Bordeaux - Why You Should Go!

BORDEAUX:  

Last year we did a cycling trip from Innsbruck to Verona and it was so wonderful that we wanted to do the same kind of thing again, only somewhere different. We love the south-west of France and had glimpses of Bordeaux on a previous trip, vowing to return - the city and whole region is just so lovely.  This was where our trip this year started.

How bad could cycling through the premier wine growing of France be with its chateaux, historic villages, through the forests of Aquitaine to the seafood heavens of Arcachon and Cap Ferret on the Atlantic coast - staying in comfort and eating and drinking some of the best you can get along the way?

First let me point out that we own no lycra, but after last years' experience we did get some cycle touring shorts that have a kind of padded nappy insert - as he said "all ready for the nursing home Nanma"?

The companies that we organise these tours through take all of the stress out of the trip - you just have to turn up, get on the bike and pedal!  They organise: the bike - touring upright kind with panniers and basket, repair kit for the bike, helmet, book hotels in advance with choice of standard (we go 3-4 star - come on, I've been on a bloody bike all day), take your bags from hotel to hotel and provide you with comprehensive and detailed daily route maps that include places of interest, historical background and recommended restaurants. 

Bordeaux

If you have never been to Bordeaux - go!  Fortunately we decided to have a two day break in Bordeaux before the cycle trip started - it's wonderful!!  Fifteen years ago was not the thing of wonder it is today.  After an extreme makeover under mayor Alain Juppe (former French Prime Minister), Bordeaux was admitted to UNESCO's World Heritage Register in 2007 and now shines in majestic splendour beside the Garonne River.

Place de Bourse

On that previous trip we had driven past Place de Bourse and thought wow!  I have since read that it judged to be the most magnificent riverside squares anywhere in the world.  My photo doesn't do justice to it's romantic grandeur.  Beautiful pale limestone buildings surround three sides of the square that front the Garonne River - the lifeblood of this historic wine growing region - topped with grey slate moulded roofs. You would not be wrong in thinking that you could be in Paris because, if not designed by Baron Hussmann, then the style was certainly copied when Bordeux got a complete makeover in the 18th century banishing its grot to history.

Hotel Bordeaux with its award winning restaurant and the kind of clientele who double park their Ferraris and Lamborghinis right outside. Place de la Comedie. Unfortunately, this was not where we stayed - next time.

What also makes Bordeaux refreshingly lovely is that you can actually enjoy the place on foot for much of it, like Place de Bourse, is pedestrian only.  They also have a fantastic network of cycle paths and terrific light rail - with no overhead wires - that connects all the transport hubs and stopped right outside our hotel in the centre of town at Place de Comedie - making it easy and inexpensive for us to get from the airport and around the rest of the city.

Grand Theatre de Bordeaux from 1780, Place de la Comedie. An astounding building of the Classical style, crowned by nine statues of the muses.  Daily tours of the building only in July and August when there are no nightly performances.  Make sure you do a tour or book yourself a performance ticket - the interior is breathtaking.

What to do with two days in Bordeaux?

1.  First of all, stay in the historic city centre with walking distance to most places of interest.  We stayed at Hotel du Normandie at the junction of Place de la Comedie and Quinconces (tram and bus stop). Housed in one of Bordeaux majestic 18th century buildings - most of the rooms are huge with soaring ceilings and windows - just make sure you ask for one of these on the side away from the tram stop!  Or stay in one of the numerous other hotels in the city centre.  Hotel du Normandie was chosen for us by the bike company, and very happy we were too.

View from my bedroom window, Hotel du Normandie

2. Take the hop-on, hop-off tourist bus.  I'm a big fan of these for 'getting the picture' when you arrive in a city for the first time.  The one in Bordeaux stops right outside the very good Tourist Information Office - handily located opposite our hotel with the audio on the bus giving a good background history. You can spend the whole day on there, if you want to, exploring places of interest on the way.  They are inexpensive, with discounts for seniors and students, and usually last one or two days.

One of the entrances into the city from the riverfront of Quai Louis XVlll

3.  Hire one of the bikes that you can pick-up from one of the many bike stations around the city, and take a trip along the Garonne River on one of the numerous signposted bike tracks that criss-cross the river.  You can also take day cycling trips around some of the most famous chateaux and vineyards of the region.

The bar at the Grand Theatre

4.  Go shopping, get a French haircut and stop for an aperitif on the way home.  Rue St Catherine (pedestrian) has some fabulous shops, including Galleries Lafayette (Paris) where I managed to pick up a good, black, travelling frock (scarce as hens teeth in Mullumbimby) while waiting for a hair appointment - makes a girl happy.  Me mate was equally content exploring the Aquitane Museum - Bordeaux archeological museum - which, he said, was really terrific.  Stop on the way home for an aperitif on the gloriously romantic terrace of the Grand Theatre Bar and Restaurant and, well, just let your mind wander!

