Happy New Year to All –

We slept late and had our usual breakfast, packed, and then sat in one of the sitting areas of the hotel – working. Guess reality and getting back to the grind is setting in. I generally work throughout our travels (a little each day), but on this trip I worked more in “batches” and somehow didn’t finish everything I brought to do… so I think the flight home will be like setting up an office on the plane. It’s fine, not complaining. Yndo prepared a light lunch for us – vegetable soup and salad and a gluten-free lemon loaf. Quite good and I’m neither gluten-free nor vegan.

We are off to Paris for the night – staying in that new Yotel (which looks like the bed takes up the entire room) – a chain that has developed with very small rooms but the hotels are located right inside the airport. Should be interesting. We booked the largest room, which is still microscopic. Not sure where you put your bags in that room. But it’s just for a few hours.. We head back to California tomorrow morning (Tuesday) – and I head to Seattle on Wednesday. The goal is to drop off the bags and meet friends for dinner (they made reservations at L’Arpege which is fantastic), but we shall see if the weather holds up and our plane is actually on time – a necessity if we are to make the dinner. If not, I think it will be airport food (guess if you have to have airport food, Paris airport food is probably better than most.)

Right now they are predicting stormy weather and lots of rain. We are keeping our fingers crossed it blows over.

See most of you stateside.

Be well – Here’s to a healthy, peaceful, and tweet-free 2018 (but I can see on my phone that this is already not possible).

Farewell to Bordeaux… we shall return.

Fern

PS – Landed in Paris; no bus from plane to terminal; long wait. Then baggage at far end and exit at total opposite end of baggage area; always forget that Charles de Gaulle is a big airport. Then as we started to walk (hike) to the Yotel, we checked the information online for the route and started to read all the information. Turns out Yotel is inside the secure area, so you need to either check your baggage or else put it into a storage area at the other end of the terminal. Our bags are fairly small so we could probably get through security with them as carry-on, but would require a bit of re-organizing that we had not planned and we’d need to figure out a few things regarding liquids, since we purchased a few things. Anyway, decided that Yotel would not work for us; so we headed to the CDG Sheraton, where we had stayed once before when we had a connecting flight early the next morning. But by the time we reached the Sheraton it was about 9:15 and the reservations at L’Arpege were at 9:30. We still needed to check in and get bags to the room and then either hop in a taxi or take the train. Was not looking good. We figured it made sense to cancel the dinner plans and just eat at the Sheraton (not the final French meal we had imagined… but we’ve had great meals for the past 16 days – and already eaten way more than we wanted). All good; flight leaves in the morning. Change planes in Chicago (praying for no blizzard) and then in San Francisco at 6:30  pm tomorrow (Tuesday).

31 December 2017. En ce dernier jour de cette année folle. In this last day of this crazy year.

Last night’s dinner at L’Estacade was fine – very relaxed, low key… L’Estacade sits out on the Rive Garrone across from the side of the river we are staying at… It’s on stilts and feels like a dock restaurant. We had oysters, salads, a penne pasta with fish and a small appetizer of sweetbreads on polenta. All good. It was a long hike back, so we opted for a taxi. After this morning’s breakfast at Yndo, we headed to return the rental car (should have done it last night!) and that is always fun… (not). The GPS kept taking us to the front of the train station and we knew we needed to be behind the station to get to the parking area (6^th floor). Getting around the building was no easy thing. Took about 10 tries, but finally got the car up to the 6^th floor of the garage and dropped off the keys. Then we headed to the tram to get to La Bourse where we would walk the two or so miles along the quai to the Cite du Vin (a wine museum). Tram was fairly straightforward – they seem to have a very comprehensive system — very frequent stops, totally silent, no overhead wires, clean, easy to purchase tickets at each stop (although no one ever checks). Getting off at La Bourse we were able to do what I suppose every tourist does: take photos at the reflecting pool directly across from La Bourse….

