Asturias, Euskal Herria & France Cruise - Bordeaux Page 3

Previous Port -
Getxo

Bordeaux

Bordeaux Art &
Roman Ruins

Back to this
Cruises Index Page

Back to Cruise
Index Page

Back to the Tourism
Index Page

Back to Ken & Avis'
general Index Page

The St. Emilion Wine District & Town

Thursday 29th May 2014

The St. Emilion wine district

Off at 0900 for the vine growing areas just East of Libourne. We were driven round the Pomeyrol chateaux after a commentary which told us all about viniculture in the region & how green & superior their methods were. Then, to St. Emilion, where we first stopped at the Chateau Ambe Tour Pourret for a look around & a wine tasting. We tasted three wines in ascending order of quality, the first two, I would not give tuppence a bucket for the the last, perhaps £2.99 a bottle & this after the big build-up in the coach.

The Chateau Ambe Tour Pourret

New barrels

Fermentation vats etc.

Another chateau nearby

Yet another chateau nearby

Grapes as yet, very tiny

They still use horses for ploughing

Moving on, we parked at the end of the St. Emilion main street & walked round the town, past the dry (by design) moat & in by the top church.

The top church & monastery

Top Church & monastery

Monastery cloister 13thC

Then, a surprise, as the town is split by a huge cleft in the limestone, so there was a view across it & the plain to the North (I think). We went down a fairly vertiginous street & through a square to some ancient features mainly underground, carved out of solid (not so solid) limestone. These included St. Emilion's tomb (although he seems to have been de-sainted for insufficient miracles) & a whole, full-sized church but this tour was a bit protracted & chilly, unlike the day as a whole.

St. Emilion looking down from the top part of the town

Off right from the panorama above

Chapel above St. Emilion's tomb

Vast underground church

Vertiginous streets

Top church tower

Bad Art Gallery (good gallery, bad art)

Lunch was not included & this was a Bank Holiday for Ascension Day, there were no Menu deals in the restaurants & we eventually found one at the top which did snacks but with beers, this was €36. We found a gallery of bad art & better, round the top of the gorge on the other side, the Cloître des Cordeliers, which is partly used as a bar & rubbish shop.

Cloître des Cordeliers across the town

Inside the Cloître des Cordeliers

Chapel in the Cloître des Cordeliers

More steep streets

Steep gateway

Le Couvent des Jacobins

Outside wall

Back to the coach, we got back to Bordeaux in 40 minutes but were driven round the city rather unnecessarily for another 40 minutes, although we were very tired & crashed out after some tea. The ship sailed at 2030, with an elaborated turn round. I stayed on deck for 100 minutes, admiring the bridges & the sunset. My camera had played up all day, so I used the old one for the sail away.

Leaving Bordeaux

Under the liftable Lucien Faure bridge

The liftable bridge with a river cruiser

By the suspension bridge

The Pont d'Aquitaine suspension bridge in the sunset

Port 1 - Leixoes

Port 2 - A Coruña

Port 3 - Avilés

Port 4 - Santander

Port 5 - Getxo

This Cruise Index Pagen


Previous Port -
Getxo

Bordeaux

Bordeaux Art &
Roman Ruins

Back to this
Cruises Index Page

Back to Cruise
Index Page

Back to the Tourism
Index Page

Back to Ken & Avis'
general Index Page

Contact: Ken Baldry at 17 Gerrard Road, Islington, London N1 8AY +44(0)20 7359 6294 or e-mail him
URL: http://www.art-science.com/Tourism/Cruises/EU2014/CR6.html Last revised 3/6/2014 ©2014 Ken Baldry. All rights reserved.