Europe Summer 2013: A Taste of Bordeaux

A TASTE OF BORDEAUX

Bordeaux

Our next step in our journey was Bordeaux which is such a wonderful region of France.  The title of a Taste of Bordeaux describes what I've experienced.  It's about the wine, the wine, the wine and the food that goes with the wine.  People here are friendly.  75% speak English and we actually went to a bistro that allowed us to change something which as you know if France is usually unheard of.  Sacre Bleu!

Chateau Lafon Rochet

We overnighted in Bordeaux.  While others were jumping onto the 40 plus passenger buses, we were met by Fidel our private driver to take us to St. Estephe where we met Michel Tesseron, the owner of Chateau Lafon Rochet.  What a character and a total love.  We enjoyed tasting 3 of his wines and bought some to enjoy later on the cruise.  Michel insisted on making our dinner arrangements at his favorite bistro, La Tupina (more later).

Chateau Ponet Canet

Our next stop was at Chateau Ponet Canet.   This winery is not only organic but it is bio-dynamic which was quite impressive and I enjoyed the explanation of how involved a bio-dynamic winery is.  We were offered one wine to taste which was very good.  They made sure to tell us that Robert Parker gave their 2009 vintage 100 points.

After a lunch at Le Lion d'Or ... a locals hangout we visited Chateau Giscours in the Margaux region.  Nothing great and it was time to return to the ship.  

Le Lion d'Or

Now the good stuff starts ...

We walked around the city of Bordeaux.  Unfortunately, the weather has been dreary – cold and rainy.  In spite of this, we really liked Bordeaux.  It reminded us of the Left Bank of Paris. They have a pedestrian section that was easy to access.  Bordeaux has shopping for every budget and their green areas are really pretty.  They have a wonderful tram system that goes throughout the city so everything is easily accessed.

La Tupina

La Tupina

After doing out walking tour, it was time for dinner.  As I mentioned, Michel personally made our reservations which believe me were hard to get especially because we were visiting during Bordeaux's famous Vin Expo.  La Tupina is EVERYONE'S favorite bistro!  Patricia Wells, an American cookbook author living in Paris that writes great French cookbooks says that La Tupina is her 2^nd favorite bistro...in the world!  We thought it was wonderful.

Kir Royals

We were seated and greeted by Lima, our friendly and knowledgeable server.  As we enjoyed our Kir Royals, Lima made a few suggestions and helped us choose our Bordeaux wine, Chateau de la Dauphine which was perfect!  Our starters were prosciutto with cantaloupe for Jeff and I had their cold pea soup with crab and mint.  Perfection especially with the crunchy country French bread.

Our next course was very simple.  Jeff had their Cassoulette and I enjoyed their rotisserie chicken served with french fries that had been fried (sorry Ashley ... my trainer) with duck fat. OMG!

As we dined, we looked around La Tupina.  The restaurant reminded me of my Florence favorite, Il Latini.   The restaurant had atmosphere.  It was so inviting and the cooking was the kind of cooking that a French grandmother would have been proud of.

Dessert was a killer flourless chocolate cake with vanilla bean sauce and fresh strawberries in case you were wondering.  ;-)

Chateau Fonplegade

The following morning, we met Fidel for our private half day tour.  The weather was worse ... more dreariness and rain but that didn't stop us.  We enjoyed two wineries in the Saint-Émilion region.  We learned that there are 3 classifications in Saint-Émilion.  A, B and all the rest.  

Rosé

The first winery was “all the rest” and my favorite.  Chateau Fonplegade reminded me of a French styled Napa Valley winery.  Anyone that follows my blog knows about my love of all things Napa Valley.   The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Adams are actually from Minnesota.  The staff were friendly and offered 4 varietals for our tasting.  

After falling in love with their wines, I noticed that they also sold a Rosé and asked to taste it.  (*I want to point out that many wineries not only in France but even Napa or Sonoma would have said forget it.*)  Our hostess, Gabrielle brought out a fresh bottle and said it was her pleasure to have us taste their Rosé.   It was great and of course, we had to buy a bottle.  

Saint-Émilion region

It was now time to visit the city of Saint-Émilion.  This is not a clothing, or home goods shoppers paradise.  However, it IS a Bordeaux wine lovers paradise as there are many wine shops selling a large variety of Bordeaux wines.  Of course, there are plenty of restaurants as well.  After our visit, it was time to go to Chateau Figeac.  Chateau Figeac is under the B classification in Saint-Émilion wines.  We had a tour (really getting over the tours) and learned that they had just turned over to being an organic winery.  Good for them!  Great wine BTW.

Chateau Figeac

I'm back on the Crystal Symphony now getting ready for dinner.  Since we are going on a back to back cruise, I have decided to hold off on my Crystal Symphony blog description for awhile so stay tuned for that in the next 10-14 days.  Wow, this is a lot of cruising, right?

Crystal Symphony

Any questions? Email if you do and I'll be happy to answer them.

Until next time..



The World is Our Playground!

