Nov 11, 2011 - Saint-Emilion

Saint-Emilion was the first really "touristy" place we visited. After being the only visitors at the more obscure sites we were suddenly caught up with coachloads of visitors swarming up and down cobbled streets, confronted with souvenir stalls and wine cellars/sellers on every corner. There was even a Japanese (?) couple having their wedding photos taken with the spectacular backdrop of the cathedral and the old walls. We seem to have taken only photos of rooftops which gives no idea of the town at all. Most of the interesting visits had...

Aug 28, 2010 - Two Flights to Bordeaux

One of the nice things about staying in Selestat (along with being in a smaller centre close to the Ban de la Roche) is its easy access to Strasbourg. And since July of this year, the train drops you right at the airport! So I took a 8:14 train from Selestat, a 8:55 train from Strasbourg, and arrived at Entzheim (Strasbourg Airport) at 9:04am! If I had known that the connections would be that easy, I could have slept in a bit, but instead I had enough time for a nice French breakfast at the airport -- lemon yoghurt (the kind in a glass...

Jun 25, 2008 - Wednesday 25 June Road trip to France

Drove through Biarritz. No surf today but a quaint town. No where to park for morning tea so stopped at a blongerie on the way out for croissants. On to Bordeaux. Lovely Countryside with fields of grapevines and old stone buildings. Spent a while trying to find a Gite in Saint Terre but had to give up. Calle din at the office de tourisme who phoned the Gite but no answer. They tried some other Gites but nothing we fancied available. Problem starter motor – when we went to go the van would not start spent about an hour trying but no go....

Aug 9, 2007 - St. Aulaye - St. Emilion

De tent is van binnen droog gebleven. Als wij daarin hadden overnacht, zouden wij niet nat geworden zijn. Buiten het dorp bij een afslag en aan het begin van een lange klim staat Rianne even stil. Ik vraag haar waarom zijn aan het begin van een lange helling stopt. Dat is omdat zij zich afvraagt of wij hier niet moeten afslaan. Ik weet zeker dat wij rechtdoor moeten. Halverwege de helling vraagt Rianne of ik wel zeker weet dat wij op de goede weg zitten. Ik weet het zeker. Ik beloof dat ik de koffie betaal als we verkeerd zitten. Rianne...

Jul 13, 2007 - Madrid to St Emilion

This is the longest travel day so far and one Sheri was most nervous about. The three trains would take us from Madrid to a small town a half hour east of Bordeaux. We would have to be on trains for over 11 hours and make one conection with only a few minutes to spare. We left our hotel about 9am and since this was our third night there we knew exactly where to catch the subway for the train station. We were early so we had a chance to sit at a high table in front of a coffee shop and watch the hundreds scurry about in this very nice...