We took off for girls weekend in Bordeaux
a few weekends ago super excited to get to see this southern region of France, but also to go on a trip that didn't involve maps, strict itineraries and running around all day. We arrived in the city by noon and were instantly shocked but the classic buildings, river front walk way and beautiful ambiance. We found our hotel,
Hotel Tourny which was run by the most adorable older French man. He gave us a huge key (like a real old fashioned key) and we wound up the spiral staircase to our room. After figuring out how to unlock the door we were greeted by such a typical French room. There was an old wooden armoire, desk, fireplace and even a balcony overlooking the street with big bay windows! Don't get the wrong idea it was defiantly not a castle (for example it's impossible to sit straight on the toilet because the shower door was too close,) but that gave the room character and for this region and this trip I wouldn't have wanted it any other way! We changed, dropped off our bags and headed out to explore. We were in a perfect location with everything in walking distance so we were able to meander around...no maps!! At least until we got lost.
We saw the Grand Theater which has daily operas and leads into Rue Sainte Catherine, the longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe. Sadly it was Sunday so all the shops were closed, but the road was still cute and lead us into another square further down the town. We saw a Medieval church, a bell tower, as well as a government building called Hotel de Ville. Then we headed off towards the river and an "interesting street to walk on," as the man at the hotel called it. We stopped at a small super market and got bread, cheese and snacks to eat by the water and we were able to just sit for a long time in the gardens and talk. It was beautiful, peaceful and sunny! After that we headed down the road, watched a street performer, saw the famous Place de Bourges and sat for a coffee on the river. After coffee we explored a carnival, or "fun fair" as people called it and it was so interesting to see how something could be so similar yet so different from those in the US. The food, the rides and the people were pretty much the same. We headed back to our hotel, changed and got dressed up for a nice girls dinner!
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| Girls Dinner |
We went to Antes de Peggy, an adorable little restaurant tucked in an ally. The ambiance was great, you felt like you were in a fall garden. We got some Bordeaux wine, and I had an amazing pork with mushrooms and grapes plate, and finally a chocolate caramel tiramisu on a chocolate macaroon. We left feeling full and happy only to find an awesome English bar right around the corner. There was trivia going on so we stepped into see what the commotion was about, and it was such a cool theme night! Students got really into the game because the winner got a minute behind the bar to make as many drinks as he wanted. After that we headed back to sleep because we had a long 8 hour tour the next day!
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| Chanel's Chateau |
Our wine tour turned out to be just the four of us, so we met Boris our guide and headed off to the right bank of Bordeaux towards Saint Emillion our first village. Here we were given a great overview of the different regions of France and the types of wines they specialize in, and then the rules within the region of Bordeaux to produce wine. In 1855 a classification was devised to allow wineries to create a sort of "hierarchy" and to encourage competition and high quality. Around 450million bottles are produced in Bordeaux on a good year, or "vintage" as we learned it was called. We drove past some famous Chateaus, one being Chanel's Chateau and came to our first stop, Chateau Soutard. This is a large and gorgeous chateau that is run by a large French investment company. We were given a tour of the facilities, and learned lots of fun facts like the process of wine barrel making is very important and the scents from the wood are released into the wine, and that the reason bottles lay on their sides is so the wine can stay in contact with the cork, (not sure why but apparently it's important.) We headed into a beautiful tasting room and we were so excited to finally get a chance to try this wine we had been learning about. At the chateau 2 other couples had joined for the tour, and it wasn't until they were all holding their glasses and doing this odd swishing and spitting thing with the wine we realized we had a LONGGG way to go with our tasting skills. Needless to say we sipped it quietly in the corner, but let me tell you it was good! Boris came to pick us up and the four of us headed off to the village of Saint-Emilion for lunch and free time.
The village is a World Heritage sight, and after hiking to the observation deck it is clear why! The cobblestone streets lead to many wine shops, the best macaroons I've ever had, and a great little restaurant where we had lunch. After lunch we headed off to a wine store where James, our guide was able to walk us through the process of wine tasting. He started with the basics, and now we understand the importance of letting the wine breathe, smelling for the aromas and flavors, and the process of deciding if the tannins in the wine are too round or harsh for your pallet. (Sounds pretty official huh? ;) ) Although I would have loved to buy the Chanel wine, I had to settle for something a little more in my price range, and off we were again with Boris to the last chateau of the trip.
