Marathon du Medoc Party

Because I am now so far behind some of this will be brief, and if you are really really keen you can come back and re-read the amended version when I get to doing the adding to it. The days go by so quickly and I have been having far too much fun!

So, Pauillac. A small town on the Gironde, about an hour and a half bus ride or hour train ride from Bordeaux. We stayed there, at the Hotel de France Angleterre (the only hotel in town at the time) in 2008 when we went to do the Medoc Marathon. I had trained for it but had my gall bladder out six weeks before (and was told no, no, no) and James had a knee problem, so ... we just enjoyed the peripheries.

A return trip was in order, with no marathon expectations: just partying. We booked it all, including the campground last year, canceled and rebooked. The lovely man at the campground gave us the best site, with a view to the Gironde one direction and to Chateau Latour to the other ... nice. We settled in, walked into and reacquainted ourselves with the not much changed town.

Tuesday we headed for Bordeaux: a very quick walk to the bus stop and then a great bus ride; a bit stop start over all the speed humps and around the roundabouts, stopping to pick up (mainly) young women going to work, and then some children going to school.

We assumed the ‘girls’ were going to Bordeaux, how wrong we were: they got out at different towns along the way; and the same with the children, who went to various schools along the way. The towns we went through are ‘wine towns’ and don’t have schools necessarily, or only up to high school, and don’t have the employment prospects apart from farms and wine businesses. The bus went in and out of other locations and covered everywhere, it seemed.

Out near the stadium our bus ride came to an end and we caught the light rail. We mastered the paying system (failed 9n several other occasions!) and got out exactly where we wanted: at the river.

They have created a ‘pool’ about 100m long and 50 wide. It is only a couple of inches deep and empties and fills on a timeframe. Fantastic for reflections and lots of photos happening.

Coffee along the quay in a very old house converted, then wandered ... ran into a couple from Auckland and had a chat. We passed La Tupina where we ate in 2008 (a Rick Stein recommended restaurant that didn’t cost the earth as we remembered), and just kept our wanderings. An interesting city.

Phoned my darling sister for her birthday- WhatsApp is terrific!

We found a second hand goods (junk) market, a market-market, a very old tower 15th century, where pilgrims on their Camino way would stop and flagellate- non of that happening this day, nor on our Camino walk!

We had a light lunch and kept up our wandering... we’re good at that.
We came back near the quay and so that we could see more of Bordeaux at large, caught a tram (our ticket was for the whole day) to who knows where! Interesting... and then got out at the end, crossed

the line and took the train back.

Time to head home, so we headed for the railway: walked the length of the station to find the loo and then had to pay 80 cents, and wait! I was most chagrined. Then the tickets, ok that was fine ... but where do we catch it?? Aaaarrrggghhh .... by the time we found out, a run down one platform and on to another - a bit like the country trains in Sydney.

Comfortable and an interesting trip home. A good walk from the railway station. We stopped and ate at the Hotel de France Angleterre restaurant on the way home. The campground is 1.5 kms out of town so we got in some good walks.

Wednesday: time to do some jobs ... up to the iIntermarche and we (James) washed the van and vacuumed. I had an interesting chat to a local (in French). Gleaming and bright, we then did the washing and relaxed.

And then we met Katharina: Jean-yves, the manager had booked us a taxi for Thursday to the lunch and Katharina and her sister Dorothea were going to so he suggested we share. Great idea!

Thursday: Off we went in a very flash BMW with Michel, a suave Frenchman, to the Phelan Segur degustation (wine tasting) and lunch. What a wonderful afternoon!

We met Fabrice, winemaker for 20 years (he doesn’t look old enough) and Katharina and I immediately went into competition: yes he is gorgeous! Such fun. We had an introduction and then tour, so interesting, and then the tasting: verrrryyyy nice.

