Bordeaux and St Emilion

 

This morning I did my first paid Shore Excursion with Silversea, to St Emilion. It was an earlier start, 8:15am, but we were rewarded with the most beautiful sunrise. It was about an hour drive through the different wine areas between the Garond and Dordogne Rivers, and the right bank of the Dordogne. The winery we visited was on the outskirts of St Emilion, Chateau Fleur de Lisse. They are organic and use biodynamic cultivation. This seems to becoming more prevalent in France, as it's more eco friendly. The harvest finished a few weeks ago, but the vines are beautiful with the leaves changing color. We had a tour round, and tasted 2 reds. I find the Bordeaux reds a bit too tannic, so I bought a white recommend by our guide at the winery after describing what I like (dry but with some fruit) 32 Euro, so about 55 CAD

After our winery tour we drove into the very charming village of St Emilion. The village has 200 permanent citizens, and 1 million visitors a year. There are beautiful old buildings, churches, steep and winding cobblestone streets. Of course lots of wine stores, restaurants, inns and shops. Also a traditional bakery with lovely almond cookies. We had a good look around before boarding the bus for the trip back to Bordeaux. Our guide had recommended a wine bar in the center of Bordeaux, so Colleen and I decided to go there for a late wine and cheese lunch. It was popular, and only 1 person working so we had a wait to get in. Then all of a sudden 3 more waiters showed up and we soon had our white for me and red for Colleen Bordeaux wine and goat cheese plate. All were wonderful! The City is very busy today, as it's Saturday. Lots of people out shopping, eating and drinking, visiting the amusement fair, or just enjoying the sun on the riverfront.

We decided to head back to the pool deck on the ship, as we think this is probably our last hot sunny day. A swim and a hot tub, and at 5pm we depart Bordeaux.

Tonight 7 of us meet for dinner at Kaiseki, the Japanese specialty restaurant that is extra pay. We all had the Omakase menu, with 6 small courses accompanied by sake.

Afterwards we headed up to a "Rock the Boat" dance party, with a chocolate buffet. I couldn't possibly eat anything, but the dancing was a lot of fun! The dance floor was crowded, and many of our group got up and joined in.











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