The food was amazing!

One thing for sure, this is Foie Gras country! Bob and Joan LOVE it, Dennis can do, me no way. :(. Every little shop sells it and as you drive along there are places where it is produced.














The fresh fruits and vegetables are for sale in little markets everywhere.









Also the fresh seafood in Arcachon as well as all the towns along the Atlantic are plentiful in the markets.

Oysters (huîtres) and mussels (moules) are plentiful.






Our favorites were Les Moules á la creme fraiche. They come with pomme frites for just 9.5€ . Yum.








Speaking of the €, although we give them a dollar and they give us just .80 cents worth, tips and tax are included in everything you buy so we did not find it to be particularly expensive in most cases. We stayed in darling hotels with private baths for €60 and as I say that includes all tax. The food was excellent and inexpensive. In most cases you would see a menu with 3 prix fixe choices with appetizer or first course they call entree. The main plat or main course and a dessert for as little as €11. Some as high as €25 but that was rare. Again this includes tip and tax.

The house wine - vin rouge de la maison- was very good in almost every case and very cheap. €3-4 Euros at most. Dennis drank some but red wine has been bothering him so his drink of choice was usually biere. 1664 is quite good and almost always on draft but costs as much or


more than a glass of wine. Baldy enjoys one here but in this case a Heineken. He has expensive taste. :)

Wine tasting room at Chateau Palmer.





We can't forget the bread! The baguettes are outstanding and we pick them up fresh daily. They seem to be sticking out of every backpack and bag.




The desserts are so incredible they deserve their own blog! One thing we tried and now love is Gateau Basque. A cake with a center I can't describe or even place the taste. Maybe like a cheesecake consistency but a crust top and bottom. Unique taste. And Choclatiers on every block!







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Location:Southwest France

Cows are now in Bordeaux! And miscellaneous sightings

I guess people never tire of seeing the cows!









I've noticed a lot of man purses over here. This is a man with his wife and child so don't jump to any conclusions. :)



A fabulous sunset over the bay in Arcachon.


Although my favorite is still from our second day when I captured the sun setting over the Atlantic so I will post it one more time.




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Bordeaux II

Bordeaux is just a beautiful city! Here are a few sights!



Grosse Cloche from 1500's






Altar at a small Dominican church, St. Paul










At 6:30 we met Ya-Y-ette Rachel Greenspan (Bonnie's youngest daughter) for a drink. Dennis said he couldn't turn his head for the picture and then just like that became deathly ill. Fortunately Rach has been studying French (to go along with her fluent Spanish) and was able to translate, get us an ambulance, etc. (The rest of that story is blogged below in a previous post)


Rachel and Baldy




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Bordeaux I

After our tour of Haut Brion we headed for the old center of Bordeaux. What a beautiful
City! First we had lunch in a Morrocan restaurant adjacent to the world heritage church and bell tower of St. Michel and we waited for it to reopen at 2:00 most of France closes from 12-2 as restaurants then open.










Only the birthday boy Bob ventured up the 217 steps for a world class view. Dennis and I pleaded height fear and Joan was still really bruised from a bad spill on Tuesday. (the laundromat incident - another story ).







Bob and his 75 birthday candles!




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Biarritz & San Sebastion (Spain)

Last Thursday we took a long day trip and went south from Arcachon to Biarritz. We drove through Bayonne and will spend more time there next time. :). We went on to Biarritz, the neighboring Atlantic coast playground for the rich and famous. It is really amazing. Everything oriented to the ocean. Casinos, ritzy hotels, charming winding streets and topless beaches. How French. ;). This is not a good picture. The good ones are on my higher zoom camera and must wait until I get home and can load into my Mac.
Maybe you can see that in addition to no top she is enjoying a cigarette. Between excess tanning and the chain smoking we observed it is probably safe to say she is not a health nut. ;)




Baldy was along and enjoyed his mussels called les moules in French.






A narrow street with the ocean in view. Joan and Dennis are ahead.

We also stopped in St. Jean de le Luz and considered it a little gem. The port there was darling.



We then drove south and crossed the border into Spain. For all of our travels, neither Dennis nor I have ever been there so now know we must return. Joan and Bob had been there before. It is a VERY cosmopolitan city. The pedestrian walkways and ritzy shopping were very Parisian. The views of the ocean and bay were gorgeous. I tried to remember I would be blogging and take some iPhone pics everywhere we went but apparently got going with my new 10x zoom Sony and forgot. :(

Baldy did acquire a new outfit from Basque country though. Adorable, eh?




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Wine country

Last Wednesday we drove north up the wine road as far as Paulliac where the Lafitte and Mouton Rothschild wineries are located. Unable to get reservations to tour even a couple of months in advance and the actual chateaus are being renovated. However we did two great tours and the views along the way were spectacular. First was Chateau Palmer. Fabulous wine from Margaux appellation. They gave us beautiful books and no charge for the tasting as is usual in Napa. We also ate in a beautiful old house overlooking vineyards for a delightful tasting of local wines and cheeses.







Bob and Joan have a special interest in the vineyards and tours because of they have their own vineyard and make their own wine, Cheval, on their farm in Waynesville.







Joan thought this all purpose vineyard machine might be the perfect birthday gift for Bob the next day. it even said "Bob".




Next we stopped at Chateau Aney for a taste and tour of a Medoc. Again great tour and wine although reasonably priced and not the qualilty of the Palmer.








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