Bordeaux

Dublin Airport

Day 6 – Bordeaux

Posted on July 2, 2017

At least they know I know where France is.

A short one today, as promised. We packed our things this morning and had a quick breakfast at our hotel, before driving to Dublin airport. A chocolate chip cookie later, and we were on the plane headed to Bordeaux.

The flight was short, and we soon arrived to meet the family-friends we are staying with while here, Philippe and Marie Christine. We also had to pick up the car we hired, and we followed Philippe back to his house. What a super fun, non-stressful experience it is driving on the wrong side of the road!

When we got to their house, they showed us around and we sat and talked for a bit. They have a large, old house with plenty of room for all of us. I will probably take some photos around the place tomorrow, but was too tired today, so we just had some dinner and settled in for the night.

It should be warm and sunny tomorrow which will be a nice change.

Day 7 – Bordeaux

Posted on July 3, 2017

Let the wine of friendship never run dry.

We spent today being showed around the local area, driving down the winding roads, through the beautiful country landscape. We were mostly surrounded by huge vineyards, which stretched into the distance.

We also drove through a few small villages, and stopped at various churches and other old buildings to look around.

There was a large, old mansion we stopped into as well, which was actually Marie Christine’s old childhood summer house. The current owner was a sweet old lady who invited us in to look around and have a drink outside.

After spending the afternoon driving around, we headed back home to relax and rest a bit, before having dinner.

Everything is a lot slower paced here. You have more time to relax, space to breathe and it doesn’t feel chaotic. It’s quiet and peaceful, with that classic European lifestyle. It’s a nice change from the jam-packed adventures in Ireland, which were great, but hard to sustain for extended periods of time.

Tomorrow I believe we have a tour of a nearby winery.

Saint Emilion

Day 8 – Bordeaux

Posted on July 4, 2017

Why not? Is your life!

Today started like the others here – a nice relaxing morning before getting ready to head out. We first drove to a nearby winery for a tour of the property and to learn about their process. The property is about 200 acres.

After that, we took a scenic drive around some other local vineyards and chateaus, before heading home to have some lunch and a rest.

At about 4pm, we headed back out, this time driving to a nearby village called Saint Emilion, which is very old and authentically French. We walked around in the 33 degree heat, exploring the small town and looking at the surrounding countryside.

Then it was back home for a nice dinner outside, as the sun began to set (about 9:30pm). I decided to take a few photos and videos as the sun set, and try some timelapse and long exposure photography. I had mixed results. Unfortunately the only ND filter I had was a ND8, which wasn’t enough for what I wanted, but I got a couple of decent shots.

Tomorrow we actually drive into Bordeaux to spend the day.

Bordeaux

Day 9 – Bordeaux

Posted on July 5, 2017

Women be shopping.

Today we drove to Bordeaux and spent the day walking around the city. It was another crazy hot day, so we couldn’t walk around outside for too long without taking shelter. It’s a very nice city though – feels authentically old and European, yet seems modern at the same time.

The others wanted to go shopping, so I walked down to the river to take some photos of it, and the surrounding area. They had a large rectangular area where water would spray up out of the ground, or leak out to form a very shallow pool, which kids would play in.

I didn’t get many photos today, as it was too hot to stay out, but soon after we went to lunch at the Intercontinental restaurant. It was very fancy, but enjoyable. Nice just to have some air-conditioning at least. Afterwards we walked around some more, had a quick look at the large theatre situated in the main square, and then headed back home for a mid-afternoon rest.

In the late afternoon we drove a short while to another restaurant we had booked nearby for an extravagant dinner.

As I write this now back at the house, it is almost 12am and still 30 degrees. Tomorrow is our last day here though, before we move on to Cannes. Hopefully it’ll be a little cooler there, but I’m not hopeful.

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