Update from Bordeaux France

            Sunday, April 1, 2012 – We’re leaving Millepetit and the Languedoc- Rousillon region today to head to the Bordeaux region.  We are up earlier than our normal day and are on our way by our desired 9:30 departure.  We are heading to the city of Bordeaux to pick up our friends Ron and Paula who arrived yesterday from Calgary.

            The drive to the city of Bordeaux took about 3.5 hours along a major autoroute that took us diagonally from Carcasonne up to Bordeaux, past Toulouse.  J was on the look out for Toulouse’s Airbus factory – as he’s interested in planes, but we didn’t see it.  It was an uneventful drive past farms, villages, and lots of vineyards.  

As we approach the city center and having read Ron’s most recent email, we figured that their hotel was in a pedestrian only area. Apparently we have some how managed to burn through the entire 50 euro T had just put on her Iphone a couple of days ago – not sure how, but we are unable to use it for anything.  So, we found the nearest parking stall to where we thought they were staying, and began walking. Along the way a young gentleman saw T looking at the Bordeaux map and asked us if we needed help (he must have overheard our conversation) and offered direction assistance.  A number of streets were closed off by the police, so we figured since this area is near the cathedral this may have had something to do with today being Palm Sunday. 

            The hotel, located on Rue Ste. Catherine, was indeed on a ped-only street, but was quite easy to find.  R and P had apparently checked out, according to the desk clerk.  R and mentioned Grand Theatre in his email, so upon inquiring, it was only a block away.  Once we reached the theatre area, we came across them as they were on their way back to the hotel, although they almost did not know it was us with M and J wearing their Basque beret and sunglasses.  All was good.  We decided to get a bite to eat at a restaurant in the sun across from the theatre.  Pretty overpriced for the food we got, but the company, wine and sunshine was good.  Ends up that we were eating on the terrace of the only 5 star hotel in the city.

            We retrieved their luggage stored in the closet of the hotel – apparently they didn’t have concierge service and off we went to the car.  Once all the bags were stored in the back, we were off on our drive to Margueron where Les Moudains (our apartment for this week) is located.  The drive took about an hour and half through mostly secondary highways, bordered for the most part along both sides with fields full of vines, just waiting to begin the budding process.  One thing we notice about the fields is the precision of planting and pruning.

            We arrive in Margueron, M can’t find the driving directions (had mistakenly saved the file in the wrong folder), so we use M’s backup phone to call Tonya.  She came to meet us, as it was quicker for her to do so than try to explain the directions.  In actuality, we were only a few minutes from the gite, but along a few country roads.  Once we unpacked the vehicle, we joined Tonya on the terrace for wine and talk.  The sun was shining and we enjoyed glasses of chilled rosé while finding out about the area.  Not being rosé drinkers, we were pleasantly surprised at our enjoyment of the chilled wine – another new experience for us.  Tonya and Shane have been here for 3 years, from Ireland.  They came for a year, and have been for 3.  They have 2 children, Isabella, 9 and Max, 12.  J was pleased to have someone to chat with and bonus, play on the trampoline that is in the backyard.  There’s a pool, but it’s too cold and not ready yet. 

            We had a great chat and then all headed into our respective places.  R, P and T made dinner while M took care of refreshments.  After dinner, M did the cleanup, his usual evening task.  We enjoyed the evening of chat, while J found a movie on the computer for the guys to watch.

            Monday, April 2, 2012 – A bit foggy this AM but as the time passes, the ceiling lifts and its blue sky.  The adults are off to Duras 

for coffee, croissants and the weekly market.  This market is similar to ones we’ve been in elsewhere in Europe, and we thought R and P should experience one.  We picked up some fresh veggies, and meat, a roast chicken and potatoes for lunch while R bought sheep cheese, even though Tonya gave advice of don’t buy cheese at the market…  We laughed when we saw he had caved into sampling and then buying. 

