Monday, October 26, 2015

Walking Tours of Historic Bordeaux - Cultural Insights and Rich History

I am delighted to announce that I am now offering private and semi-private Walking Tours of Historic Bordeaux.  The information in this post is also included on a new page listed on the header of the home page of the blog.  

Please feel free to share this with family or friends who might be interested in visiting Bordeaux.  It's a great way to get a nice overview of the city!  I look forward to welcoming you to my new adopted city and sharing with you cultural insights and its rich history!

Private & Small/Group Walking Tours
INTERESTED IN A WALKING TOUR OF BORDEAUX?

I've been coming to the Southwestern region of France for many years.  Four years ago, we decided to move our family here to Bordeaux and I immediately fell in love with this dynamic city and it's rich history.  I have been writing this blog for several years and it's been my mission to share this beautiful city and it's gorgeous region with my readers.  I am now expanding my services to include customized walking tours of Bordeaux.

I began working as a regional guide a couple of years ago, working primarily with a river cruise company as a member of their local team here in Bordeaux.  As an expat, I love sharing the French way of life with visitors along with the this fabulous city which I now call home.

I offer customized walking tours of this great city ranging from 2 hours to 2.5 hours in length. Longer tours can be customized if interested.

Depending on the tour, it would highlight some the most famous landmarks in Bordeaux, such as the Grand Theatre, the monument to the Girondins, the Allee de Tourny, the Place de La Bourse, and Rue Saint Catherine.  Longer tours would include Eglise Saint Michel, Place du Palais & the Clock Tower Gate.  I adore sharing about French customs, culture and the French experience as we walk through the beautiful streets of Bordeaux.

Please contact me at:  americanmominbordeaux@gmail.com  to set a date and time for your tour.

Tours typically start at 10am.  These tours can be customized for individuals, couples, families, small groups etc..  

Private tour -  150 euros per tour (private group of 1-10 people) - (2-2.5 hours per tour) Semi-Private tour - 35 euros per person (minimum 2 persons - maximum 8) (typically 2 hours tour) - family rates also available.


Longer tours can customized and rates will be agreed upon ahead of time.

Payment is either completed through paypal prior to the tour or in cash at the start of the tour. Most tours will begin at a central meeting place to be determined for each tour. 


Come, experience the beauty and richness of this fabulous city!!

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Coucou- It's Toussaint Break and we headed to the Cote d'Azur!



A week Away... It's Toussaint Break

Greetings from the South - well the Southeast that is. Yesterday, we loaded up the car and drove the 7 hours across the bottom of France to spend a few days down in Nice and the surrounding area.  The girls are on break for 2 weeks, so I decided that I wanted to show them a little of this area.  I was down here this summer for a week visiting friends and just adored the different architecture and the colors!  It's so different from the Southwest side of France.

 These photos are from the city of Nice - taken this summer.  I am taking the girls into Nice this afternoon.  I'm anxious to see what they think of the city - the old and the new!!
 I'm hoping they will want to climb up to see the views from the old site of the Chateau de Nice.  It was certainly beautiful this summer!!
 I'll be sharing more soon on this trip and my other fun adventures on the Cote d'Azur.  Just wanted to pop in and say hello and share a bit of this beautiful area!! 

Enjoy your week everyone and if you don't follow on instagram or my facebook page - I'll be sharing moments there each evening!  

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Vendanges 2015 - Picking Grapes at Chateau Fonchereau - Bordeaux Superior

Taking Part in Tradition


Living in the Bordeaux region, as you know - we are surrounded by hundreds of wine chateaux!  Each one beautiful in its own right and each one special in history and tradition.  Fall in this region is a very important season.  It's the time when grapes are harvested, picked, sorted and put into vats and barrels.  This time of year is call the "Vendange" in French.  It's a word that means harvest and it's so much a part of the culture in the Bordeaux region.  The exact time each fall varies slightly depending on the weather and on each grape variety.  

