At 06:00 the boat sailed up the Dordogne River. As it has to pass under the Pont de pierre, meaning Stone Bridge, ordered by Napoleon I and finished in 1822. There are about 30 minutes at low tide when river boats can pass under the bridge, so schedules have to take that into account. There are 17 arches which legend has represents the 17 letters in the name Napoleon Bonaparte.
We arrived in Libourne shortly before 13:30 while we were lunching. Lunch is a self-serve buffet.
Only one tour today. At 14:00 coaches left for St Emilion. This name is very famous to wine lovers for its Merlot based wines, and the hill town is attractive too. There’s only one narrow one-way road through the town for motor traffic so coaches have to park at the bottom and passengers walk up the hill to a square where you can look down on the terracotta tiled roofs of the houses.
There was a visit to the underground cell where the monk Émilion lived in the 700s. Apparently women who couldn’t have children visited him for a ‘blessing’ and by a miracle afterwards found they were pregnant.....
This was followed by a visit to the monolithic church carved from the limestone beneath the town.
The coach drove back though the vineyards of Pomerol, which are famed for Merlot and two exceptionally expensive wines – Chateaux Petrus and Le Pin. (Petrus 2020 retails at an average price of over £4,000 ex tax a bottle, and Le Pin not much less). Our guide told us that we were in the centre of Merlot country, so it was a surprise that the recommended red wine at dinner was a Merlot from the Languedoc.
We chose a St Emilion from the wine list
Evening entertainment in lounge from guest musicians Jazz River Trio.
Ship stayed overnight moored at Libourne.
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