Monthly Archives: May 2014

Historical Monaco Grand Prix

11 Sunday May 2014

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This may actually be a more fun event than the actual Grand Prix. Three days in May of watching old racing cars race on the actual Grand Prix track, a couple of weeks before the real event takes place. Races take place between old racing cars dating back to the 40s, racing against each other, and moving up into the late 70s. It is quite something to see how the styles of the cars, how they are driven and how then handle the course evolve over this 40 years period. And how the sound level evolves as well!

They open up the pits so you can wonder around and see the old cars up close while they work on them. The crowds aren’t bad either. A very fun event I plan to take in again next year.

Spring Spain/France Tour

09 Friday May 2014

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In mid’ April of this year (2014), we set off on a trip we’d been wanting to do for some time, to visit Andorra in the Pyrenees, and then make our way over to Bordeaux and do some wine tasting. In between we’d visit towns along the Pyrenees and the Spanish/French border and come back along the Dordogne river. But it all depended on the weather. This is just a brief summary of the trip, with links to other posts about specific places we visited with more info and photos.

We booked Andorra for sure, as we wanted to do that regardless of the weather conditions. We flew into Toulouse late, picked up our Toyota hybrid electric/gas car (fun!), stayed at the Best Western airport hotel (nice!) and then headed for Andorra in the morning. We spent two days there, experience rain, snow, sun and cloudy weather. The forecast showed that the weather in Bordeaux and on the northern side of the Pyrenees would be rainy, so we decided to go south instead, into Spain. We had three days to kill before we needed to be in Pauillac, Bordeaux for our hotel reservation there. Weather looked good in Zaragoza, and so did photos of the town on Google. So we headed south and spent a day there, another in Logroños and then headed for the coast to a small town called Hondarubbia, just below the Spanish/French border.

From there we headed up for two days of wine tasting in Pauillac. And then it was time to begin making our way back to Toulouse following the Dordogne Valley. In Zaragoza we had booked a small B&B at a chateau in the Pecharmant region just outside of Bergerac. After that we headed east along the Dordogne, spending a couple of days at another B&B chateau in Gageac. Our final night was at again a chateau (we really enjoy these old homes/mansions that offer accommodations, often that rival top luxury hotels but at half to a third of the price) in Greves near Figeac  in the Lot region next to the Dordogne and above Toulouse. Our final day involved a drive down the Cleré valley to Toulouse and then flew back to Nice. An intense but great trip which got us to a lot of places, a number of them which we are already planning on a return trip.

That’s the first trip of the year. Coming up is a return boating trip to Bodrum, Turkey in May, sailing in Croatia in June, and then to Canada for the summer, returning back to France in September. Busy year…

Following the Cleré river in the Lot region of France

04 Sunday May 2014

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St. Cirq Lapopie along the Cleré river

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Rocamadour

Stage Five: We left the next day following the Dordogne east towards Souillac and Rocamadour, leaving the region of Dordogne and entering its poorer, not-as-well known brother region of Lot. Rocamadour is a lovely place that’s built into the side of a large cliff face and was our first stop within Lot. We visited it from the top first, taking in the great views from the chateau ramparts. If you are not fond of heights, you may want to skip this.  You can take a funicular ride down into the village, or drive around and go by car. We made our way along the cliff’s edge to where the road descends to the lower part of the village, stopping along the way at L’Esplanade for lunch. You’ll see their large parking area before you descend, offering great views looking back at the village. We enjoyed a salad each and crepes for dessert. Food was good but the viewing looking back really made it worthwhile. In the village it can get quite busy as this is a rather popular spot.

We continued to St. Ceré, a lovely village along the Bave river that has been wonderfully restored with some lovely medieval age homes. Also a nice walkway along the river. Not a bad place to stop for lunch. We then headed to south to Greves where we would be staying for the night. Our hotel Le Grezalide, is a restored chateau with extra rooms added in an adjacent building. It seems to be a popular place for people to use as a base to explore the region on foot and by bike. Not many people there when we were there, but it seems to be very popular. I can now understand why I had a hard time finding a decent hotel in Figeac; I don’t think there are any. Figeac seems to be suffering from a downturn in their economy. It’s a medieval town and quite obvious by the buildings in the village, but lacking character and charm.

The Cleré river from St. Cirq

The Cleré river from St. Cirq

We got up early the next day and drove down the highway along the Cleré river towards Cahors. A lovely drive inside a canyon that has been carved out by the Cleré, with some lovely small villages, many built into cliffs with homes that have a back wall that is the cliff itself. St. Cirq Lapopie is the nicest of the all, set above the Cleré river, providing panoramic views of the valley. The village itself is picturesque and has some great shops (be sure to check out the Museé de Vin) and restaurants. A good place to stop for lunch and get some great view photos.

From here we drove into Toulouse for lunch and to walk its many pedestrian streets. A great city, one we need to return to and explore some more. We caught an 8PM flight back to Nice and were glad to be back in our bed and have access to new clothes.

The villages that stand out most, that the musts to do in the Dordogne, are Beynac and Sarlat. Beynac for the castle, valley view and the quaintness of the village, Sarlat for just a great medieval town to stroll around that has really been done up and kept up well. There’s a lot of history in both that is worth following.

