When we moved to Biarritz last March, there was so much to do to get settled when we arrived (open bank accounts, get cell phones, buy new cars, look for an apartment, Brent get settled in at his new office), that even though we (I, specifically) wanted to run off and explore France, we had to take care of business before leaving town. Five weeks into our life here, which felt like an eternity at the time (without our ‘stuff’, without our ‘friends, without our normal routines), Brent got a Monday off, and had a three day Easter weekend. We finally felt settled enough in Biarritz that we were ready to leave town for a long weekend adventure, so we picked Saint-Émilion, a little medieval wine country town in Bordeaux, about a two and a half hour drive from Biarritz.
I’m not sure if it’s because Saint-Émilion was the first place we visited, or because of it’s history, or the springtime, or maybe all the wine, but for me it was one of the most magical places we’ve visited. Our first view of this little medieval town was looking down on it from above, to all the small cobblestone streets winding through medieval stone buildings, the small hillside town surrounded by a valley of French Châteaus and vineyards, I couldn’t wait to explore!
The first thing we did was sign up for a tour via the tourist office in the center of town, which took us into the old monolithic church that was carved into a giant rock in the side of a hill. After our history lesson, the next stop of course was some tasting rooms where we were able to try the famous Saint-Émilion wine, and purchased a couple nice bottles to bring home with us.
We stayed in the cutest hotel, Auberge de la Commanderie, right int he center of town, where we could open our shutters and look down a small cobble stone street and see the steeple of the church. In the morning we were woken up by the church bells ringing. It was the perfect location to walk everywhere in this picturesque little town.
On Easter Sunday we rented bikes from the tourist office in the center of town. They were pretty relaxed about it all, and just handed us the bikes and a map with some routes mapped out through the local vineyards and countryside to follow, and said ‘have fun!’. It was SO EPIC!
The roads were very quiet, probably because it was Easter, so we had them all to ourselves. We set off on our bikes and rode through rolling vineyards, past Châteaus, through tiny wine villages… it seriously felt like it was straight out of a movie. We rode around exploring the roads of Saint-Émilion wine country for most of the day, until it started to rain on us around 4pm. This bike ride definitely makes the list of top five favorite things we’ve done since moving to France.
The town itself got quite busy with tourists during the day, so the two mornings we were there I would wake up really early and walk around and explore the tiny streets while everything was quiet. I took a million pictures of textured walls, rock work, flower pots in picture-perfect windows, it was hard just choosing a few photos to share in this post!
I love Saint-Émilion and wish everyone I know could experience this magical little town. The cobblestone streets, the textures of the old buildings, bike rides through the vineyards, the wine! One of my favorite places I’ve been, and definitely a great pick for our first French adventure as ‘locals’.
