Thursday, September 15. Busy day. Winds blew away the haze, so it was an excellent clear day. Not too hot for once.

We began with an amusing morning, guided by what must be the town’s leading entrepreneur, Les. His base camp is a narrow but deep wine shop which, as with all wine shops I’ve seen, have a good assortment of whiskies too. Les is a Character of the best sort. Very funny and relaxed. (He made it clear in a polite way that he has a dim view of American wines.)

We had with two wine tastings (the obligatory white, then red), along with the inevitable advice on how to taste wine. Then, wine glass in hand, Les gave us a tour of his “empire”. His winery was situated in a little courtyard and was no bigger than a three car garage. It had a unique feature: wine barrels that can be spun. Rather than pushing down the grapeskins in vats, he simply spins the barrels every few hours.

We then visited his wife’s art gallery, studio and antique shop (some items weren’t that old, but everything was interesting to look at). Very eclectic. Next was his house, which he now rents out to travelers. (He lives out of town.) Wonderfully full of antiques and memories. The town doesn’t let him alter the exterior, which is viewed as a good thing since it removes any temptation to spend money on it.

Next was his, for lack of a better term, MANsion. The front was a garage with a ’56 Porsche and three old 2HP Citroens. All were in perfect condition. Les also has an extenive inventory of old bikes and motorcycles, including an antique battery-powered version that still works. Behind the garage was a small garden with very high stone walls. (One ubiquitous comment all week was that the stones one sees in Bordeaux are mostly from England. Ships would carry stones as ballast to Bordeaux, then leave with barrels of wine.)

Last to visit was his claustrophobic cave, complete with wine cells and little tasting room. He even has some cells rented out to a few “special” people. Dark and mysterious. Les bragged a bit about his favorite wine purchases (“700 bottles of this”, etc). It was clear that he didn’t need the tour guide gig to pay his rent.

We ended the tour in the shop for a few last tastings. A thoroughly entertaining morning. Bought a case of wine, composed chiefly of Cabernet Sauvignon .

We returned to the ship for lunch, during which we crossed from the Right Bank to the Left for the “Highlight of the Included Tours”. The scope of this Excursion had essentially been hidden from the passengers. First was the standard bus drive, going past the most famous and beautiful of Left Bank châteaus in St. Estephe and Paulliac. Rothschild, LeTour, etc. There were a few photo stops, but I was getting a little inured to beautiful châteaus. We stopped for an exhaustive tour at Château Giscours (shortened due to an incredibly slow bathroom break). Once again learned how to taste wine, though to be fair this one was very entertaining and actually gave new insights. The wine’s taste was such that I was happy that I’d bought wine in the morning. Wonderfully, each bus visited a different château, so we had the place to ourselves.

The evening closed with a fancy dinner at Château Kirwan. Candelabras with real candles, high ceilings, excellent food presentations, great patio to step out to. The food was prepared and served by the ship’s crew. Sadly, the food did not reach the opulence of the room. I suspect that we had arrived later than expected. What should have been hot was warm, what should have been medium rare was medium well. But it was all fun anyway. Endless wine.

Our return to the ship was a crazy song-fest. The driver knew what rocked. (I heard later that there were complaints by the less boisterous passengers. Nuts to that.)

A long but thoroughly exciting day.