We sadly said goodbye to Ian and sent him on his loooong journey home (23 hour stopover in Doha), then boarded our EasyJet flight to Bordeaux.

When we arrived, we picked up our two lease cars, which would be our transport for the rest of our journey through France and Spain.

We left the sand and dust of Morocco and entered the lush, green countryside of France. Our first stop was Bordeaux City. Wowee, what a beautiful, beautiful city. Quite different architecture from Paris, the streets are lined with elegant,  flat-roofed buildings, mostly around the same height. The streets are wide and our apartment was in a pedestrian-only neighbourhood.

We went to a supermarket and bought up on cheeses, fruits, cold meats, etc. and feasted on our first night. One or two bottles of French champagne and Bordeaux wine may or may not have been cracked as well.

The next morning, we went on a food walking tour of Bordeaux. Our tour guide, Alex, took us for a walk around some beautiful parts of the city, including a gorgeous, ancient city gate and a gothic church. The church was quite black with pollution from the cars in the city and I asked Alex why they don’t restore it. He explained that 51% of the French population do not follow any faith and the other 49% are a mixed bag of religions, so the Government doesn’t prioritise restoration of old churches. (Unless they’re a huge tourist draw like Notre Dame in Paris, is my guess).

Alex took us to a tiny bakery to try some cannelé, which are tiny, cone shaped cakes with rum inside them, baked in copper tins. They are crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside and totally delicious!

As we walked along, Alex explained that Bordeaux’s population has grown significantly over the past few years. The mayor has been enticing Parisians to go there, and the population exploded from 300,000 to 1,000,000. The locals dislike this change so much that it is the ultimate insult to call someone a Parisian. It’s not unusual to see graffiti exclaiming “Go home, Parisians!”

We then went to a boulangerie, where we picked up some croissants and baguettes. Alex told us an interesting story of how baguettes were invented. Apparently, in the 18^th century, France had a huge problem with citizens stabbing each other. To eliminate this problem, the Government decreed that carrying knives was illegal. The workers protested, asking how the heck were they going to cut their bread for lunch? The Government tasked the bakers with inventing a bread that could be easily torn instead of cut. Hence, the baguette. So, one of the most famous French cultural icons was borne from violence. Apparently.

We wandered through the streets of Bordeaux, picking up cold meats, more bread, etc. I turned up one street and a cyclist came bearing down on me so quickly, with no intention of swerving, that I literally had to leap out of the way. They are supposed to give way to pedestrians here, but no go with this dude. I was tempted to turn around and shout “Parisian!”.

Eventually we came to a fromagerie (a cheese shop). Holy mother of God. Cheese heaven. Alex chose a stack of different cheeses, matched some wines, laid out the cold meats and spent the next couple of hours completely smashing our senses with the most delicious French charcuterie imaginable, explaining the origins of the various cheeses and wines as we went. I must say, matching the wines to the food gave me a whole new outlook on wine pairing. Much to explore when we come home!

That night we all went out to a lovely French restaurant overlooking a magnificent fountain. Dennis had calf liver, which he thoroughly enjoyed, reminding him of his childhood. Rob and I had the steak tartar and Lidia loved the prawn risotto.

That night, Lidia and I went out to check out Bordeaux by night. The city is particularly stunning at night and we particularly loved the opera house and the Place de la Bourse, where a reflecting pool provides a beautiful view of the 18^th century customs house.

The next day we drove out into the country to a medieval town called St Emilion. What a beautiful place. Set high on a hill, the medieval houses cascaded down the hillside, providing amazing views. We wandered around and had lunch here.

On the way back, we were looking for any places of interest to visit. I found a chateau called Chateau La Riviere. We stopped in there to find a gorgeous chateau. We had a wine tasting, where we particularly enjoyed their rosé. They explained to us that the Nazis occupied the chateau in the second world war and the locals had to hide in the underground caves in the area.

They also had a little forest path leading down to an ancient stone pool. We all jumped in and the water was freezing! I had to get out of there pretty quickly, because I could feel hypothermia setting in, but the other three crazies stayed in there, splashing around.

That evening, Lidia and I set out for a meal at a local restaurant. On the way, we walked down a narrow street where the locals were celebrating. Bordeaux had just won some big rugby tournament, and there was a band playing in the street. We couldn’t pass because of the massive crowd singing and dancing and just going off. One guy got so excited, he went into a frenzy and poured a full glass of beer over his own head.

We eventually navigated through the crowd and found our restaurant. We sat down and ordered a house rosé. The waitress brought us the exact same rosé we’d just tasted at Chateau Riviere! What a massive coincidence. We ordered a chicken cordon bleu and a Caesar salad, which they made at the table on a huge tray. It was really tasty.

We checked out of our apartment the next day and drove out to the Bordeaux countryside. We had booked three nights in a chateau on the Bordeaux left bank. As we drove, the trees gave way to grape vines as far as the eye could see, with massive, stunning chateaus scattered throughout. The French really knew how to build beautiful buildings, and we just had to stop along the way to take pictures of some of them.

We arrived at our accommodation, Chateau Ormes de Pez, and were very happy that they had a pool. The weather had been in the high 30s since we left Morocco and we needed some respite. We wasted no time in getting our togs on and heading for the pool. That night we relaxed in the lounge and had a bottle of the wine made by the estate. We seemed to be the only guests there and the owners left at 6:00. We setup the dining room under the watch of a creepy oil painting of an old French woman and sat down to a home-made degustation dinner of bread, meats, cheeses, salad and wine.

The next couple of days were spent visiting wineries, chateaus and the beaches of the Medoc region, which are almost as nice as Australian beaches. We ate fresh oysters and tried a few Bordeaux wines.

On one of the evenings, I booked a restaurant called Maison D’Estournel. The restaurant was in yet another chateau and the tables were set outside, overlooking the lush, green landscape. The weather was perfect, the setting was magnificent and the food and wine likewise.

On our final day in France, we drove all the way to the top of the Medoc region to visit a town called Sulac Sur Mer. We had a lovely lunch at a restaurant on the beach, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

On the way back to the chateau, we stopped to taste some more wines. The place had a wine shop and a flight of stone steps leading up to a tasting area, where they had machines setup with different wines from the region. You tapped a card, chose a wine and a little tap would dispense your choice.

We bought the required card and picked up the wine glasses in the wine shop. I was checking out the wines while everyone else made their way up to the tasting area. Lidia took one glass and Linda took four. Suddenly I heard a BANG, CRASH, SMASH and turned around to see Linda star-fished on the stone steps amid a sea of smashed glass. I rushed over to see if she was ok, and thankfully she hadn’t cut herself. She did have a decent graze on her knee, though, which she quickly tended to by whipping a bandaid out of her bag. This kind of thing happens to her all the time, so she comes prepared, although it usually happens after the drinking, not before!