St. Cirq Lapopie
St. Cirque Lapopie
View from chateau of St. Cirq
St. Cirq
St. Cirq and Cleré river
Rocamadour
View from chateau of Rocamadour
St. Clere
St. Clere
Medieval homes built into the cliffs of the river Cleré
The Cleré river from St. Cirq

The Dordogne Valley, France

03 Saturday May 2014

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Dordogne River - 1

St. Emillon

St. Emillon

 

Stage Four: Before arriving in Bergerac, our next stay, we visited St. Emillon, the Disneylandia for wine lovers. This perfectly preserved village now contains mostly wine stores, some of them works of art in themselves. We have now visited St. Emillon and Pauillac without buying one bottle to take with us back home! It was raining during our time in Bergerac, so it wasn’t the best way to see the town. However, having seen a lot, and knowing some of the one’s to come (Sarlat, Gageac, Beynac), it isn’t a “must-do” as far as we are concerned. Our stay was nice, however, at Chateau Les Farcies that is just outside of town in the Pechament wine area.

Approaching Chateau Beynac from the east

Approaching Chateau Beynac from the east

On the way to our next hotel we stopped at Beynac and walked up to the chateau at the top of the hill. You can’t miss it, not matter which direction you are coming from, it is sitting so high up and dominating the valley. It is a bit of a climb but well worth it. They provide tours at no cost and these are worth taking. Our guide was quite animative and certainly knew his history. At the time of the Hundred Years’ War, the fortress at Beynac was in French hands and the Dordogne river was the border between France and England. Not far away, on the opposite bank of the river, the Château de Castelnaud was held by the English. The Dordogne region was the theatre of numerous struggles for influence, rivalries and occasionally battles between the English and French supporters. Interestingly, as a result of the marriage between Alienor d’Aquitaine and the future king of England, Henri Plantagenêt, Beynac became English property, although it was controlled by the Count of Toulouse, a vassal of the king of France. Richard the 1st (the “LionHeart”), however, seized the castle in 1197, falling fully under the control of England. Richard’s army found shelter in the central tower of the castle for years, but when Richard was killed in 1199, the French quickly took back the castle.The chateau is often closed on Sundays and Mondays for the owner’s family use, we were told. You may see an open door during the tour into their apartments. Continue reading →

Pauillac, Bordeaux

01 Thursday May 2014

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Pauillac vineyards

Pauillac vineyards

Stage Three: We drove up from the Spanish/French border and experienced rain nearly all the way. But by the time we reached Pauillac, although it was partly cloudy, the rain had stopped except for occasional showers.

Chateau Cordeillan-Bages

Chateau Cordeillan-Bages

We stated at Chateau Cordeillan-Bages, a Relais & Chateau hotel owned by the Cazes family of Chateau Lynch-Bages. It is every bit what a R&C hotel should be, with nicely furnished and decorated rooms and plenty of common area space. The main restaurant is a Michelin two star, which was out of our budget range. Instead, we had dinner at the Bages Bistro Lavindra and it was very good, good enough that we returned the next day for lunch. They have eight wines available by the glass and an extensive wine list. It is located with the small village of Bages, most of which the Cazes family have purchased and renovated, opening up a wine store, delicatessen and a few other food stores.

We started our full-day of touring the next morning with Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Quite amazing, one of the five only first growths, property of the Rothschilds since 1853 and currently operated by 80-year old Philippina Rotchschild. Unfortunately for the tasting it was only a 2012 wine, still rather young for this bordeaux. We had lunch at Lavindra again and then went for a tour at Pontet Canet, which is right across the street from Mouton. Smaller presentation but very interesting, especially to see how differently they make the wine to their neighbor. Our tasting was much better, their 2007 which had much less tannins and more body that what we experienced at Mouton, funny what letting a wine age can do to its quality and performance. Our final tour was with Chateau Lynch-Bages, a favorite wine of ours, when we can afford it or it is being poured for us. Our guide was exceptional; she really knew not only Lynch-Bages well, but the whole wine production process. We really felt we learned more here than we had in all the other tours. And they finished off as well with a 2007 for their tasting, and although not one of their best years, it still was lovely.

TIP: It is better to stick to the smaller wineries, as they offer tastings and tours usually for free and provide tastings from aged wine. The high end one’s charge and provide only very young wines to taste.

We finished off our tour day with a bottle of champagne in the sitting area of Chateau Bages first and then an amazing dinner at Le Saint Julian in St. Julian. Not only is the setting wonderful (restored older home in white accentuated with dark wood furniture) but the food was amazing. Limited but excellent wine list with wines from the region and reasonable rates. We tried a 2009 Moulis, which has a higher percentage of Merlot than neighboring Pauillac, and it was superb.

Funny, for the money I much prefer Logroño; good wine, more action, better prices and more options for dining. And with the tapas bars, and the average price of a glass of wine from $1.5 to 2.5 euros, you can easily taste a lot of different wines at a reasonable price. Certainly they are bordeaux, but it sure makes a wide range of different wines very accessible.

From Bordeaux we headed east following the Dordogne river up into the Dordogne valley. (Click on any photo below to see a slideshow)

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