I'm heading over to Bordeaux today, and for once, it's good to be super early. I managed to go to the wrong train station, luckily, 45 minutes early, which left me time to ask the information desk and find out the train station I want to get to is 12 train stops or about 15 minutes away. I got to the correct train station about 20 minutes before the train left, but it was a 5-minute walk to get to the main train area, and another 5 minutes to figure out where my train was. The layout was very confusing because there were two trains to different places on the same platform, one at one end and one at the other. By the time I got onto the train I only had 5 minutes to spare. Unnecessary buffer time wins.
I arrived close to noon, and found the hostel without too much trouble. The great thing about Bordeaux is that they're trying to establish the tourism industry and that means maps and signs everywhere, particularly pointing towards the only hostel in town. Since the rooms were not ready, I dropped off my stuff and headed towards the town centre.
I stopped for a quick fast food lunch first, at a local place serving chicken burgers and French fries. The fries were as good as McDonald's, only not as salty or soggy. I headed straight to the Museum of Wine and Trade, which featured an entire history on wines. I must say that I'm very impressed with this museum. In a span of two rooms, it covers the history of wine trading in Bordeaux, as well as the history of technologies such as corks, bottles, barrels, etc. I would add more notes, but I left my notebook upstairs where there is no Wi-Fi. I have, however, included a picture of the original list of classification from 1855 as well as some of the original Bordeaux tasting cups. I should note that the museum also provides
The museum ticket included a tasting of several Bordeaux area wines. Nothing fancy, but the wines were good. The first was a Sauvignon & Semillon blend, but I have no idea how they fermented the white wine to 14.5% alcohol. It was very rich and a great drink. The second white that I tried was your typical Sauvignon Blanc, but with a bit of Semillon mixed into other. It wasn't anything special, being acidic and fruity. I had 2 reds, a local young red which wasn't very good, and a 2007 blend of over 7 wine producers. According to the lady, these producers blend their grapes together to ensure the best combination.
After the museum, I spent a lot of time walking down the bank of the Gironde river and visiting the back streets in the Place du Parlement. The entire area is sort of like a downtown and an old town combined, where there are tons of shops, but also a bunch of small restaurants and boutique shops. I passed by the Maison du Vin and the tourist office as well as a Vinotheque, sort of like a wine library/shop. There, I finally found the vacuum pump that I was looking for.
I should note that Bordeaux and Vancouver are very similar. The main differences are that Bordeaux had better wine and nicer buildings. Boy cities are very green, with tons of trees on the sidewalks and city area, making the city very picturesque. Just take a look at some of the pictures I took.
In my spare time, I dropped by 3 churches, one of which was the Basilica of Notre Dame. I'll do the rest of the churches when I get back from the towns. Knowing that I will be out of stuff to do, I booked a tour of the Old Bordeaux area for Saturday morning, after I get back from St. Emilion. The Tourism Office irresponsible this tour at a great rate of 7.5 euros.
I found a place near the Great Theatre which served a 3-course dinner for 13.5 euros. The place was called Les Provinces, and I had an awesome fish salad to start, followed by steak an fries, and the Chef's chocolate mousse for dessert. I should say that I ordered in broken tourist French, but didn't use English at all! After dinner, I headed over to the Maison du Vin to try the Clairet (spelling), which is a darker and more structured version of the Rose wine. It's apparently unique to the Bordeaux region and no other region in the world makes it. When I was told by the lady at the museum that this is a wine in their culture, I figured that I should try it before heading to Pauillac, where only reds are made.
I'm off to Pauillac tomorrow!
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