            After purchasing what we wanted, we found a café to have our croissant and coffee.  Actually couldn’t get a croissant there, but the waitress suggested going to the bakery to get one.  P and T found the patisserie, bought the croissants and returned to the guys.  T ordered a café crema (like a latté), M an espresso short and P and R ordered cappuccinos that ended up being a tall espresso loaded with whip cream and no steamed milk – we all agreed not to order that type again, but to stick with café crema in the future!  There were a lot of English speaking people we could hear having conversations – the most we have come across since we were in Malaga, Spain.  Apparently there are quite a few Brits who own properties around here.  Tonya tells us that there are many old farmhouses available, and that most French residents aren’t interested in restoring them.  Those that have bought here enjoy the scenery, price and climate as well.  It is very picturesque. 

            We stopped by a Carrefour to pick up the remainder of groceries we needed for the next few days before heading back to the gite for lunch. We enjoyed a great lunch of roasted chicken and potatoes, fresh baguette, cheese, and some wine – fabulous.  J wasn’t feeling too well as his sinus’ have been suffering from the arrival of spring and chose to nap, so M stayed behind for the afternoon.  R, P and T returned for a tour of Chateau Dumas.  Like many chateaux or fortresses we’ve visited/toured, it was added onto over the years/centuries.  A regional organization bought the chateau in the 1960’s, and has done a great job of restoring it for the public to enjoy.  We wandered amongst the rooms, even found the secret passage, now motion activated.  We even learned that the Prince of Monaco is a direct descendent from the House of Duras.  We wound our way up to the top of the tower that gave us a wonderful view of the surroundings.

            Our next stop was for wine tasting at Duc de Berticot, located on the road between Duras and Margueron.  We sampled a couple of whites and reds and bought a few bottles to enjoy over the next couple of days – they do not ship to Canada.  One can even come into the shop and get a refill of your 5L plastic jug (we witnessed a local doing this, and had a good laugh).  Never seen this before – we had a good chuckle. 

            Once back at the gite, 

we continued with enjoying the terrace and sunshine. We met Shane, the owner, who just arrived from business in Ireland.  He brought over a chilled white and enjoyed another great chat.  A local farmer was in the yard trying to clear some fallen trees while we were out.  We all shook our heads at the lack of safety equipment.  R was holding himself back from offering his advice.  It did add some entertainment for the evening – T nicknamed them “Jacques and Fifi”. After dinner we once again enjoyed the evening with the wines purchased today, ‘when in Bordeaux’, and then J found another movie for the boys to watch.

            Tuesday, April 3, 2012 - After breakfast we were off to a local chocolate factory, Mainson Guinguet, that Tonya had told us about.  Getting there was half the fun – with our trusty navigator, Ron trying to interpret the hand-drawn map and then giving excuses for the misguided directions – always good for a laugh.  Reminds us of our excursion in Barbados in early 2001.   After trying several samples, and giving our approval/or disapproval, we bought some chocolates.   This region is big for prunes – tried some chocolate covered prunes – not bad. 

            Armed with our purchases, we were now ready to go in search of a restaurant with a menu du midi, 2 or 3 courses for a set price.  We decided to head to the larger town of Ste. Foy de Grande. Well, most businesses close for lunch 12 – 2, so the town seems quite deserted.  We do find Lucides, a pizza shop that also had a menu.  Three of us had the set menu, too much food, but delicious.  A tuna salad, a white fish in cream sauce baked within foil and wild rice – delicious!  And of course, wine!  The other 2 had pizza and they enjoyed theirs as well.  

            Once well fed, we were ready to head off to St. Emilion.  J wasn’t interested in a wine tasting experience so we returned him to the gite to kick back (as this week with R and P here is his ‘spring break’ with no school work until after they leave).  The drive to St. Emilion took about 30 min. – on the road to Bordeaux.  The landscape around St. Emilion is a landscape of vineyards!  The town is quite small encircled by chateaux.  We had no idea of the number of wineries in St. Emilion until we saw the local map.  We knew about the wines because we buy them in Canada, but the number is mind boggling – which chateau should we buy from?  We stopped at the tourist info shop, while M and R tried to find out info about wineries, P and T read about the year-long cultivation to wine-making process – very interesting. 

