Bordeaux wine country

25 - 27 July
We left the Pyrenees behind and headed NW back towards Bordeaux, our destination being the township of St Emilion. We arrived late in the afternoon and were amazed how this lovely old township was absolutely overrun with tourists. It is surounded by vineyards and is one of the most famous Bordeaux wine growing regions. For the first time for a long time we could hear English (and American) being spoken around us. We had to drive about 20km to find a campsite that was not ridiculously over-priced, and found a wonderful quiet one and stopped here for two nights so that we could return to St Emilion for a full day visit. We did the tourist thing and caught a little train in St E that went on the roads for a tour around the surrounding wineries. We got off at one and inspected the underground limestone caves where the barrels are stored. The commentary was only in French, but we got the general idea.
In the afternoon we used a walking map to do a 2 1/2 hour walk ourselves through country lanes and vineyards. It was a hot day but a very scenic and enjoyable walk.