Delayed by 2 years thanks to Covid, we finally set off on June 11th, on our Bordeaux cycling tour. It turned out to be "the hottest June in history" according to the TV station on our final morning in Bordeaux City. We were similarly unlucky with scorching heat in Provence 3 years ago 😳. Here we go again !
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We had booked with Cycling for Softies again, since they did a great job in Provence, but since booking and our trip twice delayed, our holiday was transferred to a 3rd party called Evazio. ( since CFS no longer offer trips in the Bordeaux region.) A private taxi met us at Bordeaux airport where the temperature in the car park was 44 degrees!! Thankfully it settled to only 33 on our journey to Pauillac, 1 hour drive north of the airport. We stayed at Hotel France et Angleterre, facing the river.
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| Hotel in Pauillac |
We were starving when we arrived but nothing was open! It's a small town but with very little in the way of restaurants or cafés.... or much else. (We found a supermarket and bought some crisps and snacks)
A lovely meal at our hotel at 7.30, pre booked by the tour company, and it was very pleasant eating outdoors in 25 degrees by that time. Our bikes apparently were delivered whilst we had dinner, but with no attempt by the cycle company to identify us to make sure our bikes were suitable, and that we had everything we needed (not good service). We met a couple who had e-bikes delivered and were doing the same self guided routes, so we got chatting and saw them again as we set off in the morning for our first leg of the tour. Roger and Sue live in Sydney.
DAY 1- PAUILLAC TO MARGAUX 36 miles
A horrible start to the day as a large shelf came loose in the bedroom as John pulled his suitcase down, scraping and gouging his leg in 3 places. I thought he might need medical attention and the holiday over before it started. Thankfully I had brought a few first aid supplies and we spent a few minutes sorting him out, and me trying not to pass out! He was in a bit of a mess, but insisted we continue. He used several plasters over the next few days.
We left at the same time as Roger and Sue doing the first few miles which looped around Pauillac, and after just 30 mins a very loud BANG behind us.
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| Seconds before the loud BANG of Rogers puncture. |
His inner tube completely ripped! Since we knew he had no idea how to repair it ...and Evazio do not help with punctures!.... John assisted and fixed it noticing also that the other spare inner tubes supplied were the wrong type.
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| Stopped here when a loud BANG suggested something wrong with Rogers bike! |
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| John to the rescue to fix a puncture |
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| Chateaux Lafite Rothschild vineyards |
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| Chateaux Lafite Rothschild vineyards |
It was beautiful countryside, amongst the vineyards and Chateau's, and as we looped back to Pauillac, we pulled over at the Boulongerie which has been closed the day before. Delicious cakes on offer.
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| We opted for a strawberry tart.😋 |
We spent much of the morning alongside Roger and Sue since her navigation app was not working so well, and our Garmins seems to be doing a good job. Our paper guides were pretty good, but not ideal to keep checking at every junction. The printed notes did however include info of anything of interest to look out for enroute. Plenty of interesting properties at every turn, as we weaved amongst the vineyards.
Most of the Chateaux were not open, or prebook only, so when we spotted an "Open" sign at Chateau Lanessan, John and I turned into the driveway to investigate. Roger and Sue continued on the route. It was almost a mile uphill as it turned out, but worth the detour.
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| The long driveway continues! Ou est le Chateau?!!! |
A lovely private tasting, in a cool old building. It should have cost €14 each but since we decided to buy a case, no charge. 😊 It will arrive the week after we get home.
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| At Chateaux Lanessan. |
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| Leaving Chateau Lanessan, where we did our wine tasting, and bought a case too. |
Disappointingly, although the countryside was beautiful, there were no places for food or drinks. We passed a village fete mid afternoon, so we shared burger and chips for lunch. Not ideal, but necessary. A very hot afternoon, and we sat on the grass under a shady tree. We saw Roger and Sue briefly as they were just leaving the same village fete.
The next group of photos were taken at Chateax Citran, by which time we had caught up with Roger and Sue once more, at around about the 40km mark on day one.
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| Chateax Citran shop entrance |
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| Chateax Citran grounds |
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| Chateax Citran grounds |
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| Chateax Citran grounds |
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| Chateax Citran grounds |
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| Chateax Citran grounds. These strange marking on the building, looked like light/shadow but it wasn't. |
Whilst Roger opted to sit for a while in the shade, we continued, and arrived in Margaux at 4.30. A very pretty village and our boutique hotel, Hotel La Pavilion de Margaux, was very nice too, on the edge of the village next to the vines. We enquired about ice cream? "No...none, but would we like to use the pool in the neighbouring Chateaux?" Yes please!! A beautiful house with huge grounds and we were given a keycode to let ourselves in to use the sizable pool! (no photos)
Pre dinner glass of Rose, a very short local walk with cameras, then the receptionist was also our waitress for the evening meal, with just 4 of us staying. Think she also prepared the food in the kitchen too! We shared our table with Roger and Sue.
