Saint-Émilion

So I have mentioned wine many times in our travels so of course our travels took us to Saint-Émilion. Located at the eastern end of the Dordogne basin, Saint-Émilion is about 40 km east of Bordeaux.

The town of Saint-Émilion is considered to be one of the most scenic sites in France. And while you may read this statement in many travel books, on our two visits here, we have always been taken with the beauty of the town and the country-side.

The golden tones of the linestone in the buildings give this a glow and colour that remains with you for some time. A breton monk, Émilion made his hermitage inone of the grottoes and then later Benedictinemonks founded a monastery. The town grew complete with defenses.

The Convent of the Cordeliers has a 14th Century Cloister. Off the Place du Marché are the windows of a church that was carved out of the solid rock that the town sits upon. The doorway of this church dates fromthe 14th Century, and the church itself was built by the monks in the 9th to 12th Centuries -- 300 years.

Above, Cloisters of the Collegiate Church in St. Émilion.

On our 2013 visit to this area we were so busy we never got into St Émilion once in the day. In the mornings, I would go on photoshoots with my friend Mike Arbogast. On the morning of the day we were to leave the area I said I just had to get in and get some pictures of the cloisters. The Cordeliers Cloisters, now privately owned, were closed until 9:00 am. But the Collegiate Church was open before 8:00 am and we were able to walk around the cloisters, being the only people there. A very good experience. More information on the cloisters is found on our Travels to Cloisters web site.

The King's Tower, on the left in the picture to the right, is a large square keep that was built in the 13th Century. To this day it is not known for whom the tower was built. I did not get to the top on this trip, but the views from the top are stunning. The tower, the only remaining part of a castle, was used as the town hall in the 17th century. Now, from the top of the tower, the Jurade of Saint-Émilion declares the judgement of the new wine.

Also heading out from the Place du Marché you can reach the Place des Créneaux with its monastry buildings, the bell town of the underground church and there are cloisters.

Oh yes the wine. There are plenty of shops to visit. But, as pictured to the right I found the Vignobles & Chateaux shop. There it was a pleasing atmosphere and I was able to taste and buy wine. Patrick was gracious in showing me wine, and then selecting a range of wines that were in my price range which I must admit was lower than many of the wines of the store! And that is an important aspect as who wants to go to a wine store and leave because they can't afford anything.

He looked after everything to get the wine shipped back to Vancouver. Thanks Patrick! The wine arrived in fine shape. All I had to do is mortgage my house to pay the duty. It was good to hear from him again years later. Yes, we will be back!

While in Saint-Ëmilion we stayed at Palais Cardinal which is one of our Great Places To Stay. In 2013 we rented a house in the small town of Puisseguin, about 6 km from St. Émilion.