Bordeaux & Paris, Spring 2023

In March 2023, my sister joined us for a weekend in Bordeaux! Our hotel was right across from the Ópera.

Bordeaux by night.

We didn't know that Bordeaux is on a Camino route! It's a stop on the Vía Turonensis, (the Camino de Tours), running from Paris to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.

Across from our hotel, we discovered the legendary Bar a Vin, run by the city's wine council.

Upstairs is Bordeaux's Ecole du Vin (School of Wine), and all the servers are sommelier students. Because it's subsidized, it's incredibly cheap.

For dinner, we went to Café des Gourmets, a restaurant we couldn't get a table at in 2016 when we last visited. But this foie gras was worth the wait.

We had a duck-shepherd's pie, which was both good and boring (it was good for about 1/2 of the dish, then it just got repetitive). But bonus points for serving me duck in a way I've never had.

Sightseeing around Bordeaux- this is my favorite photo of the trip.

My sister at the famous Disney-like Porte Cailhau (Palace Gate)

Chilly, but it's still beautiful.

The next day, we walked out to Bordeaux's Cité du Vin, the world's largest wine museum (supposedly shaped like a decanter).

Conquering a museum is not easy, my friends.

The museum itself was a bit much- very interactive, but tedious after a while. At the end, you were whisked up to the 8th floor to The Belvedere for a glass of wine. It's a gorgeous space.

Toasting with our glasses of wine (I chose Moldovan sparkling).

Cheers to wine

We walked across the street for a lunch snack, and discovered a new food hall. First, we ordered wine.

Then we found a food stall making charcuterie platters on plastic meal trays. This is supposedly made for ONE PERSON, but the 3 of could barely finish it.

Not that I didn't have room for a pastry, of course.

Mmmm Frenchie pastry prepare to please me.

We stopped in at Bar a Vin for pre-dinner wine.