The choice of when to start picking is also a bit complicated.  Are the grapes sweet enough? Is the skin soft enough? Each variety is slightly different. Then there is the current weather - Is it going to rain? Is it going to be windy?  All play a part in La Vendange.
Some of the volunteers on this Saturday morning
Each chateau chooses how they are going to pick their grapes - by machine, by hand, hire people, or use volunteers...  Often when you know people in the wine industry, you can get asked to participate in La Vendange.  That's just what happened to me this Fall.  Chateau Fonchereau was looking for some extra hands to pick the Merlot grapes after the machine had gone through earlier that week. 

So a friend and I decided to offer some time on a Saturday morning and do several hours of picking.  The girls were invited too, but they were spending the weekend with their father.  This is often a family affair.  Chateau Fonchereau is located just outside of Bordeaux on the way to Libourne.
It was a beautiful but cool morning and the vines sparked in the sun.  You can see from the group photo that it was crisp to begin at 9am that morning.  We were all given clippers and a basket to get started and we each took a row and just got to work - bending, clipping and placing each bunch in our baskets.

The machine had picked most of the Merlot grapes, but on the lower vines or tangled in grasses, there was plenty more to trim and pick.  The baskets filled up quickly.  Smaller baskets are used as they are easier to carry when full.  
Look at the color of these beautiful grapes or (Les raisins).  They were stunning!  We also learned that if any of them had white mold on them and smelled like vinegar, then leave those behind. Other than that, it was pretty easy to just clip, snip and place in the basket.
As we filled our baskets, we would then empty them into the trailer where they would eventually be hauled up to the processing equipment to be sorted, crushed and placed in vats to begin the fermenting process.
As the morning went on, it got warmer and sunnier.  Note the sweaters and jackets hung at the end of each row.  Not only was it a great place to hang them without getting dirty but the jackets also served as a marker as to which row was being picked.  Nothing like creating a system as we worked along the vines.
Another method that is used to collect the grapes is to pour the small baskets into a back carrier larger basket.  This method is very traditionally used in the Bordeaux vineyards. It's also a job that is typically male, as the back carrier can get very heavy as it gets filled up with the bunches of grapes.  Either men and women both clip the grapes but the heavy lifting is definitely reserved for the men.
After numerous trip and rows, the trailer was getting quite full with all the grapes.  It's amazing what grapes were still left behind after the machines went through.  Apparently, it's up to each chateau as to decide what to do with the grapes that are left over by the machines.  Some chateaux just decide it's not worth the money to pay workers to pick the left-overs.  Others decide, like this one, to make more passes through the vines by hand.
Our team of pickers covered  about 20-30 rows that morning.  It was definitely productive but also felt like we only made a small dent into the hand picking portion.  It's definitely a lot of work to pick and manage the harvest in a vineyard.  It's also always a balancing act for each chateau to hire people to hand pick and/or rely on volunteers who are not always predictable.  After about 3 hours of picking, we were given a tour of the cellar and processing area of the Chateaux - the smell of oak always reminds me of wine - especially a delicious Bordeaux.  It's also nice to hear about the whole process of wine making.  Experiencing it first-hand is very special.
The reward for 3 hours of work in the vineyard?  A delicious barbecue back at the chateau or as the French call it - "Une Grillade".  This is tradition here in the region when you have volunteers who assist in the Vendange.  A meal is served at noontime and this particular meal was delicious!!  A little aside, in many of the small villages around Bordeaux where there are many vineyards - the church bells chime to announce lunch and finishing time in the fields.  The vines really are a way of life here in this region.
Of course we started with wine and appetizers and then moved on to grilled vegetables and meats. Dessert - a delicious apple tarte with ice cream.  To sit outside chatting, drinking and taking in the beautiful views of the surrounding area made it a spectacular afternoon.  
This whole experience is very traditional in this area.  You often hear about people helping out with the Vendange.  It's manual labor, yes - but there's a bonding that happens between everyone and a greater appreciation for the work behind that bottle of wine!  I would definitely do this again and recommend anyone who has the opportunity to help out at a harvest - do so.  You'll be surprised how great it feels!


Seychelles Mama


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