France's Bordeaux Trail

The very name of Bordeaux has come to mean great wines. No part of France is able to produce a wider variety of the noblest wines than the Gironde area surrounding the city of Bordeaux. Horseback riding through this area you will have the opportunity to taste great wines such as Medoc, Cote de Blaye, Cote de Bourg, Bordeaux Superior, Bordeaux, Lalande, Pomerol, Saint-Emilion, Entre-deux-Mers, Cadillac, Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux, Graves and Sauternes.

The area through which you will ride is the Gironde. It is a landscape of some of France's richest agricultural land. The landscape changes from the sandy beaches of the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the mountains of the Pyrenees, far to the south. You will pass neat and picturesque farms, rolling meadows, ancient villages churches and castles. Much of the area has not changed significantly for the last several hundred years.

You will stop at several vineyards along the way. Here, you will get a tour and tastings. Please remember to avoid swallowing these excellent wines, as you will be riding after your tastings. There will be much opportunity to enjoy these wines more completely when dinnertime comes around.

You will visit the Blaye Citadel, built by the famous architect Vauban at the end of the 1600's. Although this magnificent castle was built to defend the area, it now boasts a huge garden. The "Fleurs en Citadelle" attracts visitors from all over the world. It is a lovely experience to walk through this fortress so covered in flowers.

One of the magical treats of this horseback tour is the fact that you are riding in the same countryside that Charlemagne rode in the 8th Century, through one of the world's richest wine country, with a great gastronomic tradition and under the wall of medieval castles and towns.

You will ride horses from the southwest of France. Most are of mixed breeding and are of the French saddle type. Your accommodations will be in small hotels and in farmhouses along the way. The food and wine are excellent and are a delight to the senses.