Day 12 - Tues, 21 Sept - St.Emillion - Bourdeaux

Today we travelled to Libourne on the Dordogne River.  This is a small village of tiny cobbled lanes and an open square where the daily covered market bussles.  Fruit, clothes, linen, plants and cheese stalls are set up from early morning and close by lunch.  We procrastinated, over a linen stall that was selling tradional crafted tableware.  Tableclothes in natural material with floral or checked borders were of particular interest.  We decided not to get anything because they were too big, although beautiful.  Next stop was St. Emillion a charming village in the middle of the Bordeaux wine district.  Kilometres and kilometres of vineyards which are heavy with fruit will be picked at the end of September.  Some by hand, like the Grand Cru and others by machine.   St.Emillion represents much like other French villages settled in the 12th century - narrow, cobbled alleyways, sandstone block exteriors with warm blends of Spanish tiles with shutters on the windows.  We enjoyed lunch outdoors and chose soup: onion for Stuart and vegetable for me.  One Canadian couple in our party are bilingual and are happy to help out if we are in need of a translator, and we have become quite friendly with them. 

After leaving St.Emillion we toured the wine districts and stopped off at Bordeaux - a major city on the River Garonne.  Along the waterfront is a long sweep of elegant, classical fascades, first built to mask the slums behind.  In the centre of the main square called, "Esplanade de Quinconces" is a the "Monument aux Girondins" which was built between 1804 - 1902.  It commemorates the Girondinists (original revolutionaries who said that the killings should stop) who were sent to the guillotines by Robespierre during (1793 - 5).  The monument features a column with an angel atop surrounded at the base with huge fountains of galloping horses.  During the 1st World War, the sculptures had been removed to be melted down, but thankfully someone had hidden them in crates in a warehouse and were rediscovered in the 70's.  The horses appear to rise up from the pools of water with sprays coming from their nostrils.  This brought these gorgeous sculptures to life.

Our accommodation at Relais Margaux was a classy French golf resort.  It is one of many large vineyards which have been purchased by the Hotel chains, as the taxes make it uneconomical to continue the family ownership.  We had booked to dine at the Hotel Brasserie which turned out to be a bit of a debacle.  The restaurant had endured a power failure during the day and they were only able to offer a narrow set menu (Entree: Fois Gras (duck liver pate), Main: Duck, Sweets: Macaroons.  We were very disappointed as it did not reflect the standard of the hotel at all.  We enjoyed the company of our Canadian and American friends as well as Shirley (our Doncaster friend).