            We were warned not to eat here, as it’s too expensive and tourist fare.  We did however, check out a wine store that provided tastings and shipped worldwide.  Shipping is an issue with wine, as many individual chateau do not deal with shipping worldwide.  We learned about the differences of Grand Cru, Bordeaux Superior, Grand Cru Classé, and other classifications of wines from this region.  We tried several wines, both red and white and arranged to have it shipped back to Canada.  It’s fun trying and tasting the differences between grapes and combinations.  We all have our favorites.  We returned back to the gite about 4 hours later.  J headed to the trampoline again as he has each day since arriving here.

            Dinner was another combined effort and enjoyed wine we picked up this week.  After dinner, we decided to have a port tasting – vintage, tawny and a 30 year 0 which we had been saving since Porto for R and P’s visit.  We all had our opinions and enjoyed some sweets and some of the sheep cheese from the market (excellent).  Actually had no trouble putting a dent into that 400 gr slice.  Lots of laughs and all were ready for bed by evening’s end.

            Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - We drove over to Chateau Pierrail, the winery nearest to Les Mondains, only about 1 km away.  The chateau has beautiful grounds, including a French garden (like a maze), gardens are open in June to the public for touring.  There are areas full of hydrangeas, but they are not in bloom yet.  The proprietors have owned this since 1970.  The buildings are Louis XIV style – two towers with the flat roof, we have seen some of this architecture in Paris as well as in the city of Bordeaux.  We were given a brief history of the place and they have worked to restore the building built in the 17^th century.

            It was interesting listening to the owner’s story of arriving here, newly married, and having lived her life up until then in Paris.  We laughed at her comment of being dismayed at having to drive each morning to go get her fresh baguette!  Seeing people with a fresh baguette in their hands is a frequent sight in the large city as well as in the smaller towns – especially in the morning.  It was great to be able to ask questions to get an insight into the marketing aspect of the winery business as well. Even J got into asking questions about the winemaking process.  We had an opportunity to taste three wines – a white and two red.  All were nice tasting and we left with a few (more) bottles to enjoy this week. 

            We left the chateau to head to the small town of Garonne, about 15 km away to check out a pizza joint that Tonya and Shane frequent and highly recommended for lunch.  We managed to find the place and park at the rear.  It was busy with the lunch crowd, so we were asked to wait 15 min. for a table.  We went for a walk around the village, while J stayed behind to get the table (actually he was thrilled to get to use P’s Ipad to play games on, so this was no issue for him). 

            We each ordered pizzas except J who decided on spaghetti carbonara.  All of us were pleased with our choices, although R didn’t really care for the potato slices on his pizza. Next we drove over to Bergerac and found a WIFI café to have a coffee and for R and P to connect with their Ipads before they leave for Paris tomorrow.

              After another enjoyable drive through the countryside, we arrive at the apartment, J heads for the trampoline while T and P make dinner. We enjoyed some more wine, tonight from the chateau we had just visited, and then T and R decided to see if they could finish off the remaining port (and did an admirable job of it), while M and P enjoyed another bottle of wine from the chateau.  Another great evening of fun.

            Thursday, April 5, 2012 – Uneventful morning, we’re off to Bordeaux this AM as R and P are leaving on the 3:15 train to Paris.  We left at 11 for the 1 hour 30 drive.  Once we arrived in Bordeaux we found a parking spot along the tramway to find a pharmacy for J’s sinus affliction.  Once that was taken care of, we found a quaint bistro for lunch.  All five of us had a wonderful meal, more than we needed, but enjoyable nevertheless.  We went for a walk to check out more of the old section of Bordeaux, we came across two cathedrals, St. Michel and St. André, both many centuries old also pilgrimage churches for the Camion de Santiago.  Unfortunately the bell tower of St. Michel was closed, because it would have been neat to climb the 240+ steps to catch a view of the city. The exterior of St André is very elaborate and represents the gothic architecture.  It’s interior is quite sparse compared to the exterior.   Bordeaux has many restored buildings showing the splendor of the city along the Garonne River.  Lots of cafés along this stretch, that makes it a great place to walk and enjoy.   Not sure it’s such an important port as it used to be.

