Wish You Were Here...: Bordeaux

Stop one of our Easter trip was Bordeaux, France. Known mostly for wine, Bordeaux sits in the south west portion of the country, boasting an impressive city center and many, many vineyards on the outskirts of town. We stayed in the historic district, which was walking distance to everything we could possibly want to see-- the best! Our hotel wasn't the greatest (you could barely walk around the bed!), but it was clean and convenient, so we couldn't really complain. Plus, one doesn't travel just to sit in their hotel room.

Our first afternoon in Bordeaux began after a quick overnight stay at our favorite B&B near Paris (here); Kris hadn't been there and C & I cannot physically drive through France without stopping there. It's just so refreshing and sweet! Anyway, Bordeaux greeted us with clear skies and crisp air. We set out almost immediately, walking to the nearby square to have a snack. We then ventured up and down several pedestrian shopping streets (this is a theme in my blog, isn't it?). Dinner came quickly, so we busted out our Yelp! apps and found an Italian place nearby. That's one thing we all noticed about Bordeaux: They were super into Italian food. I don't know if it's because of the wine or what, but I wasn't complaining. We chose Positano and it was excellent! We were a little early, so it was just us, the owners, and their jibber-jabbering baby.

The next morning kicked off with a petite dejeuner at a café down the street. There was a weird gypsy/mafia gathering going on, so I made C chug his cappuccino so we could get out of there. We walked through the same shopping area, around a couple of cathedrals, and up to the Grand Theater (the National Opera of Bordeaux). The square the Theater sits on is gorgeous, and there's a cool monument nearby called Place de Quinconces. The monument was dismantled in 1942 after the Commission for non-ferrous metals bought it; but, in 1943, the monument was found intact in Angers and it made it's triumphant return to Bordeaux. Pretty cool story, pretty cool monument. After some walking and a brilliant lunch of oysters, we headed off to the Jardin Public. I love gardens, I love parks, I love walking....I loved Jardin Public. There was even an Easter basket planter!

Dinner and a wine tasting awaited us in the evening. Our wine tasting was held at Comptoir Cuisine, immediately next to the Grand Hotel de Bordeaux and the Grand Theater. We crammed into their fairly small wine room and started sniffing little tubes of liquid; but seriously, we did. Each tube had a scent and we had to guess the scent; the wine connoisseur would then reveal the scent, then have us taste the wine, looking for the scent in the wine. It was actually really interesting! Each wine was paired with amuse bouche-- delicious!

Our time in Bordeaux ended the next morning with a little wine tasting at nearby Chateau Castres. Seriously, wine in Bordeaux completely blows California wine out of the water. It's so clean and so flavorful; I was amazed at how many rules and regulations they must follow in order to produce wine in that region. From the unstained wood roof, to the old, manual bottling machine, it's obvious they take great pride in their craft and product. I would highly suggest a visit to Bordeaux if you're in the area and you're into wine!