South-West France
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| Make a Smilebox slideshow |
I’ve just got back from France and Spain! It’s great to be back and I’ve had an amazing time! I travelled with my aunt from New Zealand and I saw and learnt so much. We first flew into Bordeaux in south-west France, and after some time there, we hired a car and drove further east to the exquisite Saint-Émilion and the surrounding region which is wine country. From there we went south and crossed the border into Basque country, Spain. We stayed in the beautiful Donostia-San Sebastián, crossing over to the small fishing village of Hondarribia, and then finally onto Bilbao. It really has been such a good time, and every day was packed with new sights and foods and experiences. I took 1,500 photos – eek! Don’t worry there are only a handful in the slideshow, ha, ha. It was hard to know where to start with the slideshows but because the experiences were so different in each country, I thought it would be best to try and put together two separate ones. I’ve started off here with the time in France, and I hope to be able to work on the one of Spain later this week.
So this is of Bordeaux and Saint-Émilion.
Bordeaux is a beautiful port city, and the capital of the Aquitane region in France. It is also famous as one of the world’s major wine industry regions. You’ll see in the photos a cafe scene, sculptures, inside the Cathedral and a huge ferris wheel by night in the centre of town! It was great!
Saint-Émilion was stunning. I just loved this area and it would definitely be one of the highlights for me. In the eighth century a monk named Emilian arrived where the town now lies. I read that Emilian was known for his kindness in the face of unfairness, and his virtue. He eventually settled in a hermitage, devoting himself to God, and through his ministry, miracles were performed such as restoring sight to blind woman in 767.
This is true wine country. I heard that vineyards were planted here as early as the 2nd century by the Romans. We drove past vineyard after vineyard, and the most gorgeous thing was that it is harvest time at the moment and the vines were heavy with fat black grapes and red and yellow leaves. It was so beautiful. The main grape varieties in the region are merlot and to a lesser extent, cabernet. We visited some chateaux and cellars, and the merlot we tasted was so lovely. You’ll see a picture of glasses being poured out as well as vineyards at dusk, and castles, and cobbled streets and crusty bread and camembert.
I hope you enjoy the photos and as I mentioned, I’ll be posting the scenes from Spain soon. For those of you who were praying for our travel, thank you so much.
What a blessed woman you are. It was hard for me to pick a favorite of the photos so I picked a top three from this set even though they are all phenomenal: the sculpture with the woman and the duck, the ferris wheel and lit up stand, and the cheese with the bread. My mouth was watering! Glad you had a good trip.
Oh my goodness, I have been to pre school with my daughter, and France, all in the same day! :0) When I watched the slide show I thought about the sunshine illuminating the buildings and how it is the same sun giving us light miles and miles away. I also really like the vineyards and the shots taken at dusk/nighttime. You made me feel like I spent a full day there. Thanks again.
Roxanne
Hi Birgit,
Found you through my sister, Roxanne’s, blog. I lived in Germany for a year after I graduated from high school. I travelled all over Europe and loved every part of it. My favorite place to be was Hungary. I loved the people–so kind.
Loving living vicariously through your travels!
Hi Birgit,
I am so pleased you had a good and ‘fruitful’ visit to France and Spain. I have been to France many times at this time of year and it can be magical with the early morning mists in the quietness of the countryside. I thought your photography was great and it just shows how you don’t need a lot of sunshine to get good pics. I look forward to seeing the next installments.
That’s so great @ngie :) Yeah, the sculptures, the ferris wheel and the food were definite highlights! I had a wonderful time. Thanks so much for your comments here while I was away too, loved receiving them, while checking the internet at the cafe in Saint Emilion. I am looking forward to catching up with your posts too :)
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Hi Roxx, you are so lovely! So encouraging. I am so happy that you have enjoyed the photos so far and that it has given you a sense of the place. I especially loved Saint Emilion, and like you, the beautiful vineyards there. The colours were gorgeous at this time of year :)
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Hi Elizabeth, so lovely to see you here, welcome :). Wow, what an amazing experience that must have been, living in Germany and travelling across Europe. Which part of Germany did you live in? I was born in Germany and have family in the very north, and also in Munich. I have never visited Hungary, but your description sounds wonderful! :)
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Hi Margot, so good to hear from you! Yeah, we had a wonderful time with all that we saw and tried to make the most of the time. Isn’t the French countryside exquisite! Lorraine and I spent an afternoon going on a long drive throughout the surrounding villages in Saint Emilion and it was a favourite part of the trip for me – I adored the harvest colours of the vines in the setting sun. Yes, the weather was mixed in France, often becoming sunny and clear as the days went on. Not like in Spain – it’s only a matter of hours south and yet the weather was hot, sunny and clear blue skies everyday – that was a real treat. I’ll post some pictures soon hopefully :)
The photos were amazing. Thank you for sharing them. The blue grapes were amazing — they were BLUE! Beautiful. You are a blessed woman, Birgit, to be able to travel like this. Eat it up…enjoy every minute. I spent too much being homesick when I lived in England. Of course, you’re probably used to it now, you’ve been there for a few years, right?
Glad to see you back online! ;)
WOW Birgit! You know how to capture a moment in words and pictures! Beautiful! Glad you had a lovely time away. Looking forward to seeing the rest!
Hi,
I lived in a little town just out of Hannover called Isernhagen. I still keep in touch with the family I lived with, they truly became family. I can’t wait to see your pics.
so fun that you also had a getaway this month! sounds like it was an amazing trip!
Great photos again. It was an area I would like to spend more time in. Maybe next visit! Lorraine