{"id":62,"date":"2013-06-26T19:27:56","date_gmt":"2013-06-27T02:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.funoftravel.com\/bargecruise\/?p=62"},"modified":"2013-07-31T10:06:50","modified_gmt":"2013-07-31T17:06:50","slug":"day-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funoftravel.com\/bargecruise\/day-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 5"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Libourne-St. Emilion-Blaye
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7:30 am\u00a0<\/strong>breakfast dining room\u00a0Mirabelle Barge<\/strong>
\nLibourne is\u00a0sunny and bright today and the river is sparkling. We\u2019ve all slept well. The\u00a0mood is anticipatory. Breakfast is buffet style with no set time\u00a0but everyone\u00a0is anxious to find out what the agenda is for the day so no one sleeps in.\u00a0Every morning daily events are posted: activities, menus,\u00a0wines.
\n\"LibourneStEmilionBlaye\"\u00a0 55 miles\/34 km\u00a0travelled today<\/p>\n

9 am – 12:30 pm<\/strong>\u00a0visit Saint-Emilion\u00a0go
\n<\/a><\/strong>St. Emilion\u00a0is internationally known, both for its fine Bordeaux wine and as a medieval village. It is\u00a0also\u00a0a great start to our touring. A short bus\u00a0ride takes us from the\u00a0barge to this World Heritage site perched atop a hill on the right bank of\u00a0the Garonne. Its fine wines are\u00a0blends. With Merlot grapes being most prevalent,\u00a0wines are drinkable at an earlier age. But we are not here to taste the wine.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve come\u00a0to see the village’s beautiful sandstone buildings and explore its history. Entering\u00a0through remnants of 5\u2019 thick\u00a0stonewalls once protecting the inhabitants, we\u00a0begin at the Tourist office. An entertaining, informative tour begins with\u00a0the cloister\u00a0that housed Augustinian monks during the\u00a012th-15th centuries. Impressive is the mostly subterranean monolithic\u00a0church\u00a0constructed in the early 12th century. The 3 naves, and a\u00a0small catacomb beneath, were dug into a rocky hillside by hand. The small\u00a0ancient\u00a0chapel has one central nave with painted murals which sadly, have begun to\u00a0fade.<\/p>\n

The village\u00a0is overlooked by the Romanesque church and the iconic 13th-century Tour du\u00a0Roy. A 53-meter-high bell-tower dominates\u00a0the town, creating a\u00a0visible landmark for arriving wine \u201cpilgrims.\u201d From the highpoint\u00a0there are views of the distant alluvial plain\u00a0leading to the river.\u00a0This\u00a0medieval village is a warren of cobblestone alleys and steep stairs,\u00a0boutiques, small restaurants, wine shops and stores offering\u00a0the\u00a0paraphernalia of oenophilia – crystal decanters, corkscrews,\u00a0crystal stemware. Retracing our steps we head back to our bus.<\/p>\n

12:30 pm<\/strong>\u00a0lunch Mirabelle<\/strong>\u00a0dining room
\nAt each\u00a0meal we change dining partners – with this mingling eventually we\u2019ll know everyone.\u00a0Today\u2019s menu:
\nconcass\u00e9\u00a0avocado and tomatoes\u00a0– with shallots and basil
\nmonkfish cheeks with spicy garlic\u00a0– and rice pilaf
\nNorman tart
\nwines: \u2022\u00a0Cotes de Castillon – Ch\u00e2teau\u00a0Goubau ‘La Source’ \u2022 C\u00f4teaux\u00a0de Fronsac –\u00a0Ch\u00e2teau Lariveau Ros\u00e9<\/p>\n

Our first onboard lunch \u2013 as with all our meals \u2013 \u00a0prepared by kinda shy chef Xavier, who occasionally peeks out of the kitchen to gauge the collective vibe in the dining room. His preparations are regional country style, made with local products and very attractively presented.<\/p>\n

2 – 6:30 pm<\/strong>\u00a0cruise and navigation\u00a0Libourne – Blaye\u00a0go<\/a><\/strong>
\nWe\u2019re easing into the river cruising experience with this trip up the Dordogne River to the port of Blaye. The river is mild and the weather calm so passage is smooth. Some of us watch the riverbank views and take photos, others socialize, read, nap or check their e-mail. Very hard to unplug. Music plays in the lounge and all is mellow.<\/p>\n

Pre-dinner aperitifs and snacks take the edge off our appetites. We clean up before dinner.<\/p>\n

7:30 pm<\/strong>\u00a0dinner Mirabelle<\/strong>\u00a0dining room
\nMenu
\neggs stuffed with crabmeat
\nveal blanquette\u00a0\u00a0– and vegetable tagliatelles
\ncheeses: Munster, Bresse Bleu with\u00a0fresh fruit
\nwines:\u00a0\u2022 Blaye Cotes de Bordeaux – Ch\u00e2teau\u00a0Beaumont les Pierrieres\u00a0\u2022 Bordeaux\u00a0–\u00a0Ch\u00e2teau La Rose Vimi\u00e8re\u00a0cuv\u00e9e ‘F\u00fbts’<\/p>\n

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    Libourne-St. Emilion-Blaye 7:30 am\u00a0breakfast dining room\u00a0Mirabelle Barge Libourne is\u00a0sunny and bright today and the river is sparkling. We\u2019ve all slept well. The\u00a0mood is anticipatory. Breakfast is buffet style with no set time\u00a0but everyone\u00a0is anxious to find out what the agenda is for the day so no one sleeps in.\u00a0Every morning daily events are posted: activities, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funoftravel.com\/bargecruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funoftravel.com\/bargecruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funoftravel.com\/bargecruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funoftravel.com\/bargecruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funoftravel.com\/bargecruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.funoftravel.com\/bargecruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funoftravel.com\/bargecruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funoftravel.com\/bargecruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funoftravel.com\/bargecruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funoftravel.com\/bargecruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}