After a relatively non eventful overnight stay in Athens, we boarded our Aegean Air flight to Bordeaux. I’m sure we had previously driven thru the city but this time we had two nights booked so we could have a good look around. Bordeaux was also where we were to pick up our ‘Dacia Duster’, a Romanian built SUV. As Renault own Dacia, it was made available to their ‘Eurodrive Fleet’. We have used the system several times before as it provides exceptionally good value if you need a car in Europe for more than twenty one days. In this case, we took the maximum six months lease.
One of our other options was to to buy an older car, which was very tempting as you can buy a reasonable Mercedes or BMW for a similar amount we paid for the lease. However, with ownership (particularly an eight to ten year old car), comes the risk of breakdowns and unforeseen expenses. The package we decided on offered full warranty and roadside assistance as well as comprehensive insurance with no excess- and yes, I have previously put that to the test and have been pleasantly surprised with the ease and lack of drama of handing back a broken car!
Back to Bordeaux, our Taxi delivered us to our hotel, which Linda had excelled in again. An older style quaint hotel right in the centre of town. Correction…… it was our upcoming house sit host that recommended it, but he told Linda that it was called the ‘The Three Sisters Hotel’, thankfully, due to Linda’s tireless persistence she eventually found the ‘Hotel des 4 Soeurs’! He’d given us one sister too little!!
As we usually do, we spent hours walking around the city admiring the architecture and sampling delicious food, fragrant coffee and of course, the Bordeaux wine.
A couple of times we left our hotel, we noticed a large queue to get into the building next door. We thought it might have been a show until we found out that it was a very popular (thus the queue) steak restaurant. “Better try it out”, Linda suggested. I was not thrilled about lining up for hours for a meal, especially in a city that had so many restaurants. But Linda had a plan, she found out the sitting times and convinced me that if we got in line by a certain time we would have a minimal wait. That was the case and before too long we were ushered to our table and enjoyed a very tasty steak dinner- no need for menus as there was only one option in the restaurant. Well worth the wait I conceded but I wasn’t too sure about the folk that were still standing in the sun waiting for the next sitting.
We took a ride on one of the impressive city trams along the river to a wine museum, as you do, in Bordeaux. It was a grand modern building in a former industrial area where there was also a lot of residential development, very well planned out taking advantage of the river vistas.
A very enjoyable couple of days, we could have stayed longer but we had to get moving. After we checked out of the ‘Hotel des 4 Soeurs’, we made our way back to the airport to pickup the car as that is where the Eurodrive agent was located. Local knowledge is priceless, we found a bus to take us to the airport for €1.50 compared to the €60.00 taxi fare on our arrival!
The only difference to leasing from Eurodrive compared to a normal lease back home is that you don’t get a ‘colour choice’. Something that has never concerned us for a 40 odd day lease but as we had to live with this car for six months, we both decided that we didn’t mind what colour it was as long as it wasn’t white! Guess what colour it was? Apart from that, it was just what we needed and will be referred to from now on as ‘Dustie’. Ample luggage area with a blind for security, satellite navigation, diesel economy and a 12V power outlet at the back for the fridge I was planning on buying. The annoyingly noticeable thing about the car is the red number plates. The vehicles are only registered for the term of the lease as they are sent to an auction house on return. The plates are very unique and draw a lot of attention. As they have the ‘F’ below the ‘Euro Circle’ we felt the need to place an ‘AUS’ sticker on the back window so everyone would not presume we were French (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) but many people still greet us with ‘Bonjour’! It’s not a bad thing really, if I do something wrong on the road, I shrug my shoulders with raised hands and say “we are French”.
We had one more day before we were due at our house sit in Saint Simeux so we drove to the beachside town of Arcachon for lunch and possibly find accommodation there for the night. Even Linda was struggling to find something, the height of the summer season was approaching and everything was booked out so we phoned our new host and he suggested we head directly to their house, about a two hour drive away.
What a stunning region. Grape vines as far as the eye can see, rolling green hills – in Summer! Our sat nav successfully guided us to Saint Simeux: a tiny commune with just a few houses, a non-active winery and a church with no priest!
John and May were from Dublin, retired and living in France. It was immediately obvious what drew them to the area. Their house was set high on a hill looking down at their garden across the street and to the river and vineyards beyond. Very quiet and tranquil. That was until their dogs start barking. Bubbles, a mature aged Jack Russell and Croi, a puppy ‘White Alsatian’ already 25kg and growing. John is your typical witty, jovial Irishman who loves a beer and some good company so I think they were happy about us coming earlier to show us the ropes and enjoy a bit of Craic.
Taste of St Simeux- stay tuned for the next episode