A short walk in the garden to our lunch, beautifully set out under the trees - there were 14 of us - French, English, German, Japanese, Czech Republic: a real mix. A nice champagne and oysters to start and then we sat. Wine and help yourself to a wonderful array of food: saucisson, terrines, nuts, olives, salads, fresh poached salmon, chicken, rice, lentils ... yum. Desserts of brûlée, chocolate whatever’s... and of course cheese.

Our taxi arrived at our meeting point at the same time as us and ... with music playing Michel proceeded to dance tango with each of us girls! Ooowhoooo! And off home.

We didn’t want the day to end so continued drinks with our lovely German friends at our site - trying to bear in mind that they are running on Saturday.

Is it Friday already? Registration time - a bit (lot) confusing. We ran into friends of Jungle Jim from Sydney Posh - the world is small!
Thank heavens for darling Katharina who sorted out our registration stuff that we had missed! And for bringing pastries for afternoon tea: she is not only German, but also a Librarian - so twice as organised!! ????. It became THE joke.

A German family, mum, dad, girl and boy moved in across from us. The little boy was so ‘little boy on a bike anywhere in the world ‘ ... he rode around their site - around and around, talking away like kids do: some wonderful storytelling in his head. James wrote a very appropriate poem, which they really liked.

Always carbo load before a marathon... and don’t miss a pre party! White wine in the garden at Chateau Marquis du Terme and then into dinner: 2000 people at long tables and a big dance area, with the

band, in the middle. And the wine came, and the food started ... bowls and bowls - huge - to serve 6, and baguettes... and that was only the entre. And then the main course - pasta but different, more wine. And dancing in between. We had the loveliest volunteer serving woman. Gorgeous smile, so friendly.

The sight of the night - a Japanese woman who didn’t eat or drink, she just danced - she was lovely. We saw her next day after the marathon and she had finished and was very happy. As she should.

Dessert was also pasta and lovely. More dancing and then home. Oh how good.

Saturday dawned with a lot of nervous excitement in the campground. Some running early to warm up, everyone heading for town to line up. There is something special about this time, and impossible to describe unless you’ve been there.

We walked into the starting line and feasted on the buzz, and the costumes. This is a dress-up marathon that runs through vineyards and has wine and food tasting. The theme this year was Adventure Park and the costumes were many and varied: lots of chicken costumes!

We were standing next to a local woman and her son and we had a (fractured) chat. Anyway, lots of fun. Katharina and Dorothea came past and we wished them well. There was aerobatics and a flyover and it all started.

Off they went ... a feeling of ... oh bugger ... let’s go and have coffee, go home and come back in 6 hours. Which we did.
It was hot, so glad we weren’t running... we didn’t see the girls come

in but wandered down the road to the Rugby Cafe and had an early dinner ... after a couple of beers. We saw the girls, they had finished in good time and sported their medals. Dorothea had very kindly left her rose on our table, such a lovely gesture.

Sunday. Off to the bus out to Chateau Marquis du Terme for the Ballard. A great morning walking through vineyards, wine tasting ... what could be better ... oh and some rain ... we had rain in 2008 but thank heavens this wasn’t as bad. On to the Chat3au again, white wine in the garden ... there’s a pattern here . And then inside. This time no saving seats for others, you are seated. James somehow got us end of table seats, so good.

And there, sitting in place is our entre - we are talking a couple of thousand - a roulade and beautiful. And wine on the table. And then they served a fish like cod, just beautiful, and cheese, and dessert ... James was so impressed he went to the kitchen and thanked them.
And ... more dancing ... They had a couple of large barrels so when your wine bottle emptied you could go and refill it! Recipe for disaster... no, just fun. And when we got back to Pauillac of course we had to walk home.

At the girls suggestion we had drinks out by the river, with the cows, and saw an otter-like creature swimming.

What an amazing and wonderful week. Thank you to our new friends Katharina and Dorothea and we do hope we will meet again. We are so lucky to have met so many wonderful people on our journey.

Monday morning lots of activity with people leaving, although many went on Sunday - guess people have to go back to work!