Wine in Western France and Sun Bathing in Basque Country.

We left Paris in need of some down time and headed to the quiet town Nantes.  We stayed in a small studio with a much needed kitchen.  We explored the city, planned out a general  route for the next few weeks, and made some healthy meals (we have been eating a lot of Baguettes and not very many vegetables) and jumped on a train to Southwest France.

Bordeaux is the second largest wine producing region in the world, producing 800 million gallons of wine a year.  Of course we did our best to sample an array of regional wine, from cheap to only kind of cheap.   We spent an afternoon wandering through the city’s pedestrian streets lined with shops , cafes and bars.  After two nights in Bordeaux we boarded an early morning train (we are loving our Eurorail Passes!) headed towards San Sebastian, Spain.

We happened to be in San Sebastian for a big cultural heritage festival , where food, dancing, drinking and music were abundant. Graham’s Uncle Harry saw a show featuring San Sebastian’s culinary specialties on the Food Network and recommended that we check it out and we are so glad we did.  Only about 10 miles from the French border, San Sebastian has a mix of gastronomic influences from the French, Spanish and the Basque.  We spent our few days in San Sebastian sun bathing on the beach, wandering the streets and hopping from one tapas bar to the next.

  

Castle of the Dukes of Brittany (region of France) from the 15th century. 

           A motor powered larger than life Elephant that you could pay to ride, which we did not.  Really odd.

A lush park just across from the train station in Nantes

A meal we made in our little studio

At a wine bar in Bordeaux

The beautiful beaches in San Sebastian where going topless was the norm

A flamenco dance competition being held in the harbor

There were little boys (but no little girls) playing soccer everywhere in the city

Some little ones dressed up for the festival and dancing. So, so cute

Outdoor stalls at the festival full of locally made cheeses, pastries and cured meat

Tapas bars- little rich bites of heaven

We are now headed to the capital of Spain- more to come from the big city! Also, check out the new link "Where in the World are Sue and Graham?"  (located just above the "about me section") it will take you to a page where you can follow us via GPS tracking for the last 7 days (when we have it turned on).