Bordeaux to the Mediterranean

We're on a one week holiday in the South of France. Sophie, Joanna, and I spent the last two days driving from Paulliac (Bordeaux -- almost on the Atlantique coast) to the Mediterranean. We visited some nice wineries, including Pontet-Canet pictured, and saw some nice Chateaux from the road (Mouton-Rothschild).

In Sauternes, we found out just how ugly some of those prized grapes can be, and what the botrytis cinerea "Noble Rot" looks like up close. We saw the famous Chateau d'Yquem, and visited another Premier Cru Classe winery - Haut Peraguey, where the boss tried to explain the Sauternaise subtleties to us in French. We picked up 60%, I think.

We managed to find Chateau Roquetaillade, a big castle, built by Edward I when he lived there.

We spent a night in Langon, and then drove past Carcassonne to dip toes in the Mediterranean. Owing to an initial mis-reading of the "exclusive pour practique naturelle" sign, we neglected to remove all our clothes, although others on the beach clearly had. There were several oyster/mussel/sea-snail places at Leucat-Plage, so we (ie. Sophie) tasted some.

We then travelled through some of the surrounding Languedoc wine region, and visited two of the Cathar Castles - Queribus and Peyrepetuse.

With limited and conflicting geospatial intelligence, we relied on the electronic navigator, which took us the shortest distance back to Carcassonne. It was a very narrow and winding road, much slower (but also more scenic) than other possibilities.