Show Notes for Episode 144: Hiking Around Bordeaux

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Categories: Active Vacations in France, Bordeaux Area, Off the Beaten Track in France

Discussed in this Episode

• Barsac
• Bordeaux
• Caudrot
• Saint-Émilion
• Saint-Macaire
• Saint-Martin-de-Lerm
• Sauterne
• Traveling with Girlfriends

Episode Highlights with Time Stamps

• [9’47” ]  Start of hiking around Bordeaux interview
• [11’50] You don’t need to be an athlete to do this, but you do need to prepare
• [12′] Special equipment required: hiking boots
• [13’30”] What’s the longest hike you did in one day?
• [14’26”] How this trip got planned
• [15’10”] How did your tour work? What was provided by the company?
• [17′] Getting lost a lot!
• [18’32”] Getting a ride from a stranger to get to the wine tasting
• [22’20”] The types of terrain they hiked through
• [23’11”] Dinners and accommodations were planed and luggage was transported from place to place
•  [23’40”] Meeting a seasoned walking Scottish couple who knew about Randonnée Maps and kilometer counters
• [26’30] GR stands for Grande Randonnée
• [27’39] Doing this without GPS coordinates sounds crazy nowadays!
• [28′] What did they enjoy the most and the least about their experience hiking around Bordeaux? Active vacation which is great when you’re eating French food.
• [29’37”] There are different brokers all selling the same tours
• [30′] Do you need to buy a tour? Couldn’t you organize this whole thing by yourself?
• [30’52”] Other hiker gave them precious tips about when stores close etc., the tour company hadn’t warned them!
• [33′] For people who want to do this by themselves, look for GR maps and IGN maps
• [34’34”] Meeting people in tiny little towns, seeing how people live and enjoying the culture was great: you can’t do that from a tour bus!
• [35’58”] No mosquitoes, really?
• [38′] Dawn speaks French, the others do not. The French came in handy especially at restaurants
• [39’45”] Outstanding accommodations and dinner at the Barsac Castle, Paul and Ginette were wonderful, the salt-water swimming pool was great too
• [41′] All the places they stopped: Bordeaux, Saint-Émilion, Saint-Martin-de-Lerm, Caudrot, Saint Macaire (beautiful hike between Caudrot and Saint-Macaire), Sauterne and Barsac
• [43’17”] Review of the Musée du Vin in Bordeaux
• [44’58”] Review of L’Entrecôte restaurant in Bordeaux
• [47’47”] Annie’s guess on what’s in the Entrecôte sauce
• [49’32”] How to beat the crowd at L’Entrecôte (and many other French restaurants!)
• [49’49”] Wine every day on this tour?
• [51’52”] Most French villages will have a public restroom, usually where old men gather to play Pétanque
• [52’55”] Luggage or carry-on?
• [54’38”] Heated towel bars in France
• [55’15”] What are packing cubes?
• [56’27”] Did you feel safe doing this as women?
• [59′] French Tip of the Week “Tu ne peux pas changer la tête avec laquelle tu es né(e), mais pas besoin de faire cette tête !”

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Categories: Active Vacations in France, Bordeaux Area, Off the Beaten Track in France