But first we had to get a car. I rented it for pick up at Gare St. Jean in the middle of the city. It took us a little longer than anticipated to get to the station because due to the wine fest the streets were quite packed. Taking the tram would have likely been faster but with two big suitcases and carry-on probably not much fun.
Eventually, we made it to the train station, found the rental company and were guided to the adjacent parking garage. All was going well until we tried to get our suitcases into the trunk - a few inches too big for the trunk. Really?! For obvious reasons we didn't want any bags in the open on the backseat while we were out and exploring.
Luckily they had a bigger car that had just been returned but was still in cleaning. Since we weren't in a real rush but on vacation we decided to wait and kill the time the French way: Having a coffee in the café next door. Once we got back to the garage we saw the bigger car, a Citroen C4. From the outside it looked quite a bit bigger, however, the trunk... that was a different story. We still had to try multiple different ways to finally get our suitcases into it but we finally got it done and we were on our way to
Blaye Citadel
source Blaye Tourisme
It is only about an hour's drive from Bordeaux's city center. Apparently you can also reach it quite easily by train but since we left Bordeaux to explore the Perigord right after - we took the car.
Today the Citadel of Blaye is part of the UNESCO World Heritage and it was built in the late 17th century under the leadership of Vauban who also built the famous Citadel of Lille among others that are still standing. But even before this citadel this particular location has been fortified for hundreds of years since it marked the entrance of the Gironde and upstream to rich Bordeaux.
Just look at these old, big and sturdy walls. So awesome to see and walk!
You can wander around the outside of the citadel, entry is free and the views of the Gironde (almost) delta are spectacular.
If we had planned a little better we could have taken one of the tours offered at different times of the day. However, with the slight delays in Bordeaux we missed it and along with it access to the underground citadel and its tunnels, probably where the red gate you see in a couple of pictures is leading to. While that would have been marvelous we didn't want to wait for the next tour as it would have made us late for our evening's B&B which was another few hours drive.
But we did opt for a late but brief break in one of the few cafés offering drinks, food and ice cream. Not knowing - and not googling - what we would get we ordered a ham & potato galette. This is it - it was delicious but way too big to eat for lunch on a hot and sunny day.
Even without the underground exploration the visit of the Blaye Citadel was absolutely awesome. Wandering these old pathways and cobblestones that thousands of people have walked before us for hundreds of years - is something to behold.
I am glad that the citadel is going to be preserved for future generations.
After leaving the café we drove straight to our first B&B an old, historic building itself, located in Valojoulx, La Licorne. Upon arrival we were greeted by the owner and offered a refreshing drink. We gladly accepted it and sat down in the garden for a little chat and our host recommended a couple of restaurants and even made the reservation for us before we were getting our stuff from the car and into our room. BTW this was our BIG car. Well, to be honest, for France and narrow French roads it is quite big.
After freshening up a little we left the B&B and drove maybe twenty minutes to St. Leon sur Vezere, one of France's prettiest villages. And it really is very pretty and quaint. But we were mainly interested in the restaurant which wasn't hard to find in such a small village.
Naturally, we got specialties of the region and the house: Escargot, duck breast and duck confit - it was soooo very good, yum yum yum.
After dinner while walking back to our car we caught the last light of the sunset and took a couple of pictures. Doesn't it look very French picturesque?
Once we got back to Valojoulx we took another very brief walk around the church, literally, and I couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures of the night scenery with my iPhone. Not good pictures but capturing the mood of the moment.
And with these pictures from the end of our fifth day in France I'll also be ending this third post recounting our 2023 France trip.
Have a great rest of your day!
Cheers,
(Ocean)Bee
