The holidays

A little belated but this, in summary, is how our week in Bordeaux went:

• Day 1 - Saturday: Caught the train to Gare de Montparnasse and then a TGV to Libourne where we were met by Estelle (co-owner of Chateau Lestrille). Stayed with her, her husband Martin and their three kids for a night. Ate great food, drank superb wine, sat in the sun and generally did not very much.
  

• Day 3 - Monday: Moved to B's aunt's place in Bordeaux and hung out in the city for the day.

Day 4 - Tuesday: Hired a car (a Citroen C1 - a fantastic little car) and drove to Le Porge-Océan on the West coast for a day at the beach. It was the first time I'd seen a real (by a Sydney definition) beach since arriving in France. Sigh.

Day 5 - Wednesday: Left Bordeaux in the car and drove to a small B&B at La Gueriniere, Cenac via Sarlat-la-Canéda.

Day 6 - Thursday: Drove to les jardins de Marqueyssac, near Castelnaud, then Montbazillac and finally to B's aunt's country house in Coubeyrac, a truly relaxing place replete with donkeys, vineyards and the kind of countryside you normally only see on shows like Getaway.

Day 7 - Friday: Drove to St Emilion but otherwise relaxed at the house.

Day 8 - Saturday: Visited some local markets then spent some of the afternoon at a show put on by a local horse-riding school (where one of B's cousins was attending). That night we had an amazing dinner in Gensac. I wish I'd taken my camera to photograph the sun setting over the valley, and I wish I'd remembered to take the business card of the hotel/restaurant so I could share the details with you but sadly I did neither of these. Sorry.

Day 9 - Sunday: Drove back to Bordeaux to drop off the car and hopped on the TGV back to Paris.

Of course, all of this is on Flickr here, although you might want to make a cup of tea or at least find an extra cushion for your chair before you click through the 375 photos. Ahem.