            We couldn’t find parking readily available anywhere near Gare St. Jean to see R and P off, so we had to do the “pull over” at a spot near the station to say our goodbyes.  They had about 30 min to find their platform and validate their ticket.  Once we saw them off we drove back to near Rue Ste. Catherine to find the Orange store.  Tried to rectify our Iphone Orange card, however, were warned by the rep that it is really expensive to access data through the Iphone – so indeed we did burn through that 50 Euros in less than a week!!  So all data roaming is off now!!  Just shows what an awesome deal of 9 Euro a month by Wind in Italy was !!!  We stopped by the cathedral before leaving the city.

            We really enjoyed our visit with our good friends from home and are so glad they decided to come and visit.  It was fun touring around with others and having great chats over various samplings in the afternoon or evenings.  We now have 2 more months of adventuring on our own before returning home.  The drive back to Margueron was uneventful and traffic was somewhat heavy as it was near the end of the workday. 

            We stopped at the large L’Clerc grocery store and picked up some things – a large newly opened grocery store.  The selection is substantial – massive selections of patés, cheeses, cold cuts, and prepared foods – thought our N.A. selection of processed foods was large!  We were surprised at the small produce section, but then again, maybe in the growing months there are so many market gardens, that many people don’t buy at the supermarché?  We were even able to get J a haircut, as even he admitted he was getting a bit shaggy!  

            We had an enjoyable dinner and evening and J got more time on the trampoline.  He has certainly been enjoying trying out his super stunt moves as well as his soccer scissor kick!  A great amount of different exercise this week! 

            Friday, April 6, 2012 – A relaxed morning and J was back to schoolwork, last science project, designing and building a burglar alarm.  The sun came out later in the morning, so after lunch we went for a walk along the country and village roads.  We could definitely see how much greener the trees are becoming as well as the spring flowers coming out.  Tonight we enjoyed making our own pizza and polished it off.

            Saturday, April 7, 2012 – A rainy morning, lending to the feeling of relaxation.  We are leaving tomorrow, so the usual plan of execution, take stock of groceries, fold laundry, pack suitcases, plan dinner and breakfast for tomorrow.  We returned to L’Clerc, to buy whatever else we needed to take us through Easter Monday.  We’re not sure what is open and what is closed around here.  It would seem some things are open Easter Sunday morning but closed Easter Monday – this has us scratching our heads.   We also stopped off at a local wine dealer that Shane recommended to check out the wine inventory.  We decided to return next Wednesday to find out about shipping as well as perhaps try out some wine.  The clerk spoke very little English; so hopefully on Wednesday we’ll have someone who speaks more English as T doesn’t always fully understand all the French spoken. We had a quite evening, with T and J on the computers and M reading.

            Sunday, April 8, 2012 – We are up around 8:30, the Easter bunny had arrived so J was on the look out for eggs. Then we had breakfast before packing the car.  We had another chat with Shane – who gave J a map of Europe for his room and he gave M another bottle of wine for us to enjoy.  Our drive to our next accommodation, La Rose in the tiny village of Barie, is less than an hour’s drive from where we spent the last week.  Our drive takes us through Duras and south about 35 km to the village.  As we cross the river at La Reole,

we notice that now we have left the wine growing region and we see predominantly fields awaiting planting.  It is a pleasant drive through this pretty area of rolling hills, bushes and areas of planted trees.  The towns are not very big and vineyards are not as prevalent here.

