Our final big adventure of the fall was our 12-day visit to the Bordeaux region of France and river cruise. After our wonderful experience last year cruising through the Rhine and Moselle river wine regions with Uniworld, we decided to sign up for the one-week cruise on the three rivers running through the Bordeaux wine country: the Garonne, the Gironde (actually an estuary rather than a river we were informed), and the Dordogne. And we also decided to spend a few days in the city of Bordeaux itself before the cruise, and then a few days after the cruise on an estate near St. Emilion (on the so-called Right Bank). Needless to say it was a wonderful trip filled with amazing sights and, best of all, amazing tastes of both food and wine!
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| Welcome to Bordeaux! |
From the moment our airplane landed, we
knew we were in the right place, surrounded by all things focused on the
very special wines of this region. What we had not expected was to find
an absolutely beautiful city, and one which gives serious competition to
Paris.
Saturday morning we took a bus tour of the city, which gave us an excellent overview of the city and a very informative history of this important but relatively unknown (to tourists at least) part of France. As recently as 10 years ago, Bordeaux had the reputation of being a rather dreary, traffic-clogged industrial port city. And residents were effectively blocked from river access because of ugly, decaying and dangerous abandoned warehouses that lined the river front. Today all that has changed, thanks to initiatives of the mayor, Alain Juppé.
Over the past ten years the city has been transformed
into a sparkling pedestrian-friendly town with beautiful walkways, tram
service, and culture. The riverfront is now the most attractive and popular parts of the city. Much of this transformation has been at the
initiative of the mayor of Bordeaux, Alain Juppé, who is now being
discussed as a possible presidential candidate.
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| Pont de Pierre |
But the history of Bordeaux stretches way back in time, to both the Romans and to the romantic period of Eleanor of Aquitaine (whose biography I was reading during the trip--think of the film The Lion in Winter) who married Henry II of England in 1152, and thus made this region technically English until the end of the 100 Years' War in 1453, when it became France.
While walking around the ,we got to see a While strolling around the city we came across a gathering of over one hundred classic Deux Chevaux cars ("Les Deuch's") which had come together from all over the region to help raise funds for breast cancer research. It was an unexpected treat to see so many of these fun cars from way-back-when side by side!
Bordeaux is deemed by many to be the world capital of the wine. Wine was produced here first by the Romans for local consumption and as long ago as the 8th century for export. Much more on this topic to come...
The Aquitaine region in which Bordeaux is located offers many gastronomic delights. So we made sure to have dinner at one of the several Michelin-starred restaurants, Le Pavillon des Boulevards. Delicious food but a heavy emphasis on foam!
Bordeaux is also home to
many other gastronomic delights including canelés--little pastries
caramelized crispy on the outside, and soft and creamy inside. We
sampled quite a few just to be sure we were well-informed tourists!
And, of course, we had to stop
in for a first wine tasting in the Maison du Vin in order to begin our wine
adventure. The Maison is a lovely building with stained glass windows
and colorful murals dedicated to the production of the local wines.
The esplanade along the
Garonne river is particularly welcoming and beautiful. Fountains,
skateboard parks, cafes, shops and markets abound. In the afternoon it seems
that all of Bordeaux plus its visitors were out strolling and rollerblading along the
river.
The 18th century was the golden age of Bordeaux. Baron Haussman, a long-time prefect of Bordeaux, used Bordeaux's 18th-century large-scale rebuilding as a model when he was later asked by Emperor Napoleon III to transform Paris, which was then still quasi-medieval town, into the capital city we enjoy today.
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| AirBus 380 on board |
With the redevelopment of the
waterfront, both river and ocean-going cruise ships have made Bordeaux a destination.
One of the most interesting developments is the new Pont Chaban-Delmas (named after a former long-term mayor of
Bordeaux) bridge which raises and lowers its center to permit the transit of
larger ships, as well as the passage of barges transporting sections of
the AirBus 380, the marvelous two-deck planes that Air France uses for transatlantic (and other) flights.
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| Pont Chaban-Delmas |
Of particular interest to us was the Regent cruise ship, the Voyager, which was in port for a day or two. For this is the very ship that we will be on in January and February when we begin our Asian cruise adventure.
Our fourth and last full day was dedicated to visiting Trieste, the eastern-most city in Italy. We boarded a local train, and 90 minutes later we emerged in the bustling port city that was once the main port of the Hapsburg empire.
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| Trieste central station |
Trieste has a long and fascinating history, which we had read about in Jan Morris's book, Trieste - a wonderful reflection on the culture and people of this rather
different Italian city.
Trieste is situated towards the end of a narrow strip
of Italian territory lying between the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia.
Throughout its history it has been influenced by its location at the
crossroads of Latin, Slavic and Germanic cultures.
In the 19th century, Trieste was the most important port of the Hapsburg Empire. It was the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (after Vienna, Budapest, and Prague). The architecture certainly triggers thoughts of the grand period before World War I.
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| The stock exchange |
Trieste, we learned, was also an important hub for literature and music. It was home to James Joyce for 12 years, and is where much of Ulysses was written.
Today, the city is in one of the richest
regions of Italy and has been a great center for shipping, shipbuilding,
insurance and financial services.
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| Piazza dell'Unità |
We paused for lunch in an outdoor trattoria a short distance from the the breathtakingly beautiful Piazza dell'Unità, and there had a chance to sample a hearty regional soup made with sauerkraut called Jota. Delicious!