Mari

Europe Summer 2013: Four Seasons Hampshire

FOUR SEASONS HAMPSHIRE

Four Seasons, Hampshire

 We finally arrived into Chicago after our plane was diverted to Moline, Illinois to get more gas and to wait out the storm.  Once we arrived to Chicago, we did the OJ dash to the gate when we hear our names on the intercom to get to gate K12!

Nasty weather in Chicago...so, another lesson learned ... even if it costs a little more money or miles, consider the non stop flights whenever your travel!

 

Four Seasons, Hampshire

When we arrived in Heathrow, we were met by our driver, Charlie (on time...thank goodness) for our 40 minute drive to the Four Seasons, Hampshire.  The Four Seasons Hampshire has been a number of things ranging from a girls school, to a manor house built in 1728 to the location where King Henry XIII met his first wife,  Catherine of Aragon.  Jane Austen came to walk on the grounds ad found inspiration here as well.  BTW, for those who love Downton Abbey,  Highclere Castle - where the series is filmed is 25 minutes from the Four Season Hampshire's front door!

 

Four Seasons, Hampshire Bedroom

There are 139 rooms and suites within the 4 buildings that comprise the hotel which opened on Valentine's Day, 2005.  The hotel has such a warm feel to it.  I think it begins when the hotel's dog Oliver greets you at the door and continues on to the genuine warm greetings by the staff. The General Manager is present and it was a pleasure meeting Mr. Palmer.   Our room, in the 18th century Manor House is lovely ... about 450 square feet.  The bed is AMAZING!!  It is so comfortable (which really helped with my jet-lag .  There is an amazing spa with 15 treatment rooms, an indoor pool and an outdoor Jacuzzi.  There are 3 restaurants on property and a library.  You can do just about anything including horse back riding,tennis, clay shooting, hiking and more. 

Four Seasons, Hampshire Spa

Speaking of food ... well usually, I do not like hotel food.  Because we are about 15 minutes from the closest village of Farnham, we decided to have dinner at the Bistro Restaurant which is the casual restaurant at the hotel.  The food and service was excellent at dinner and the breakfast the following morning.

Where to go for dinner outside of the hotel?   I have the perfect place and I mean PERFECT!  The Gamekeepers Restaurant was recommended to us by 4 people.  It is family owned starting with Phil and Sandra.  The restaurant is 20 minutes from the Four Seasons Hampshire and the hotel arranged for our round-trip taxi.   EVERYTHING was wonderful!  Phil told us a bit about the restaurant and his family.  Sandra shared her insight about the wines that they have chosen to serve at their restaurant.  We enjoyed the most wonderful cheese dish that I've ever had.  It was "Turnworth Cheese" made by Hampshire Cheeses which is a local company.  They served the cheese warm from the oven and added local honey and thyme.  It was served with rustic bread and chutney.  That was our starter.  My husband had the local lamb dish and I enjoyed the Turbot.  Both were served with fresh veggies from the garden.  We enjoyed a St. Emilion wine that Sandra recommended and ended our meal with fantastic brownie and home made vanilla ice cream dessert!  What a wonderful meal served with pride and care.

I would definitely recommend this hotel for family gatherings, girls or bachelorette weekends and use the hotel as a pre-cruise experience to help with jet lag. 

The World is Our Playground!


Mari

Europe Summer 2013: It Can Happen ...

IT CAN HAPPEN...

American Airlines at
LAX (Los Angeles International Airport)

It's been awhile since I've written ... Welcome back readers!!!

My husband and I are sitting here in the lounge at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) for our flight to London via Chicago.  We've had our tickets for 11 months.  During that time, I checked the flight numbers and times many times and nothing changed.  Last night, I got our boarding pass from American Airline's website and didn't think anything of it.

After checking in, going through the expedited TSA security (GREAT not having to take off our shoes, take out our computers etc.) and arriving at the lounge, my husband Jeff spoke with the front desk person asking about the airline equipment.  All of a sudden, I got the "beckoning finger" and "the FACE".  What was wrong???  Well, it turned out that our flight number and flight time was changed to 2 hours later.  The person at the desk couldn't/wouldn't tell us when this happened and was shocked that I hadn't called American Airlines to confirm.  No apology. 

American Airlines Lounge

What's amazing to me is that I had inputted into the American website, my current phone numbers for a call or a text and in spite of this, there was a communication breakdown.

LESSON LEARNED:  Even though we are all going to our computers (as instructed by the various airlines) to confirm and get boarding passes...go OLD SCHOOL and give them a call to confirm your flights.  Don't forget to VERIFY your flight numbers and times.

We originally had a 3 hour layover in Chicago and now, if the new flight is on time, it will be one hour so we are fine. 

So, where are we off to this time???

First, we will be visiting the Four Seasons Hampshire for 2 nights then beginning our back to back Crystal Symphony Cruise experience.  We will be the Virtuoso Hosts on the first cruise from Southampton to Rome.  Two of our 3 daughters and their families will be joining us on the second cruise from Rome to Istanbul.  After the cruise, we will be spending 2 additional nights in Istanbul at the Four Seasons Sultanahmet.

So, stay tuned to hear more about our Grand Adventure!

The World is Our Playground!

Mari