            Easter dinner is an unconventional dinner – tacos.  We found all the fixings of Old El Paso in the grocer, and that’s what J wanted.  We have satellite TV and the Masters Golf Final Round is on tonight beginning at 8 PM French time.  We have been following the results on the Internet and we’re all ready to watch the final round.  Finally at 1:40 AM Bubba Watson (US) makes an amazing shot from a bad spot in the woods (as a result of a terrible drive) to within 10 ft of the pin to best Louis Oosthuizen (SA) on the second hole of the play-off.  We all enjoyed the great round of entertainment and we look forward to getting back into golf.

  

            Monday, April 9, 2012 – Slept in today.  There is the weekly market in Duras today, so we decided to return there to buy something’s we enjoyed from last week’s purchases.  As well, there is a fabulous patisserie that we decided to stop at.  When we returned, J was up and ready for lunch.  We enjoyed the still warm baguette we had picked up along with French cheese and salami – delicious!

            We’re back into our routine of workout and J is back to working on finishing his last science lessons.  Later in the afternoon, we head out for a walk along the rural roads to enjoy the countryside.  The sun comes out and warms us; we are enjoying the slow pace of the French countryside.  There are many old farm holdings here, some restored and some in disrepair.  We take a number of photos of the countryside views along our 1.5 hr walk.  On this side of the river, the land is used for crop farming, while on the other side its vineyards – must be the soil.

            When we returned, we decided to sit out on the lovely terrace in front of the gite

and sip on a bottle of rosé that Tonya and Shane gave us.  We chatted with Tim about the plane trees that appear butchered along the roads.  We find out that he lops off about 1.5 meter long branches each year.  Tim spent time explaining the Canal Midi to us, as he used to run boats with tourists before he retired.  He told us there are 101 locks , the water comes from the mountains east of Toulouse to fill the canal, 100 000 gallons of fresh water is needed every time a lock is used. This understanding gives an even better appreciation of the engineering feat to build this is canal, completed in 1681 AD.

            With the sun shining, J decided to see if the pool was warm enough to swim in, however, the water was too cold for him – must be cold!  There’s a badminton net out on the lawn, so T took on J.  A close match, but Mom was the victor today.  We had a delicious late dinner and then watched some English TV – enjoyable.

            Tuesday, April 10, 2012 – It’s raining this morning, so it’s ideal for J to finish off his science for the year.  He’s not thrilled to do have a number of assignments today, but with the rain, we’re not planning on touring today.  We had a low-key day and a roast pork dinner to end off the day.  Science is done!  So before dinner, M took J to the store to buy some celebratory ice cream!

            We watched James Bond  “The World is Not Enough”, where the opening scene takes place on the street outside of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao – how cool is that we thought.  We were right at the building where it was shot.  We’ve now find that some movies we watch on our trip have a more personal experience because we’ve been there and recognize some movie scenes.

            Wednesday, April 11, 2012 – Today was a road trip day. We are off to the Dordogne River Valley to check out the Cro-Magnon caves and their artwork (for those that wish to accurate the people that made this art are now called Early Modern Humans).  Our drive was wonderful – filled with beautiful farmland, fabulous refurbished cottages and farmhouses, certainly living up to the term “beautiful French countryside”.  We could definitely understand why many people come to this country.  It has a quaintness we have not seen before in our travels.  It reminds us a bit of Tuscany, but different still.  Here there are many more trees and more hilly.   As we progressed east, the roads became narrower and more winding, entering some hills.  For the most part the landscape up to Bergerac has been quite open, with rolling hills.

             We were told by Andrew (from Millepetit) a couple of weeks ago, that France has great roadways north to south, but lack good west to east.  Today was a testament to that for sure. We drove through countless rural dwelling areas and French towns, often with the speed limit 50 kph making a fairly short distance a long drive.  One of our aims was to see the Grotte de Font-de-Gaume in Les Eyzies de Tarac on the Dordogne River, however the allotted daily entrance was sold out by the time we arrived.  The number of visitors is limited each day to help preserve and maintain the cave art. 

