Paulliac - Paw Yak

Yes. It is pronounced 'pawyak'.  Funny we are ending the week just as we started with silent double Ls!  We have a little later start to the touring day so are taking our time enjoying omelettes and french toast in the dining room.  Hard to believe that this month long sojourn is coming to an end.  But Feliz confirmed our distress at her 9:00 am port and disembarkation talk. Tonight the preliminary invoices will be slipped under our doors and our bills can be settled any time after noon tomorrow...if we are not ordering more drinks from the bar.  People will be checking to see if they have any remaining on-board credit so they can use it up.  There was a chance to go ashore again in Bourg before our 11:30 p.m. sailing but few people did.  I know we are boring but again we lunched on the open deck and watched the world go by until we approached Paulliac. 

 

Looks very Antebellum but it is Chateau Margaux.  Just a peak from outside the gates.

Today our land journey takes us through the Medoc and Margaux wine districts.  You may remember that the Medoc was across from Blaye so we have crossed the river and are on the left bank.  The side of the river affects the type and quality of the wine.  We passed by the Lafitte Rothschild estate and stopped to photograph more than one chateaux of the Haute- Medoc, bas-Medoc, Margaux, St. Julien, St. Estephe, and Paulliac appellations.  These left bank wines are the finest that the Bordeaux region can produce.  We learned about appellations, classifications, the 1859 juries and everything that there could possible be left to know or learn about French wine!  If you love wine and it's variations and histories then this is the cruise for you!

Each of the four buses set out on different paths to the chateaux where they had their wine tasting.  Everyone though criss-crossed the territory so that each of us could see the locations of the most famous and most expensive brands.  It was a carefully orchestrated ballet of the buses!  Our paths did not meet.  I think we probably lucked into the best stop as our chateaux was also open for touring, not just the wine shop.  The owner has four chateaux in different districts so since they were not home, we played Nosy Nellie!  I thought the well manicured lawn was especially nice.  I could imagine elegant guests strolling with glasses of red splendor in their delicate hands.

 

Here is the deep red happiness from Chateau Giscours.  

You can almost see the sweetness from the way it coats the glass! 

Our tasting of three red wines, was so very nicely done.  The beautiful setting added to the ambiance of being newly created connoisseurs. The first was light enough for me to enjoy while the other two I quickly passed on to the nearest willing taker.  Red wines are not Elva's cup of tea so to speak.  When she declines the nearest lucky person wins.  Someone is always willing!

I loved all the ceilings.  I don't guess it is tacky to have 

wine bottles on every mantle if they are from your own Margaux vineyard!

More formal wine tastings and I am sure some very nice parties are held in the main house.

Cooling units from the wine processing tour.

I am a sucker for a flowering tree.  Weather here is about a month behind the season at home.

At 6:00 we arrived at Chateau Kirwan to be greeted by the smiling and familiar faces of our hotel manager, Brian, the Maitre'd and our favorite bar and wait staff.  Unlike the chateaux luncheons some experienced, Chateau Kirwan is a venue for private parties.  While we roamed the fields and countryside of France the staff scurried to set up a great surprise party.  Round tables of ten were covered with pristine white tablecloths and place settings brought carefully from the ship with three wine glasses gracing each.  We choose a table next to a beautiful French door which perfectly framed a view to the vines.

  

French onion Soup with a really amazing puff pastry cap.

Brian gave the first toast while Feliz beamed with pride at the success of the day.  The hostess, who was increasing vineyard income and maintaining the upkeep of the chateau with private parties, introduced the history of the venue and of the wine.  Her toast was to the gift of terroir, which is "the set of all environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype."  Chef Cesar then presented the entree, which in France is the starter, not the main course - a veal dish that was the best thing I ate on this part of the trip was so rich and delicious that I wished there were seconds. This procedure continued through all the meal with a new wine for every course.  Again, the first wine was the lightest and the one I could drink.  Tea and coffee accompanied the dessert.  

This evening was a perfect ending to our journey through the history of the Loire Valley and the Bordeaux rivers of wine.

As a side note: we had been watching all afternoon black smoke rising from near the river.  It looked like oil was burning but it turned out that it was a fire in the artificially planted pine forest.  Bright yellow planes had been scooping up water from right near our ship to try to put out the conflagration.  When at our table during dinner we began feeling a little too warm we threw open our doors and were watching the planes fly by in a rotation as though they were on a wired loop.  There were four altogether and one helicopter.  The fire was still smoldering when we returned to our home base about 9:00.

There had been a few waiters and cooks left on board to tend to the few guests who opted out of today's included tour.  It was these guests definite loss on this fine day.  In case we had not had enough deliciousness or enough wine today, when we returned to our home base, they had prepared a tasting of local cheeses and Sauternes for us to enjoy while listening to piano music and visiting with our new friends!

At 11:00 we set sail one last time but again not to our advertised location!