We then walked along the river, past the amazingly complicated city-constructed skateboard parks – one for older kids, another for little ones… and through a great outdoor market that was sort of a combination of any great farmers’ market and Oakland’s Off the Grid Food Trucks on Friday nights at the museum.

It was such a wonderful blue sky day that we reluctantly left our umbrellas (hotel umbrellas) back in the room. I, more than Mike, was convinced that the weather would hold out on this my birthday!

As we walked, we thought about stopping in one of the many restaurants along the quai… but decided to hold out until we hit the Cite du Vin – Bordeaux’s very new (opened mid-2016) and very creative homage to the international wine industry. Quite cleverly they have set it up to make Bordeaux the world capital of wine by ensuring that exhibits include all wine-producing nations and they even serve many, many non-French wines throughout the building. It sits on the banks of the Garrone River. The building was designed by a team of French architects – personally I think the exterior is a stupid looking shape, but it is definitely iconic. The architects’ comments about the design: “This building does not resemble any recognizable shape because it is an evocation of the soul of wine between the river and the city….  Every detail of the architecture evokes wine’s soul and liquid nature: ‘seamless roundness, intangible and sensual’” (Mike’s comment on this quote is even stronger than mine – “Barff”)… Their comments are sort of antithetical to the way the exhibits are handled and how the museum tries to ensure that wine is for all people.. not just those who can figure out what ‘seamless roundness” means.

Anyway, it was a good move to wait to eat until we got to the wine museum; they have a wonderful restaurant, Le 7, on the 7^th floor with commanding views of the river and the northern part of the city. And the food was great. We shared (given that tonight is probably a big meal) – raw and smoked beef appetizer served with “mustard ice cream” (it actually had the texture of gelato and was cold like ice cream, but a delicate mustard taste).. main course of wonderful sweetbreads with chanterelles, tiny crispy greens, and paper thin carrots in a delightful and understated sauce. We ended with rum baba – totally soaked in a good rum!. Then we headed to see the exhibits.

The real draw has got to be the creative efforts made to ensure that understanding wine is not elitist, not boring, and not just for adults. As you enter the building you get an iPhone like device and headphones (every language imaginable – and even one for kids with cartoons explaining everything along the way). But you don’t even need the headphones or the translations as the exhibits — all very interactive – are large and interesting, and often lots of fun. In one room you can sit at a dinner table with both real and projected people. The projected people are having conversations (about wine and food) and everything is projected onto the table.. food courses which keep changing, your silverware, etc. The projected person pours wine into a two dimensional glass at your table and it’s as real as it can be complete with the video guy cleaning off the bottle. The museum founders must have (smartly) consulted with not just historians and oenologists, and scientists, but also with professional popularizers… and set designers.. I think that the museum director came from running a sophisticated theme park. In any case, I’d say – good move!.

All good until we attempted to leave the museum —- what about those umbrellas?  It was pouring… winds and squall-like conditions… Dashed back into the gift shop and we are now the proud owners of two Cite du Vin umbrellas (to add to the collection of many other umbrellas purchased in similar circumstances). We waited a while and then braved the few blocks to the tram station… (never even bought tickets) and went the five stops toward the hotel and then walked the ½ mile back to Yndo. Apparently we needed to order a taxi to our restaurant for tonight, by early this morning because it’s such a busy night. We didn’t do that, so Yndo drove us to dinner.

This is now being written on January 1…. We spent a rainy new year’s eve at La Tupina – a small, delightful Bordeaux restaurant just off the quai. The restaurant is on the first floor of a somewhat non-descript mid-18^th Century building. It was actually a perfect place for us. Food was good but not over the top, no decorations for New Year’s and no funny hats or horns. I truly hate that stuff, and since New Year’s is my birthday, I naturally think it should be more about me than about the hoopla surrounding the change of the year. That said, we are always traveling on New Year’s and have had New Year’s dinners in about 25 or 30 different countries. Somehow, they all get into that hat and noise-maker thing. And generally, even the best restaurants have set menus which are not as good as their non-holiday pre-set dinners. La Tupina was a pleasant surprise, although as is standard on New Year’s, it was a set meal.

