The story about our trip to Bordeaux begins at the Paris Montparnass train station, waking up on 5am, taking a taxi that got confused on the way and rushing to the platform. After trying and failing to continue sleeping on the train because some hyperactive Anglo B students and after only 3 and a half hours with the very fast train TGV, we got to Bordeaux’s train station together with the sunrise. It was all foggy and a quite sleepy morning.
Surprisingly we got out of the station and went straight up our bus out of Bordeaux a drive of one hour and a half. We all got the itinerary printed for the trip and it said we’re going to a Nutella factory. When we stopped here:
… we found out it was all one big joke. Nothing in the itinerary is true. Instead we got to the Cadiot Badie chocolate factory which is small and supplies to 2-3 stores only. We got a whole tour with tasting and explanations. Saw some chocolate dripping from one point to another.
All the main meals in this trip have their own exclusive post, check it out here.
Then a really nice un-guided tour of the city.
We took another tour of the city, but this time with a guide and then went to the best meal of the trip for dinner. You can read all about it here.
Next morning, an early rise and grabbing a quick breakfast at the hotel, then taking the bus again to the sea sore. When we got there we had a small walk on the sand but we had no idea what’s waiting for us. Everything kept as a surprise.
Then we reached the picnic lunch chef Girardot cooked for us. It was cold but very original and served in oysters boxes and guess what, with a lot more wine than I can handle. It was a bit of a rush, I wanted to try more wines but this lunch was over so fast so I didn’t get a chance.
Next stop – Perlita caviar farm. Was very interesting to see how this industry is working. The fish is raised from birth to 3 years, then ultrasound to see weather it’s a male or a female. The males are going to be taken for their flesh. The females are getting an electronic chip inside its skin and monitored carefully for the next 3 years. Between the age of 6 and 8 they are being tested with a biopsy occasionally to check if their eggs are ready to harvest. The eggs are being separated, cleaned, salted and packed. Then aged for 1-6 months. Then we enjoy the product which is delicious.
Next stop, plant nursery, specializes in flowers and leaves with unique flavors and aromas.
This was the last stop of the day before dinner in Solena. Next morning we got to a chicken farm. The chicken is also being treated very seriously here. The ground whose responsible for everything (terroir) is special and they let it rest between cycles before raising new chicks on it. They run free here, until the age of about 5-6 month when the farmer wakes up at 4am, puts on a special goggles, catches a chick and decides if the chicken is ready to harvest. If so, it is then pumpered for a week so that its flesh will be soft and fatty.
The next station was another wine tasting, this time in the Chateau Les Ormes Sorbet, Medoc.
After buying a whole box of this wine and drinking it with lunch, we went to yet another wine tasting in a winery that’s not really growing their grapes. It was more of a touristic thing made for Americans.
We didn’t have a lot of time in the store because we were already late for the train back to Paris. So we rushed back to the bus, got stuck in traffic and thought we never gonna make it. 5 minutes before the train was about to leave the platform we got there and ran like maniacs across the station to the platform. No nice goodbye to Bordeaux 🙁
That was it, goodbye to all and see you in 3 month in the diploma ceremony! Next episode in my life – the internship! Ahhh!!
If you want to see more pictures from Bordeaux, you can in this album.
news flash – it’s “flesh” not “flash” – but after a few glasses of wine who can tell the difference…
flesh – In vertebrate animals, flesh is the colloquial for biological tissue which consists of skeletal muscles and fat as opposed to bones, viscera and integuments.[1] Flesh may be used as food, in which case it is called meat.
flash – a brief, sudden burst of bright light:
Okay calm down I got it.
who was more interesting: the chicken man? the oyster man? or the caviar ultrasound man?
נראה טיול מעניין שהכיל גיוון גדול של גידולי אוכל 🙂 🙂 השאלה האם במסעדה שתעבדי בא תוכלי לנצל את הידע של פתיחת אויסטרים?
מקווה שכן, עכשיו שכרשתי את הידע המתאים.
אבל ברצינות הסיכוי גדול לדעתי, משתמשים פה בהרבה אויסטר לכל מיני דברים.
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