The next stanza of the trip was spent in Bordeaux and the Gers. Julia has moved to Bordeaux, and it was great to see her, the kitties and her new abode. We also got the added advantage of having Julia, now a local, as our travel guide. We had been to Bordeaux in 2019 so Julia organised for us to do some of the things that we didn’t get around to in 2019.
However, before the touring started, we caught up with Flo and Jean-Mi for dinner at Chez Alriq, a wonderful guingette on the banks of the Garonne River. Flo and Jean-Mi were our tour guides in 2019 and it was lovely to see them again. Guingettes seem uniquely French. They offer live music, drinks and inexpensive meals. They seem to be outdoors and the two we have been to, were next to rivers. It was a beautiful summer evening, and we ate and drank as the sun went down.
The next day the touring started with a trip down the Atlantic coast to see the Dune de Pilat, Arcachon Bay and the Ville d’hiver (the winter town) at Arcachon.
The Dune de Pilat is the largest sand dune in Europe, and we walked up to the top to get impressive views of the Atlantic Ocean and Arcachon Bay. We were also able to get a good overview of Cap Feret – where the wealthy and powerful have their holiday homes. Unfortunately, the forests on Cap Feret and in the hinterland behind the Dune de Pilat had been badly burned by the fires that ravaged many parts of southern France during July and August.
After a lovely, un-hurried lunch, we visited the Sailors’ Chapel at Arcachon and then wondered around looking at the idiosyncratic architectural style(s) of the houses (mansions) of the Ville d’hiver. They were mostly built in the second half of the 19th century for rich business people and incorporate a bewildering mixture of architectural styles. Many claim to have been inspired by Swiss chalets but even with a lot of squinting we couldn’t see the link. Nevertheless, some were very impressive and stylish while others were just bizarre.
Our next outing was to Les Bassins des Lumieres at the WWII German submarine base in Bordeaux. So, this was our second visit to a German submarine base in a few days – but this was a completely different experience to Lorient.
For some years the base in Bordeaux has been used for the most beautiful, immersive and stunning light shows. As Dale observed, it was wonderful to see something that had been built for the most awful purposes being used as a stage for art and beauty. Venice was the theme of the show that we saw, and it was mesmerising. I was particularly entranced by the experience of being completed surrounded by images, including on the floor where I was standing. Not to mention looking at the images being reflected onto the water in the submarine pens.
A couple of weeks later, we discovered from our friends in Buis that the same company also does themed light shows in a disused quarry in a town in the vicinity of Buis, and that they are equally spectacular. We’re definitely doing that next year.
On Saturday we set off for Flo and Jean-Mi’s place in the Gers. First stop along the way was Lillet – yay – still enjoying the memory. We’ve been fans for many years – thanks to Julia and Dominie. We did a lovely tour and got to taste each of the three versions: white, rose and rouge. We liked the white best for mixing and the red best for drinking by itself. We learnt that the not-so-secret ingredient is quinine! Lillet is now owned by Pernod Ricard but still uses the wine grown in the Bordeaux Podensac region, and it is all made on site at this original factory.
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| The original name, Kina Lilet, gave way to Lillet with two l's to help with pronunciation |
Lillet has always been marketed in innovative ways and we really enjoyed looking at all the old posters.
After Lillet we stopped for lunch at Bazas. Bazas is the centre of a beef region, and I had a nice steak. But when ordering I was told that I definitely could not have the steak au point (medium) – only saignant (bloody) or bleu were permitted. Saignant it was - and I survived.
The cathederal at Bazas was impressive
Then it was onto Nerac,
where we think we had briefly stopped 9 years ago. This time Julia and I visited the Chateau
Henri IV. I really enjoyed it, and we
were most intrigued by Marguerite of Angouleme, who was the grandmother of Henri
IV and the sister of Francois 1st.
She achieved so much politically and creatively during her life. She is considered the first great feminine
French writer (even pre-dating Mme Sevigne) but sadly many of her writings have
been lost. When her brother became king,
she was his principal adviser and ambassador.