OK.. for the foodies .. Others, move on to the next paragraph! We arrived at about 9:15 and the pace was leisurely… starting with a glass of champagne accompanied by a wonderful tiny, but thick pancake-like croque with truffles, cream, and a scallop. This was followed by a blini with paper-thin beets, cream and caviar, wrapped with smoked salmon. Of course by then we were up to wine (from Bordeaux, naturally!; we liked the fact that La Tupina doesn’t even bother having wines from anywhere else… just Bordeaux). The next course – naturally – foie gras sitting in a foam of chestnut emulsion. We both selected the meat dish for the main course, since we’ve had so much fish I think I’m developing  gills…  The meat dish was venison with truffles, baked pear, and a potato (shaped like the pear – perhaps to create visual balance on the plate?) that was whipped but crusty with a finely ground nut covering… And before we rolled out and figured we had gained several pounds (good thing we are walking a lot), we had a very hard-to-describe, but quite luscious, dessert – some kind of ice cream that was dipped in a marshmallow-ish liquid which was then carefully burned to create a crust around the ice cream which was then placed atop a baked pear with raspberries on the edge.

We literally rolled out of the restaurant at about 12:40 am (again, no fanfare at midnight, just food!) and it was impossible to get a taxi back to the hotel. It was only drizzling at that point so we decided to take the tram and then walk from the tram stop to the hotel. We were pretty seasoned commuters by then. The streets of Bordeaux were filled with young people dancing in the rain and singing French songs that we assume were pretty current. They all seemed to know the words. We joined a group of twenty-somethings on the train and they were all singing as well. Seems to be some kind of tradition to wear costumes so some kids were dressed as cows and other animals… all on our tram. As one group got off at a station, another joined in and the singing continued.. and some dancing. Seems like it’s good to be twenty-something in Bordeaux.

We left the tram at Quinconces and walked back to Yndo in the on and off again drizzle. It was a good dinner and a good New Years and a good birthday. Thank you all for your warm wishes.

All the best to you for the New Year… Have a wonderful New Year’s Eve. We are toasting you!

Fern

Greetings from Bordeaux (and Saint Emilion).

Started today with a bit of an upset – Mike woke up with some kind of back pain, and initially felt he would just stay in bed. But after some Advil he seemed a bit better and we decided to stick to the plan to rent a car (at the train station in Bordeaux) and drive to Saint Emilion. I would drive so he could just relax – and then if he felt he couldn’t walk, he could find a nice bench in Saint Emilion. So, following the Yndo’s wonderful breakfast (where they basically create whatever you want and keep coming with freshly baked goods and jams that the owner has made – today’s jam was banana!), we took a taxi to the railroad station to pick up the car. Mike found a chair nearby and waited while I went onto the queue for the car. Never saw such a long line for a rental car, but everyone waited patiently (we are definitely not in the US). Eventually I got our car, and off we went to Saint Emilion (after scraping the car a bit on a bollard that was in my blind spot).

The drive – which is just about 30 miles – was less interesting than we had imagined (going through a lot of industry as you leave Bordeaux), although as you approach Saint Emilion the road is flanked by vineyards as far as the eye can see.

And Saint Emilion (a UNESCO Heritage Site – another program the US no longer participates in since #45 has taken us out of UNESCO) is charming – filled with numerous Romanesque churches and ruins and narrow cobblestone streets. The medieval town’s history goes back to the 2^nd Century when the Romans planted vineyards in the area. Supposedly, monks started up the commercial wine production in the area. We strolled the streets (fortunately no rain), and stopped into a little bistro for lunch (cassoulet and salad), and then strolled some more as Mike’s pain seemed to have subsided. At one point, when we were planning this part of our trip, we considered staying in Saint Emilion for two nights. While it is quite delightful, I’m very very glad we settled on Bordeaux. We would have been bored in Saint Emilion – too small.