            Our other choice was to go to Lascaux II located about another 30km up the river in the town of Montignac.  As we were driving T read in her Rick Steeve’s book that tickets for Lascaux II had to be bought in the town of Montignac, so upon arrival we were on the outlook for the tourist info office.  Parking, of course, was at a premium, so T hopped out at the curb and went in search of tickets, while the boys went to park.  As luck would have it, the next English guided tour was in 25 minutes!  We had time, with tickets purchased, T went in search of the boys.  It took us a further 5 min. drive out of the town into the hill above Montignac to the location. 

            Now, this area of the Perigord region is famous for cave drawings dating back 17 000 years ago.  We thought we had seen old in many countries on our tour, we had no idea this was in this area until we read about these caves this week.  Lascaux II is a replica version of the original cave just yards away. In 1940, some local boys were out walking about and their dog fell in a hole.  Through checking out the hole, they encountered an amazing collection of animal artwork (reindeer, horses and bulls) on the cave walls that were dated to prehistoric time. In the 1960’s, the cave had been opened up for the public, however, climatic changes happened within the cave due to the visitors that began to affect the paintings.  It was decided to construct a replica that when finished was within one cm of accuracy to the original, with the replica painting done by the original techniques by a professional French artist.  It took them more than 10 years to do this.

             If we hadn’t been told, one would never know.  The paintings were stunning and incredibly detailed with modern-looking techniques and a beauty that caused us to be in awe.  Scientists believe these people lived from 18000 to 10000 BC and would not have looked any different from today’s mankind.  We were taken through a number of galleries that we thoroughly enjoyed.  All three of us were so glad to have found about this wonderful area to check out.  We picked up a couple of postcards (as photos are not allowed within the cave, so see some of the post cars below) and a book about the area, to take with us.

            By the end of our visit, it was now 1:30 and we went in search of a place to eat back in Montignac.

We found a parking spot by the river and found a small creperie to lunch at.  J and M had crepes – presented not like we’re used to (rolled) but flat and folded inward to make a rectangular shape on the plate.  Both of them enjoyed their choice, however, J’s came with a raw egg in the center, we quickly removed that!  M enjoyed his canard fumé (smoked duck).  T had a chevre chaud salade (warm goat cheese) – delicious.  One thing we’ve been enjoying throughout Europe is trying the different regional cheeses.  For the most part we have not been disappointed.  Although there has been the occasional “not to buy ever again” choice!

            Our trip back was slower as we encountered more traffic, stuck behind slow trucks with no passing for long stretches, made the journey back seem to take forever.  We reversed our journey as T wanted to get a picture of a foie gras farm – where they force-feed ducks and geese for their liver, meat and lastly down.  We were able to see one from the road and saw the animals at various stages of growth.  The ones getting ready for the final day were separated in a pen and were really big.

One thing we read it’s like they have a loaded diaper on.  Their livers grow from a normal maybe ¼ lb. to being 2 lbs.  We have grown a fondness for foie gras, but it’s not to everyone’s liking. 

            Along the drive we saw some really cool openings – making us think what an amazing place that would have been to play in, or even hunt from.

We passed La Roque St. Christophe that has 5 terraces carved out by the Vézere River and provided shelter to people long ago.  Right near here was Maison de Reignac, built right into the rock face built by some powerful lord who ruled the surrounding land some 700 years ago.

Looked like a cool place, but we were on a mission to return to St. Emillion to purchase more wine to send home.  M had done more research and was in contact with a good friend at home, whose son knows a ton about wine and he sent names of Chateaux to check out.

