The AirBnB had a wrap-around deck which it turns out was great for an early morning coffee.
Today’s breakfast was a little more organised, or maybe just closer; There was a former armoury next door which had been repurposed into lots of different places, including a boulangerie where we got breakfast pastries & coffee. Seemed a reasonably popular spot because there was a long-ass queue within the place, probably 30-40 people, but it moved quickly.
We had a boat trip booked for the afternoon and so went to a museum of wine (City du Vin) as our morning or at least midday activity. Getting there involved a bit of a stroll to a ferry port, and then taking the ferry across the river.
While on the ferry another passengers dog noticed that there was a baguette in the storage area of a baby stroller, and decided that since nobody was paying attention to the aforementioned bread, it must be for dogs. It did not get to actually eat the bread because it was spotted removing the paper bag wrapped object of its thievery, and the bread was confiscated, to the disappointment of the dog and the embarrassment of the owner.
The other side of the river had a paved waterfront, ‘our’ side was stone paths & trees. On the other hand, the other side of the river also had a store selling stuff to deal with mosquito bites, which were a problem for one of the group. I’d also left a window open to sleep, but woke at the first whine of a biting horror, shut the window, and went on a killing spree until the room was clear.The design of the building is supposed to evoke the swirl of wine in a glass. Apparently.Tried a really nice Bordeaux Cremant and an OK Bordeaux I’m not actually sure but it was a white wineMuseum of Wine was exactly what it sounds like. You got a little guide thing on a smartphone to access recorded talks, though there were people who’d tag their phone on the “play” thing & then just stupidly stand there blocking access to it. I skipped the Wine Through The Ages gallery because it was just impossible to access anything.The bridge across the river lifts up to let ships past. You can see it in the down position in the gallery above this picture; here it is in the up position. We got to see it very slowly rise while enjoying a glass or two of Bordeaux wine from the museum.
The boat tour was a lot of fun, and must have been completely exhausting for the woman delivering the commentary because she was having to do it in both French and English.
Yes, there was a glass of wine that came with the tour. Yes, we bought more wine.
Attempts at finding a place for dinner were not successful, so we did find a number of places that were still open but the kitchen was closed, and also a cafe/bar named for the sole fatality of the Rainbow Warrior bombing.
We didn’t get food, but we did get a drink at an indoor skate park in the repurposed armory area. Very fun place, and it had an extremely decorated and graffitied train car.Dinner ended up being everything that had been purchased for snacks over the course of the weekend, so sort of an extended charcuterie. Plus the bottle of wine I’d bought from the second chateau visit yesterday, because I had zero spare luggage space so there was no way it was coming back to the UK with me
