Yesterday, after a visit to the supermarket, we headed south from Saintes to a campsite on the north side of Bordeaux – Le Village du Lac. We are staying here for four nights to visit the biannual Wine Festival which this year takes place at the same time as the end of the Tall Ships race from Liverpool to Bordeaux via Dublin.

The weather has been very mixed to say the least but it was looking brighter at lunchtime today so we caught the tram into the city and exchanged our tickets for a wine glass, a natty wine glass carrier and a card allowing us to sample 12 different wines (it’s a tough job…).  There are stalls set out along about 2 km. of the river front, each offering wines from different areas around Bordeaux.  You should only get a 5 cl measure per sample but some of the staff were a little more generous. We started at one end but only made it halfway along by the end of the day – we’ll be back for the rest later!

Tied up alongside the same section of the riverside were at least a dozen of the Tall Ships – including some very impressive ones from Russia, Spain, France, the UK and India. Many of them were allowing you on board for a tour. Overall a very spectacular sight!