As we ate lunch, we wondered a bit about how Bordeaux fared during WWII and how much destruction it experienced. Our quick Google research uncovered some interesting stories, including the fact that a lone German soldier defied Nazi orders to blow up the Bordeaux Port (toward the very end of the war). He had fallen in love with a French woman who was in the Resistance. Instead of blowing up the Port, he blew up the bunker where the munitions he was supposed to use were stored. He was deemed a traitor by Germans, but honored in France – where he died at the age of 92. He had become a French citizen, married, and had children in France (not sure if it was the same woman).

Drove back to our little haven at Yndo (now Mike thinks he can live forever at Yndo).

Tonight we eat across the river in a restaurant with a view to the center of Bordeaux. Not sure what to expect on the food side. We shall see. Will report tomorrow. We kept trying for reservations at Miles and at Dan (new young chefs getting a lot of attention – I guess too much attention), but no luck.

All the best –

Fern

Salutations le lendemain au dernier jour de l’année ! (Greetings on the next to the last day of the year!)… I hope that is correct. Hard to believe that 2017 is just about over. How did we ever make it?

So, for the foodies — Le Chapon Fin was quite good – probably I’d rate it 8 out of 10, but service was definitely 10. I’ll do my best to tell you what we ate, but don’t remember everything.

Mostly it’s difficult to remember all the “transitions” they brought to the table…to help “cleanse” our obviously messy palates. I’m clearly not doing the dishes justice as they were quite beautiful and their descriptions were intriguing. I also don’t know all of the ingredients in each – which they described in great detail (in French and also in English – naturally sounded more scrumptious in French).

• Little spoonfuls of beetroot mousse (?) with something else in it and foie gras with pistachios
• Tiny portion of exceptionally good thin pasta with squid ink and razor clams
• Appetizer for Mike – crispy veggies; appetizer for Fern – abalone with some kind of sea foam and quince (I think it was quince)
• Main for Mike – Monkfish with simple crisp yams and some kind of fruit I think (maybe mango?); main for Fern – scallops with clementines
• Another palate cleanser – tiny spoonful of chocolate mouse with tiny dab of cream
• Dessert – pear soufflé with tiny dab of fresh pear sorbet
• Red wine…

I think that’s the main gist of the meal. The place has been around for well over 150 years and has a very long and interesting history – including the architect who did the interior in 1901 and decided to make it feel like a grotto. It’s been updated, but they kept a lot of the features and sense of the place. Turned out that the sommelier (whose English was exceptionally good) grew up in Vancouver! He got interested in wine when he spent a semester in high school in Bordeaux and vowed to come back. After university and working in restaurants in Vancouver, he lived in Italy for a while and then relocated to Bordeaux, which he clearly loves. It was great to talk with him because he’s passionate about food and wine and likes to tie everything back to historic periods. Naturally we had to go through the very serious process of having the wine brought to the exactly correct temperature, seeing it poured into a wonderful decanter.

We had walked to the restaurant and walked back to the hotel. Got to the room at about midnight – just in time to check out CNN, to follow the protests in Tehran, T’s tweets, and the horrible apartment fire in NY.

Fern

After a somewhat messy day, and an unbelievably slow boarding process in Geneva, we arrived in Bordeaux. It’s now well after midnight and I’m beginning to fade, so this will either be very short or it will be continued in the morning.

