Vin (et Bordeaux)
Last night I returned from a last minute trip to Bordeaux for the weekend. I went to Bordeaux with two friends and we sort of just went without much of a plan, but it worked out okay. We took the train to Bordeaux, which was a four hour train ride from Nantes. On the train we ended up meeting this guy, who was 15 and eager to practice his English with us. From him we learned that Bordeaux is the BEST city in France and that speaking English is considered "(H)ip" amongst the youth here. He was really nice and we all ended up bonding over our love for Ben & Jerry's (which is like 6E50 here, so approx $10!) before him and his cousin helped us hail a taxi once we arrived because it was 9:30. Our hotel turned out to be slightly further out of the city than we expected and the city was only accessible by bus. There were some other motels around ours and also a restuarant called Buffalo Grill. It was the French rendition of an American restuarant and decorated with cowboy and indien stuff! It was hilarious, the waiters wore wrangler jeans and they wore wetern hats and leather cords around their necks'. We just ordered drinks and a mixed tapas platter, but I think they mixed up Indian and Native American spices. We ate skewered curried chicken.
The next morning we got an early start because we wanted to make sure we got onto a wine tour. We sort of just wandered the city and asked a few people, but eventually we wound up at the visitors office and we reserved a spot on the tour. Until the tour we just wandered the city and checked out some stores. The wine tour was pretty interesting. We went to the Saint Emilion region and tasted wine at Chateau Lavallade. They also talked over and over about how important the grapes are and France only picks the best grapes. They also showed us how the wine is made. The wine we had was really good, well the first one we had was really good, the second one (lower quality) was not as good, and you could certainly tell the difference in quality. After the vineyard they took use to Saint Emilion which is a village from the Middle Ages. There we looked around, before settling on a small winery, where we tasted this white wine from the region (that they only make 2000 bottles of). It was soooooo gooood. We then returned to Bordeaux and continued to explore the city, though because in France things close early (like 7:30 PM and they are not even open on the weekend) so we ened up at a bar where we watched a football game. We also experienced Happy Hour for the first time in France where when you buy one drink you get one free (we were unaware of this). At the bar we also tried Mixed Tapas (which were basically pieces of pizza, quiche, or sandwiches on a toothpick. Unfortunately I decided to be brave and try the weird looking one before we asked what it was and learned that I had eated Pate. We were going to go to a bar after close to our hotel after, because the last bus was about to run to our hotel, but opted not to because the hotel looked incredibly sketchy and was not in a good neighborhood. We ended up returning to our Buffalo Grill restuarant for dessert.
Sunday we headed out early because we wanted to eat breakfast at a particular restuarant, which ended up being closed because it was Sunday. We ened up eating at McDo's, which was interesting. I ate a blueberry muffin and drank Morroccan Tea (only in France). My friends ordered Frappacino type of drinks that had this really cool swirly/web thing on the top. The restuarant was really nice too, incredibly clean and a bit sophisticated. We were all in shock, though I think at some point in the semester I will have to go and get a milkshake, because I miss those already. After I tried Macaroons for the first time, I had a caramel (the caramel here is different, it is so good they call it salty caramel) and also a nutella one, which was AMAZING! I also tried a canele, which is a pastry that Bordeaux is known for, but I prefer the Macaroons. I need to try a violet and rose macaroon. We then took advantage of the fact it was the first Sunday of the month when museums are free and we went to the Fine Art Museum and the customs museum (it was there and free). In the customs museum they had a stuffed Lion that was soooooo cooool! We then wandered more before heading back to the train.
Things I learned from this weekend are that the next time we should not pick the cheapest hotel/hostel, but one that is in the actual city and also we need to have a better game plan, but it was a good weekend all in all.
On a side note, today was incredibly exciting because when I went to purchase my TAN (Tram and Bus) Pass, I was told that my French is really good. Not true, I didn't say all that much, but it was the first time someone told me that my France is good!
The next morning we got an early start because we wanted to make sure we got onto a wine tour. We sort of just wandered the city and asked a few people, but eventually we wound up at the visitors office and we reserved a spot on the tour. Until the tour we just wandered the city and checked out some stores. The wine tour was pretty interesting. We went to the Saint Emilion region and tasted wine at Chateau Lavallade. They also talked over and over about how important the grapes are and France only picks the best grapes. They also showed us how the wine is made. The wine we had was really good, well the first one we had was really good, the second one (lower quality) was not as good, and you could certainly tell the difference in quality. After the vineyard they took use to Saint Emilion which is a village from the Middle Ages. There we looked around, before settling on a small winery, where we tasted this white wine from the region (that they only make 2000 bottles of). It was soooooo gooood. We then returned to Bordeaux and continued to explore the city, though because in France things close early (like 7:30 PM and they are not even open on the weekend) so we ened up at a bar where we watched a football game. We also experienced Happy Hour for the first time in France where when you buy one drink you get one free (we were unaware of this). At the bar we also tried Mixed Tapas (which were basically pieces of pizza, quiche, or sandwiches on a toothpick. Unfortunately I decided to be brave and try the weird looking one before we asked what it was and learned that I had eated Pate. We were going to go to a bar after close to our hotel after, because the last bus was about to run to our hotel, but opted not to because the hotel looked incredibly sketchy and was not in a good neighborhood. We ended up returning to our Buffalo Grill restuarant for dessert.
Sunday we headed out early because we wanted to eat breakfast at a particular restuarant, which ended up being closed because it was Sunday. We ened up eating at McDo's, which was interesting. I ate a blueberry muffin and drank Morroccan Tea (only in France). My friends ordered Frappacino type of drinks that had this really cool swirly/web thing on the top. The restuarant was really nice too, incredibly clean and a bit sophisticated. We were all in shock, though I think at some point in the semester I will have to go and get a milkshake, because I miss those already. After I tried Macaroons for the first time, I had a caramel (the caramel here is different, it is so good they call it salty caramel) and also a nutella one, which was AMAZING! I also tried a canele, which is a pastry that Bordeaux is known for, but I prefer the Macaroons. I need to try a violet and rose macaroon. We then took advantage of the fact it was the first Sunday of the month when museums are free and we went to the Fine Art Museum and the customs museum (it was there and free). In the customs museum they had a stuffed Lion that was soooooo cooool! We then wandered more before heading back to the train.
Things I learned from this weekend are that the next time we should not pick the cheapest hotel/hostel, but one that is in the actual city and also we need to have a better game plan, but it was a good weekend all in all.
On a side note, today was incredibly exciting because when I went to purchase my TAN (Tram and Bus) Pass, I was told that my French is really good. Not true, I didn't say all that much, but it was the first time someone told me that my France is good!
Comments
Post a Comment