Welcome to Bordeaux!
My wife Alex and I got to visit the vineyards surrounding the town of St. Emilion…in the heart of what is considered the greatest winemaking region of the world: Bordeaux France!
This incredible wine-infused village has classic remains from an earlier time, plus modern amenities like wine shops on every corner, plus lots of classic pedestrian-only streets…
Luckily, we stayed in the incredible Hotel Pavie, in the heart of the town, with incredible views of the town and surrounding vineyards…
Here was the magical view from our room, complete with hot air balloon over the surrounding vineyards…
It was the perfect setting for an “upside down selfie”, but it was also a perfect location to explore the St. Emilion wine region, which is all around us:
The town is surrounded by vineyards and wineries, and we went for a tasting at the winery owned by our Hotel, Pavie…
On our walk to the vineyard, I came across a classic form of plowing the rows of vines….by horse!
Now this is a classic way to plow under the weeds and dandelions that grow in the rows between the vines during the off season – putting vital nutrients back into the soil.
Bravo for this traditional style of vineyard maintenance, and it must be working, because I got an “upside down selfie” of the grapes looking pretty good for early summer:
I love exploring new wine areas around the world – and I also love the unique architecture in France as well:
Alex and I explored the fascinating Hospices de Beaune, in the Burgundy wine region.
Click here to see that tour!
This fun wine tour reminded me of the summer of 2021, when Alex and I discovered the very unique winemaking methods on the Greek Island of Santorini!
Yes, these are vines – hugging the very dry Santorini earth!
Click here to find out why they grow that way – and how they can produce wine on an island that gets no rain!
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If you enjoy these moments, please share on social media – and get ready for more European adventures….let me know if you’ve been to the Bordeaux wine region!
Categories: Exotic Travel, Memoirs, nature, Pop Culture, Real Estate, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, wine
johnrieber 
Hi John, the ballooning looks like a marvelous adventure. You really had such a good time on this trip.
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Thank you Robbie we sure did!
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I love the view! how cool to see the horse still a part of ‘the old way’ of caring for the vineyards –
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Good stuff, John. Did you and Alex take one of the hot air balloon rides?
My wife is much more of a wine drinker than I. She loves a good Bordeaux.
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So perfect to combine countryside, lovely architecture and good wine! Looks like a fabulous trip.
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I really enjoyed this, especially the traditional method of plowing the fields.
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Thank you it was so cool to see – just happened upon it!
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Sometimes the unplanned or unexpected are the best.
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I did visit St Emilion once, in the early 1980s. I had rather too much red wine during a vineyard tour in hot weather, and my wife had to drive us back to our rented gite. 🙂
(I have some Spanish Garnacha for this evening)
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, we had a driver on one of our tour days because we found ourselves being “over served” as well! My wife is on a cleanse now so I am not drinking any wine to support her effort! Wish me luck!
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You are a good husband, John. That’s all I can say. 🙂 🙂
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I love these old French towns and the working horse is amazing.
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It was our first trip to the are and we loved it! Thanks for the comment!
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