We had a leisurely, but also stressful morning in Geneva; I had taken an antibiotic when I had the stomach problems because I was convinced it was bacterial (still think it was). Anyway, after I began the regimen, I checked with my own doctor who concurred that I should complete the series of 6 tablets. So this morning, I reached to take the pill and couldn’t find the packet. Searched the room inside out (we had already packed to leave Geneva as we needed to vacate the room at the Auberge by noon), unpacked and repacked suitcases – without any luck. We had actually changed rooms at the Auberge the night before because we had no hot water in that room. So, we got keys to the old room and checked there – no luck. Decided to walk down the street to the little café where we had gone for breakfast the morning before (the last time I took the pill), but alas they were not there either.

We headed to Elizabeth’s because the plan was to meet there and then head up the mountain into France (Saleve) to scatter Richard’s ashes (Mike’s brother). By the time we got to Elizabeth’s it had gotten a bit colder, meaning it would be cold up there – and it was snowing (lightly). Since Julia/Julian/ and baby were not yet there, I explained my little problem to Elizabeth who rose to the occasion by contacting a doctor friend who understood and was able to match me up to the local pharmacy who could replace the pills based on her prescription. Thank you Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was also very organized with regard to the plan to manage the ashes – she had little jars lined up (that would be filled before we left the house) and the idea was for each of us to have a little jar to scatter… About 8 or 9 of these jars. But alas – we couldn’t open the urn! The top was stuck. Perhaps a final statement by Richard — taking control of the day! So, that ceremony will be held at another time. We hung out at Elizabeth’s for a while and then headed to a local café for a late lunch before Mike and I headed to the airport. But alas, we dawdled too long and all the cafés were finished serving lunch – drinks only at that point. We eventually found a small place where we could get some food. By now the NY friends had left for the train. After this late lunch and another glass of wine at a second café, we headed to the Geneva Airport, which is a quick taxi ride away.

Given that the airport is essentially situated on the border of Switzerland and France, we could enter the airport on the French side and have less of a customs hassle. We were flying on EasyJet – Europe’s answer to Southwest. We had only taken it once before for a short hop in Europe. The flights are fine, but they cut corners on all of the amenities, check-in, luggage, etc. You can only check in online (cannot check in at the airport); you need to decide if you will have check-in baggage or just carry-on when you purchase your ticket (or soon after) so that you pay for the baggage handling in advance. If you decide later, it is more costly.  You do get an assigned seat.

Anyway, we got to the airport about 2 hours before flight time. It took about 45 minutes to get our bags checked – long snaking lines; and then another 40+ minutes to get through security – more snaking lines. Obviously we have absolutely no status at this airport or with this airline! Once on the other side it was pretty smooth sailing. The flight to Bordeaux is only about 60 minutes. But landing in Bordeaux on EasyJet was pretty funny. You land in a separate terminal from all the other planes and it’s sort of outside of the regular airport. We went into the main terminal briefly (dragging our bags) because we wanted to find an ATM. The main terminal was deserted. I guess ours was the last flight into Bordeaux for the night.

Short taxi to our hotel (Yndo) and voila! Bordeaux. We had driven through Bordeaux some years ago but never stayed. Hard to get a sense of the city on the drive from the airport, but Yndo Hotel is delightful. It’s at the edge of the city center — a 19th-century chateau with just 12 rooms – impeccably decorated and renovated – not in the stuffy French Louis XV style, but tastefully ultramodern! It’s sleek and sophisticated – and also a bit quirky and bohemian with an interesting modern art collection scattered in the public spaces. It’s serious, but also playful in its approach to design. We’re happy campers!

We headed out immediately for a late dinner (10:30 pm reservation at Le Noailles) of oysters, steak tartare, salad with crab and walnuts, wine, and ice cream (pistachio and rum raisin). Guess I’m recovered.

More tomorrow when we truly discover Bordeaux… Most likely in the rain.

All the best on these closing days of 2017 – perhaps the most frustrating year we’ve known.

Fern

Insert Photos:

Wild Girls Logo: café where I had lunch on the 27^th with Julia; streets on the square in Carouge have lots of painted “street games” on the plaza – very kid-friendly; on the street in Carouge; baby Louis looking pretty peaceful.