France's Bordeaux Inn-to-Inn Trail
On this ride you will taste great wines such as Medoc, Cote de Blaye, Cote de Bourg, Bordeaux Superieur, Bordeaux, Lalande, Pomerol. Saint-Emilion, Entre-deaux-Mers, Cadillac, Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux, Graves and Sauternes. You will visit the village "Citadelle" of Blaye, the Middle Ages famous village of Saint-Emilion, the Rauzan Castle and the village of Cadillac.
Day 1: Meet at Bordeaux Airport or train station, or at the Hotel Kyriad (if trail is running in opposite direction, meet at Chateau Couloumey). You may meet at the hotel between 6:00 and 8:00 pm. You will meet your guide to discuss your ride this week and enjoy an aperitif.
Day 2: You will depart from your hotel at 9 am. Your ride today is about 4 hours. You will ride toward the Gironde River through the Medoc Vineyards. You will picnic on a stream bank, enjoying the specialties of the country. In the afternoon, you will ride to Larmarque Harbor where you will put your horse on a ferryboat to cross the Gironde estuary (ride will take about 30minutes). You will arrive at the Blaye Citadel, built by Vauban and have the opportunity to do some wine tasting of Medoc and Cotes de Blaye in the afternoon. Overnight at a hotel.
The Blaye Citadel was built by Vauban at the end of the 17th century and along with the Fort of the Island of Pate and Fort Medoc on the left bank, formed Bordeaux's line of defense on the estuary of the Gironde. Blaye was an important stopover for the pilgrims en route for Saint Jacques de Compostelle. The area within the Citadel is home to the Square Pavillon where the Duchess of Berry was incarcerated. In the spring, "Fleurs en Citadelle" transforms the Citadel into a huge garden before the summer theater festival.
Day 3: You will depart at 9:30 am for a ride of approximately 5 hours. You will ride today on rolling hills covered with grape fields, to the Cotes de Bourg area. Picnic and wine tasting at a winery. In the afternoon, you will ride up to Cubnezais among cow pastures and Bordeaux vineyards. You arrive at Cubnezais, where you will have dinner and stay tonight at Domaine de la Gravette B&B, a Bordeaux wine producer, where you will enjoy the wine tasting.
Day 4: You will ride today for about 5 hours across the Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superieur vineyards. The landscape is one of hills of vineyards and forests. The picnic will be at the Courreges castle where you will be able to savor the best Bordeaux wine. Then you will ride across the Fronsac vineyards, up to the Libourne area. You will have dinner and overnight at Hotel Decaze.
In the spring of 769, as Charlemagne was finishing his conquest of Aquitaine, he established a fortified camp at the confluence of the Isle and Dordogne Rivers. This explains the origin of the Fronsac, which means "Citadel of the Francs". The young emperor was the first person to construct a building on this site, a fortress to defend the outer limits of his empire. It was built on the remains of a Gallo-Roman burial mound whose form can still be made out to this day.
Libourne, the wine capital of the Northern Gironde, is in the heart of world famous vineyards producing top quality wines not far from Bordeaux. Libourne is the gateway to Aquitane, only three hours from Paris by TGV train. The old walled city of Libourne is tucked between the Isle and Dordogne Rivers, in one of the loveliest locations in this part of France. To the west Fronsac overlooks the plain for the top of the hill, which marks the start of the chalky slopes of the Fronsac vineyards. To the North, are the highly reputed wine producing plateaus of Pomerol, Lalande de Pomerol and Neac. To the east, panoply of hillside vineyards and "Grand Crus" surround the medieval city of Saint Emilion. Further afield are the vineyards of Cotes de Castillon, then Sainte Foy La Grande, on the borders of the Perigord. To the South, between the Dorgdogne and Garonne Rivers, are the dry and sweet white wine producing areas of Graves de Vayres and Entre-deux-Mers. Libourne was built in 1270 as a "bastide", a fortified town built on a square pattern. The streets are still in the grid pattern of medieval Libourne, fitting in well with the classical architecture of 18th and 19th century buildings, in the context of a modern town.
Day 5: Your ride today is about 5½ hours. You will depart at 9:30 am to ride toward the medieval village of Saint Emilion, famous for one of the best wines in the world. The town of Saint Emilion got its name from a Christian monk call Emilion, who came to the area in the 8th century, to establish his hermitage and live the life of a recluse, which he did for 17 years. He then became the leader of a group of Benedictine monks. His name was eventually given to the religious city that was gradually transformed into a fortified stronghold. Scenes from this era can be seen at St Emilion's Trinity Chapel and on the King's Tower. In fact, St Emilion itself is one of France's great cultural and historical treasures. One if its key features is Europe's greatest monolith churches, which was carved out of a single gigantic piece of rock, between the 9th and 12th centuries.
You will have a tasting stop at Bellegrave Castle producing a great Lalande Pomerol wine, Mr. Xavier Pitton's production. For the picnic, you will stop near Saint Emilion, and will be able to visit the village and to taste the famous Saint Emilion wine. You will have dinner and overnight at a B&B. close to St. Jean de Blaignac.
Day 6: You will leave today at 9:30 am to ride to Cadillac, on the banks of the Garonne. Your ride today will be about 6 hours. You will ride across a varied landscapes today; small valleys, forests, vineyards and meadows. On the trail, you will visit the Rauzan Castle, from the 13th century and have a taste of the delicious Entre-deux-Mers wine. You will picnic in the countryside. At the end of the afternoon, you will arrive at Cadillac and will be able to visit this charming village "bastide" from the 13th century and to taste some of Cadillac's wines and some Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux. You will have dinner and overnight at the Chateau Broustaret.
Day 7: In the morning you will taste the wines of Cadillac and First Cotes de Bordeaux. You will leave at about 11:00 am for your ride of about 5 hours. You will cross the Garonne River on the Cadillac Bridge and reach the Graves and Sauternes vineyards. From Blanche Castle you will have an overview of the Sauternes vineyards surrounded by the Lands Forest that marks the end of the Bordelais vineyards. The picnic will take place in the countryside where you will have a Graves and Sauternes tasting at Chateau Gravas. In the afternoon you pass the wine school Chateau de la Tour Blanche with a sweeping view over the vineyards of Sauternes and the pine forest in the horizon that marks the end of the vineyards of Bordeaux. Overnight and dinner at the Château d'Arche.
Day 8: You will be transferred to the train station after breakfast, about 9:30 am (1½ ride).
Please note: trails and accommodations may change depending on seasons and availability.
On some departures the ride may operate in the opposite direction.
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