Hi all!
So last night I had quite an early night. Slept pretty well apart from the lady in my room answering a phone call in the middle of the night. Never mind!
This morning I woke up and went downstairs to have breakfast. This place is not your typical hostel. Everyone here is either in their 50s or up or seems to be chaperoning a group of primary school age kids. So I sat with the only person my age I could find - a girl from South Korea. But she hardly spoke any English so we didn't talk very much. But thankfully during breakfast a guy came over and asked to sit with us! He's from San Francisco but studying near Marseille and his name is Michael. He's about my age and commented on how strange this hostel is too. We both decided to hang out today because it's much nicer to have someone to share the day with if you can!!
So first of all we walked along the river to the Wine and Trade Museum. It was set in a cellar built in the 1720s for an Irish wine merchant. Michael is studying French so could translate some of the exhibition, but we also had a book of English text to go by. Learned a bit about the area and wine. Turns out the economy here has profited majorly from wines in the area, and wines from outside this area are usually very heavily taxed to encourage people to buy local. In the 1330s monks settled here in the marshland and urbanisation went from there in this area due to wine. People made money here from wine and more came to make wine etc etc. The shape of town is quite geometric because a lot of cellars were built and they're rectangular in shape!
We saw some objects associated with wine such as old barrels and bottles. Turns out the wine bottle was invented by the English in the 1800s, up until then it was just stored in barrels.
After we walked around we got a wine tasting included, not bad for the 5 euro student admission we paid! Mum, as usual you were right. I used to say how disgusting wine was growing up and you said one day I would grow up and like it. And now I do! They were both nice. The lady giving us the tastings was so kind. She showed us a map of the wider area and all the different wine regions and estates in the area. Everything left of the river produces mainly cab sav, and everything right mainly Merlot. There are 9000 chateaus, 400 merchants and 12000 labels in the area! Crazy! In one particular area South of border sweet wine is produced. This is because the area is famous for a mist that descends on the grapes and causes a fungus to occur on them. Apparently the grapes become sweeter as a result!!
Next we went to the Botanic Gardens but unfortunately it started to rain. They were quite small and didn't have anything on Melbourne! So we walked down to near tourist information. Michael had booked the winery tour to St Emilion that I'm doing tomorrow but for today instead. So we had a coffee before he had to set off. I had a hot chocolate made with real milk chocolate - mmmm!
Then Michael headed off so I set off walking as I've seen most of what I want to in the city. I walked all the way up to the next bridge about 2-3km north of the city. On the way I passed a shopping outlet which was super handy as the rain got heavier so I could use it for shelter! I crossed the bridge and at this point it was very foggy and rainy, but kept walking on the other side of the river. The rain was intermittent the whole time but didn't stop me walking or seeing things. I enjoyed a nice view of the Royal Palace from the other side of the river and then crossed back over the Pont du Pierre. Then I made my way to the Grand Theatre/Opera House.
On my walk I saw two very funny things I have to share with you. Firstly I saw a woman riding a bike. On the bike it had a special umbrella attached (actually kind of clever really!). The funny part was she had a chihuahua in her bike basket and it was WEARING GOGGLES! I thought I had seen everything funny chihuahua related in Italy, but this actually made me laugh out loud as she rode past! Then I saw a man on a bike with a beret and a huge curly moustache. Ah, the things you see in France!
Then I joined my 4pm tour of the opera house. You'll remember if you read yesterday that I was excited because I nabbed the last spot on any of the torus today, and I got in free for being under 26. Well I would love to give you some history about the opera house, but I can't. Because even though yesterday I clearly couldn't speak any French, the ticket lady gave me a ticket. And today when I joined the tour it was all in French. Every. Single. Word. Except for 'the tour is only in French' when I asked. So I had an hour of not understanding anything except a couple of words!!!!! Haha. I did however get to see the beautiful interior of the building. You couldn't take photos in most parts but I did manage a few.
Now I'm just waiting for Michael to get back from his tour and then later we are gonna grab dinner and some wine!!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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