France by Bicycle | PART 14: BORDEAUX

Our route takes us across the Gironde Estuary on a ferry to the left bank of the river Garonne, and deep into the heart of the Bordeaux region. Riding past countless wine chateaus, we fall in love with the gentle landscapes of this fertile land, until we reach the city of Bordeaux, where we spend an afternoon and evening enjoying this lovely French city. In the morning, our route takes us through the city and then out of the Garonne Valley along the Roger Lapèbie cycle path, a 57 km rail trail that journeys through forests and vineyards, sharing the route with Eurovelo 3, the Pilgrim’s Route. Eventually we leave the trail and climb higher, with spectacular views of the Bordeaux countryside in all directions. Eventually we descend back down into the Garonne Valley and the village of Castets et Castillon, where the beginning of the Canal de Garonne begins, and the start of our ride along the Canal des Deux Mers. An absolutely spectacular couple of days!

Music:

Accordion and Glockenspiel Comedy – JK Productions
Pond Five
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Anten Before Dawn – Dandelion
Epidemic Sound

French Connection – Medite
Epidemic Sound

Coffee Shop Date – Jaydan Talley
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Swans in Flight – Asher Fulero
YouTube Audio Library

From My Bedroom Window – Headlund
Epidemic Sound

Morning Juliana good morning a little hard to give a proper good morning but we’ll try to find a moment here Joanne Hep Trails baby [Applause] thank you we awoke and Bly and after another fabulous breakfast headed straight for the ferry across the gallon Estuary on our way to the city of Bordeaux and there 5 000 miles as the crow flies from home we met a couple who lived only five miles away from us in Denver

Good morning so we’re on the ferry and we’ve just met this wonderful couple they’re cycling as well they’re touring and uh if you could tell us a little bit about yourself absolutely I’m Neil Neil this is Karen we’re both from Thornton Colorado we’re on our way to Bordeaux

Right now nice it’s pretty surprising because we we’re in line for the ferry we start talking we realize we can all speak English and we realize we’re from the same town so it’s a smaller world so how long have you been on the road this is day four for us we did three

Days in Seville before this tomorrow we fly out to Madrid to finish off three nights and goes back to work in Denver nice nice what made you guys come to Bly of all places we purchased a solo Bike Tour it was an organized route the company takes our bags from point A to

Point B to point C so we just have to ride and get there and so they’re they’re taking your bags to Bordeaux yeah so there are no other people with you you’re not part of a group you’re on your own it’s excellent that’s why I’ve always kind of avoided these blue

Varieties because we like living our own time exactly it would be nice to have all the luggage transported that’s very smart yeah it’s wonderful it sounds like a viable way to go we need to rethink this whole thing yes we do we’re learning as we go go because look at their bags

Oh there’s a bag one little light bag probably enough for like a rain jacket and there’s our like it takes us it takes us all afternoon just to unload these things you know and the extra weight yeah and the extra weight yeah well sounds good you guys have a great

Time in Bordeaux I’m sure you will I’ve heard nothing but great things about it and uh By the time we reach The Far Side the gray skies had lifted and we found ourselves cycling beneath a luxurious Cloudscape there’s some gorgeous clouds isn’t it check out this uh Tower up here huh Good steeple unlike any I think I’ve ever seen Foreign I wish I could tell you what town we’re in having a hard time remembering these names our mornings ride took us past one fabulous wine Chateau after another ever deeper into the beautiful region known as Bordeaux France’s largest producer of wine which is really saying something fabulous morning we crossed the ferry

Across the river garone or the Bay of Bordeaux or whatever it’s called still can’t see it on a map beautiful sky in all directions this morning just a gorgeous gorgeous day good morning good morning baby beautiful out here it is gorgeous it’s lovely perfect the sky is so artistic yeah it

Is they were saying it was going to rain uh all of today for a while Part of today and then it slowly evaporated into nothing we were going to do a dress day in Bordeaux but I think we’ll put that off for a couple of days since we’re supposed to get a big bout of rain and we always try to time our rest days to rain days

Looking lovely this morning baby why thank you this life certainly agrees with me I agree I feel so good these days just physically feel great doing this this makes me feel so alive yeah we could just get a couple more hours of sleep every day huh yeah

Stayed in A really lovely hotel last night the hostess was great got on the ferry realized they had the key called them they said no I just leave it with the pay station and the ferry boat they said well we’ll pick it up it’s no big

Deal just love the Casual easy going way of things around here there’s so much trust there’s a lot of trust yeah there’s another Beauty coming up beautiful vineyards of Bordeaux Vineyards everywhere is really in the heart of Bordeaux and God we had some great wine last

Night oh my God from the Italian the Rouge Winery I believe I almost can’t wait every night for the next bottle of gorgeous wine fresh local beautiful wine Sunday morning in the church bells are ringing Before viticulture was introduced into the area by the Romans in the first century and wine has been produced here ever since we can credit Eleanor of Aquitaine for spreading the word about Bordeaux wine back in the 12th century introducing it to her husband King Henry II of England

Sweaty day today isn’t it it is feels like it wants to break open into a storm but I don’t think it’s going to yeah we’re catching a couple raindrops here and there very few who knows what this day will bring today we associate Bordeaux with red wines although for centuries it was

Known for whites in the late 1800s an infestation nearly destroyed the Region’s grapes until pest resistant root stock from American Vines were grafted onto the native Vines the Reds here are mainly Blends including Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot and Malbec which although known more as an Argentinian wine originally comes from

The Bordeaux region you know it’s amazing how much of France is suburbs it reminds you of strip malls and urban sprawl that you see in America a lot of the same stuff We entered the city of Bordeaux in the afternoon along a wide and well-used bike path that brought us into the Heart of the City along a graceful Arc of the river garone Said to try to borrow a cafe table to have our lunch which is like some Canard sausage and some cheese that Juliana picked up good loaf of French bread and I’m gonna have it overlooking the garon river we have some amazing truffle cheese this thing is heaven in your

