My hens weekend in Bordeaux

Less than two weeks after returning from Mallorca, I jetted off to Bordeaux for my hens weekend on the first May bank holiday weekend. Six other friends joined me for the weekend of fun, however, myself and one friend were the last to arrive on a late Friday night RyanAir flight that landed at around 1am. We had originally planned to be in Bordeaux until the Monday evening but due to a flight cancellation, we all had to make changes to our plans a few weeks in advance. Two friends and I ended up flying back just before midday Monday, which of course meant we had to re-organise our plans. We stayed in a gorgeous apartment in the centre of Bordeaux - the type I imagine when thinking of apartments in France, with beautiful high ceilings, a winding concrete stairwell like Scottish tenement flats, and a lot more space than the average London flat.

After a much-needed sleep-in on Saturday and some delicious pastries, we wandered through the cute streets of Bordeaux and found a nice spot for coffee. We then made our way out to Chateau Pape Clement, a winery on the outskirts of Bordeaux. We had a great tour of the winery and learnt a lot about the local wine varietals, as well as the history of the winery (it was originally owned by a pope, hence the name). The buildings at Pape Clement have the old-world chateau charm you would expect of a French winery. After several glasses of wine and no lunch, we made our way to a local boulangerie for absolutely delicious food. Everyone expects French pastries to be good, but I was still blown away by the quality in a small suburban boulangerie. I had a melt-in-your-mouth buttery quiche followed by a delicious citron tart.

In the evening, we made our way to a pre-booked restaurant for a delicious three-course meal. Again, the food was delicious and surprisingly good value (about £35 per person including two drinks). Dinner was followed by delicious cocktails at Point Rouge, a huge cocktail bar by the river. As we were walking along the river to the cocktail bar, we made the mistake of heading under a bridge when it was clear that most people were detouring over the bridge, and of course it ended up being incredibly dodgy. Just a reminder - always walk over the bridge at night!

Our original plan for Sunday was to go on a long country walk through cute towns outside of Bordeaux but since we had to condense our trip into two days, we had to sacrifice our original walking plans. We managed to bring our tour of Chateau La Dominique forward to Sunday and since the winery is a bit of a drive outside of the town, we decided to walk to and from the winery. We took the train into Libourne and walked for about 45 minutes through the countryside to Chateau La Dominique, arriving just in time for our lunch booking. Unfortunately, the lunch service didn’t quite live up to expectations, as they seemed to be very under-staffed, but the tour of the winery was excellent. Unlike Pape Clement, Chateau La Dominique has a relatively new, contemporary building. It was interesting to see the contrast between the two wineries, both architecturally, and learn about the difference in soil types and grape varieties.

After the tour, we walked to St Emilion, which was a prettier walk than from Libourne and followed a quieter road for half of the walk. If I went again, I would definitely hire bikes to get to and from the wineries. The ground is flat and there are plenty of bike rental shops around. It would be lovely to stay in a village and cycle to wineries each day. St Emilion is filled with gorgeous shops and cafes, including the quaint macaron shop. If I had more time, I would have stopped to eat at one of the many beautiful cafes in the square.

The quaint macaron shop in Saint Emilion

In the evening, we made our way back to Bordeaux by train from St Emilion. If you’re taking a train from Bordeaux to St Emilion, I highly recommend buying a return ticket, since there was no ticket machine at the St Emillion Station. Luckily, we were able to buy tickets on my phone. We spent the evening in Bordeaux dining on a delicious platter of cheese and charcuterie with more wine.

I loved visiting Bordeaux and can’t wait to see more of France’s beautiful wine regions.