Travelogue Bordeaux 2017: We came for the wine and loved the food

One of my goals for the trip my wife and I took to France last autumn was to learn more about French wine. I've always felt uncertain about ordering French wine. Show me a wine list, and I can be fairly confident about picking a good wine from California or Italy or Argentina. But not so for the wines from France.

The irony is, on our past trips to France, we've always liked the wine with our meals. Often we would just order a carafe of house wine, and often it would be a Bordeaux. Then, when we'd return home, if I tried to order a French wine at a restaurant, too often it didn't live up to our expectations. So on this trip, we planned a 4-night stay in Bordeaux specifically to become more knowledgeable about the nuances of wine that's produced there.

Saint-Emilion 

During our stay, we did 2 wine-oriented day trips. One day we joined a bus tour to the Medoc region, where we visited 2 chateaus and tasted their wine. The first was Chateau D'Arsac and the other was Chateau Dillon. It was an interesting tour, and we liked the wine that we tasted at each chateau. But not so much that we wanted to buy any. The next day we took a train to Saint-Emilion. Saint-Emilion is a charming, quaint ancient city. There are several tasting rooms. But our best experience there was buying a picnic lunch at a boulangerie and then eating in the courtyard of a ruined convent where we bought a couple of glasses of wine.

Finally, I decided that the best way to learn about the wine of a region is to drink it with a meal.

Now, that's not to say that drinking wine was the only reason we came to Bordeaux. We also wanted to do some sightseeing. It's a beautiful city. Our hotel was in the city center which was very convenient. We were near many great restaurants. We were close to the river Garonne where we would stroll most evenings after dinner. All of the major sights of the city are nearby. And it was easy to get transportation when we needed it.

Sightseeing highlights: Musee des beaux-arts was a great little museum. When we were at the Louvre in Paris, we were disappointed that the wing with French landscape artists was closed. So we were delighted to be able to view so many at this museum in Bordeaux. The Palais Gallien is the ruins of a Roman amphitheater. We found it by accident on our way to the nearby Jardin Public (public garden). Both were worth seeing. The Porte Caihau is the ancient gate into the city from the river docks. And of course, the Saint-André Cathedral is an impressive site. 

Hotel: We stayed at the Quality Hotel Bordeaux Centre. I loved the location. The facilities were just average. Still, it was clean and reasonably priced. And the location was very convenient. 

Restaurants: I felt that the restaurants we visited in Bordeaux were better even than the ones we ate at in Paris. 

Les Voutes - We ate here our first night in Bordeaux. We liked it so much we came back on our last night. The food was excellent. On both visits, we ordered the fixed price menu which was less than 30 Euros. The decor was eclectic and a little funky. The service was efficient and accommodating. 

Tuna at Les Voutes

LouLou was recommended to us by the staff at the hotel. It was a short walk from the hotel, but when we got there (on our first night) they had no tables available. So we made a reservation and came back on our second night. The food was very creative and beautifully presented. The menu was hand-written on a chalkboard. My wife asked for English, but they didn't have one. I felt we could have gotten by. But our server insisted on reading each item to us. To make sure that we would not complain later if we got something unexpected. Fortunately, the menu was short enough, and we loved the meal here.

Chez Jean was a more casual restaurant. It was the only time I had steak frites on our whole trip, and it was very good. There was a chill in the air in the evening. But the restaurant had heaters, so we got a table outside, looking into Place du Parlement, a bustling square with an ornate fountain. I only had one problem. We were outside, and smoking was permitted. There were smokers on both sides of us, and I didn't appreciate the smoke that drifted across our table during dinner. 

We started every day with coffee and a croissant at Brasserie des Douanes. We had the same server every time (including the time we stopped in for a glass of wine and an afternoon snack). 

This was a great part of our trip. I'd happily return to Bordeaux sometime in the future. 

Palais Gallien - Ruins of a Roman Amphitheater 

Taking a Train from San Sebastián to Bordeaux

If I had known how easy it would be, I would have more seriously considered taking the train from Paris to San Sebastian, rather than flying. I had read some reviews online that made me think that the Euskotren from Hendaya to San Sebastián would be unreliable. I recalled the hassles of using the commuter train from Naples to Sorrento and worried that the Euskotren would be like that. 

So as I explained in the previous post, we ended up flying from Paris to Biarritz and then took a bus to San Sebastian. Then, after our very enjoyable stay in San Sebastian, we had to figure out how to get back to France and to our next destination - Bordeaux. I was very frustrated and had gotten to the point where I considered renting a car one-way. Fortunately, my wife insisted that we ask for help. 

Our very helpful staff person at Lagazpi Doce reassured us that the best option was to take the Euskotren. She told us that the station was nearby and that since it was a commuter train, it would be a quick, reliable way to get to Hendaya where we could catch a TVG to Bordeaux (26€ apiece, first class, senior fare). Furthermore she noted that at the time we planned to travel, the train would not be crowded.

That’s exactly how it was. The Euskotren station was an easy 20 minute walk from Lagazpi Doce. The ticket machine offered instructions in English and took my American VISA card with no problem (2.45 € apiece). The train was modern and clean and comfortable and not crowded (at 10:15 am). When it arrived in Hendaya, the SNCF station was right there. 