Mouth and some Canard some duck sauce waste your cheese not sure what it is whole grain artisanal bread oh grain bread yes yes it makes for a great little lunch All right we’re on absolutely and look at this field broke you in the river Well fed we continued onto our hotel near the train station pausing to admire and cheer on a bicycle rally to improve the city’s cycling infrastructure fight for your rights people once we got settled into our room we headed down the stairs and out into the city as evening fell to stretch our legs

Enjoy the sights and the vibe of the city and perhaps most importantly eat a little change of pace tonight doing Lebanese got some baba ganoush warmer pulley and a mixed grill it’s wonderful yes Very nice Leaving Bordeaux busy I don’t know what it is Sunday I guess I think it’s Sunday Sunday morning got a 40 mile or 42. it’s a beautiful morning still got probably three good days of riding before we look to see a major storm system coming in lovely views over the river we just

Crossed over the river garage A little hard to give a proper good morning but we’ll try to find a moment here Joanne Hep Trails baby it’s little glimpses of the river garone through the trees got kind of a you know not a very beautiful little stretch here but a great stretch of uh road to get us

Out of Bordeaux nice and wide and traffic free thank you French appreciate the bike trails the bike path the bicycle infrastructure we watched a uh bicycle rally last evening for trying to expand the bicycle infrastructure but I thought yeah y’all have it a lot better

Than we do say in Denver that’s for sure lots of bike paths everywhere you go All right riding along a rail trail now for the next 47 kilometers very narrow we just spoke with the gentleman who was from the rally last night who’s promoting the cost to widen the trail and to improve bicycle infrastructure in the Bordeaux area so it is a very narrow Trail but

It’s paved and quite lovely and I think we’ve been on rail Trails here in Europe but they’re not usually referred to as rail Trails they’re just part of the trail system they use whatever they can roads Trails rails canals you know yeah you can tell this has got all the

Markings of an old railroad and uh should keep it flat for a little while we’ve got a fair amount of climbing at some point today according to kamut A couple of muskrats here on the trail finding little bits to eat you’re okay who’s gonna get you Something beautiful September morning here on the rail trail outside of Bordeaux loving life we enjoyed this rail trail the quiet the gentle Hills up and down but it’s worth noting that the rail Trails here are usually part of larger routes just one ingredient that make up something much

Larger in the states rail trails are destinations in themselves but the US would be wise to incorporate other routes into their Trail systems like the quiet back roads as much of Europe does the old train station They don’t look like the train stations in the U.S which have a very distinctive look Here we’re getting some of that climbing in for sure slowly but surely God this is a pretty Trail isn’t it gorgeous riding just pleasant as can be Birds everywhere you get these little cool moments in the forest and then you kind of start to chill off and then you

Get into the Sun and it’ll feel so nice lovely yeah oh Foreign one of the nice things about riding the rail Trails is that they take you on a journey of history with all the old bridges tunnels and railroad engineering looks like they’re going to try to restore those train cars design of this tunnel we have a spade shape hello

So well let and you know every rail trail I’ve ever been in you go through the tunnels and it’s just chunky and wet and drippy this is just clean as a whistle I’m glad commute routed us this way Seems a little out of our way but uh you know it’s been such a pleasant ride and great Countryside beautiful now we got some downhill loving that what a day this has just been beautiful such a lovely Trail little ups and little Downs could not have picked a a

Better afternoon to be riding along this late September just stunningly beautiful Another Day in Paradise A nice little picnic spot here for a mid-morning early afternoon snack snack while our route was ultimately leading us to the canal dugaron roughly the same elevation as the city of Bordeaux kamut had directed us on this trail that took us high up into the hills above the grown Valley through verdant woodlands

And sun-drenched Vineyards of exquisite beauty we were grateful that we followed their lead Thank you there’s a picnic table if you want to stop Good rest I wouldn’t mind eating a little bit as good as we’ll get a nice little spot here for lunch or mid-afternoon break Thank you Here’s the top of those views God this is so pretty believe it at some point we left the rail trail taking roads that had us climbing Hill after Hill revealing a painter’s landscape in all directions it probably sounds more than a little repetitive but this was one of the

Finest days of cycling we’ve ever experienced perfect Autumn temperatures the Landscapes always changing and always gorgeous and the sense of unveiling Discovery all made for an absolutely stunning afternoon can you believe this stuff unbelievable just so beautiful wow wow I know we got a tight little climb

Coming up like boy these little drops are freaking gorgeous There’s a little drop and then we got a big hill coming up I’m gonna kick our butt tell you that right now I’m tired Without question the constant ups and downs were really starting to wear on us and the top of every Hill seemed to point towards another higher climb all right wow that’s so beautiful so beautiful hey there baby that pretty oh my God it’s incredible a lot of work but

Boy payoff is sure something huh yep my goodness oh my goodness here we are in France can you believe it oh lordy gorgeous contract we’ll keep going baby see you at the top what’s upgrade six lion bastards the shade feels nice oh it’s so much easier

But our moods were sunny as the day kept revealing one beautiful Vista after another by the time we reach the top of our final climb we were spent just in time for a luxurious descent back into the valley of the garon into casteton Dort in our room for the evening Oh yeah [Applause] We made it over the past now we’re uh gonna head down into the valley of the girl and our starting point on the canal canal to go What a day what an incredible fabulous day how much more of this can two people take Stark contrast from what the outside of these buildings look like sides are modern and nice good kitchen great for cooking Nobody seems to have dryers we’re pretty spoiled as Americans Bonjour