Bordeaux

Visited 2 very different wineries on Sunday in Bordeaux- not many open on sundays but managed to get in to see Lynch-Bages in Pauillac and Château Maucaillou (Moulis-en-Médoc).

The L-B was what I have come to expect from the 04' vintage. The Moulis was elegant, had lifted fruit and was well integrated wine. Did not have the power of L-B but really enjoyable and far better value.

Drove the D2 to see all the mega brands along the water. You can see how they have the better location from the road- highest points in the commune, on gravel mini-hills for good drainage and a view of the water to regulate temperature.

Trav@LB/understated elegance @ Ch. Margaux

In line for steak

After landing on the gypsie side of Bordeaux and wondering where all the wine was we found our nice hotel near the train station.

We drove direct from Bourges today after realizing that traversing the whole of the Loire Valley would take much longer than thought.

In France we have spent more on motorway tolls than diesel. Today, our biggest one yet, was 31 euro. They save a lot of time, but this is something that we have had to get used to. It would cost more in fuel to drive around the toll. User pays.

Took the advice of our concierge (and our good mate Adam) to check out l'entrecôte. Both warned us of the lineup- an hour outside before we got a table.

The famous steak sauce was very moreish, and the all you can eat shoestring fries to soak up the sauce some of the best yet in France. A big claim, they take their fries very seriously here. Their desserts are massive (pic).

Made some new friends in line which meant the hour passed quickly. They were very kind to talk slow French to us. Many thanks!

Massive sweets @ l'entrecote/Matt- you are falling behind ;)/on the quai @ Bordeaux/someone used Tom Tom in a carpark/

Doors are taller but the tables are smaller....

Thursday...
Paris- Just when you think that a city accommodates tall and slender gentlemen you encounter the tables in restaurants. Getting one leg under a bistro 2 seater is interesting.

Australia is very clean, even though it is a nanny state in a lot of ways. The driving laws in Paris and dog poo everywhere on the footpaths attest to the benefits.

Visited a street market today and bargained with a man over the price of some forchettes (forks) and then over his adding up. Got him down from 40 to 24 as he was packing up for the day. Score!

Angers- need a traffic control degree to get around it. Pop up bollards for local traffic only. Thanks for trying to rip the engine out of the Pug from the bottom Tom Tom.

Thanks Jo and Damien for a great dinner recommendation. The cauliflower and foie gras soup was out of this world delicious and the rest of the set menu was faultless. We had our first butter foam experience. Out of control!!

Our hosts were so passionate about their food and making sure everyone has a great experience. Very humbling- it was like we were being hosted in a home rather than a restaurant. Lucky for us our hotel was just accross the road and could stumble back- he had a good wine list by the glass.

Pics: Notre Dame/yummy fish with rabies/our fancy digs in Angers (purchased cheap online at McDonalds-free wifi).

Culture Shock

Friday...
Last night we left Paris, and we seem to have left behind everyone who could speak English.

From Angers on instead of everyone talking to us in English our pleads for 'vous parlez anglias' are met with blank looks and shrugs.

Buying a French sim this morning was the most exhausting travel experience yet.

We got there in the end though- our 6 foot french beauty of a sales assistant persevered for 20 minutes to take our 15 Euro.

We are not 100 percent sure that we got the service we wanted but we can (texto) each other. Tres bien!

At 10am, and in need of a stiff drink, we set out for the lovely Loire Valley wine town of Chinon. We called ahead to a winery (making a booking in French is harder than it sounds) and was met by the winemaker who opened many fresh bottles for us.

Great to meet someone who understood the challenges of learning a second language- it was part French, part English and part charades.

With our confidence up we called ahead to another winery and headed east to Vouvray to a favorite winery called Marc Bredif.

The ancient cellars wind their way into the side of the hill and under other properties. They had vintages going back over 100 years in perfect cellaring conditions. Even here it was noticeably cold and humid.

Have just arrived for a quick stopover in Bourges- will hit Sancerre and Pouilly Fume early in the morning and then on to Bordeaux for the night.

Ch. d'Angers/on the Loire @ Chinon/old booze @ Bredif

Un grande jour in Paris

Much to fit in to our last day in Paris (for a little while) so braved the subway (Le Metro) to cut down walking time.

The information person at the station was very nice to keep trying to understand our french until a line formed behind us.

First stop was Sacre Coeur above Montmatre. Great views of the city, a memorable cathedral and a cool little area of town.

Back on the Metro to Arc de Triomph. Had a punk teen try and pull the same 'gold ring' scam. We wish we had good enough french to say 'met your dad yesterday, we didn't fall for it then either'. Must be a franchise.

Walked down to the Louvre through the very white jardin (it is almost all clay and rocks). Rach had her first croque monsuir- check the pic for the cheese attack. Yes, chips again. Every meal, french fries. They are usually hand cut though making them healthy;)

The crowd at the Louvre was insane. Like a tidal wave, thousands of people pushing to see the Mona Lisa just to say they have seen it. Very few a took the time to appreciate it, although an italian man proposed to his girlfriend in front of the heavily guarded masterpiece. She accepted. The many screams, alarms and camera flashes took away from the experience. Saw about 10 percent of the massive place in 3 hours.

Have just returned from dinner at a place called The Two Maggots. A hangout for Hemingway and his mates the service was woeful but the duck breast with caramalised pears had us both trying to be polite sharers.

Hit the road again tomorrow, towards Spain and Portugal. Will be sad to say goodbye to Paris- we have only scratched the surface of what makes this beautiful city tick.

Subway/frenchie cheese toastie/chandelier shopping @ Louvre

Belle Paris

Visited a very nice brasserie down the street for dinner last night- very cliche Paris. Mirrored walls, tables touching each other, mozaic tiled panels, dark wood, very professional waiters in suits.

Slightly hungover we hit the streets of Paris. Our bad french is much better in the morning, so we had a shot at ordering breakfast. The waiters are very polite- they sometimes giggle at our poor attempts to speak their tongue but our efforts are largely appreciated.

A clear winters day. On the way to the Tour Eiffel we were hussled by a few people. The first a deaf charity collector, the second a man who found a gold coloured ring on the street in front of us and wanted us to have it for a small fee of 2 euro for a sandwhich.

Climbed the Tour today, the line for the escolator was hours long. The top floor was closed for renos, so we took the short line and braved the stairs to the second floor- it provided a great view of the city. Very white buldings.

Also had a few shots at finding a Metro map for our good mate. I feel we may have embarked on a witchhunt!

PS- To our family, trying to find a new phone card. Will call soon X

Inside the Tour Eiffel...

At Lipp Brasserie...

Paris and scratch free Pug

It is always a great way to get a feel for the wider city by driving in to it.

In short, we can not believe that we arrived in one piece, and scored the cutest room yet.

We passed many tourist attractions, not that we could take a second to look at them.

Drove across on the Pont Neuf, passed the Louvre, d'Orsay, the palaces and drove the Champs Élysées.

Thank god Tommy did not take us on the Arc de Triomphe roundabout. Looking at the map we only just missed it. Thanks Tom Tom.

Very Parisian little hotel in the 6th with windows looking into a small courtyard.

The bathroom is amazing, not just because we avoided a shower at our two star number on the other side of the ditch. The only question is: bidet, or not to bidet?

Hitting a bottle of Tattinger in the room before we find a place to eat.

Shower and Champagne- a just reward for a hard, and sometimes breathless, day's travel.