TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: #Travel Cruise to Bordeaux France

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

#Travel Cruise to Bordeaux France

We took an 8-day Viking Cruise to Bordeaux, which included sailing to the Gironde, Dordogne and Garonne Rivers. It was also a wine cruise, which meant we visited vineyards and sampled wines and food that went with the drinks.

Some of our companions bought bottles of wine to ship back to their homes, but since California has good wine, we did not bother. We did learn more about wine-making and drinking. For instance I had thought that old oak casks were desirable for ageing wine. I was wrong. New oak barrels impart the oak flavor to the wine, which explains why a new barrel costs 100 times more than an old barrel.

I also learned to look at the color of the wine, to sniff it to detect the different scents, and to sip it in a way that the liquid lingers in the taste buds.

We also had the chance to see historical sites. After all, Bordeaux was where Eleanor of Aquitaine lived and Saint Andre Church where she married the King of France, Louis VII, still stands in central Bordeaux Eleanor divorced Louis VII and married the English Duke of Normandy and King of England, Henry II. She was the mother of Richard the Lionheart and King John.

The charming city of Bordeaux is right next to the river, and indeed it had been an important port. We enjoyed walking around the old section, which is very lively. Bordeaux has many young residents. There are many apartment/condo developments in the city.

Here are some pictures.

Tags: #travel #France #Bordeaux #cruise

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Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books.. Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.