            When we arrived in St. Emillion, having been there last week, we knew where the wine stores were, so we found a parking spot is a very opportune spot, right across from the shop we wanted to visit.  M went armed with the laptop with names of wines and began the search.  Mathieu, the gent in the shop was very knowledgeable and helpful.  We tried a number of wines and upon his recommendation purchased some to be sent back to Canada.   Yet again we learned more about the Bordeaux region wine industry and vineyards.  

            Our drive back to Barie was on a different route than we had been on before and it was really enjoyable traveling through the town of Sauveterr-de-Guyenne.  We passed by fields of vineyards and numerous chateaux.  Some of the chateaux were beautiful, kind of magical looking.  T never seems to get tired of looking at them.  We were all ready to kick back after the long day of driving.

            T had prepped spaghetti and meatballs yesterday, so tonight’s dinner was quick to prep – a good thing as we had returned near 7pm.  After dinner, we sat down to watch “Coach Carter” a great movie that we all enjoyed and one of those teaching moment movies. 

            Thursday, April 12, 2012 – We wake well rested after sound sleeps and the weather promised some sunshine but as the morning passed, there were showers.  One consolation, the farmers need the rain as the rivers around here are very low.  After all, it is spring.  That’s okay, we’ve decided to do some of our weekly chores.  J is working on his Language Arts story – in which he has decided he’s a spy.  We’ve been watching a few action movies lately, so the plot could be interesting!

            While J was busy creating his story, we went in search of the elusive Intermarché grocery store to pick up a few things.  We knew it was in La Réole, 7 km away from us, but after several passes and trying to decifer the signage, we had yet to find it.  We decided to try Navi, and so with help from our “friend”, we were successful!  We went in for a few things, came out with half a cart!  We’ve learned to take advantage of the larger store selection when we can.  We were both laughed in agreement - no wine or beer as we have more than enough in our stash, some bought and some given to us. 

            Walking down the aisles one wonders just how many different varieties of foie gras, paté, mousse can one country make?  Kind of the equivalent of just how many kinds of pasta can Italy make?  Price ranges too, from around 2 Euro to 25 Euro for the same size – but alas, not the same quality or combination.   We also fueled up as the price for gasoil (diesel) was 1.41 Euro/litre about $2 Can – that’s nearly the cheapest we’ve seen around here.  We find it quite different in France, the same town can have prices differing by up to 15 cents per litre.  It definitely pays off to shop around and be on the lookout for the prices. 

            Another Bond film tonight, Die Another Day – our host this week has numerous Bond DVD’s so we thought we’d have a Bond fest this week.

            Friday, April 13, 2012 – We waited until today to drive to the Atlantic coast to Arcachon, southeast of Bordeaux.  Shane had recommended coming here. After looking at the weekly forecast on Monday, today was the best day.  Our trip was about 100 km.  A good portion of the trip was along country roads. Both times around Bordeaux we encountered traffic issues, especially on the way home, it was very slow – adding at least an extra half hour . 

            As we neared the exit off the autoroute (that goes to San Sebastian, Spain), the landscape changed. There was quite a bit of forestry activity.  Actually along our drives we have often seen stands of non-fruit trees planted in rows.  As we neared the Bassin d’Arcachon, we could definitely see the signs that this area is a summer holiday destination spot.    

            We headed for the centre of Arcachon in search of somewhere to eat.  We came across many shops, and some cafés.  The roads didn’t really allow us to drive along the coast, but that was ok.  We found a spot to park and found a creperie to have lunch.  After his second creperie experience, J has decided that he’s not overly fond of crepes.  However, M and T enjoyed their choices – T had duck gizzards with foie gras, champignons, fromage and a chutney that was a fabulous accompaniment.  M had a crepe with scallops St. Jacques, lagostinas, fromage and of course, Bordeaux Sauvignon to drink and enjoy.  We sat out on the terrace and the sun decided to stay.
              While driving along the road near the water, one could see a mix of old and new architecture.  Actually, it didn’t seem like France at all, and Shane had hinted at that.  There is boardwalk all along the ocean, but only for pedestrians, as cars are at least a block back.  Houses and the odd condo complex line the waterfronts.  Every block there is a road that leads to the beach area/boardwalk. 