5.  Bordeaux has 8,000 plus chateaux scattered among this famous wine growing region so taking one of the many themed tours that visit the premier vineyards is a must.  It's easy to book through the Tourist Office, or online in advance if it is busy time of the year.  We missed out because it was August and we hadn't pre-booked, but we would have gone for the afternoon/evening dinner tour that visited Chateaux Lafitte Rothschild and Margaux having dinner in the Historic village of St Emilion.  We weren't too disappointed though as we were going to be cycling through the Sauterne and Graves vineyards in a couple of days.

Timbale of fresh tomato, whipped light goats cheese and small pot of octopus salad with capers.  My delicious entree at the Brasserie d'Orleans.

6.  Dining out is a real pleasure in Bordeux.  Ask your hotel to recommend somewhere off the tourist track that is authentic.  Brasserie d'Orleans was certainly that on Esplanade Quinconces - one minute walk from our hotel.  I was sold the minute we arrived by smiling, efficient waiters in white shirts, black ties and crisp aprons with a small but traditional menu that did not disappoint. (15-30 euros)

A LITTLE STORY:  Me mate was busy trying to order a bottle of red wine amidst a lot of confusion - not understanding what grape varieties were on offer - with French wine you are expected to know that simply from the vineyard - we are not that smart.  At this point the waiter brought over a bottle of wine from the sauve, silver haired gentleman at the next table, who had been listening to our conversation, with a "Monsieur Claude would like you to try his wine - he thinks you may alike it".  M. Claude was correct - we struck up a conversation and found out that Bordeaux was his home and, when not travelling, ate at Brasserie d'Orleans every night, as we subsequently did and then asking for a bottle of the 'M. Claude' when we ordered and every waiter knowing exactly what we meant.  Got to love that! 

Esplanade de Quinconces

End your evening out with a wander down this vast tree-lined esplanade to the lights twinkling along the Garonne River - the statues and fountains in this huge park are fantastic.

Hummus - best ever recipe!

I can never really understand why people buy shop bought hummus when it is so easy and cheap to make at home, AND I have never had one of those from a plastic thingummy tub that tastes anywhere near as good as this. All you need is a food processor and a few basic ingredients - just throw it all in and bingo!  IT IS NOT HARD TO MAKE.

This is my go to dish for taking to a party - it's often requested and gets lots of compliments, so is definitely one of those dishes where the making of perfect has been in the practice.

Apart from being so quick, easy and cheap to make, it is incredibly good for you - this is the real deal as far as super foods are concerned.

• Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6. 
• The chickpeas are a good source of protein, dietary fibre, calcium and potassium. 
• Tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds, which are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the chickpeas - and the sesame is where the high source of iron comes from as well as being a good source of calcium, potassium and phosphorus.
• Fresh lemon juice is high in vitamin C.
• Garlic, a natural antibiotic.
• Olive oil - the good oil

It's a great vegetarian food and like other combinations of grains and pulses, it serves as a complete protein when eaten with bread.

No meal in the Middle East would be complete without a freshly made plate of hummus and passions run high over its origin and 'the authentic recipe'.  In fact, the 'hummus wars' have been going on for some time between Lebanon (who want to patent the recipe) and Israel (who exports the largest quantities around the world).

This is the recipe I have tweaked over the years to be to my taste and I make it at least once a week and, there's an added bonus - the grandchildren love it.

1. 1x 400g can of organic chick peas (gives you 250g of chickpeas after draining)
2. Juice of 1 small lemon
3. 2 tbs tahini hulled (sesame seed paste) - important to use the pale variety otherwise it can be bitter.
4. 1 small clove of crushed garlic
5. 1 small tsp ground cumin
6. sea salt to taste
7. 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil (approximate - depends on how much oil your tahini has)

• Strain the chick peas of all their canned liquid.
• Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until a smooth consistency.
• If, at this stage, the hummus is very thick you may want to add a small amount of water to thin it.
• Serve on a plate with the hummus fluffed up around the edge - easy to do with the back of a spoon.  
• Drizzle with olive oil and paprika or finely chopped parsley or mint.  This is making me hungry!

TOP TIP:  This recipe is to my taste.  You may think it needs more; salt, lemon juice, tahini or garlic so it's important to taste it, once you have processed it, and adjust accordingly.

ALSO - hummus is supposed to be light and fluffy - not thick and gluggy - that's where adding a little water (filtered) helps.  Try it and see for yourself.

