So… This Is Bordeaux
I started going through my Bordeaux pictures again. And somewhere between vineyards, Saint-Émilion, ridiculous walls of wine and a bottle I still haven’t emotionally recovered from not being able to find easily, I realized I never really wrote about what I thought of Bordeaux itself.
Bordeaux is interesting because you arrive knowing one thing: WINE (in my case). All hail Bordeaux! gavé bien, gavé beau, home of some of the most famous wines in the world, BUT once you’re actually there, you realize the wine is almost the thread connecting a bunch of other things—history, little towns, food, architecture and traditions I knew absolutely nada about.
The Cruise!
The trip to actually get to Bordeaux was interesting. We flew first to (Paris? #forgot) France and then had to take a much smaller plane to Bordeaux to get to our cruise. Thankfully, the person receiving us spoke both languages because our driver didn’t—and she also thankfully had reception, because we definitely did not. So between languages, phones and figuring out where exactly we were going, I was very grateful she was there.
Once we were actually on the cruise, though, I was amazed. Before this, the only cruise I’d ever been on was a Carnival cruise, so yup, yup… quite a contrast. This was smaller, much more intimate, and just a completely different experience from what I knew cruising to be.
There’s more than enough credit I would have to give this decision. This Bordeaux Scenic cruise was somewhere between magical and a small interesting moment I prefer not to remember—at least for now. Moving on—it was 90 percent great, so I’ll focus on that.
We traveled along the Garonne and Dordogne. Do I remember at which point exactly where we in Entre-Deux-Mers or the Gironde? Nope. But the scenery was beautiful, which is what matters most here. The excursions were really well organized, and I actually loved the Plan Bs because they somehow ended up being great. There was even one change where I was genuinely glad we couldn’t do what had originally been planned.
And then there were the wine pairings (#yay). The food was good, but for me at least, the wines were the highlights.
Side note: If you see this wine (Château Tour de Mirambeau Bordeaux Blanc), just get it. I LOVED this wine and was genuinely sad to discover how difficult it was to find again.
Let me tell you… we were also the youngest people on this cruise. On several occasions, guests confused us for other staff and asked us for towels or information about the cruise. (Yup.) But that’s another fun story.
Of course, once we were settled, I had to get an update on the pets back home. They had both recently suffered the loss of one of my dogs, and my mother had very gratefully taken over taking care of the doggy and kitty while we were away. My mother is a mom, after all, so I already knew those pets were getting the royal treatment.
However, after chatting with my dog and asking him to please stop torturing my mother with his 100 laps around the kitchen every night, we headed out for the excursion.
Okay, Now Show Me the Wine
Our guide was soooo nice and friendly, and she thankfully—and with a lot of grace—allowed me to ask all my annoying wino questions… aaaannnd, she had an answer to every single one of them #lovedher.
Eventually, we made our way through different vineyards, beautiful scenery and, most importantly, plenty of wine. You can see our visit to Château de Siaurac and the vs. in their wines here, along with some of the wines we tried along the way. And somewhere between all those vineyards and bottles, it was finally time to actually explore the place behind the name…
Bordeaux City Baby!
Once we reached Bordeaux itself and docked in the city #yay!, it felt like the weather decided to welcome us too. After some of the cloudy skies we’d had earlier, everything started clearing up, which made arriving even nicer. Whenever we went up to the open top deck of the cruise, we could sit, have something to eat or drink and just look out at the city. There were several other river cruises docked nearby too, so there was always something going on along the river without it ever feeling overly hectic.
Exploring the city itself was just as nice. Walking around was easy, the weather was finally cooperating, and I loved how many different restaurants we came across—there wasn’t that feeling of seeing the same thing over and over again, which unfortunately is an annoying trait of mine. The food choices were interesting, and naturally, I managed to try quite a few wines along the way… #cough #cough you know, important cultural research.
I also want to highlight the citizens? Bordelians? Bordelais? (#TheLocals). Everyone we encountered was incredibly friendly and welcoming, and many seemed genuinely happy—and excited—to recommend wines and food pairings. Honestly, I personally felt much more welcomed in Bordeaux than I did in Paris.
And Then… More Wine
We had seen some vineyards already, but of course, they didn’t stop there. We also made our way to Sauternes, which I had only tried one of their sweet wines back at the states. Between the barrels, the enormous vessels and getting to see more of what actually happens behind the bottle, there was plenty to happily investigate. We also visited La Tour Blanche, but that one gets its own story—you can read about our visit here.
And then there was this absolutely beautiful château/tower that, I cannot for the life of me remember the name of (but will edit this post once I do). Look people, I remember the wines… Either way, just look at it! This was another one of those moments where Bordeaux kept reminding me that even when wine was technically the reason for the trip, there was always something else worth stopping for.
A Little More Saint-Émilion Please
Walking around Saint-Émilion was honestly a treat on its own. I was so happy seeing wine shop after wine shop filled with château names I was already very familiar with. Of course, did I casually walk out with bottles from the very well-known classified growths? Haha… absolutely not. My wallet and I were still on speaking terms from the past year. BUT just getting to browse, recognize names and see all of it right there was pretty exciting for me.
Our guide was wonderful and gave us plenty of time to actually explore instead of making everything feel rushed, which I really appreciated. Between the little streets, wine shops, history and, apparently, macarons too, Saint-Émilion deserved more than just a quick mention here. For more from our time in Saint-Émilion, you can see the full article here.
Wait… Could I Live Here?
Something else surprised me about Bordeaux itself: how calm it felt. Maybe I expected somewhere so famous for wine to feel busier or more intimidating, but that wasn’t my experience at all. There was something about walking around, looking at the architecture, stopping for food, seeing people go about their day, and having vineyards EVERYWHERE never feel that far away that made everyday life there seem… really nice.
It was one of those places that makes you briefly start imagining an entirely different life for yourself. What if I just lived here?.. You know, just walk around Bordeaux, practice my French, drink wine (#duh), eat macarons… I mean, I’ve heard worse plans. Like I said too, people were so nice to us. Also, a surprising number of the people we came across spoke French and English—and sometimes Spanish too—which, for me, was basically the linguistic jackpot.
So… This Is Bordeaux
I went to Bordeaux because of wine #nosurprisethere. And yes, the wine absolutely delivered. But looking back at these pictures, that’s not really the only thing I remember anymore. I remember the vineyards outside the window, Saint-Émilion, discovering the macaron story, our incredibly patient guide answering my million wino questions, beautiful buildings whose names I apparently had no intention of remembering, and a city that made slowing down and enjoying where you were seem pretty natural.
Bordeaux felt lively without feeling rushed, and it was one of those cities where simply walking around, eating, drinking and seeing where you ended up was part of the experience.
Maybe that’s what surprised me most about Bordeaux. Wine gets you there, but Bordeaux gives you plenty of reasons to look up from the glass. Although, to be clear, I was still very much looking back down at the glass too.
