So. Our first full day in Bordeaux.

We’d spent the morning and afternoon wandering the streets of the inner city and drinking wine. Never a bad way to start things off.

We decided to close the day with some good old fashioned indulgence.

Back to the Grand Hotel de Bordeaux for spa time!

How fabulous is this indoor pool? I’d never seen anything like it.

It was on the upper floors of the hotel, so if you looked out a window your view was…

THIS.

Then if you went up a flight of stairs from the pool level, you could get to the actual roof. Home to the most spectacular panoramas of Bordeaux. Love, love, love.

Being a classy American tourist, per usual.

They had a little jacuzzi nestled away between the tables. Awesome relaxation vibes, not-as-awesome lukewarm water. First world problems?

We hung out in the jacuzzi for maybe an hour, talking about deep philosophical things (read: “So, what was your favorite ride at Disneyland Paris?” “Salted caramel still your go-to macaron flavor?”), then made our way down to our room to change for dinner.

Goodbye, city view.

La Grand’Vigne

Hello, vineyard view.

Dinner was at La Grand’Vigne, a two-star Michelin restaurant inside of Les Sources de Caudalie hotel. Just a 25 minute taxi ride and the cobblestones and marble of the inner city are replaced with green grass and fields of grapes.

Totally different vibes than the Grand Hotel de Bordeaux, but still just as lovely.

Before our 7:30pm reservations, we had time to sit on the hotel’s outside verandah, have a glass of bubbly, and take in the lake. It was like a painting, only real. Total eyegasm.

(I suck at not making that face, but I promise I was loving it!)

Dinner time.

I started with the caviar (not nearly as good as L’Epicure‘s!) and for my main went with the turbot. Poor Mark doesn’t eat fish, so he was pretty much stuck with the pigeon. I like to think I’m a pretty adventurous eater, but I gave his a taste and could barely choke it down. Not my thing. (Not Mark’s thing either, but it was pretty much that or baby cow pancreas. Hah.)

Then, of course, we had a zillion tiny tasting portions in between. Heavy emphasis on tomatoes (gross, sorry).

This is the last legit photo of dinner I have, cause after this I devolved and went the Snapchat route. Let’s see, we got:
– Shrimp lollipops
– Bread, then more bread
– Caviar and foie gras (hello, France)
– Tomato salad and farm fresh egg
– Fish, pigeon (!), veal
– CHEEEEEEEEESE
– And all the desserts

Overall, dinner was (pretty) good, but massively slow. I realize that’s the food culture in France, but waiting 20-30 minutes between courses when they are THIS tiny is kind of torturous. I think the whole experience was maybe 4.5 hours long? That’s pretty standard for a lot of fine dining experiences, but this one seemed a little off. The flavors weren’t out of this world amazing – just ok. Probably on the very bottom of my list when it comes to the omg-you-have-to-try-this foodie experiences.

On the upside, our waiter had a mini spazz attack when he saw my iPhone screen wallpaper of Lilo. He has a couple Frenchies too, so we instantly bonded over shared fur baby love.

The French are fond of French Bulldogs. Quelle surprise.

xx