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Libourne church, a bit scruffy. Heavy bars and screening to protect the windows.
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The only painted thing on the church was this red light fixture.
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The spire is pretty awesome from this angle.
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Geoff, half of an Australian couple we met on the boat and whose company we enjoyed. We hope to see them again, but the distance is a real impediment.
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Margaret, Geoff's wife, as we enjoyed cocktails on the upper deck before dinner.
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The crew's bucket brigade loading provisions on the boat from the dock, unfortunately at low tide. The amount of supplies to run a boat this size is amazing.
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Everyone of the crew was involved in the loading process. From this point, they still had to go down 2 sets of stairs.
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The water stains on the bridge pilings are at least ten feet, top to bottom. Tides up and down every day.
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The tide comes in as an actual wave, called "the bore." The captain is using the thrusters to keep the boat from hitting the dock when the tide goes up like eight feet in a couple minutes.
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Pick a direction, you will find sublime wine no matter which way you choose.
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We are now beginning our tour of St. Emilion, a quintessential medieval village, it was even more impressive than I expected.
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The last bit of Roman wall in town.
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The cobblestone "streets" were incredibly steep and slippery.
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The 10th century cloister with Romanesque rounded arches on the open side
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The cloister was built before the Gothic architectural period and its pointed arches. These points were added later.
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Beautiful town, Built on two hillsides. Lots of cool shops and cafes. I want to go back.
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Looking down on the town square from way up in another part of town.
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I think the stone behind Bev was the attraction here. It's a bit weathered and pitted after several centuries.
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Here we are on top of the hill.
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We bought some wine in the shop on the left. We needed it after trekking up and down these hills.
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This is the tower of the town's church, separated slightly from the church to spread out the weight. They really have a thing for verticality.
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And here is the entrance to the Monolithic Church. And what, you might ask, is the Monolithic Church?
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It is an underground church carved out of a single huge hill of limestone. The stone was taken out of here to build the church outside. Actually, the town church is built on top of this spot.
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Good plan: hollow out the hill and put all the weight directly on top of the cave you carved out. After a few hundred years, everything needs a little modern (steel) structure support.
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Soaring vaults went up 30 to 40 feet. Very surreal, and we all felt that we were in a very old and sacred space. It is dark, dark, dark when the lights are out.
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The aged and weathered exterior. See how the stone and the wood are pitted from weather.
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Another cute little marker for a hole in the ground.
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You could not really see how lovely this garden was until you turned the corner. I saw another tourist taking a street-side photo and motioned to her to turn the corner; her eyes lit up and she thanked me in some language.
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We are now back in Bordeaux; this is their medallion. Bordeaux is fantastic, a beautiful city. Beginning in 1995 Mayor Chaban established an aggressive urban revitalization program, and it succeeded spectacularly. It really is not to be missed. Who knew!
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Between the river and the city is the "mirror" a very shallow pool with fountains that is a major attraction. When it is very still, you can see reflections in the water of this old city.
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And then there is the modern. This is a beautiful new Jacques Chaban-Delmas lift bridge across the Garonne River. Chaban was a Prime Minister of France before becoming Mayor of Bordeaux The bridge can raise its 360 ft center span 53 meters high.
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This massive structure was built by the Germans during WWII as a submarine base. Allies tried to no avail to destroy it. After the war there were more unsuccessful attempts to destroy it. Concrete just too heavy. They finally decided to leave it as a reminder of the past.
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Bordeaux is one of the fastest growing cities in France. Large numbers of people move here every month. The area to the north of the old city is now the center of construction and renewal. Look at the number of construction cranes.
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This is Napoleon's bridge, the Pont de Pierre. Built 1820-22. There is one arch for every letter in Napoleon Bonaparte's name.
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The chief photographer on this expedition.
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The plaque introducing the Place des Quinconces, a huge park. For us it will always be the Place de King Kong, just because that's easier to remember.
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This is the extraordinarily impressive Esplanade des Quinconces. One of the largest public spaces in the world. In Europe and Asia, only Red Square is larger.
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You can't see ithem from the previous photo, but these massive statues and fountain are at the other end of the Esplanade.
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Some of the heroic statues in the fountain. They are all much larger than life-size.
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State of the art, wireless, silent tram that runs through much of the center city. Made it a snap to get around.
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Closeup of the tram track. The center line is the power cord, only activated by the connector on the bottom of the tram. The system was invented for this city and is now used in several other cities. And Bordeaux gets royalties.
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The building on the left is the Opera House in the main square. Beautifully landscaped, even on the back and sides.
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Fairly impressive church, Notre Dame, on a quiet little square surrounded by little alleys and streets full of great shops.
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Like this one. Bordeaux is a thriving city with lots of young families.
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Lots of neighborhood plazas and city squares make for a great walking city. A large area in the center of the city is pedestrian-only.
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The images over the windows are called "mascarons" The images identified the people who lived there, before street addresses were common.
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This large square is the Place Parlement, roughly in the center of the city, and surrounded by dozens of restaurants.
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Along the river there is a large and popular skateboard park, used by all ages on all sorts of wheeled mechanisms. This mural was on one side. It's quite an honor to be selected to paint the mural each year.