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| Saint Emillion |
The final chateau was by far the most amazing part of the day. We were greeted by the owner who took us to see the family run chateau which is the largest chateau in the Pomerol region. This was definitely what my idea of a local French winery would look like, with a few workers and large fields. The air was a little crisp, and the leaves had begun to change which added to the fall feeling. The owner was surprised to see the tour consisted of American girls in their 20's, but we showed him how much fun we could be, and a few glasses of wine later we were all laughing. By far this was the best wine I have EVER tasted, and he invited us all back to take wedding pictures at his home in the future :) Our day sadly coming to a close we got back into the car with Boris to go back to Bordeaux and take the train home. It was truly one of the most relaxing weekends of my semester, and a great way to decompress and see another region of France. Now if only I had an entire suitcase for the wine I wanted to bring home.
Until next time,
XOXOX From Paris
We changed and headed out to try and
find a restaurant Da Mamo. The taxi system in Venice is like a ferry, and
not the simplest system. Luckily we had gotten a book made for college
students in Venice that helped to map out routes to key locations. We
found the restaurant next to the Rialto Bridge, and here we had an amazing
traditional Venetian meal. We got free appetizers, and then three pasta
dishes to share. AMAZING SEAFOOD. We tried a dish that's pasta and
cuttlefish with black octopus ink sauce, it looked scary but it was so good. The waiters
were hysterical and we got free lemon cello shots and a dessert shot in a
chocolate shot glass. It was a nice change from France where you get exactly what
you pay for. Here comes a funny side story that will be important later...we
decided to mess around and pretend it was one of our friends birthdays (the
waiters knew it wasn't it was just funny) and so we sang some ridiculous
birthday song and went on our merry way....little did we know we would be in a Florence Pizza Shop and bump into a couple from that night who wished my friend a happy birthday! Small world... 
We got a great night sleep and the
next morning we were greeted by how colorful the city was! It was breathtaking!
Off we went to see Peggy Guggenheim's personal collection of art, and after
seeing plenty of Pollock and Picasso we went to Saint Mark's Square. I got a
pop up book of key places to see in Venice, and so we ran around like tourists
looking for the spots in the book! Once we reached Saint Mark's we saw the
infamous pigeons! This was where it got really fun :) I could post an entire
album of pictures, but after fooling around there we headed to the bell tower.
From the top we could see all of Venice, and the surrounding islands. It was truly breathtaking. After that we headed into Saint
Mark's Basilica, where I saw the incredible The
Pala d’Oro, a Byzantine altar screen of gold. It is covered in thousands of
gems...literally. Just a few include 1,300 pearls, 300 emeralds, 300 sapphires,
400 garnets, 100 amethysts, plus rubies and topazes. Looking at it you are
greeted by a mosaic of Jesus surrounded by his apostles
and numerous other biblical stories. After lighting a
candle (in Italy I had to break the one in every church rule or I would've run
out of money..sorry Nan :) ) 
We saw the Doge's Palace, which housed the
supreme ruler of Venice, and the Bridge of Sighs which got it’s name because it
was the last view of the city prisoners had while they were being shipped off
to jail. Then after walking around and doing some shopping we decided to take a
Gondola Ride. Although these are expensive little boat rides, it was one
of my favorite moments of the entire trip. Our gondolier was a born and
raised Venetian and we even got to see his home! We road down the Grand Canal,
as well as smaller other side canals which was where you got the real feel of
Venice. We learned that most homes have two doors, one street side and one
water way entrance, and that out of the 415 bridges only 4 run across the
Grand Canal, so there is a 50cent shuttle that men have to row back and forth all
day long to get people from one side to the other if they are not near a
bridge! After eating amazing gelato and trying on so many Venetian Masks our
faces had glitter stuck to them we headed off to the train station to go to
Florence!XOXOX From Paris 
