Bordeaux

      Before leaving our chambre d'hote in Ste.-Croix-du-Mont on Sunday, we stopped at the cave/tasting room of the proprietor and tasted his 2010 Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, which had won a gold medal at the recent Concours General Agricole in Paris. The wine was outstanding, and we bought a bottle to bring home. The proprietor explained that Sainte-Croix-du-Mont is a very small appellation, and is far less well-known than nearby Sauternes and Loupiac, even among French wine drinkers.

        We then headed for Bordeaux, where we returned our car and then took the tram to our hotel, the Hotel des Voyageurs. The hotel was just over one of the bridges, the Pont des Pierres, that cross the Garonne River. It was easy to get to the center of town by walking across the bridge, and there was also a tram stop just down the street from the hotel. Bordeaux has a very good, fairly new tram system, and is also very pedestrian- and bike-friendly.

      We spent the afternoon walking all over Bordeaux and admiring its beautiful buildings, massive old gates to the city, and narrow streets.

      We also stopped at a cafe and had a glass of Loupiac and a glass of a Grand Cru Sauternes (Chateau Lamothe). In the evening, after returning to the hotel for a short break, we headed out to find a place for dinner. Along the way we spotted a wine bar which had some outdoor tables, and since the skies had cleared, we stopped for a glass of Bordeaux Rouge. We eventually wound up walking by a small restaurant we had noticed earlier, Le Petit Commerce, and I had read great reviews of it on the Internet while checking for information about Bordeaux that afternoon. It was almost exclusively a fish restaurant, and all the choices were written on chalkboards, depending on what was available. It turned out to be an outstanding choice, with simply grilled, incredibly fresh fish. I had grilled sardines, followed by grilled dorade, and Ann had grilled squid followed by langoustines. It gave us a geat opportunity to try several white Bordeaux, which I rarely drink, and afterward we had a couple of glasses of Loupiac to finish the meal. When I mentioned to the hotel owner the next day that we had eaten at Le Petit Commerce, he said that it was a favorite spot for him and his wife when they go out to dinner. He also brought out a gift for us as we were leaving: a bottle of Bordeaux Rouge, 2007 Les Chevaliers de la Carbonnie, which he said was a favorite everyday wine of his.