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| Hotel La Pavilion de Margaux |
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| Views next to Hotel La Pavilion de Margaux |
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| Views at Hotel La Pavilion de Margaux |
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| A short walk behind the hotel |
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| behind our hotel. The grasses looked lovely in the evening sun. |
John Fois gras with apple slices on Brioche. Duck with Truffle.
Anne 3 fish terrine. Fish with pepper mousse.
2 x chocolate fondant.
The meals were all pre prepared, but none the less, very tasty.
DAY 2 MARGAUX (across the river Gironde), TO GAURIAC 22.5 miles
The temperature was a pleasant mid teens as we set off to catch the ferry over to cross the river Gironde.
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| View from our bedroom window, with the tractor already at work. |
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| Interesting tree and one of the lovely properties in Margaux. |
Monday today, and evidence of workers in the vineyards which had been deserted yesterday.
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| At times, our route went literally through the vineyard tracks. Left here! |
A changing terrain, passing some beautiful buildings, including this church and windmill.
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| Enroute to catch the ferry, around the church. |
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| wild flowers around the base. |
At the ferry port, we met up with Roger and Sue for the crossing.
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| The river is not the most appealing with his very muddy banks, but the fishermen's sheds with large nets were interesting. We saw several more on our travels over the week. |
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| Waiting for the ferry to cross the river to Blaye. |
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| And we're off! A side entrance to the ferry from the ramp. |
A very smooth crossing of about 20 mins, arriving in the Citadel city of Blaye, where the 4 of us peddled partway then walked, leaving our bikes chained up.
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| Citadel in Blaye, before we got off to push over the cobbles. |
The old part of Blaye was beautiful, and we enjoyed an excellent lunch in the shade at the high point. We both chose Durado, followed by raspberries and cream.... and of course a glass of wine.
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| Blaye Citadel |
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| the hot orange of the Hemerocallis was perfect again the walls |
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| feel the heat?! |
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| Hollyhocks open ahead of ours at home |
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| the cafe where John and I had lunch in the shade |
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| Just because I liked this little scene in Blaye. |
The afternoon section, towards Bourge, was a bit more "undulating" at times, before dropping down finally, to the river Gironde along the bank.
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| A downhill at last. |
There is clearly wealth here, with some amazing properties in each tiny Hamlet. There were also caves in the steep hillside behind the properties as well as a shipwreck. (in the river... obviously!)
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| Easy going at river level. |
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| La Frisco Shipwreck. |
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| One of many hamlets along the riverside |
It was around 35 degrees, so the double hairpin road a couple of miles from the end was not particularity welcome, but using granny gear, we made it to the top.
Our accommodation for the night in Gauriac was called Domaine des Deaux Cedres, and was approached by another couple of steep uphills (which we would do in the opposite direction in the morning.)
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| Domaine des Deaux Cedres, Gauriac. Our room is the two shutters bottom right. |
Our luggage had arrived, and I think since we were first to arrive, we were given an enormous bedroom on the ground floor with an equally enormous bathroom. The loo looked lost in the corner! Some lovely touches of Moroccan design influence.
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| Just a corner of our amazing bathroom. |
Parking our bikes up along the side of the house, a decked walkway led to the garden, where we were offered some homemade lemonade, before using the pool. Bliss.
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| not a bad spot for our bikes for the night. |
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| the patio where we ate dinner |
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| Bliss! |
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| 😅 |
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| Our host Eric, gets the wine poured. |
A German couple arrived soon afterwards, followed by Roger and Sue, and all 6 of us shared an outdoor table for our evening meal.
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| not a great photo, but includes the German couple who joined us for one night. |
The hosts Eric and Sophie, provided Tai style prawn starter, followed by Dorado and Raspberries to follow. (We had a quiet smile since that's what we had for lunch, but never mind). A quick tour of their private wine cave, ended a lovely evening.
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| The back entrance to the kitchen in the late evening light. |
(With a recommendation of where to eat in St Emilion, Sophie also booked our table for dinner the following evening for 4 of us.)
DAY 3 GAURIAC TO ST. EMILION 36 miles
We set off early, with another hot day in store (35 +)and part way up the first climb, I happened to question John "did you pack your trunks, which was hanging over the shower door?". No, he hadn't, so I waited while he peddled back. to collect them.😉. (Roger had left his trousers at the first hotel across the river!)
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| We saw a good number of tractors on our travels, of all shapes and sizes! |
We soon arrived at a high point over looking the River Gironde, where an island splits it, and it becomes The Dordogne River on our side, and the Garonne River on the opposite bank, which we would see in a few days time when we reach Bordeaux.
