Noooooo. I’m not ready to go home

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Art, Bordeaux, Foodie, le Chapon Fin, London, opera, Paris, Pompidou, vacation

I’m always sad to leave the fun, if artificial, world of a vacation and return to the day-to-day reality. Tomorrow I head back to Toronto, while Dave stays in London to see a few people. To end the trip we walked around the city, first under cloud cover and then in the pouring rain.

View from hotel

National Gallery

Trafalgar Square

Big Ben and a Double Decker- How British

The Eye of London

We reminisced over the favourite parts of the trip over dinner. So, here are the Trip Oscars.

Best Restaurant

We both agreed on the Chapon Fin in Bordeaux. It was the perfect mix of fun decor, phenomenal food that we wouldn’t normally order (sweetbreads), and service that was attentive but casual. Great all around.

Le Chapon Fin

Best Cultural Event

For Dave it was the Opera, La Boheme, at the Grand Theatre in Bordeaux. The singing was great, the theatre opulent and the set inspired. For me it was the Centre Pompidou.

I love contemporary and modern art and this had it all, from weird to political to pretty.

Recreation of a sweatshop in India

Favourite Excursion

We both agreed on the day tour of the vineyards of Medoc in Bordeaux. We learned much about the history and production of wine in this region. Plus we tasted really good wines. That moment that encapsulated the trip

For Dave it was that time in the medieval town of St. Emilion when the clouds cleared and we were looking down on the most picturesque hilltop village. I will always remember eating dinner outside on the veranda of a restaurant in Bordeaux. The fire was keeping us warm, the food was good, life was passing us by on the street and a group of street dancers were performing across the square. And of course, we have to include the best selfie of the trip. Good bye Paris, Bordeaux and London.

Final Day in Paris

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Art, gourmet, Guy Savoie, Impressionism, les Bouquinistes, Musee d'orsay, Paris

Today is our final full day in Paris, before we head to London where I fly home on Monday and Dave stays for his meetings. I have been to Paris four times, and I never get tired of this city. There is much to do here.

After the required pain au chocolat (I think I will look like one soon I have had so many), we started at the magnificent Musee d’Orsay.

Musee d’Orsay

The Orsay has what is perhaps one of the world’s most significant impressionist art collections in the entire world. Paris was where, in the 1870s, the impressionist art movement started. It is located in an old train terminal and it still has remnants of this past.

Musee d’Orsay

I appreciate the art from this time period, but I don’t love it. To be honest, although it is pretty, much of it looks the same to me. How many times can Monet paint that church, those haystacks or a scene in the woods? I might be exaggerating just a little bit. What is surprising is that something which looks so banal today caused an uproar in Parisian society at the time and was considered shocking.

We weren’t allowed to take pictures so there are no paintings to show on the blog tonight.

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around the city.

Louvre

A random street in Paris

Tonight we had the tasting menu at a restaurant called Les Bouquinistes, which translates as the used booksellers. Near the river Seine there are booksellers all along the side of the road and the restaurant’s decor reflects this local heritage.

Inside Les Bouquinistes

The dinner consisted of six courses. We started with Foie Gras with a fruit chutney, then had seared tuna with spicy hummus and potato, followed by Ravioli with mushrooms in a squash soup. The fish course was perfectly cooked salmon and the meat course was a moist and tender suckling pork. As if this wasn’t enough we had a dessert of meringue, served with vanilla and chestnut ice cream. So good.

I love this city and hope we can spend part of our retirement here. I know, I’m too young to be thinking seriously about retirement. But it’s fun to imagine having fresh croissants and bread from the local boulangerie, sipping cafe outside while reading the paper and dining at the local brasserie. I find Parisians to be warm and friendly, despite their undeserved reputation. When we needed help they were accommodating, they were always talkative and they allowed me to massacre their language without complaint.

To contrast the bizarre bear installation from last night I thought I would end today’s entry with a cuddly alternative from another window display.

Ahhhh, such cuddly bears

From Bordeaux Back to Paris

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Arc de Triomphe, Art, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Musee des Beaux Art, Boulangerie, Champs Elysee, Eiffel Tower, food, France, musee de beaux arts, Paris

There really isn’t much to tell. It was a quiet day yesterday strolling around bordeaux, taking the train to Paris, having dinner and revisiting some favourite Parisienne sites.

We had the morning to wander around the city one last time. Where do you think we started? That’s right, our favourite boulangerie for one more pain au chocolat and cafe. They are so good; flaky pastry surrounding tasty pieces of dark chocolate. I have consumed so many ‘white carbs’ this trip it’s ridiculous, but so tasty. I think my body will reject whole grains when I go back to my normal diet next week.

So much white flour!

