Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
des Coteaux (the D14). Bernard Barse's excellent Saussignac was now outside the appel-
lation. None of Bernard's customers cared if he was north of the D14, a man-made barri-
er which had nothing to do with the appellation; they cared that he produced exceptional
Saussignac wine, which they could assess for themselves. Part way through a leading vign-
eron stormed out of the meeting slamming the door behind him in frustration. I was not the
only one who found all this bureaucracy counterproductive.
My first wine tour customers found my website via an Internet search and Kerry's website.
Sean was impressed. Sheila and Jeff were winemakers from Washington state who had
followed their passion and started a small winery operation. This was their first trip to
Bordeaux but they had a good knowledge of French wine from years of study. They would
also be our first paying guests in our new gîte, the half of our house that had become 'The
Wine Cottage', helping to prove the wisdom and synergy of this new tourism initiative to
Sean.
Between their initial booking and their arrival, I spent hours researching and plotting their
itinerary, planning visits, restaurants and vineyards. Wine is an endless subject. I devoured
our wine books and ordered more. I wanted my tours to be different, to be deeper than your
average tour, and most important, to be authentic. It was challenging and thrilling.
Our first day took us to St Émilion via a visit to a barrel-maker. The factory was rustic; an
old breeze-block and corrugated-iron warehouse filled with rows of beautiful barrels. The
gleaming oak, packed to perfection in plastic wrapping, was backed onto medieval-looking
equipment. We were welcomed by the manager of the factory, David. I asked if we could
use the toilets before starting the tour.
'With three men working here, the toilets aren't in good shape,' said David. 'Perhaps we
should go to the shopping centre - it's about ten minutes away.'
'I don't want to lose that much time. I'll go first and clean the place up a bit before Sheila
and Jeff come in,' I said.
'As you want,' said David, leading me to a lean-to.
It was filthy and there was no toilet. I looked around, confused. David motioned into the
doorless
cabine
, or cubicle, and I spied in the gloom the ancient remains of a toilet
'à la
turque'
. With
à la turque,
instead of a toilet above ground, you get a tray, like a square
shower tray, in the ground. In normal circumstances, it is extremely unpleasant but it is
possible to use a facility like this by squatting if it is immaculately clean. In this case there
was so much dirt built up that there was no sign of the original ceramic tray. What gave it
