On the road to Saint Emilion

 coffee at the market

 Victor ownes Chatau Gaudt pours our taste

We set out in the pouring rain in hopeful for better weather. It was off and on but mostly were lucky. We took the slower road but enjoyed the scenery and the traffic was just fine. Half way to st.Emelion we saw a town with a market and I begged to stop. Hard for us since the goal was to. Get to the wine region. We did not even know the name of the town until we left and looked at the map. It was a great stop since it was a full market with both food and merchandise. Plus Jim could finally get his coffee. It was fun people watching too. We did not do a lot of eating today until dinner only snacks. Our place Pavillon Villemaurine backs up to the main road but the front faces both a vineyard and the old village. The village is steps away from us. We got here just in time to. Join the other folks from this hotel (only 3rooms) on a very special wine tour. Gaudet is the name of the vineyard family owned since 1844. We fell in love with the art work on display there using the metal from old wine barrels by Myriam Rueff. We bought one. The vineyards are across the street from the village. Only 2 are actually in the village but there are many in the area. The son Vincent Lignac gave the tour. He is passionate about what he does and gave and amazing tour from explaining the growing and picking to the grape sorting. Formementing, barrel aging etc. There were also some interesting scuptures made from the metal From the oak barrels. At the end we learned how to taste and appreciate the wine. This wine is made organically and the process is traditional. We popped back for the bikes and went across the street to a completely modern vineyard called Chatau Soudard. The process is very automated. Contrast to the other where people sorted out the bad grapes this place does this by video camera that scans and air pops away the bad ones. Tastes again. Off to dinner soon and the sun is shinning again. Amazing how 8 pm looks like the brightness of 5 at home.