A Perfect Two Days in Bordeaux & Saint Emilion
The next stop on our Portugal, Spain, and now France roadtrip took us across another border and all the way to Bordeaux! This magical city would be the northwesternmost stop on our trip.
We stayed in an entire Airbnb apartment this time, which felt relaxing and refreshing after a streak of hotel rooms and guest houses.
We headed right out into the city to see and do… and eat! We were so excited to be around french food. Our first stop was a restaurant right on the river. The wine (Bordeaux, naturally) and meals were all delicious.
At night we walked along the water to take in the beauty of the city. And we stopped for dessert in the Place du Parlement.
We didn’t have much planned in advance, so that night Bryan put together an excellent wine tasting itinerary for the next day in Saint-Emilión.
We started the day by stopping at a bakery (not pictured) where we had an amazing quiche lorraine and I discovered my new favorite french pastry (oranais aux apricots.) Then we went for a tour and tasting at the Chateau de Pressac.
We actually arrived 15 mins late for our tour because Google took us to a different Chateau de Pressac, which is an abandoned castle many miles away! It took some speed driving to get us back on track, but we made it without missing too much.
The tasting was really enjoyable, seated at a table with a few samples and charcuterie snacks.
Our next vineyard was Chateau de Cándale. We had a break before the tour, so there was time for lunch. This lentil and hummus salad and the stuffed shells were so good!
The tour and tasting here were also very nicely done. We spent more time near the fields to see the grapes and learn about the crops.
In the late afternoon, we made one more stop at Chateau La Croizille, a small Belgian-owned vineyard. They didn’t have a tour or tasting at the time, but we ordered a glass of wine. We still had a baguette from the morning bakery and took it outside for a mini picnic with a view.
We came back to the Airbnb (there may have been a nap at this point.) But we only had two days to squeeze in all our Bordeaux experiences, and steak frites were on the list.
There was a long line when we arrived at L’Entrecôte, but we found out that it moves fast. The only things on the menu are salad, steak, and frites. So, what you see is what you get, and it’s worth the wait!
The next day we needed some non-eating and drinking activity, so we signed up for a bike tour (with Bacchus Bike Tours.) It was an excellent way to learn some history and explore different parts of the city!
Bordeaux is very bike-friendly, and the route was perfect for seeing samples from ancient ruins to modern times. Our guides were both really kind and entertaining.
Some highlights were trying cannelés and coming across a secondhand market in the hip Darwin neighborhood.
For our last dinner, we had a very french french onion soup at Michel’s bistro. Sadly, I ate it all before taking a photo (you can see one here), but here’s the homemade snickers bar that was dessert:
Yum. Then a walk back along the river was a lovely finale for our weekend in Bordeaux.
