Saint Emilion

We cruise down the Gironde River and turn up the Dordogne River. It is a picturesque journey.

Departing Bordeaux, we get a look at the length of these ships.

This is the high suspension bridge north of the city

This is the lift bridge near La Cite du Vin. The French do not simply design functional bridges, roads, and buildings. They integrate functionality into artistic design. Compared to the lift bridges on the Welland Canal, this bridge is a work of art. Even passing under it, the underside of the road deck is beautiful.

On one side of this pylon is the lifting mechanism. The other side is glass and houses a spiral staircase.

Views along the Dordogne River.

Pictures of chateau taken through rainy day windows.

We dock at the city of Libourne.

Scenic has its own busses. Four of them deliver us to Saint Emilion. The guide for our bus Eloidie, is extremely good.

There is what appears to be a moat around this entrance to the city. It is not. The hole is the remains of limestone mining during the building of the city. The weather is not the best.

Didier has figured out there is blue sky and a break in the rain. Carol has not.

We tour the old church and its cloister. 

The height of the ceiling and size of this church for such a small village is a sign of the city's ancient wealth and stature.

We are high above the town square. The tour will take the group down to the square with a tour of the ancient church and catacombs adjacent. We have not toured the church but were back and forth through the square multiple times on our previous visit. We elect to stay up on the city and find a wine bar to relax.

We step into a wine shop. 

The attendant is magnificent. CJ gets crazy and makes two purchases of aged classic Saint Emilion wines. Benoit decides to provide us with the taste of another wine. We're joined by Didier and Jocelyne. Eventually we taste three more reasonably priced wines. We purchase one.

After Didier and Jocelyne depart, he pours two more. We purchase another. Carol must get CJ out of this place before we need our own plane to carry the weight of the crazy man's purchases. She shares the blame since one of the two additional purchases were her decision.

We have a lot of time before the group returns. Benoit recommends a good wine bar. Again the server is magnificent. He recommends two inexpensive glasses from famous winemakers now farming their own small retirement parcels.

A group of Americans next to us are in awe of the Saint Emilion first growth Chateau Figac. CJ cannot resist.

On the shelf is our favorite Sauternes. While paying the bill, our server gives us a complimentary taste of Chateau Rieussec's second growth.

This is one of the walls in the wine bar.

We are last to return to the bus. We return with 4 minutes to spare although both Didier and the guide are nervous. We return to the boat in bucketing rain.

Bordeaux with the Poirsons

We are cruising with Didier and Jocelyne. They have driven from Brest. Before boarding the ship, we'll take a tour of a new attraction in Bordeaux, La Cité du Vin.

With the admission ticket to the exhibits on the 2nd floor, one gets two glasses of wine on the rooftop 8th floor. The ceiling is covered with empty wine bottles.

Jocelyne has a good plan. Have one drink before the tour and one after.

The ceiling of the tasting room.

It is sprinkling and CJ's back is acting up from the amount of walking. We take the tram two stations. The station is across from the parking garage.

Scenic Diamond is less than 100 meters from the parking garage. It is raining, we have luggage, not for a week but for five weeks, and we both still recover from our surgeries. We make it in one go. 

The moment the crew see struggling with the luggage at the top of the brow, they race up to assist and relieve us of the luggage.

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To Bordeaux

The TGV delivers us to Bordeaux. A taxi delivers us to Hotel Indigo. We are too early for our room. A marvelous woman at the desk checks our luggage and recommends two possible nearby restaurants and provides directions. 

Loading and unloading the luggage on the train has taken its toll on CJ. He decides to have a good wine, a very good wine. Ordering it garners the instant respect and admiration of our server, Abdul.

Carol's huge confit duck leg with duck fat potatoes.

CJ's veal and mash.

And the star of the show, the 2019 Margaux du Chateau Margaux, the 3rd growth wine from Chateau Margaux after 1st growth and flagship Chateau Margaux and 2nd growth Pavillon Rouge.

Do we really need more food. The hotel has a rooftop restaurant with views. We have a dozen oysters and a couple of glasses of wine and call it dinner.

With scattered rain, the outdoor dining is empty except for smokers.

One of these is our cruise ship for the next week.

May Day

Its May Day, May 1. Most of the world celebrates it as a holiday. Carol ventures out on her own to return to Lafayette Galleries to shop. She finds it and all other shops closed. How un-American of the French. 

Later in the day CJ wants fresh air. His motivating excuse: a picture of the Opera, also known as Palais Garnier or Opéra Garnier. He thought it would be a short three block walk. In order to get the photo he desired it was a long walk.

We decided to return to the hotel through the alleys and side streets. Along the way we stopped in the Siena Restaurant for a drink. Its comfortable atmosphere beckoned us to take a proper lunch.

A beautiful vongole dish.

A marvelous risotto.

Beautiful atmosphere.

Oh woe is us! There is no foie gras this evening and after CJ consumes the final few drops of the white porto bottle he's consumed over the last two evenings, they do not replace it.