August 6 - Pauillac

Bon Matin!

Cloudy in the morning, likely around 20 degrees, later in the 30s.

No alarm this morning was delightful. Our morning is spent sailing and relaxing. As can be the case with cruises (especially river cruises) they are very activity intensive. Of course we are not obligated to do every excursion, but we do. We participate in very few on-board activities so it could be even more active. This is our second last day and just when we are getting the groove of the boat.

The river(s) we are sailing on merge from one to the other without us noticing so usually we aren’t exactly sure which we are on, but today’s itinerary says we are on the Gironde.

All of the water here looks like chocolate milk. Evidently it is due to the tide and accompanying salt water from the Atlantic Ocean. The salt water is heavier than the fresh which doesn’t allow the sediment from the fresh water river to settle out – apparently it’s like a 3 layer thing going on with salt water on the bottom, then a layer of silt and the fresh water on top with the tide always stirring things up.

The river here being close to the Atlantic Ocean is affected by the tides. This means there are times of low and high tide. There is also a tidal bore called a mascaret. The front edge of an incoming ocean tide forms a wave of water that travels up the river against the direction of the river’s current. We experienced this yesterday. It was pretty cool. We were docked at the time and had to move into the middle of the river to ride out the wave – apparently it’s a law. We could see it coming and then felt it. It goes back as well, but we didn’t feel that. There is a part of the river that this causes good surfing conditions for. There’s also supposed to be a sound associated with this wave, but we didn’t hear anything.

We arrive at Pauillac after lunch for an afternoon of wine tasting.  

so many choices 

Dinner tonight is off the boat at Château Kirwan. The ship’s staff cook here and serve which I find a bit odd, but the meal is good. The requisite cheese course ‘assiette du fromage’ is served back at the boat. Although we relaxed all morning, the afternoon and evening excursions still make for a long day.

In the afternoon we drove through the countryside and vineyards stopping at some of the fancy-shmancy châteaux where we learn more about Bordeaux wines.  We did a tasting and tour at Château Prieur-Lichine.

Diner tonight was off the boat at Château Kirwan. It was a nice change of pace from the boat’s dining room.