The chataux of Bordeaux

For the week over New Year the 'bridge gang went down to Bordeaux in south west France home of chateaux and great wine. In fact there seemed to be more chateaux than ordinary dwellings. We stayed in a small private Chateau called Bouffereille seen here from above and full frontal!

Mein host (standing by the car) welcomes

part of the arriving group of twelve bridge

playing heavy boozers including the tall

chap in blue for whom he used to work.

But he got fed up with that and went off

to buy a castle in France!!

A trip to Bordeaux means serious wine and where better to take it seriously than in the village bearing the name of one of the great Bordeaux appelations - St Emilion (left below). There we had a wine tasting lesson (how to taste it not just a glugging session!) and were rudely awakened as to how many common tastes we coudn't identify if just in an anonymous liquid or powder.

Between gourmet eating and elegant drinking we had a poke around at the local countryside Some places are just pretty as the market place (left) and river in Villneuve (right) our nearest substantial town and below the bridge and elegant old houses in Nerac

Somethings are slightly unusual - a train (there has to be a train!) selling marrons (chestnuts)

in front of a MacDonalds in old Bordeaux and carrying water over water (canal over river) at Agen

The French seemed to have a fear that ones goods and chattles were at permanent risk of being nicked (stolen!) and so put ramparts round everything from oneself as in a chateau like Bonaguil (below left) one's flour as at the mill at Barbaste (below right) .................

even one's books in the library as at Nerac (below left) and perhaps more understandably one's very good local sweet wine in the chateau at Mombazillac (below right)

It was a colourful area in which to see 2006 out