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| The view point where the river splits. |
An interesting variety of terrain this morning, with a few busier roads, and some challenging climbs too.
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| Tiny tractor between the rows of vines |
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We decided to bypass Bourge, since we were keen to reach St. Emilion before the worst heat of the day.
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| There wasnt much shade, so we made the most of this here to enjoy our Pain au chocolate, pinched from breakfast. |
The final 5 miles were hard work, due to the heat, but we managed to stay on our bikes finishing with a cheeky climb to the high point in St Emilion, with our directions ending at the tourist information office.
We chained up our bikes, and sat indoors in a restaurant next to the main square. We downed two carafes of water and were still leaking profusely for several minutes. We enjoyed a lovely tapas lunch of bits and prawns, sausage, and a couple of other bits, before walking through the steep cobbled streets to find our hotel. It was called Badon Boutique Hotel, right in the centre of the town, and brand new only opening last year.
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| The side of our hotel Badon Boutique Hotel, on the left, as we meander through the cobbled street of St Emilion, trying to stay in the shade. |
We were amused that we were allowed to push our bikes through the hotel to park them in the wine cave! It was beautifully cool in there.
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| Such a relief to get inside into the chilled wine cellar! |
Showered and changed, we ventured out about 4pm to explore, but it was still well over 35degrees, so we sat indoors for an ice cream.
A few photos of St Emilion....
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| I laughed at them hanging on to each other..... until I tried it myself! Nightmare!! |
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| The ancient Monolithic church, where according to legend, Emilion once lived in a cave. The majority of the church is underground, and we did a tour the following afternoon. Amazing. |
We also did our "complimentary" wine tasting, of 4 wines, since the hotel owner also owned a vineyard. (He started out with half an acre making wine is the garage, and is now one of the top growers in the area. ) His first wine was and is called "Bad Boy", since he was not a typical vineyard owner, but an ex-banker.
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| Wine tasting at Badon wine store |
We had a lovely meal with Roger and Sue at the Lard du Bouchon restaurant, as recommended. It is an underground restaurant, so also nice and cool. Ideal.
Evening Meal. All very good.
John - Eggs with truffle and mushrooms. Sweetmeats. Tirimasu
Anne - Cannalono (1) stuffed with Ricotta. Duck. Pistachio Panacotta.
DAY 4 ST. EMILION LOOP TO THE DORDOGNE.
A choice of two routes today, or none. We opted to do the 21 mile loop, to be back in town by lunchtime, before it hit 39 degrees. A beautiful route, with the vineyards in this area more elevated and more suited to photos then on the LEFT bank of the river where we started our trip.
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| A very quiet lane, and a chance for a selfie with the GoPro. |
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| This is what you don't see, when the land is flat. Much more interesting, apart from the fact it's hard work, since there are hills to climb. |
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| but then there are the downhills to enjoy. Wheeee. |
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| Then we followed the river for a short distance..... |
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| ...before branching off and peddling along this road... |
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We crossed the bridge over the river at Bastillion la Bataille. This is where the final battle of the 100 years war took place, returning Aquitaine to the French.
We hadn't seen any animals so far, so had to stop a few minutes at these cows with calves. So cute.
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| Mum with her head on the calf. |
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With only one smaller climb at the end, back to our hotel level in St Emilion, the ride overall, not too difficult.
A tasty lunch in town of Tai Salad for me, and Duck livers for John, before doing the tour of the ancient Monolithic church, where Emilion supposedly lived in a cave, before being made a Saint. The church carved out underground over a period of 30 years or more, and the stone used for the beautiful town buildings in the warm golden stone. (no photos allowed as private property)
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| At 4.00, John suggested doing the other, short route suggested for today of 12 miles. It was still 36 degrees! |
Why would we venture out again in that heat? He thought it would be cooler in the countryside, so off we went again. It wasn't cooler! We cut it short to 6 miles, and had another shower before dinner. I took a few photos of our short ride.
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| heading up the hills into St Emilion for the second time today. Scorchio! |
We ate Vietnamese tonight! It was amazing. A choice of just 2 starters and 2 mains, so we had one of each.
John - beef salad. Prawn and coconut soup. Tapioca with banana.
Anne - Pork meatballs with prawn sprinkles. Duck with ginger. Mango soup with coconut ice cream
Accompanied by a couple of glasses of St Emilion Red, and a white Bordeaux. 😋
DAY 5 ST. EMILION TO BORDEAUX 33miles
A few photos of the interior of our hotel
Roger and Sue set off ahead of us this morning, to make the most of the cooler temperature. 19 degrees as we left the hotel at 8.30, (but that would soon change) We were straight away into a double hairpin bend (18% gradient) to reach the high point of St. Emilion. Worth it though for the views, before we joined a tiny track for short distance.
