September 13, 2021 to September 16, 2021
Saint-Emilion
Saint-Emilion must be one of the world's most picturesque towns, certainly it is one of the loveliest I have seen. We liked it so much we decided to extend our stay for a third night and luckily our charming B&B was available.
Brief history: Saint-Emilion has been built and re-built since the 4th Century on and into a step hillside. The Romans planted vineyards, a monk named Emilion came in the 8th C and performed miracles after which it became a pilgrimage site, a huge monolithic church was carved into the cliff in the 12th C, the substrate limestone was quarried out in the 16-19th Centuries for elegant buildings in Bordeaux and beyond. All the while the vineyards and chateaux produced world famous wines and now tourists and oenophiles are the new pilgrims.
The respect for heritage in the integration of historical and modern is impressive. Everywhere one looks, buildings, from our humble B&B all the way up to the Cloître des Cordillères, have been meticulously restored preserving original materials and keeping the original look as much as possible while modernized with efficient windows, electrical and plumbing.
We have wandered the narrow cobblestone streets filled with people exploring the perfect little restaurants, cute galleries and hundreds of wine shops catering to the well-heeled. Each day we toured a winery, learning things about the Saint-Emilion appellation rules, such as only 6 bunches of grapes are taken per vine which make one bottle of grand cru, barrels must be made of French oak replaced after 3 years and a barrel holds 300 bottles -not quite enough for a full year!
Saint-Emilion has been a real vacation. We are feeling rested, spoiled with good food and wine, caught up on the blog reports and ready to hit the road again tomorrow.
The pictures tell the story.
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Today's ride: 20 km (12 miles)
Total: 626 km (389 miles)
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3 years ago
Thanks for dropping us a note. Glad to hear our blog is reminding you of St Emilion again. Yes it is a lovely place. Hope to make it back again.
Ann
3 years ago