If you’re a regular reader, then you know that Tom and I took our first really GOOD vacation in ten years in early August. No kid, not even the dog. (Don’t feel bad for Tynan; he had himself a fine time at a guild mate’s “doggie spa.”) Amazingly, neither of us had even been on a plane in five years – when we were scouting out Albuquerque before our move here in 2015. If you consider that this year we celebrated 25 years of marriage, you can see why it was time. So, we headed to Bordeaux, yes, the one in France, and boarded a Viking long boat for a wine cruise. And, yes, it met every expectation that we had.
We saw all kinds of things: vineyards, a big city (Bordeaux), tiny villages, 18th century forts,sculptures, chateaux, and so on. Got lots of pics to share. So many that I blew out my new Dropbox. Guess I have to pare down some. I don’t want to bore anyone, so I’ll post them according to themes. This week we’ll try NATURE.
Ultimately, we cruised along three different rivers near Bordeaux that week. Two met up at at the Gironde estuary not far from the Atlantic coast. Sadly, there were some, but not many, sea and river birds. I never got a good answer as to why that was given the estuary, but it might have something to do with the region’s agricultural practices.
Being in a world-famous wine region, of course, we toured several wineries. There was one which specialized in Sauternes wines – unfortunately, not my favorite, too sweet – but it was beautiful.
Mind you, chateaux in the Bordeaux area are not at all like those in the Loire valley. While those are about opulence and architecture, the ones in Bordeaux are more about commerce and the making and selling of wine. Often, there’s not a lot going on inside other than rooms for weddings,banquets, and wine tastings. These are real working farms and wineries. To that affect, see who we found at the one in Sauternes.
Karen Miller of Karen D. Miller Studio likes to post cool close-ups of leaves and trees and things. I managed to get a couple of tree pics for her.
And always, everywhere, things were growing!
But we didn’t have to be on land to enjoy nature’s bounty.
There was the captain of the Forseti. That was the name of our river boat.
Damn, I can get a bunch of posts out of this trip. Next time we’ll talk old buildings or something. I mean, we saw the ruins of a castle from the Middle Ages. You don’t see that every day in New Mexico. Till then, Tynan brings you this week’s rug on the frame.
Wow! Looks great! We won’t be going on French cruises – I am not a big wine drinker and it often gives Peter gout. Looks lovely though. I am amazed at the picture of the old grape trunk!
We are a bit worried about the hurricane and the one after it. Luckily we are flying from here to Dulles, so we should be okay.
It’s unbelieveable timing! Last year both big hurricanes arrived when we needed to get north.
My hooking frame is abandoned and I would so like to be hooking letters! I am working on samples for the quilting classes I hope to offer in the winter. These things take so much time.
I wouldn’t say no to the other French cruises. I’d love to do one either north or south from Paris. Especially up towards Normandy. Just hoping that 1) you can make it to Dulles (which looks pretty good right now) and 2) that there’s plenty of water in the Danube. Damn, we hardly have any in the Rio Grande here and what we have is in there only because they’re releasing it from reservoirs so endangered species don’t die. Now tell me why you want to hook letters??? NOT my favorite thing. 🙂 And have a great time next week!