            Driving south along from Arcachon, we were destined for Dunes de Pyla.  Along the way, we pulled over when we saw – yes, a gelato shop.  Much to our delight, it was the best gelato since leaving Italy.  We enjoyed our wonderful treat while checking out the pier.  We could definitely imagine this place crawling with summer vacationers.  The beach looked very inviting with its fine sand – lovely.  Today however, it’s a little too cool for beach time.  T had read about the dunes, so we thought we’d check them out.  No one knew what to expect when we arrived at the parking lot.  There were lots of little kiosks, cafés making it look a bit tourist trap like, but what the heck, we continued past these along the path the led to the dunes.

            Well, we round the corner and walk through some trees and see before us this immense hill of sand.  Actually, the highest is said to be 117 m high.  There are steps that lead up toward the top, but not reaching there, we had to climb the remainder without the help of the stairs.  J decided that he would scale the dune from the bottom – good workout for those hockey legs that haven’t seen any ice time lately.  M and T climbed the stairs to near the top and then climbed the rest of the way up to gaze at the beauty below and around.  There were many people here, enjoying the sun, breeze and sand.  It was a fabulous view of the basin, could even see where we had been earlier for lunch.  From here we could see how steep the dune was as well as see much of its 3 km long length.  It is said to advance about a metre per year on the forested inland per year.  What an incredible site.  The place was full of laughter as school children raced and paragliders played in the thermals.  Made for a wonderful memory on our Bordeaux chapter.

            Our return trip was slow leaving the area – it was after 4:30, so it must be quitting time for some.  We’ve decided that later in the day many people are out and about – makes for slow movement.  Once we reentered the autoroute near Bordeaux truck traffic picked up - sometimes traveling in convoys, Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland – knew where these came - San Sebastian route. After crawling along the autoroute for about 30 min. M decided to get off and find our way along secondary routes to get back to the gite.  While driving through Langon, J got to see an Airbus 380 factory – “the biggest commercial passenger plane in the world” he told us with some components outside. 

            By the time we return home it was nearing 6:30.  On the menu tonight – hamburgers!  We have a BBQ and picked up some charcoal – charbon de bois  as they call it here.  Not the same as at home, and not exactly to M’s liking – but we’re going to have a Q.  Things turn out well, but they aren’t quite like at home.  Again, the meat is different – M didn’t realize he had picked up hamburger that had tomato and some other spices.  Just shows how we need to read the packaging – at home ground beef is just what it says – ground beef!  French bacon doesn’t match the taste of Canadian bacon.  It’s funny how we have become particular on certain tastes.  Now we can sympathize with ex-pats who crave certain things from their countries that they can’t get in their new homeland.

            Another Bond film we found here – “Diamonds are Forever “– Sean Connery 1971.  J had only seen Connery in Indiana Jones, so seeing him 30 years earlier was different for him.  We were comparing the stunts of the early Bonds to the more modern ones – quite the difference in complexities.

            Saturday, April 14, 2012 – We had another mildly chilly day here in southern France, the sun shone briefly, but then disappeared for the remainder.  We went out for a walk amongst the lanes in and around the small village of Barie.  It was great admiring the work people have gone to in their yards and homes.  It is not uncommon in this area to see large, tall farm homes that have the barn/shed attached to the home.  Many of the buildings are vine covered that must look fabulous when the vine is in full leaf. 

            We organized our bags and the blog, photos and computer work today, and made a couple of Skype calls to family at home.  J and T managed to get in another rousing game of badminton before dinner.  M BBQ’d steaks for us tonight.  There was no mistaking that it was beef this time!  Like any good engineer, tonight he was improving upon last night’s technique to provide us with top-notch Q’d steaks! Last night here, we decided to watch another Sean Connery movie, “Entrapment” that we found in the stash of DVD’s in the gite.