• Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

FITaspire

Health & Wellness

  • Health & Wellness
  • Nutrition
  • Recipes

Adventures in France: Saint Emilion

October 1, 2014 By Heather Blackmon

.

Are you ready for more about our cycling trip through Bordeaux? In case you missed the earlier posts, let me give you the quick summary. We started our ride from Bordeaux to Saint Macaire (40 miles), staying one night in this walled, medieval village. Next we rode from Saint Macaire to Sainte-Gemme (21 miles), with two nights in my favorite manor house. Today, we’re making our way to Saint Emilion (32 miles) for a few nights. You can see all my France vacation recaps here.

Adventures in France: Saint Emilion // FITaspire.com

Day 5 – Sainte-Gemme to Saint Emilion

After another delicious breakfast, we headed out for another day on the bike. My booty and quads were feeling the mileage at this point and I was not looking forward to the climbs to start and end the day. Sometimes it’s better NOT to look at the elevation map before the ride. Ignorance might have been bliss!

We stopped along the way to take in a few amazing sights, like this beautiful chateaux…

Adventures in France: Saint Emilion // FITaspire.com

The route plan for the day warned that there wouldn’t be anywhere to stop for food on today’s journey, but we found a nice town along the way that had both a wine tasting stop and plenty of restaurants to choose from. I let Kirk pick our lunch spot and he chose pizza. Of course, even pizza houses have 3-course menus for lunch – so we ate more than our fill. The pizza was literally bigger than my head!

Adventures in France: Saint Emilion // FITaspire.com

After lunch, the road turned back to the bike path for about 10 miles. We decided to burn off some extra calories and picked up the pace during this stretch (less to see on these bike paths). It felt good push a bit harder and I attempted (and failed) to race Kirk a few times. I was quickly dropped! Finally back on an actual rode, we stopped several times for photos.

This was my favorite side trip of our week – an old windmill and church just off the main path (the church was from the first century!). Where else do you see things like this?! I know we would have missed this had we not been on our bikes.

IMG_4880

Adventures in France: Saint Emilion // FITaspire.com

We also stopped briefly in Branne, a quick town just outside our final destination. Although there really was nothing to do, it did offer some nice views!

Adventures in France: Saint Emilion // FITaspire.comAdventures in France: Saint Emilion // FITaspire.com

Our one and only route snag came when we entered Saint Emilion. The day of our arrival, they closed the road we were supposed to take for construction (doh!) and we were a bit confused about where to go for a few minutes. We eventually found our way around the construction, so all worked out after a brief delay.

Saint Emilion is the largest of the towns we visited (other than Bordeaux itself) and was my favorite! Our hotel (Auberge De La Commanderie) for this stop was my least favorite, however. This was our only 2-star on the trip (and after La Gaboria, that was painfully obvious). If I had it to do again, I would upgrade to a much nicer hotel at this stop. We did, however, have plenty to do in the city outside of our room. We explored the town, enjoyed a long stop for pre-dinner wine & cheese, had a leisurely dinner in the courtyard of the monolithic church, and enjoyed being in a more populated area again!

Day 6 – Saint Emilion

Today we decided the bikes would remain parked and we enjoyed the town on foot! Saint Emilion is one of the most famous wine areas in Bordeaux and has some of the more upscale wineries. There have been vineyards in this area as early as the 2nd century!

Adventures in France: Saint Emilion // FITaspire.com

The city is built over a maze of tunnels that were dug when removing the limestone for construction of many French cities in this region. Those tunnels have been turned into wine caves, meaning many of the wineries were in walking distance of our hotel. We started at Château Cardinal Villemaurine, where we were lucky to get a private tour of the caves and tasting. We were very impressed with their wine and happily bought a few bottles for our cellar.

After lunch, we joined a tour at Château Villemaurine, which is a Grand Cru Classe winery. The tour was fantastic, including their extensive caves, a light & sound show with some of the history of the winery, and a tasting at the end. Surprisingly, the wine was a bit underwhelming. It was good, but not up to the standards we expected and certainly not at the much higher price point. Can you believe we left a winery without purchasing a bottle?

Adventures in France: Saint Emilion // FITaspire.com

We tried a few other small producers before finding my favorite of the day – the only sparkling wine house we visited on this trip. Les Cordeliers has been making wine since the late 1700s, but it was built as a cloister in the 1300s. I loved how the building is only partially restored, with no ceiling and partial walls. They also sold chilled wine to enjoy in the courtyard, which was too unique to pass up!

