Saint-Emilion

May 21, 2023

We almost got out on the bike today. We spoke last night of getting the bike out and doing a loop around Saint-Emilion, maybe looking for some wine houses to stop in on the way. Then when we got up and it was raining and forecast to rain most of the day so we quickly changed our plans to using the car.

We drove into Saint-Emilion and wandered around the streets. The steep wet cobbled walk ways were a bit slippery in my cycling shoes. We even avoid several steep rock sections as there was no railing to hang on to.

Bell tower of the underground church in Saint-Emilion.

Courtyard fountain for one of the restaurants in lower Saint-Emilion.

Madelynn finds a sign with name on it. I think there may be a lot of these along the way.

Steep cobbled path that proved very slippery. There is a 5 star hotel in the center of Saint-Emilion and that is their giant white bear you can see.

The girls checking out the smell of some climbing roses. The roses are out everywhere and very spectacular. A far cry from the snow we left in Colorado mountains.

Poppies growing wild on top of a rock wall.

Saint-Emilion is another beautiful town and as we were in early the crowds were small. We walked to the bottom of the town around the old defensive wall and back up to the top. By the time we complete the circuit it was time to jump into the car and head to our first wine tour/tasting.

We eventually found the winery after one false destination, thanks google. We went and looked around waiting for the start of our tour and we started noticing that everyone else was speaking French. We asked Maddie if she booked the tour in English. She confidently said she clicked on the one with the red and white flag. We pointed out that the French flag is also red and white. So seeing as we were not going to get much out a tour in French we canceled and went looking for another tasting in English.

One of the new clay pots they are using for aging the wine. Our guide strongly preferred the traditional oak aging but said there was a market for the softer reds produced by the clay.

Our wine tour and tasting at Chateau Grangey. This one was in English.

A tractor used for weeding amongst the vines. The wheel spacing can be adjusted to match the vines.

Kathy with stakes for a new vineyard plot

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