The city of Bordeaux is in the midst of a several-year
reconstruction project along its Garonne riverfront, and is
currently producing magnum-size traffic jams. As it happens, the
French colloquial term for a traffic bottleneck is
bouchon,
which also happens to refer to the cork in a wine bottle. The
relationship is clear here, but there's no easy corkscrew for
Bordeaux's congestion. A recommended sedative of sorts would be a
bag of fresh
canelés, little fluted pastry bombs of butter,
eggs, sugar, vanilla, and rum, a Bordeaux specialty. For now, like
good wine, you must simply age patiently among the city's
bouchons and reroutings to get to the pleasure of pulling
bouchons from some of the finest wines in the world.
Your patience will be rewarded with wine tastings, which are
available in profusion at châteaux in and around every
vine-enclosed community. Some require an appointment, some invite
you to drop in. Every community, starting with the city of Bordeaux
itself, has a winemakers' office that will set up appointments and
provide directions. And a cork's throw in almost any direction will
often land on a wine-tasting class. Under the guidance of a local
instructor, you can admire, sniff, swirl, sip, swish, and all that.
Then, with a full taste of
France, you can hop another TGV and fast
forward to
Paris and the 2004 world, ready to dazzle your friends
with tales of life in the fast train.
marie hennechart's powerful pictures have been published in
travel+leisure and
condé nast traveler (uk), among
others.
next stop:
the french countryside
you can't go wrong at any of these charming spots.
in tours
hotel les hautes roches
86 quai de la loire
011-33-2-47-52-88-88
www.leshautesroches.com