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| Not a good start! Double hairpin bend. |
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| Great views over St Emilion, as we leave now for Bordeaux city. |
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| This is what all the fuss is about. |
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| Then plenty of downhill, and a flat terrain for a while until the Dordogne River. |
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| We crossed the bridge at a town called Le Porte de Branne. |
Once over the Dorgogne, a sharp uphill, which was quite challenging and went on a bit.
At about 15km, we turned in to a cycle track, (Roger Lapebie cycle track is 50km long) ,an old railways line, but it was beautifully smooth tarmac.
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| 36km to go. And it's flat... AND its got shade! |
Brilliant, and with plenty of shade.... something we have not seen a lot of on our tour so far.
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| Lots of colourful wild flowers too along the cycletrack. Blue Salvias. |
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| Perennial Sweet peas |
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| As we arrived at this cafe in Sauve, Roger and Sue just leaving. |
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| Iced tea for me. |
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| La Sauve |
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| La Sauve |
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| La Sauve |
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| La Sauve |
Just before noon, we came across a cafe along the cyclepath, setting up for lunchtime, so decided to take a break. It was a little early, but we had no guarantee of anything else until we reached Bordeaux.
The cafe was empty, but within 10 mins it was full! Turned out that they offer a 3 course lunch, including a carafe of wine, for 14 Euros! No wonder it was busy. We just had two courses. John having Pork and chips, and me a Moussaka. Followed by a very nice lemon tarte.
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| the empty restaurant... but not for long! Great value meal. |
With the old railway cycle track ending, we joined further cycle paths taking us all the way into the centre of Bordeaux.
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| The Wisteria Pergola is just one of the excellent dedicated cycle paths into Bordeaux. |
The Pont du Pierre across the River Garonne. The bridge has 17 arches, (the same number of letters in Napoleon Bonaparte).
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| Pont du Pierre , Bordeaux City. |
This used to be the only bridge into Bordeaux, but not any more. It was chaos with electric scooters and loads of bikes dashing in both directions.
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| Hair dripping. Its bloomin hot! |
But a great arrival in to a stunning city with gorgeous architecture, and our hotel just 5 mins from the bridge. We stayed at Hotel Normande, just next to the Tram station and Theatre square. Perfect location.
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| Normandy Hotel. The end of our bike tour. |
It was 39.1 degrees, but we had survived.😎
Rested and showered, we took a stroll out late afternoon and enjoyed pancake and ice cream in Parliament Square, a very "hip" place to hang out. We had a few hours rest then had another lovely meal in town.
Starter Smoked trout with confit lemons (both)
Main, John - Shoulder of Lamb. Anne - Crab Risotto.
We were stuffed and missed dessert, but did manage a couple of glasses of Bordeaux. 😁
DAY 6/7 Free time in BORDEAUX - Here's what we did.
With no bikes today, we walked to a Luminaire exhibition in and old Yacht Basin, since it would be cool in the old building.
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| The cool interior of the Yacht Basin transformed with projected Art. |
But we ended up walking 6 miles in the heat! We had also booked a river cruise for 3pm, but long story short we never did find the boat. (got e refund a few days later) That was another 3 miles, so a total of 9 miles in 39 degrees.
A delicious lunch as walked back from the Basin, sitting indoors.
John - Melon, ham plate with bits and bobs.
Anne - Mozeralla, avacado plate, with bits and bobs.
Our final meal on our last evening, was the restaurant, attached to the Theatre. I had tried to book the night before, but told it was full. So, we got lucky and just turned up!
We both chose a mushroom & truffle Ravioli starter, with Fois Gras. I dont eat FG, so John was very happy to get mine. It was amazing. Next John had lamb with sweetbreads, and I had delicious fish dish. And we both finished off with Frangipan part with raspberries. Yum.
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| Theatre Restaurant |
With just half a day before we flew home on Saturday, we took a tram ride to the Wine Museum, La Cite du Vin, just to see the outside of the modern building. As we got off the tram, we detoured to see a bridge. A few minutes later, an announcement that "Bridge was "closing". This was to allow a cruise ship through. It all took an hour, but we did witness the beginning and the end, as we strolled around the area. Fascinating, but a pain for the locals who wanted to cross the bridge!
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| the bridge as we arrived, looking normal........ but later.... |
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| The entire centre section raised to allow a cruise ship through! ( all took about an hour). |
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| the wine museum |
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| Fabulous building, which shone golden with the sunlight. |
A fabulous week, just spoiled a little by the unseasonally hot temperatures. About 15 degrees hotter than normal. We are off cycling in Yorkshire soon. Doubt it that will be too hot!😂