{"id":5824,"date":"2017-03-16T01:22:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-16T08:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/?p=5824"},"modified":"2021-06-27T06:57:34","modified_gmt":"2021-06-27T13:57:34","slug":"bordeaux-wine-chateaux-cruise-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/bordeaux-wine-chateaux-cruise-4","title":{"rendered":"For Love of Wine & Chateaux: Bordeaux Uncorked (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

With much anticipation, we took the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux to embark on our first multi-day European river cruise. The city\u2019s tram provided easy transport and we boarded the Viking<\/a> Forseti early afternoon. The sleek vessel\u2019s contemporary interiors and abundant floor to ceiling windows provided a bright, airy look. With a maximum capacity of 190 passengers, it was\u00a0a totally different experience from\u00a0the ocean liners that we were accustomed to.<\/p>\n

We arrived in time for a quick buffet lunch. More so than other cruise lines, I noticed that much of the offerings were absolutely bite-sized to minimize wastage. It\u2019s a nice ship with decent food, service, and a relaxed atmosphere. My pet peeve is the lack of exercise facilities on all Viking River Cruise ships. I understand these are small vessels, and many of its passengers are north of retirement age, but there must be active seniors who appreciate a work out!<\/p>\n

There was an unexpected city orientation walk after lunch, so we brought our room-assigned headsets on the quick tour. We learnt about Mayor Alain Jupp\u00e9\u2019s enterprising scheme to revitalize the town’s grimy 18th<\/sup> & 19th<\/sup> century architecture and run down waterfront during the 1990\u2019s. The city has been a major wine trading center since the 1700’s and wine traders are still headquartered up and down the Garonne River. In fact the Bordeaux biennial Vinexpo remains the\u00a0premier trade show for the industry today.<\/p>\n

Although the distances are exceedingly short between ports on this cruise, there is one wildcard when travelling in these very tidal waterways: the itinerary is entirely subject to change.\u00a0 When and how you get to the next port is a daily surprise and prior\u00a0cruises had seen\u00a0passengers bused into ports multiple times due to extreme tides!<\/p>\n

\"Stately<\/a>
Stately fa\u00e7ade of one of Bordeaux\u2019s rehabbed historic houses.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nicknamed La Belle Endormie (Sleeping Beauty), Bordeaux is finally waking up and showing its charms. By providing financial incentives to restore the blackened limestone structures\u00a0to their former glory, the city now boasts having the largest number of preserved historical buildings outside of Paris.<\/p>\n

\"Whimsical<\/a>
Whimsical book case set in a door.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I came across this unusual book case that\u2019s lined with old newspapers. It can be a neighborhood library or maybe it\u2019s a book donation box?!<\/p>\n

\"Assortment<\/a>
Sausage, sausage everywhere \u2013 foodie heaven at March\u00e9 des Capucins.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I heard about the cavernous March\u00e9 des Capucins<\/a>, aka \u2018Belly of Bordeaux\u2019 and stumbled upon it in my wanderings. The venerable institution is the largest market in the city, overflowing with colorful flowers, veggies, baked goods, meat, seafood and food stalls.<\/p>\n

\"Plates<\/a>
Plates of enticing pintxos in the market.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pintxos are skewered bites of meat, fish, cheese, vegetables, or any combination there of,\u00a0and are commonly served with bread. The bar snacks are popular in northern Spain\u00a0and its Basque region, but I\u2019ve found these tasty morsels in France and Italy (locally called Cicchetti in Venice)!<\/p>\n

\"Seafood<\/a>
Seafood on a dime (or close there of) in the March\u00e9.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chez Jean-Mi does brisk business with its fresh seafood platters. \u00a0It\u2019s a no frills eatery with customers stuffed cheek to jowl, but a set menu of 6 oysters with a glass of wine for 7\u20ac is also an unbeatable price!<\/p>\n

\"Picturesque<\/a>
Picturesque winery seen against the fall foliage of grape vines in Pauillac.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leaving Bordeaux, our ship went up the Gironde River to Pauillac<\/a>, a sub-region of the M\u00e9doc AOC. Grand chateaux, including 3 of the 5 Premiers Crus, and numerous wineries dotted its countryside.<\/p>\n

\"Ch\u00e2teau<\/a>
Ch\u00e2teau Mouton Rothschild \u2013 wine tasting anyone??<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No we didn\u2019t stop for wine tasting at Ch\u00e2teau Mouton Rothschild \u2013 we just got to see the estate as we whizzed by!<\/p>\n

\"Wine<\/a>
Wine gifts at Ch\u00e2teau Prieur\u00e9-Lichine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ch\u00e2teau Prieur\u00e9-Lichine in the Margaux appellation hosted one of our wine tastings. We checked out their extensive gift shop afterwards.<\/p>\n

\"Dinner<\/a>
A highlight of the cruise was the wine pairing dinner in Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ship\u2019s chef and kitchen staff prepared dinner for all the passengers at Ch\u00e2teau Kirwan<\/a> and paired its menu with the winery\u2019s vintages. It was certainly a fun and memorable evening!<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The verdant remains of Blaye\u2019s once-formidable citadel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The following day found us strolling the ruins of Blaye<\/a>\u2019s former fortifications. \u00a0Built above the Gironde River between 1686 and 1689, it prevented Bordeaux’s enemies from sailing on the estuary.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
No forwarding address: a vintage postal bike, sans tires, leaning rakishly against a wall on the Citadel\u2019s grounds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Citadel is listed as a UNESCO heritage site. There’s a quaint little village inside the walls with art & crafts workshops, boutiques, restaurants and other tourist facilities.<\/p>\n

\"Cat<\/a>
A feline resident of the village.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The cat initially eyed the tourists warily but, being French, eventually remembered its priorities and focused on lunch instead…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With much anticipation, we took the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux to embark on our first multi-day European river cruise. The city\u2019s tram provided easy transport and we boarded the Viking Forseti early afternoon. The sleek vessel\u2019s contemporary interiors and abundant floor to ceiling windows provided a bright, airy look. With a maximum capacity of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,15],"tags":[487,482,486,485,484,488,483,489,277],"class_list":["post-5824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","category-travel","tag-blaye","tag-bordeaux","tag-chateau-kirwan","tag-chateau-mouton-rothschild","tag-chateau-prieure-lichine","tag-marche-des-capucins","tag-pauillac","tag-pintxos","tag-world-heritage-site"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Bordeaux-Facade.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5824"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6022,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5824\/revisions\/6022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}