Adventures in France: Saint Emilion // FITaspire.com

Adventures in France: Saint Emilion // FITaspire.com

The other thing that Saint Emilion is known for is hills. They had some crazy cobblestones walkways that had railings down the middle to help you travel up  & down without falling. It also is home to the largest monolithic church in Europe – which means the entire church was carved out of a solid rock. We didn’t have a chance to go inside, but even from the outside it was quite impressive! I loved these little quirks, it really gave the town a unique feel, despite the fact that it was more touristy.

[Tweet “Cycling to #SaintEmilion – a famous wine region in #France from @FITaspire. #travel”]

And with that, I’ll wrap up the recap of Saint Emilion. We only have one more leg of the trip to go (back to Bordeaux) and then on to Paris!! Stay tuned…

********************

Questions for you:

  • What is your favorite style of wine?
  • Of the cities we cycled to, which French town would be at the top of your list?

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: cycling, Fitness, france

« Hot Maple-Nut Bourbon
5 Fitness Posts to help you #MoveHappy »

Search the website

Welcome

Hi! I’m Heather, a yoga & wellness teacher based in Colorado... Read More…

Wait, should I look at the camera? 📸 But reall Wait, should I look at the camera? 📸

But really, keep your gaze straight ahead to keep your neck safe in bridge (or Setu Bandha Sarvangasana). It's rare that a version of this pose isn't included during cooldown in my classes.

Do you love bridge as much as I do?
.
.
.
.
.
.
#asana #goodvibes #bridgepose  #energy #feeltheyogahigh #happymindhappylife #myyogalife #letyourlightshine #letyourpranaflow #coloradoyogalove #coloradoyoga #practiceyoga #yogajourney #yogalifestyle #yogaliving #yogamakesmehappy #yogapractice #yogatime #ipreview via @preview.app
"Every ending is a beginning. We just don't know i "Every ending is a beginning. We just don't know it at the time." -Mitch Albom

Last Friday, we ventured to a trail near Carbondale for the most beautiful ride with huge wildflowers everywhere. It was a great trail with good climbing, plenty of flow in the middle, and A LOT of switchbacks on the descent. Our first 2 hour ride of the season and it was a blast!

I didn't know it at the time, but it was also the last ride on my Liv mountain bike - because I got a new bike on Sunday! ✨

If you're in Colorado & in the market for a new bike, I highly recommend Over The Edge in Fruita. I test rode 6 bikes & then took the Pivot Mach 5.5 out on the trail to be sure it was the right one. Great experience!!
.
.
.
.
.
.
#adventurespirit #alltrails #mountainvibes #mountainaddict #mountainadventures #mountainbiking #mtbiking #mtbdaily #mtblife #seemyadventures  #womenofthewilderness #womenwhoexplorecolorado
In the past week, have you... 🔆 Stopped to watc In the past week, have you...
🔆 Stopped to watch the sunset
🙏 Told a friend how much they mean to you
💪 Taken time to move your body
 💤 Gone to bed early or taken a nap
📚 Turned off the TV and read a book

Share your number (1-5) in the comments. ⬇️

And if your total is less than 5, I invite you to give one you've missed a try this weekend!! 
.
.
.
.
.
.

#vaillive #practiceyoga #vail #vaillife #vailcolorado #goodvibes #happymindhappylife #thisisyoga #vailvalley #yogaliving #beachvibes #lovethelifeyoulive #adventureraised #outdoorsygals #wanderfolk #ipreview via @preview.app
Which quote is more how you feel about yoga today? Which quote is more how you feel about yoga today? ⬇️

A - “Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are.” —Jason Crandell

B - “Sometimes in yoga I feel like a graceful swan. Other times I feel like a baby giraffe trying to use its legs.” Anonymous

I've definately felt both of these at different times. 😜

No matter what your answer, if you're in the Vail Valley - come practice with me!

I'm back to my normal schedule this week with 2 chances to flow every Thursday:
✨ 12pm Gravity Haus (Vail)
✨ 5:30pm Vitality Collective (Eagle)
.
.
.
.
.
.
#vail #vaillife #vailcolorado #vaillive #coloradoyoga #yogateacher #feeltheyogahigh #myyogalife #letyourlightshine #letyourpranaflow #practiceyoga #yogamakesmehappy #yogapractice #yogatime #ipreview via @preview.app
Follow on Instagram

Connect with FITaspire:

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
© 2021 FITASPIRE, LLC · TICKLED PINK THEME BY RESTORED 316