Graffiti from a wall in inner Sydney in the late 70's.

"God hates homos". Written underneath - "But does he like tabouli"? 

I can never eat hummus without thinking of this and smiling

Potatoes - growing your own is easy!

We have just been away for a couple of months and just about the last thing I did, before I left home, was plant some old potatoes in the garden that had been quietly sprouting away in my pantry - ones that you would normally chuck out.

This was a quick and easy task because the second last thing I had done before my trip was to mulch the garden with a thick layer of straw to suppress the weeds, stop it drying out and provide a rich layer of organic matter to quietly feed the soil.

Now, what was the first thing I was thinking about on my way back from the airport and what was the first thing I did the next day - you've got it - inspect the garden and dig up my beautiful potato crop - about 6kg of Dutch Creams from 3 mouldy old potatoes!!  Want to find out how you can do it - read on.


ABOUT POTATOES
Potatoes are in the same family as tomatoes,eggplant, capsicum, the Solanaceae family so remember one of the rules of gardening - don't plant anything from the same family in the same spot twice in a row - this is called rotation.  Why? - because they need similar nutrients from the soil and repeat crops will fail to thrive AND particular pests of that family will build up numbers if they have successive host plants - common sense isn't it?

Technically, it is illegal in most states of Australia to grow potatoes from anything other than certified seed potatoes - this is to stop the spread of diseases, so if you live in a potato growing district follow this advice.  However, people have been growing potatoes for centuries from their own potatoes - just be sensible and use healthy looking potatoes to start with.

Chitted potaoes - ready for planting

You will find that many supermarket potatoes WON'T sprout in the pantry - this is because they have been treated to stop them doing so - like sterile tomato seedlings from the hardware store.  This is to stop the home gardener doing what we have always done - saving seed and regrowing another crop. (This is another capitalist trick - like printer cartridges and mobile phone paraphernalia, grrrrrr!).  Fortunately, while I had been away, a few forgotten potatoes had been sprouting away in my pantry - just ready for me to plant after I had dug up the last lot.

NOTE:  A cool, dark place - like a pantry, is the ideal spot to get your potatoes to start sprouting - ONLY PLANT THOSE THAT HAVE

WHEN TO PLANT POTATOES
This depends on where you live, but they are pretty forgiving about most growing conditions - they just won't thrive in the depths of winter, so if you get frost plant when the last frost is over.

Our summers, up here near the Queensland border, are way too hot and wet for potato growing during the summer months and they are generally grown as an autumn/winter/spring crop - and I usually get in at least two crops a year because they only take from 60-90 days from planting to harvesting.   However, I have just been visiting my mother in Suffolk,UK and fields of more temperate summer grown potatoes were being harvested everywhere - their winters being just too cold for the spud.

HOW TO GROW POTATOES
The potato is a tuber - a root crop, and the developing potatoes grow off the stem and need to be grown in deep soil because any near the surface will turn green and these are poisonous.

Potatoes are heavy feeders with a pH below 6 (slightly acid) - so don't add lime.  They will not grow in heavy clay and like a friable, rich soil.  I just use compost with a handul of pelleted chook poo.

Heres how I do it - it's really simple!

1.  Prepare a bed of straw/grass clippings/composted weeds THAT IS IN FULL SUN.

2.  Make a hole about as deep as your elbow to your hand - this is gardeners measurement!

3.  Place the 'chitted' potato in the bottom of the hole - this is what a potato is called when it has sprouted.

NOTE:  You can grow potatoes in just about any container that has drainage holes and is LARGE ENOUGH e.g. old garbage bins with holes in the bottom, free-form piece of wire mesh made into a circle, hessian sacks.  I am not a fan of the rubber tyre potato stack - I worry about the chemicals from the tyres.

 4.  Get some well rotted compost and add a handful of organic fertiliser.  I use Organic Life - which is mostly chook poo but has other things added to ensure that all the major and micro nutrients are present.

You will not need to feed this crop again after that.

5.  Because my soil is solid clay - I put some gypsum in the bottom of the hole as well - this flocculates the clay particles i.e. helps to break it up. You won't need to do this unless you have similar beige pudding for soil like mine

6.  Be generous in filling your potato holes with soil because the size of your potato crop is directly related to the quality and amount of soil that they have grown in.

7.  Give the ground a good water and then just don't worry about it for about two months.

8.  You will know when the potatoes are ready to harvest because the green plant, that has shot out of the potato above the ground, will begin to die-down and wilt.

9.  This is the fun part - digging up potatoes, like jewels from Aladdin's cave - was what first turned me on to gardening when I was a child and helping my dad on his allotment.


Now who has been paying attention?  Explain the terms rotation, chitting and flocculate?