Later she married into the Albrecht family, whose seat of power was at
Nerac. After this time, like many other
women without overt power, she had to juggle the political tensions between an
arrogant brother and an ambitious husband.
She deftly managed to do this, but one imagines that she had to be
supremely intelligent – emotionally and intellectually - to do so.
The very amusing factoid about Henri IV was that he apparently stank. Even one of his mistresses said that the stench was so unbearable she could barely tolerate 15 minutes. Apparently his feet smelt like rotten flesh.
We absolutely loved Flo and Jean-Mi’s rambling 200-year-old farmhouse with its mixture of tiles and bare stone floors. We were able to have drinks in the yard and dine on the terrace as the hot weather continued. They have done fabulous renovations inside and spent many hours in the extensive gardens. Flo has furnished the house with eclectic and suave furniture that she has been collecting for many years, and which are absolutely perfect for this character filled house.
On Sunday morning we had a lovely trip into Lectour – only 15 minutes away by car. It is a truly beautiful, gentrified, hill-top town. Apparently the gays (homos in French) have been responsible for buying and renovating a number of the fancier homes in town.
We wandered around the
Sunday braderie (bric a brac) market before having a coffee and then a pastis
in the best bar in the world. Apparently
an American travel writer really took to this bar – and hence the acclaim. And I really did enjoy my pastis!
I loved the architectural detail on this Clarinette school, to avoid any doubt as to its purpose
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| First drinks of the day with Jean-Mi and Julia |
After the euphoria of the best bar in the world, we looked around the very upmarket permanent brocante shops. There were a lot of apparently genuinely antique items here – as far as we could tell the merchandise seemed to be of a higher quality than in the braderie. The Marie (council) bought this huge ancient hospital site and rents it out to brocanteurs.
After lunch we all drove together to Agen, to drop Jean-Mi at the train station, and then the rest of us did a little tour of some more towns in the region. The most impressive of which was Auvillar, which is another medieval town with half-timbered houses. But what I find most special about towns in the Gers is their central, open-air but covered market and trading places. They can be rectangular, three-sided attached to another building or circular. In any event the one in Auvillar is fabulous: it is circular with massive timber beams in the roof. It is very old and was very important as a trading place for grains of all types. Auvillar also has great views looking down on the Garonne River – although if you look too far down stream you get not so great views of the nearby nuclear power plant.
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| The pretty slimline bricks used extensively in the town don't seem to like the rain or wind or perhaps the nuclear powerplant |
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| The circular roof involved some impressive curved beams |
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| Flo and Julia |
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On Monday, Julia, Dale and I drove off to explore the region further.
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| More beautiful and durable carpentry in a rectangular covered market |
Our main aim was to visit La Romieu, which was a most interesting town for several reasons. First and foremost, for us, the town reveres cats. Legend has it that during a famine in the middle ages people in the region started eating cats but Angeline, a young girl, saved a male and female and they started to reproduce. When the famine ended the crops in the area were overrun by a plague of rats – but not in La Romieu – because thanks to Angeline there were cats. There are little statuettes and carvings of cats all about town.
Secondly the Collegiale Saint Pierre is a most impressive collection of a church, cloisters, two towers and a former palace. The uncle of a pope came from La Romieu and hence why this incredibly grand collection of buildings exists there. Because the town is quite small there are amazing records of the local families’ marriages, births and deaths down through the ages – and the town has a very strong connection with the church and associated buildings. Of particular note are the cloisters and the towers, which afford views over the town and surrounding countryside.
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| A most unusually shaped window; reminds me of a rotary engine |
Finally, after a delightful lunch we toured the local botanical gardens, which were in full bloom. They have about 100 different types of oak species.
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| I had never seen a conical shaped hydrangea before |
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| And in the town of cats, Julia made a new friend |
On the way home we dropped in on L’Isle Bouzon, another hilltop town, that we could see from Flo and Jean-Mi’s place. And – amazingly – we could see their house from L’Isle Bouzon.
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| David and Julia look across to L'Isle Bouzon |
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