Bordeaux, France, June 2010

We will post several separate entries covering our Bordeaux and Paris trip on June 21-30, 2010. In Bordeaux, we stayed at the Hotel Chateau Grand Barrail (Rue de Liborne D243 Saint-Emilion), an excellent choice. It is an old Chateau, restored to modern standards, and surrounded by vineyards. Service is very good. It is located between the horrible town of Libourne and the extraordinary medieval town of Saint-Emilion. It is well located to visit the appellations of Saint-Emilion, Pomerol, and Lalande de Pomerol, but not to visit those in the left bank (Haut-Medoc, Graves) to which it can take up to two hours to get due to the traffic in the city of Bordeaux.

In general, a trip to Bordeaux is recommendable only to wine lovers, but not for the everyday traveler, even if sophisticated. With the exception of Saint-Emilion, the area is not the most beautiful in France. Rather, it is an agro-industrial zone with lots of trucks and large deposits along the roads. The wine zones themselves, i.e., the appellations are spectacular, particularly the Chateaux in the Haut-Medoc. Nevertheless, and unless these Chateaux can be visited from the inside, for which previous appointments and even recommendations are required, they can only be seen from the outside.

Salvador and Illuminata