Bordeaux

Fabrice was very good to us. Forgetting the fact that he'd chased us down the road the night before and tackled me just as I was ringing on the door of another hotel. We were glad he had. He arose early today to give us an early breakfast so we could avoid the expected heat in the afternoon

Preignac, first village and hardly a soul about.

This is Sauterne country . There are 1000's of hectares of grapes in the Bordaeux area and lots of big Chateaux

  All pruned by tractors that straddle the rows. They were out in force this morning

The rows are precisely laid out by laser so mechanical pruning , and picking, can  take place

Here's the old idea

La Brede is a pretty village and the first coffee stop. If you're a flower fan, they're all Petunia's in this town

Just out of Leognan I got a flat . There was a race on and this chap wanted to help fix it. They ALL want to talk rugby down here.

We were heading for another F1 hotel tonight but this one ,Altica, was next door €10 more and flasher .

 What the hell ! Throw the cat another goldfish---

   The receptionist has been replaced by a machine