Bourg

Two groups visit wineries today. Each to a different winery. Eloidie announces our group will go to Château Eyouem, pronounced 'Château ekem'. It is easily confused with the more famous Sauternes first growth Château d'Yquem, pronounced 'Château Ekem'.

The winery sits on a hill overlooking the intersection of the Gironde and the Dordogne.

The tanks on the small spit of land are located in the Entre-deux-Mers (between the two seas (rivers)) part of Bordeaux.

There is a worldwide glut of grape juice. We get a look at a machine tearing up vines. Some 30,000 acres of vines have been torn up in France in the past two years.

The other group is large. Our group is small. We walk around the Château.

The vines are beginning to show fruit.

Time to sample the wine. The winemaker does not speak English. Elodie must translate.

If we had not run out of time, one of the American women would have talked the winemaker into sampling all of their wines. She manages to get the group two additional pours.

Because Blaye and Bourg are lesser-known wine regions of Bordeaux, they cannot command premium prices. For 10 Euros a bottle, these are very good wines. Didier order a couple of cases!

We have a final look before returning to the ship.

There is a small château on the return. As the ship departs for Bordeaux, we will get a better view of this place from the river.

We drop to the sea and climb into the hills twice on the return to the ship. We pass through Bourg.

Scenic uses dedicated busses. Our bus provides a preview of the coming November trip on Scenic Eclipse II to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and Antarctica.

There is time on board prior to departure. While taking pictures, CJ finds Didier in the spa or hot tub.

We depart Bourg for Bordeaux.