title
A couple of days of watching amazing waves and our favourite surfers pass quickly, and our time in France draws to a close. With the rental car safely returned to Bordeaux, we catch our next plane to Porto, Portugal.
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