I had read a lot about Bordeaux and for some reason had pictured it as a small village that was famous for its wine and vineyards. MMM...how wrong was I. It was huge and MAGNIFICENT. Hotel a ten minute walk from the centre of the old section and pedestrian zone...which was good as hotel not as glam as some. Spent the day on the historical walk. It was freezing and I mean freezing...The sites were fantastic. It is a majestic city with statues, columns, wonderful old buildings, bridges, the river. Walked along Victor Hugo (The hunchback ...fame) Street, photographed the Charles Dickens Pub. Hours later we headed home, unable to take the cold any longer. Stopped off at the movie theatre to enquire about any films in English ...in luck. Got tickets to The Tourist, with Johnny Depp. Time to warm up, eat and back at the theatre for 8pm. Loved this film...perhaps it was because we were seeing it in France, perhaps it was because it is set in Venice and we recognised all the places, perhaps because we were listening to English, or perhaps it was because Johnny Depp and Angie J are gorgeous...maybe all of them. But it was a great experience.
Next day we headed out again...weather changed between sunny and COLD and wet and COLD. When it started to rain we decided to switch our dinner plans to lunch (because we wanted to hear some more English and the new Russell Crowe movie was playing in English at 7pm). As Big Rick was keen to continue his degustation tour of Europe, he wanted to sample snails (escargot). Found a restaurant that offered a 3 course meal, with snails being on the entree. Little posh and indulgent...but what the heck, our trip was almost over. (I have already put Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine and the rest on speed dial). Snails arrived...see photo. Fought hard to kill the image of the common garden snail that happily munched on my plants...whilst I happily killed them when they did. Thought they would be slimy. They came served in a garlic sauce. They were ok. Not a lot of taste to them, not like an oyster...I guess more like a mussel. Plus I had two glasses of red wine by then so probably didn’t appreciate them a much. Second course arrived...what we call a lamb shank...best EVER. Huge and moist. Yum. Dessert was a delicious crème brule. Told you it was self indulgent. By this time the restaurant was full (of French people), it was warm inside and raining outside. It was just like in a movie. A great experience, sipping a Bordeaux red, eating great food and hearing all sorts of French...just needed a beret and would have fitted all clichés in. A bit of shopping and home to thaw out. Movie number 2 was good as well (even though I am not a Rusty Crowe fan). A burger for dinner after the movie completed our last full day in France.
No comments:
Post a Comment