Being nervous travelers, we arrived an hour and a half before the scheduled departure of our train to Bordeaux. There were no lockers in the station, otherwise we might have stowed our bags and walked through the town. So instead we went across the street and had coffee at Casa José. 

About 20 minutes before our scheduled departure, we went into the station. Our train was on the platform. We boarded and got settled in, connected to the WiFi and relaxed for our ride to Bordeaux.

Travelogue San Sebastian 2017: What country are we in?

Technically, I suppose legally, our trip last autumn included 4 countries - France, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. But actually, the time we spent in San Sebastian really should have counted as a fifth country - Euskadi, the Basque Country. The food, the people, the language (sure, they all speak Spanish, but among themselves, they speak euskara) all are distinctly Basque. Even the name of the city is differentiated; call it San Sebastian if you want, but you'd better understand that locally it's called Donostia.

This was the second city in a long trip that my wife and I took. In many ways, it was my favorite. Getting here from Paris did present some logistical challenges. I considered taking a train. But that would have taken most of a day. So we decided to fly to Biarritz and then took a bus to San Sebastian. We had to get up early to get to the airport, and then after we arrived in Biarritz, we waited for about an hour for the bus. It wasn't bad, but in the end, we might have been better taking the train.

When we arrived in San Sebastian/Donostia, the weather was beautiful. It was much warmer than we expected for mid-October. So after checking in to our hotel, we headed straight for the beach. We didn't have swimsuits, but we did roll up our pants legs and stroll the beach with the cool waves washing over our feet. Idyllic!

Beautiful weather, beautiful beach

Unfortunately, the weather didn't stay so nice. When we woke up on Day 2, it was overcast and threatening rain. So we grabbed umbrellas and hopped on a bus to Bilbao (about 90 minute ride) to see the Guggenheim Museum. It was a fantastic museum and well worth the day trip. We didn't need the umbrellas that day.

There are 3 major hills in Donostia that surround the city and provide beautiful vista views of the town, the bay, and the ocean. During our stay, we hiked each one. On the day we arrived, after walking along the beach, we walked up Monte Igueldo. At the top of the hill is an amusement park. We weren't very interested in that. But we did enjoy the views. If you're not in the mood for a long walk, you can ride a funiclear to the top.

I noted above that threatening weather on Day 2 prompted us to take a day trip to Bilbao. The weather on Day 3 actually was worse. This was the day we chose for our second hike, to the top of Monte Urgull. It was my favorite. A trail near the boat docks in the harbor leads you to the ruins of an old fortress. At the top of the hill, amidst the ruins, is a very enjoyable museum. That was lucky for us, because it started to rain (and we had neglected to bring along umbrellas). We spent about an hour in the museum until the rain ended. It was very informative and enjoyable.

On our last day, the weather once again turned beautiful. We set out to walk around on Monte Ulia. It was a nice walk and the area is noted for its hiking paths. But we felt the views we'd already seen from Igueldo and Urgull were nicer.

Pintxos at Casa Alcalde

Hotel: We spent 4 very nice nights at Legazpi Doce. The room was comfortable. The wifi was reliable. The staff was very helpful. When we made our reservation, there was a special offer to include free breakfast (and a discount on the room rate) for paying in advance. Guests who took advantage of this offer got coupons for breakfast at a cafe across the street, BideBide. It was a good and hearty breakfast. Our room faced onto Legazpi Kalea ('street' in Basque). It was a fairly busy street and somewhat noisy during the day. But it got quieter at night.

Food: We got very enthusiastically engrossed in the pintxos (Basque tapas) culture. There are so many pintxos bars in the Old Town that it's hard to know where to begin. Based on a Tripadviser review, our first stop was Bar Sport. We arrived late afternoon, shortly after it opened and asked the server for a tutorial on ordering pintxos. He was very helpful and gave us good advice. It was a good thing we came early because we walked by again later in the evening, and Bar Sport was jam-packed. You couldn't even get in the door.

We ended up eating pintxos for dinner every night. They probably weren't the most balanced meals of our trip. But we were satisfied and it certainly was inexpensive. I liked Bar Sport the best, and we did return there on our last night in Donostia. My wife liked Casa Alcalde best, and we ate there twice. We also had pintxos at Izkina (the bar, not the restaurant) and another bar called Mendaur (which was our least satisfying of the bunch).

Nightlife: One evening after dinner, we dropped in at Altxerri Jazz Bar. It was a very enjoyable venue and we heard an exciting, energetic Cuban singer. I had a cocktail. It was good, but kind of expensive. My wife had a nice glass of local wine that was delicious and inexpensive. I know that San Sebastian hosts an annual jazz festival. I had kind of expected we'd be able to find more jazz venues. But during our stay in October, Altxerri was the only one we found.

Cuban jazz at Altxerri

In many ways, our stay in Donostia-San Sebastian was my favorite part of the trip. I've recommended it as a destination to friends, and I'd gladly return someday.