Karl S Mann: Europe 2013 - Fun in Bordeaux

It's very difficult to have fun in Bordeaux that is not connected to wine.We met our Friends Jean-Christoph Meyro (whom I first met on my first trip to Argentina) and his business partner Alain Gourdis; owners of Domain Select in St.Emilion. JC took us out to dinner where we met his lovely family and on the way back we took a night drive through Pomerol and St. Emilion passing famous vineyards like Cheval Blanc, Chateau Figeac, La Fleu de Gay, Petrus, Angelus, Ausone and Pavie Maquin.

Saint Emilion is a lovely town in Bordeaux, VERY old, founded by the Romans. Again, free advice....have lunch BEFORE 2 pm otherwise all the finer restaurants will be CLOSED. However, there a some really nice bistro's open on their beautiful market places that will serve you pasta or huge pots full of delicious steamed mussels. The town is very pretty with little shops and wine stores 'caves' with huge selections almost on every corner.

Wine Stores everywhere

Lunch at Chez Germaine

Saint Emilion

We wanted to sneak away and chose the seaside town of Arcachon. Alain made lunch reservation for us at Cafe de la Plage - Restaurant Ches Pierre. this was definitely one of the best - and also one of the most expensive lunches I ever had. Classic French Seafood cuisine (including Fois Gras).
Have a wonderful stroll along the beach promenade and do some people watching: French families, tourists and international visitors from all over the world.

We were so full that we decided to get a bit of exercise and headed south to visit the "Le Grand Dune du Pyla" - Europe's highest sand dune. We hiked up, and yes, this was a REAL workout, worthwhile because the view from the top of the dune was really cool.

One evening we took the advice of our hosts and had dinner at the hilltop Restaurant L'Atelier de Canale. It was located right in the middle of vineyards and served excellent food - away from the tourist restaurants of Saint Emilion.

The afternoon we spent with Jerome Aguirre a young and upcoming wine maker - Jerome insists that he is a farmer first (after being a Basque). He has worked with Marcello Pelleriti on the team that recently received 100 points from Parker for their 2010 Chateau LaViolete and and 99 points for their Chateau LeGay both owned by Catherin Pere-Verge (who was my my host in Mendoza, Argentina) and unfortunately just passed away in April 2013. . Jerome also was the wine maker for Chateau Haut-Brisson and Chateau Reignac (I sold both of these wines in Indianapolis) and is now the wine maker for Chateau St.Christoph which is undergoing a $ 13 million renovation. He showed us the future restaurant and their beautiful cellar. Jerome also took us to the small winery that he and his wife built. He produces Chateau Haut-Musset of Lalande de Pomerol. At both places is was fun to taste the new wines directly from the barrel - using a siphon. We stopped briefly by the house of his mother-in-law who makes delicious Basque cheeses and gave us a small wheel as a gift.