More Chateaux and A Quick Trip to Bordeaux
2:20 PMThis past Saturday we had a group excursion to the nearby town of Amboise, a little over thirty minutes away. Although we had a prep session the day before, we all know how skilled I am at tuning out anything history-related so I really didn't know what to expect besides that we were going to see yet another chateau as well as the house of Leonardo Da Vinci. Needless to say I rolled out of bed rather reluctantly Saturday morning and made my way to the bus at 9:45.
After a short drive we arrived at a beautiful town right on the Loire River with a fortress/chateau high above it. We got a quick glimpse of the quaint village and were informed of an amazing chocolate shop (priorities, priorities) as we trekked our way up the hill to the chateau. Luckily, at least in my opinion, only 20 percent of the chateau remains today because the other 80 percent was taken down and repurposed (I think?? Again, not good with history). As a result, there wasn't a whole lot to see so the tour was rather quick tgod, tgod. And, we got a private tour which was also a saving grace because - surprise surprise! - we saw our Viking River Cruise friends who were so hard of hearing they walked around with headphones in that were connected to their tour guide's microphone... serious #oldpeopleproblems. But, the chateau did have some killer views of the city and the river and the grounds were beautifully manicured. Plus, we saw a small chapel where Da Vinci is buried. But, that's not scientifically proven so I guess everyone's just going with it because it sounds cool and impressive. I'm not going to question it.
just 1/5 of what it was... |
royal views |
hey Leo |
Cadet Kelly |
chocolate shop on the right |
peep the VRC people in the back |
quaint, right? |
not a bad place to spend the end of your life |
the grass is always greener...when you're not allowed to walk on it |
why it's called glass blowing |
vase? |
We finally got to the wine tasting only for it to be closed with a sign on the door saying to go to another location. We found that place, went inside and literally thought we were in someone's apartment. We asked the guy if we could do a wine tasting and he told us they were doing a brunch at the moment and to come back at 2:00. I looked at him beyond confused and showed him his own brochure that said they closed at 1:30. Casually, he responded that they had changed their hours and just didn't think to change the brochure. Typical Europeans.
We made a reservation for 2:00, and went off to grab a very expensive but nice lunch outside in a large square. We then headed back to the apartment? wine place? don't know what to call it. Turns out, we got a private tasting of 4 wines in wine glasses approximately the size of our heads. We learned a lot, drank a lot, and enjoyed ourselves a lot. But, we didn't pay a lot. All of that for only 12,90 Euro. So, if you're ever in Bordeaux, do a wine tasting at Be The Wine! Your head might regret it, but your wallet won't.
We then booked it to the port where we had a 3:30 boat tour of Bordeaux and its many bridges. Again, we were definitely the youngest people on the boat by 40 years. And the tour guide said everything in French then repeated it in English so it was twice as fun. An hour and a half of this was a little much and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a nice nap on the boat, but it was cool to see Bordeaux from another perspective when I wasn't too busy seeing the back of my eyelids.
they promised the water isn't dirty... |
:) |
the future "wine city" of Bordeaux...I'll be back for that |
miroir d'eau (mirror of water) |
But, our good luck ended there. The bus was supposed to be come at 5:45 but, in typical French fashion, they didn't come out and tell us that it had broken down until 6:00. We were exhausted anyways so we got reimbursed and then headed to dinner. We found another adorable square with some guy singing opera and plenty of restaurants with outdoor seating and treated ourselves to a three course meal and some amazing local wine, all for under 20 Euro per person.
cheers to good wine and a good day |
highly necessary |
ended the day on a very good note |
Cheers!
Joanna
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