We then continued to a nearby canal where we expected to find a statue of James Joyce, near a caffè where he spent much of this time while in Trieste (he spent lots of time in local bars). But we never did find it - it may have been relocated to the city's James Joyce museum.
We continued our meanderings, and learned that at one point in its history Trieste was a major importer of coffee beans from Africa and producer of coffee shipped to points north (i.e., to the coffee houses of Venice). The than (and still) well-known Illy coffee company, was centered here, and run by Signor Illy, mayor of Trieste.
Illy coffee is still going strong in Trieste, Italy and throughout the world. We stopped by the Illyteca - a combination museum and shop - for an afternoon visit, but alas, it was closed, and not reopening until after we would need to be returning to the train station for our return to Udine.
In view of the importance of coffee in the history of Trieste, as well as the grand past (and present) of coffee houses where the upper and lower crusts of cultured society would mingle, we had a must-do visit to the famous Caffè degli Specchi in Piazza dell'Unità (the Cafe of Mirrors where Joyce hung out) for Lee to try a coffee.
The Caffè is a jewel box - reminiscent of days
long gone by. And so Lee went up to the bar and ordered un caffè, and much to my delight it came with
a small glass of intensely-flavored hot chocolate -- all for one euro. And so we
were both very happy!
And so fortified, we returned to Udine, satisfied that we had at last been able to explore this fascinating and beautiful and less-touristed northeastern part of Italy.
Our third day - second day with a car - was spent exploring a very different aspect of the Friuli region: the historical basilica of Aquileia and its island town of Grado.
Under the Romans Aquileia was a
flourishing river port and market town. It was used as a base of operations by Augustus during his conquest
of the Germanic tribes.
The remains of the port from 2,000 years ago were
still clearly visible and well-preserved in a beautiful park adjacent to
the basilica.
It was truly a moving experience to see the outlines of
what had been a vibrant town of over 100,000 people (today 3,000
residents).
In the early Christian period of the 500s Aquileia became one of Italy's most important patriarchates ruled by bishops. In the 11th century a
Romanesque basilica was built on the foundations of a 4th century
church.
An interesting footnote to history:
when Richard the Lionhearted decided he'd better hurry back to England (his younger brother John was trying to take over) from
Palestine during the Third Crusade, he tried to slip back into Europe at
Aquileia. He was betrayed, however, and consequently became a prisoner of the Holy Roman Emperor for a period of time before returning to England (à la Robin Hood).
The mosaics forming the floor (and only rediscovered in 1909!)
are among the largest and richest in western Europe and are
breathtakingly intricate and beautiful. We were truly amazed to come
upon such extensive and well-preserved mosaics.
The adjoining crypt
houses archaeological remains from the Roman era (paved roads, a house and
a well), the foundations of a bell tower destroyed by Attila the Hun in 452,
and the foundation of the first church begun shortly after the Edict of Milan in 313--under Constantine this granted freedom of religion in the empire.
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| Floor of a Roman house |
While most guide books don't say much about tiny Aquileia, we can't
recommend it highly enough as it is a gem--a small and lovely town with truly stunning historical sites.
From Aquileia we
continued south to the Adriatic coast. Grado is a barrier island much
like Venice. In Roman times the city was first port for ships headed
upstream to Aquileia. During the late years of the Western Roman Empire
many people fled from Aquileia across the lagoon to Grado in order to find a safer place,
more protected from the barbarian invasions coming from the east.
Today Grado is a
lovely, upscale resort town, with a charming old center filled with wonderful
restaurants and small shops.
And so, we decided it would be the perfect
place to stop for a leisurely seafood lunch, followed by a stroll along the sea wall.
We located a small piazza which three cute ristoranti, and so after carefully studying the menus of each, we selected the Savial for our feast of pasta with mussels, fresh sardines, an insalata mista and, of course, a glass of local Friuli wine--a wonderful way to end a fascinating day.
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After spending a day to get to know Udine, we rented a car for two days in order to head out into two interesting areas to the east of the city: The first of these two days centered around the Friuli wine areas bordering Slovenia.
Our wine exploration started with a stop in the small and lovely town of Cormans, one of the centers of wine production of the region, and also a dining destination (think of San Daniele prosciutto).
Although,we were eager to get into Friuli wine country, we couldn't resist stopping for a coffee in a cute coffee bar (pasticcieria).
As in so many coffee bars, a sample of the morning's special pastry was included as a treat. This is definitely a great way to start the day!
Sadly, we could not linger as we also wanted to pick up some touring maps of the wine region, and make our way into the vineyards.
And so we headed off to the hills of Friuli - a region famous for its white wines.
Photos, alas, can't do justice to the panoramic beauty and tranquility of the lovely rolling hills of the area. The
vendemmia (grape harvest) was well underway, though roughly half of the
vineyards we went through still had grapes handing in plump bunches
from the vines.
We kept thinking that - at least for the white wines for which this region is so well-known - we might be sipping a wine produced in part from the very vines we were looking at. For example, a Friulano from Russiz Superiore - a lovely hilltop estate which we visited.
After so many glorious sights, we were ready for lunch which was to be in the historical village of Cividale in the foothills of the eastern Alps close to the Slovenian border. The town is situated on the river Natisone which forms a steep and picturesque ravine.
Formerly an
important regional
power under Rome and later Venice, these days it is a quiet, small town
that attracts tourists thanks to
its medieval center.
Interestingly, according to the historian James
Burke (of the old TV series Connections) a 1331 siege of Cividale
witnessed one of the first deployments of what we would now call "guns"
-- a rather dubious distinction for such a peaceful and beautiful corner of Italy.
