Cadillac & Garonne River - Friday 1 September

At 9am we headed off with our Vox headsets on one of the two tours on offer. The first part of the tour we chose was to the Château de la Brede. This chateaux is in the Sauternes wine region of Bordeaux that is known for producing excellent sweet white dessert wines and also some dry whites. This particular chateau has been a classified historic monument since 1951, and was the residence of the famous 17th-18th century author and political philosopher, Montesquieu. We enjoyed a tour of what had been a castle, transformed over the centuries into more of a home. Nevertheless, it was very dark inside the rooms, with few windows. We heard about the life of Montesquieu and saw the large room that had been his library, the rooms where he slept and wrote his famous essays (often in satire) commenting on different aspects of society at that time. Indeed, his ideas about how society was organised, and could instead be organised (a risky undertaking), contributed to key aspects of the American constitution. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos inside this chateau.

Next, our tour bus took us to a wine tasting at the famous Chateau Carbonnieux. This place had a long history, including wealthy families and monks, and ownership changes due to the French Revolution (something we hear everywhere). Picking of the sauvignon blanc grapes had just begun, and we were able to see the process of preparing them for wine under way. We tasted the grapes, visited the underground cellars and heard about the more technical aspects of temperature control and processing in the vats, before the wine was put into barrels. We also saw the historic storeroom where the wineries are all required to keep a selection of each year's vintage. There were bottles here from 1905. Apparently the reds aren't too bad, even when very old...





Next we enjoyed a wine-tasting of three wines - two reds and a sauterne. This was the correct three steps in the tasting, smelling as well as tasting. The first red was lovely, the second was too dry, and I really loved the sweet sauterne. Apparently these really sweet wines should not be consumed with sweet foods - that would be too overpowering. They should be used with sharper tasting foods such as a cheese or pâté.

On we went, into the town of Cadillac, where we were taken to a wine museum place, that had a big seating area under cover where we could eat the picnic lunches that we'd been given in big brown paper bags as we left the boat early in the morning. I had two lovely sandwiches (ham, cheese, lettuce, mayonnaise), a small fruit salad and a banana. David's lunch included a bread roll, quiche, tart, fruit salad and a banana. We then viewed the small but interesting wine museum, which explained more about the different types of grapes and wine regions around Bordeaux, and the processing.

It was a short drive or walk back to the boat that had now docked in Cadillac, having followed us up the river once the tides were suitable to allow it to get under a bridge nearer Bordeaux.

Two hours later, at 4:30pm, we were all dressed up and back on the buses for a 1 hour drive to the Chateaux de Cazeneuve for a special evening. We were greeted at the chateau by the young Count, himself, and served canapés and a drink in the courtyard. Unfortunately, it started to rain, so we were rushed inside and enjoyed wandering around parts of two floors and multiple rooms that were gradually being restored. We weren't allowed to take photos inside.



This estate once belonged to the King of France - Henri IV (16th century). The family he belonged to had owned the estate as far back as the 12th century. It was considered to be one of the kIng's favourite estates and he spent quite a bit of time there. Even Louis XIV had visited here.

After looking around the beautifully restored rooms, and being entertained by a trio playing baroque music, we were seated at big tables for 10 people, and served a lovely three-course meal. I was taken care of very well, largely thanks to the attention and care taken by our Tour Guide, Anja. We were served three different wines a white and two reds) with the meal.



At 8:30pm we left for the quicker (less traffic) 45 minute journey back to the boat, which had to leave Cadillac by 10pm in order to work with the tides and get us back to Bordeaux.