Bordeaux Part 2

 The boat stopped at Bourg. We walked around the town. A small town with a patisserie and ruins of a fort.

Next stop was Blaye. This is a good size town dominated by the Citadel of Blaye https://www.bbte.fr/patrimoine/visiter-citadelle-blaye/. We took a tour of the Citadel. The Citadel is large and has a hotel and some shops inside its walls. It also has some great views of the Gironde. Of course I found 2 excellent patisseries and a very good wine shop walking around the town. The nice part of the cruise was that the boat was docked in the center of the town and I could just wander around town.

I bought this wine and we drank it on the ship. No corkage/ no problem. The wine was good and very reasonable, around $14. Recently I have seen bordeaux wines at home from Blaye and Bourg that are very reasonably priced. You need to try these wines and see which ones you like. Many are not reviewed. Read the labels and buy wines from good recent vintages 2016, 2018, 2019. There are many different blends of different proportions Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Cabernet Franc.

Our room on the ship. Very tight quarters but had everything we wanted. The sliding glass door gave us access to fresh air and good views but we spent most of our time on the boat in the public lounge and open air top deck.

We went out on our own one evening. The cruise had a free excursion with wine tasting and dinner. The dinner was prepared by the ship's chef and the menu was beef again and boring. We decided to stay on the boat and go to dinner on our own in Bordeaux. Almost everyone left the boat at a docking near Pauillac for the free excursion. We were 2 of 8 people who stayed on the boat back to Bordeaux.

The boat concierge made reservations for us at a bistro in Chez Dupont https://www.chez-dupont.com/fr/la-table/  The food was very good. It was about $100 for 2 with a $35 bottle of wine.

Open ravioli. Very good.

Veal chop.

Duck 2 ways. It was really good.

Dessert.

We also met two  young women from Norway at the restaurant and had some great conversations. The evening was lots of fun and the meal was the best of the trip. They also recommended another restaurant Symbiose http://symbiose-bordeaux.com/ . We checked it out but did not eat there. It looks like a place to try, Very hip.

The big paid excursion of the cruise was a trip to St Julien. We spent the morning at a wine barrel maker. It was fascinating. Lots go into making barrels. The wood is extremely important. This make only uses 200 year old French oak. The oak and the barrels have an important role in how a wine tastes and is made.

We visited Leoville Poyferre after the barrel maker. Leoville Poyferre https://www.leoville-poyferre.fr/en/ is one of finest wineries in Bordeaux. We took a tour of the facilities and tasted some of their wines.

Vintages for sale. Their second wine is called Pavillion de Leoville Poyferre.

The wines we tasted. Bordeaux wineries tend to give tastings of older wines from vintages that were not the best like the 2008. However 20-16 and 2018 were both very good vintages.

We had an ok lunch at this restaurant. They served wine that was not too good. Never can understand how a restaurant located next to some of the greatest wineries in the world can serve ordinary wine.

On the way back we  stopped at Chateau Paloumey https://www.chateaupaloumey.com/en/ This is a smaller less regarded winery that makes good wine at reasonable prices. We tasted the same wine that was aged in different barrels - French oak/Slovakian oak. Interestingly they tasted completely different. Every thing about the wines was identical except the barrels.

Off the Paris at the Bordeaux train station. High speed trains get you to Paris in 2 hours. 

Arc de Triomphe

Entrance to the Louvre. The Louvre is now  taking reservations to enter. The lines were very long even with reservations.

Place de Concorde and the Eiffel Tower

One of our favorite spots in Paris, the Orangerie.https://www.musee-orangerie.fr/fr This was the original exhibiting place for Monet's Water Lilies. 2 rooms completely surround you with Water Lilies.

Entrance to the Orangerie. Note that the museums in Paris are free on the first Sunday of every month. Free is good but the crowds not so good.

I made dinner reservations months in advance at Baeta,https://restaurant-baieta-paris.fr/fr  a Michelin 1 star restaurant. Trendy, a young female chef and somewhat reasonably priced sounded like a good combo. However the restaurant was very plain, service awkward and the food so-so. No menu but they do ask about allergies. $100 plus $50 for wine. The wines were uninspired. We were treated with disdain which is unusual in our experience in Paris.

Appetizer/amuse bouche

Fried egg. See next picture.

Menu which was outside the restaurant.

The Seine.

Burnt Notre Dame.

An Irish pub in Paris.

We went to the Marmotten Monet Museum https://www.marmottan.fr/en/ We had never been. It is on  the outskirts on Paris near the Bois de Boulogne. The museum was delightful and lots on Monets. It is small and was not that crowded. Highly recommend. Metro and a short walk to get there.

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We stayed at the Renaissance Arc De Triomphe https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/parwg-renaissance-paris-arc-de-triomphe-hotel/overview/?scid=f2ae0541-1279-4f24-b197-a979c79310b0 It is our favorite hotel in Paris. Large rooms, great service and a great location. Not cheap.

We picked up this wine in a small grocery store in Paris for $5. I wanted to check the quality of cheap Bordeaux's. It was a good vintage, from a real place Cote de Bourg and the back label told about the owners so I bought it. The wine was good.

I have to stop in every patisserie that  I see so we tried this one in Paris. Very good stuff.

Bordeaux street scenes.

There as a huge carnival in Bordeaux when we were there. Just like the Jersey shore but on steroids. Great food and rides and attractions.

Main plaza in Bordeaux.

Farmer's market on river bank in Bordeaux on a Saturday.

Another patisserie.

We enjoyed the trip. The more we think about the cruise, the better it becomes. Bordeaux is a fun place and with  the wine scene it is truly special. We bought some wine at the Chateau Valandraud tasting room in St. Emilion. Valandraud's winemaker is Jean-Luc Thunevin. It is easy to ship wine and you receive a 20% discount due to the VAT refund. Thunevin makes several wines. Clos Badon is a reasonably priced  wine that we love. If you see it in the US buy it. $35. The Merlot based wines of St Emilion have been a revelation to me recently. I had been concentrating on Left Bank Cabernet Sauvignon based wines over the last few years. The right bank St Emilion wines are relative bargains. St Emilion uses its own classification of wines which is updated every 10 years or so.

The important points to keep in mind:

Grand Cru on the label refers to the vineyard not the wine. There are many Grand Crus.

Grand Cru Classe are considered good wines.  71 wineries. Clos Badon is one.

Premier Grand Cru Classe are the best wines. There are 14 including Chateau Valandraud.

See this link for a very good description of the most recent classification. https://janeanson.com/st-emilion-2022-classification-crowns-new-right-bank-first-growth A  few of the best wineries have opted out of the classifications.

Enjoy! Maui updates coming soon.