Saint-Émilion

The hotel has cool lamps in the restaurant/bar

Went to visit the wine-growing area of Saint-Émilion. The town is another old one, built on a hill. 

Under the church is another one, that had been excavated out from the limestone plateau by monks, called a monolithic church. 

The unusual thing is that they dug it out from the top down, and the ceiling of the underground vault is about 12m high. It’s also about 38m long, so not small.

I can’t believe these cars are still on the road. Classic. Just don’t let Top Gear near it.

Unsurprisingly, there are shops.

Tiny clothes…

A little arty shop

Still with the slingshots?

This is an odd one. An egg that opens to display a cutlery set. I have no idea.

A wine shop was selling wine, oddly. The prices are in euros.

Then it was off to a winery to have lunch.

In this region, they follow a philosophy called ‘Terroir’, which puts absolute focus on location and environment. Because of this, it is prohibited to water the vines, and it is prohibited to process grapes that did not grow on your own land. The watering thing is to train the roots to grow deep, looking for nutrients.

We sampled a few over a very nice lunch. I know, but somebody has to do it.