Big day today – we had an early wake up (shower, breakfast, and had to walk about 10-15 minutes to get picked up at 8:30 AM). We’re going on a day-long tour of the Douro Valley via Cooltour Oporto.
This was on Liz’s itinerary. Because of course it was.
The sculpture is built into the side of the building, and there were lots of folks nearby taking photos.
Liz found
Entrepôt Saint-Germain, a great vintage consignment warehouse. I wasn’t sure what to expect walking in, but it was a delightful assortment of all manner of wonder.
A small area along the side of the main building.
Started our morning with a tour/tasting of the winery where we’re staying: Château de Lescours.
We ended up having the tasting back at our residence, along with a charcuterie boards and three different wines. Easiest and most relaxing tour by far, and a great start to the day.
I haven’t taken enough photos of the main floor at the chateau. On walking in, it’s a long, massive area that houses a living room area, an enormous banquet table, and a full kitchen.
Our car (me, Liz, and Audrey) arrived first. And we got really lucky with our parking (it was incredibly hectic, and most folks parked several blocks away and walked in on foot).
Someone pulled out not two blocks from one of the entrances, and we were in the right place at the right time.
While the others were on route, we explored a little bit of the market.
Today, everyone kind of split off into two different groups. We were all headed to Bordeaux, but had different agendas. One group went to the Wine Museum (which was having its 10th Anniversary celebration), and another group of us went to an interactive art display at Bassins des Lumières.
A slow start to the day. I hopped in the car with Kirt, Anne, and Jackson… and we just drove around for a good while, getting lost along some of the roads near the chateau.
Everywhere you look, there’s a winery. Which I guess makes sense, since we’re in Bordeaux.
But as far as the eyes can see, there are rows of grape vines. The roads are small and narrow, and everything is charming. There’s a stillness everywhere.
The direct flight from Chicago > Bordeaux was a bit pricey, so we opted for a layover in Paris (CDG). Walking to our connecting flight.
Liz tried all the things, but wasn’t able to sleep much at all. I napped for a brief bit, and was surprisingly ok with how little I actually slept.
While we usually know that showing up early gets you the good stuff… we were fine to take our time, and contended ourselves to wait in line.
Spotted this unusual rooftop area, by the Wabash stop downtown. It’s the top of the New York Jewelers building, and it got me wondering: “How do you get up there?”
Arrived at Millennium Station to a pretty big crowd of people. Everyone was gathered at the top of the stairs (that lead to the platforms), milling about.
Back at Red Door again, with Hugo on his second visit. While he had a good first meeting with Sumo, we wanted to take this cautiously.
I came across a scenario again where I was refilling an empty coffee pot, only to discover that the other pot was also tapped. Realizing a few things now.
Perhaps I should expect all the coffee to be gone by mid-morning. It’s just going to be a thing.