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ABOVE: A passenger exercises on the Regatta's
jogging track with the Place de la Bourse in the background.
Bordeaux shore excursions
Continued
from: Port of Bordeaux
Bordeaux is hard to beat as a port of call: The city's sights
begin at the bottom of the gangway, there's plenty of shopping within walking
distance, and hundreds of restaurants offer local specialties such as meats
grilled over vine twigs, oysters from the Bassin d'Archachon, and the street
food known to American tourists as frites de la liberté.
During the Regatta's two-day visit, I spent my first day
just walking around the city. On the second day, I joined a half-day excursion
into the countryside, where we had an opportunity to sample two outstanding
grand cru Bordeaux wines at Château Kirwan
before touring an underground church and other sights in the pretty town of
Saint-Emilion. Later, in the afternoon, I walked along the quay to the
Croiseur Colbert, a
French naval cruiser that has been turned into a museum ship.
Like most cruise ships visiting
Bordeaux, the Regatta offered several tour options. In addition to the
Saint-Emilion tour, the Regatta's excursions included bus and walking
tours of Bordeaux and a oenophile's trip to the vineyards of Médoc and Château
Mouton Rothschild.
Note: In fall of 2003, much
of Bordeaux was torn up for construction of a massive
new tram network.
Bordeaux is using the latest technology for its transit system, with no overhead
wires in the city center. Tracks are set in paving stones downtown and on
parklike grass rights of way in outlying areas. The new tram network will soon
make Bordeaux even more convenient for cruise passengers and other tourists.
For more
information on Bordeaux, see:
Bordeaux Tourism
Next page:
Port of Oporto
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