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| St Emilion | |
We left camp this morning with a
few drops of rain and overcast conditions making it a bit cooler although
adding to the humidity. Our destination
was St Emilion, a town which had been highly recommended, and in fact is a
Listed and protected as a Unesco World Heritage Site.The drive through the countryside
was amazing, we were in the heart of the Bordeaux wine country and the rolling
hills were almost entirely covered with vines. This area has been growing wine
for centuries and there were such wonderful old buildings dotted amongst the
vines, with some very impressive wineries. Evidently the first vines were
planted here by the Romans in the 2nd century AD, and today the wine
that is produced in this region is very highly regarded. We meandered along
some rather small country lanes, through little villages, but Jilly did a good
job getting us to the town
The downside of this town being
so old and historic is that it is also a very popular spot for tourists and as
we arrived there were tour buses, cars and people everywhere, and it is not a
big town. Guess we are now in peak holiday season so guess this is something we
have to adjust to. I had found an Aire beside the town where campervans could
park in a carpark. Managed finally to find a spot for Ruakiwi.
We wandered into the town, with
its wonderful old sandstone buildings and churches the first of which dated
back to the 8th century. And the view from the top overlooking the town
and surrounding countryside was pretty amazing. The streets are lined with many
upmarket boutiques, restaurants and wine shops, often with English signs
advising that wine can be shipped worldwide Duty Free. We are certainly hearing
a lot more English voices and seeing GB registered vehicles now and read that
this area has become a haven for Brits to relocate to. Ian managed to walk
around a bit today which was great, I continued nosing around for quite a bit
longer!
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| Views of St Emilion |
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| Their War Memorial |
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| Loved all the roof tops |
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| Reflections in the wine shop. |
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| Obviously a wedding was about to happen. |
Continued East towards Bergerac
with a stop for supplies and trying to hunt out a few cooler clothes. Searched
in my French Passion guide for a vineyard we could stay for the night and found
this great spot at Domaine du Haut Montlog. The best part of staying in these
locations is travelling through really interesting parts of the country where
you would never have even thought to have driven.
Tonight, we are high up
overlooking the Dordogne river valley with magnificent views all around and a very
pleasant breeze. When we arrived at the winery we saw the French Passion sign
with an arrow pointing to where we could park. I walked back to the winery to
introduce ourselves and see about a tasting, but after ringing the bell with no
response we found a nice level spot and set up camp. Not long later heard
voices and chatted with some of the young guys who work here, they had
excellent English. Turns out the owner is away for the weekend so no chance of
sampling the local wine, but we were most welcome to stay. Can’t get better
than that.
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| Our view from tonight's campsite, stunning, and peaceful. |
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