We then visited the local Art Gallery. It is small but had a good overview of bordelaise artists, including some great Marquets.

Bordeaux Musee des Beaux Art

And a picture of the harbour in the early 1800s. It looks remarkably similar to the way it is now, just less busy.

The train ride was a relaxing three hours with nothing else to do but read. For a lot of people this might be boring but I love reading and didn’t put down my book the entire time. I finished my second book this trip- Bossypants by Tina Fey. She is smart and I like her observational humour.

Train station at Bordeaux

Waiting for the train

For dinner we dined on a huge platter of seafood. The sommelier complimented my french, which made me feel less self conscious about my Anglo accent. It has been years since I really spoke french so it was nice to hear.

This is what arrived at our table- Oysters, lobster, crab, mussels and escargot. Just look at how huge that tower is.

Afterward we strolled past the Eiffel Tower, across to the Champs Élysées and up to the arc de triomphe. I never get tired of seeing these buildings at night. Spectacular.

Along the way we saw a silver bear with a funnel of wine up his butt. Huh??? I don’t get it either. This is a window for a clothing store and not a contemporary art gallery. In Paris I guess the two are interchangeable.

And some Frank Gerhy panels flanking Louis Vuitton purses. Dave was shocked that a purse could cost over 3,000 euros. He clearly leads a very sheltered life.

A quick subway ride to the hotel, and we arrived back around 1:00 am. I love that this late in the evening the streets and metro are packed with people. They weren’t drunk, they were just out taking in the sights.

Bordeaux Wine 101

Tags

Bordeaux, Chateaux, France, Margaux, medoc, vacation, Wine

I find French wine confusing, which is why I never really buy much of it. Between Chateaus, Domaines, and Grands Crus I just don’t know what anything means, so I normally go to the North American section where a Cabernet Sauvignon is exactly what it says it is.

After visiting three vineyards with our guide, Sarah, I have a slightly better understanding. I’m no expert but I think I can now buy a bottle of French wine with confidence at my local wine store.

Here’s a quick rundown. Bordeaux is home to over 10,000 wineries. Yes, you read that right – 10,000.

In the Medoc region of Bordeaux, 61 have the highest classification of a Grand Crus. So, you are saying to yourself, this means they have been selected as the best of the best. Yes and no.  The classification was made in 1855 with only two additions since. Having the designation means you might have been the best 160 years ago.  Talk about the old boys club.

The most famous and perhaps most expensive of the Bordeaux Grands Crus is Chateau Margaux.  This place doesn’t accept visitors. Of course not!!!

Why won’t you let us in?

Many of the other Chateau are a bit more egalitarian and allow visitors, although this is a new practice. And you can’t just drive up, you need a tour guide.

The vineyards are often flanked by a gorgeous old limestone mansion, which will always show up on the label. Recognize any of these?  Just kidding.

Bordeaux makes primarily red wine, which can only be made from a blend of two or more of the following grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec or Carmenere. No other grapes allowed. By law. The French love their regulations.

This is harvest season so we saw workers in the field picking the grapes by hand, people sorting and crushing them at specially made machines and the wine being stored in huge steel vats. It was really cool to see how much effort goes into one bottle of wine.

Of course this was my favourite part of the visit- enjoying all the work that went into producing these delicious reds.  So good.

We had dinner outside back in the city overlooking the square. Across the street was a group of street hip hop dancers hanging out, breaking and popping. It was so cool to watch how rhythmic and fluid they were.

I will  miss this place and definitely will make my way back.

The merchant of thirst

Tags

Bordeaux, France, gourmet, le Chapon Fin, Michelin Star, St. Emilion, Travel

Today we spent in the medieval town of St. Emilion, located 40 minutes outside of Bordeaux which has been declared a UNESCO world heritage site.

St Emilion

It’s a charming hilltop town, with brown clay roofs and yellow limestone buildings.

St. Emilion is nestled in the middle of wine country, surrounded by picturesque vineyards as you walk into the city centre.

The town is one big wine store. Every street has wine stores where you can taste the best of the local grapes. We didn’t actually do any wine tastings- we were afraid that we would love them too much and not be able to bring them back due to Ontario’s antiquated liquor laws.

This sign pretty much sums up the town.

Hmmm, I think I will take some of that Petrus 1945 please. At 12,000 Euros it’s a bargain. In Canadian dollars, that’ll be around $17,000.

The town itself is full of narrow, winding cobblestone roads.

Tonight we had dinner at a great restaurant called Le Chapon Fin where we had the tasting menu which included snails, sweatbreads and pigeon. I know it sounds gross but it was all delicious. Yummy. The interior of the resto had rocks that formed a grotto so we felt like we ate in our own personal cave.

After seven courses we are so full right now.  I don’t need any food for the rest of the week.