Showing posts with label Bordeaux. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bordeaux. Show all posts

Sunday, December 13, 2009

St. Emilion

The very strange collegium church (main religious sites are
catacombs, which we skipped)










Its cloisters; note limestone columns
wearing away...












Interior of the church...three domes, then
ribbed vaulting (fashions change), few
windows, a good bit of original 12th
century painting














Some of the painting...in the second medallion from the left,
the devil is whispering sweet-nothings into someone's ear











Some "abstract" painting over where some of
the plaster has chipped away












Part of the city wall







View from near the clock tower










Clock tower











Clock tower from the catacombs area











City portal











Wine shop where I bought a grand cru; owner plied me with
several tastings...









Macaroons were invented here by the Sisters, so we sampled
them (the macaroons), as well as some other local pastries,
from this shop











But, mostly, St. Emilion, an old and beautiful town, is about
very fine old wine

St. Emilion Region

Bordeaux has more wine regions than we could reasonably
visit, so, in addition to my tour of the Medoc, we drove out
Sunday to St. Emilion, my favorite among Bordeaux wines,
and also said to be the most scenic of the wine areas; here's
one near St. Emilion itself








The grape-picking machines they now use just pick from the
sides, leaving zillions of grapes to rot on the middle part of
the vine; you keep demand (prices) high by keeping supplies
low...

So we helped ourselves; yum, very sweet
and fruity, but not sans seeds; maybe I'll plant a
few










Another chateau; this one turned out to be a hotel/restaurant






At every intersection there are six more chateaux, in each
direction









After visiting St. Emilion the town, we also
managed to find the largest menhir in SW
France, La Menhir de Pierrefitte, about 5
meters tall










Saturday, December 12, 2009

On Foot in Bordeaux, Part II

The tower next to the Cathedral of St. Pierre










St. Pierre Cathedral; sort of weird...the two enormous towers
are on the north transept; it is a humongous building, one of
the largest I have seen; but, as they were conducting some
sort of service (the nerve! did they clear this with the Office
de Tourisme?!), I was not able to explore; or take pix












Closer up of the two towers










The cathedral's weird west facade, with an even weirder
flying buttress at the SW corner






Hotel de Ville









Courtyard of the Hotel de Ville






Part of the Musee de Beaux Artes; or, possibly GatorLand







 
I am not sure what this was...possibly Bordeaux's answer
to the Pompidiou










One of the old district's remaining 15th
century portals

Back in the Esplanade, a giant statue of my
favorite French philosopher, Montaigne











Our campsite for two nights; I was quite taken with
Bordeaux









On Foot in Bordeaux

Sunday morning, while Vicki rested her sore
knee, I undertook a brief walking tour of old
Bordeaux, the St. Pierre district; above, the
huge Monument to the Girondins in the
Esplanade














Part of the fountains







Part of the antiques market in the Esplanade; it really is a big
park








The Maison du Vin








The Grand Theater, with the 12 muses across the front (12?
I thought there were only 7; maybe that's why my aesthetics
are not so so well rounded)








Another huge and beautiful square I could only get a piece of
in the lens; the Place des Douanes, with the national customs
(as in duties, taxes, etc.) museum









Looking back northeast along boulevard of quays

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Esplanade de Quinconces By Night

The Esplanade's twin towers, "commerce"
and "navigation," which pretty well sum
up Bordeaux's history













The arc of the Garonne (later, the Gironde estuary), with
Bordeaux on both sides, for miles










Looking back from the Footpath, to the two
towers and the Monument to the Girondins
in the distance













Navigation, pointing the way

Our stroll took us back to the Esplanade and down to the river Garonne and views from designer Tadashi Kawamata's "Footpath" bridge out over the river.

Christmas Market in Bordeaux

It was dark when I got back from the wine tour, but Vicki
wanted to stroll about the old town, especially the marche de
noel







There were shops of every description, every nationality








The customary French double-decker, very popular








I told her he was roasting snails, and she bought it!










Shopping district, all Christmas bedecked











What the Mouse has to do with Xmas I do not know (maybe
the rampant commercialism?); but, hey, these people think
Jerry Lewis was brilliant...

Chateau Kirwan, Margaux


Typical Medoc vineyard; the soil is extremely rocky and chalky
...almost looks like snow in places; "to make great wine, the vine
must suffer"







St. Julien country








Chateau Bycheville, "the Versailles of the Medoc"; actually,
the guide said most of the great chateaux now are owned
by banks and insurance companies, uninhabited and unvisited;
I was disappointed with the Medoc, scenically, no comparison
with Burgundy; except for the boarded-up chateaux, it was
mostly pastoral squalor; maybe it's just the season....








Chateau Kirwan












The Schiffer family still live there, the guide said, although
they did not personally welcome us, as the Reverdis did







Kirwan cellar; actually, there are few actual cellars in the
region...high water table








Sitting area outside the cellar; nice place to sit and watch
over your investments








Margaux chateaux; Kirwan is on the left, second or third down












Actually, I was surprised at how generous the servings were;
she gave me three; maybe it was my excellent "Merci! Sil
vous plait! Bonjour"; Kirwan is a far older grand cru; I forgot
what we tasted, a 2004 maybe, but I do remember the price,
49 euros; lots of tannin; I preferred the mellower Reverdi