It’s not unusual to find that the most famous and successful people have a burning passion for what they do. Rarely driven by financial gain. Often for altruistic reasons. Nearly always, because they couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
Day 34 – With a little over a week of this trip left, we halt our northward climb. Turn left. Back-track a little. Head for Bordeaux. The week-end weather is set to be mainly dry. We’re currently pitched up at Village Camping Bordeaux Lac. About 8K north of the centre.
We aim to shake off an unhappy distant memory. A 1979 camping holiday. Our red Datsun 180B. Parked in a Bordeaux side street. Broken into. Back in the day when bent coat hangers were the tools of the trade. Mary-Ann’s rings from the glovebox stolen. Sentimental value – included her mum’s engagement ring. Thought to be safer there than left in the tent. Frustrated form filling at the Gendarmerie followed. When English was as much a foreign language as French. In the days when NCR (no carbon required) sets were all the rage. Why make one copy when five would do? A French formality that came to nothing. We now wonder ‘who is wearing those rings today?’
Day 35 – The free walking tour of Bordeaux is given a miss. It starts at 10am. Far too early for non-early-birders. However, the tour itinerary is listed on-line. That comes in very handy. Creates our must-do list in one foul click. Sorted. First on the list is The Cité du Vin – the Bordeaux wine museum. Sounds right up our street. Tram 15 drops us virtually alongside.
The €22 pp entrance fee is worth every cent. Video presentations by the owners of important wine producers from around the globe, describe the conditions in which their vines flourish. We see and learn how vines are cultivated in such a way that they’re able to grow in the most unusual and extreme conditions. From the Chilian arid desert, to the Swiss snow-covered mountains. From the Polynesian Islands in the Southern Pacific, to the foothills of Mount Fuji.
A fly-over across many of the types of terrain used to grow vines starts our visit.
A shortened snip-it . . .
Interactive displays graphically inform in novel and innovative ways.
After three hours, there’s only two things left to do. 1, choose a complimentary degustation glass on the eighth floor . . .
2, delve into the cave . . .
From there, we walk 2300 metres in record time – go submerse ourselves in a bit of culture at second on our tour list – Les Bassins des Lumières. A huge portside concrete construction. Created during WWII by the Germans, to house a fleet of U-Boats. A perfect base from which to prowl the Atlantic. The four docks have been converted into one massive digital arts centre. A spectacular light show cascades the works of famous painters to music.
