Wednesday and Thursday, May 22 and 23
We checked out of our hotel and went to the train station. Jill and Randy had hired a car to transport us and our gear. A very nice Mercedes van, a form of transport to which we could happily become accustomed. We picked up a new car, one a bit better sized to handle four people and their bags, and headed to St-Emilion.
Though we (Jerry and I) had just recently spent time in wine country, we wanted to let Jill and Randy see at least one wine region. St-Emilion, the city, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. And St-Emilion, the wine region, is particularly scenic. It’s also quite close to Bordeaux and somewhat on the way to our next destination.
In 2012, once our Road Scholar tour was over, we had taken a train from Bordeaux to Biarritz. We had picked up a car and spent about 10 days exploring French Basque Country and Gascony. To finish off that trip, we had decided to spend our last two nights in a lodging in a vineyard. Just sounds romantic and relaxing, don’t you think? We spent those two nights at the Chateau de Mole in Puisseguin, one of the St-Emilion satellite wine districts.
Puisseguin and the Chateau de Mole was where we headed again.
We had forgotten just how beautiful the St-Emilion wine country is. Lovely contoured hills and lush green vistas. Thanks to some inconveniently placed road construction, we had a very scenic trek to our hotel in Puisseguin.
After checking in, we sat out on the terrace for awhile at our hotel, getting some fresh air and catching up on our emails, etc. In one of those funny, serendipitous moments, we got an email from Cellar Door, our usual source of wine in Portland, with a special offer on a Puisseguin wine. What in the world are the chances of that happening?! We thought it a sign for sure and promptly ordered some of the wine. The next morning, we happened to drive by the winery and stopped to take a quick look. That, too, was a serendipitous sighting. This wine has some seriously good vibes going for it.
We had an idyllic dinner our first night. A balmy evening, seated on the terrace of an old presbytery, at the foot of a very old church. The food was very good. It gets dark quite late here, but eventually we were bathed in a pink glow from the sunset. Then, in typical French fashion, the church and several other buildings around us became illuminated as the evening darkened—adding yet another layer of charm.
On Thursday, we spent time in St-Emilion itself. We visited the cathedral and admired the view from the main square. After Jill and Randy and we completed our separate explorations, we met for some iced tea and a chance to do some people watching on the square.
We took a scenic vineyard drive back to our hotel, stopping to enjoy the views from a particularly nicely situated chateau.
When we had checked in the day before, we had requested a wine tasting at Chateau de Mole for this afternoon. We were taken out to the edge of the vineyard, then the fermentation room and the aging cellar. We then tasted three wines, each representing different levels of their wine—a lighter style wine meant to be drunk young; a typical wine of the Puisseguin area; and a special, reserve wine.
We had another lovely dinner, this evening at a restaurant Jerry and I had deemed to be the best meal of our 2012 trip, Le Clos Mirande. It was a nice finish to our short stay.
As we left on Friday, we soaked in all the pretty views we could.
Excellent Photos.
What wonderful descriptions and photographs of your wine country peregrinations. I think we will have to plan a trip to this area in the near future. Let us all know how that wine with “seriously good vibes” turned out!
Thank you, Thank you, Have wanted to visit Basque country since enjoying a foreign exchange student from that area many years ago.
Thanks for sharing the wonder of it all !!
We were wondering if there are many other tourists in this lovely countryside. And if so, what nationalities?
The photos continue to be enticing.
Certainly St-Emilion, the town, is a very visited place. There were a few tour buses parked outside town, but it didn’t seem too heavy. This is still off season. We saw lots of families and people picnicking in a park near the parking area. Saw a couple of cycling groups too.