Maxted travels with Modestine*

We have spent the last couple of days staying in the very heart of Bordeaux with our friends Yves and Catherine who have given up their time to show us around the city and provided us with home comforts, good company and several lovely meals – not to mention the local wines.

Yves, an expert in making his own, very professional travel films, has given Ian lessons in editing video clips, so in the future we may be able to include such things in our blogs.

Yves then braved the traffic to drive us all through the city centre and out into the Medoc region, deep into the Bordeaux wine producing area. Here we visited his brother's home in the pleasant village of Castelnau. His sister–in-law is a potter, teaching and making raku. Here we spent a delightful evening exploring her studio and admiring her work while she explained the techniques of firing and glazing. In her garden they have built a spacious holiday gite, ideal for exploring the local wine growing area, in easy reach of the sea and of course of Bordeaux. She specially wanted us to mention it, so if you are seeking a holiday let in the area, we can pass on the address.

It was already late when we returned home to enjoy an intriguing and delicious seafood pasta. We were still at table chatting at midnight.

Today we left with the usual sense of regret we have parting from friends we see all too rarely and never know when we will all be together again. Thank you both for such a happy couple of days.

2011 Jill and Ian Maxted (Exeter UK)

* "Modestine" from: Travels with a donkey in the Cevennes by Robert Louis Stevenson