Excursions et voyages
Bordeaux: We wandered around a whole lot and saw all of the monuments including the opera house, the Porte de Bourgogne, the St Michel church, an Obelisk, a crazy turtle and Rue Ste Catherine, the longest pedestrian street in Europe!
Church: <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/aliciaanne/EgliseStMichel.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket"> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/aliciaanne/EgliseStMichel2.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">
Opera House: <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/aliciaanne/theatre.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">
Porte de Borgogne overlooking rue Ste Catherine: <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/aliciaanne/PortedeBorgogneSteCathrineEnd.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">
Obelisk: <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/aliciaanne/Obelisk.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">
Crazy Turtle: <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/aliciaanne/Turtles.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">
Its hard to see but on his shell is etched the names of Bordeaux's vineyard chateaux: <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/aliciaanne/turtleshellclose.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">
So, after wandering around for a few hours we got some lunch then looked through some brochures that we picked up at the Tourism center. At 4:30 there was a 2 hour class about Bordeaux wine including a wine and cheese tasting. We signed up then headed to the train station to exchange our tickets for later ones. (I love that about the train, you can easily exchange your tickets.)
The class was amazing and definately was the best thing we did while there. We were taken to the Maison du Vin Bordelais, a professional group that is charged with monitoring the quality and classificaion of Bordeaux wines as well as making recommendations for those who want to purchase for restaurants, etc. We learned about the regional areas of Bordeaux, the soil, the types of grapes, the classification process, history, the fermentaion process...a WHOLE bunch of really cool info. After that they took us to a nearby restaurant and we were taught how to taste wine properly and what to look for, then we sampled three different kinds. After that we were allowed into the restaurant's cheese cellar to basically have at it. They stock over 150 french cheeses...it was absolutely incredible! alicia leblanc 2005-2006
