Review of Beautiful Bordeaux 11 day cruise on Scenic Diamond from 17 August to 27 August 2022 with comparisons to Viking

[loge23]

On 9/6/2022 at 11:43 AM, pontac said:

Cruise Day Minus 1 – 16AUG22 Tuesday - Travel

 

Travel from home to Heathrow airport was included. Scenic had booked a 09:00 departure to Paris where we had to connect with another Air France flight to Bordeaux. The driver came for a 05:00 departure, and the motorway that early was fast moving. Despite all the bad news in the media, we quickly checked in and passed through security, getting into the departure hall by 06:10 and had an early breakfast.

 

The plane was late departing (due to late inbound arrival), and there was a very long line at Charles De Gaulle airport for immigration and we thought we’d miss the connection. But even though we had to queue again for security we just managed to get to the departure gate by ‘gate-closed’ time.

 

But the incoming plane hadn’t arrived so we had to wait. However our plan to grab a quick lunch at CDG was not possible. Air France fed us with a biscuit (cookie) and paper cup of water.

 

The good news was our hold luggage was booked through to Bordeaux. At Bordeaux we saw no customs officers and easily met the Scenic rep. There was one other Scenic couple on that flight so we were quickly taken to a people carrier for the 30 minute drive to the Intercontinental Bordeaux Grand Hotel where we were to spend the night

.

Why Scenic had booked an indirect flight when there are non-stop flights to Bordeaux from London I don’t know, neither do I know why they flew us out a day early.

 

We were aggrieved with Scenic for putting us through the stress of making a tight connection, and making our journey so much longer.

 

The hotel was very nice; the room was well equipped and quiet. The hotel is centrally located, opposite the Grand Théâtre, adjacent to the pedestrianised Rue St Christiane, the longest shopping street in Europe, and a very short walk to the river.

 

We had dinner in Le Noailles, a brasserie we’d been to before that’s two minutes walk from the hotel. There, after a long and stressful day we had a good meal and an excellent bottle of wine, the fifth growth Ch Batailley 2007, followed tarte tatin and a glass of Sauternes.

Yum!

[loge23]

Good job, Pontac! Loved the pix.

That Batailley must have been wonderful - always just a little bit better when one is enjoying a Bordeaux in its' native habitat.

Odd that many onboard were not wine aficionados. On our Forseti cruise a few years ago, the ship was probably at least 80% full with wine fans. Many had joined us on the Loire valley pre-cruise tour, so by the time we boarded we had already bonded. As you know, the wines onboard were appropriate for the place - none better than your icon pix.

We didn't make the Cognac trip either - too much coach we thought at the time, but everyone who did go were very happy with the tour. Maybe next time. 

Happy cruising and good living to you and Mrs. P!

 

 

 

 

[pontac]

On 9/13/2022 at 7:03 PM, loge23 said:

Odd that many onboard were not wine aficionados. On our Forseti cruise a few years ago, the ship was probably at least 80% full with wine fans. Many had joined us on the Loire valley pre-cruise tour, so by the time we boarded we had already bonded. As you know, the wines onboard were appropriate for the place - none better than your icon pix.

That's what I thought, but wine enthusiasts - as apart from wine drinkers - are few and I believe there are an increasing number of people who love river cruising, have 'done' all the other rivers and are look in the brochures and say - we haven't done Bordeaux, so we'll go there next. (Also the Russian and Ukraine cruises are not currently available).

 

I think Viking found that. I believe they were the first to cruise Bordeaux. I was on Forsetti in 2015 and it was very much a wine cruise. I raved about it to our friend and they went in 2018. But by then the tour to Ch Siaurac for them was just a brief morning visit with a tasting, while we alo had lunch at the Chateau accompanied by the Chateau's wine. Things change, reading the 2023 Scenic brochure I see they feature a wine tasting at Ch Siaurac which replaces this year's tasting at Ch Riviere.

 

I picked this trip because it was Bordeaux and thus for the wine and because by going with a different cruise line I'd visit different wineries. My criteria for the tours were wine related first, and if there were no wine related tours, then the one that started latest (as we don't like early starts).

I did overhear another passenger 

 

 

On 9/13/2022 at 7:03 PM, loge23 said:

We didn't make the Cognac trip either - too much coach we thought at the time, but everyone who did go were very happy with the tour. Maybe next time.

 

Both Viking and Scenic have tours to Cognac. On the Viking one you come away with a bottle that you've bended to your taste. We didn't go for various reasons, mostly the long coach drive, and we have been to Cognac in the distant past and visited a distillery.

[pontac]

On 9/6/2022 at 5:15 PM, pontac said:

Built by *** occupiers between 1941-43 the massive ugly structure housed U-Boats of the German and Italian Navies

 

I see CC software has starred out what I wrote in my post of Day 7, which is what the National Socialist German Workers' Party (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei[ or NSDAP) was known as.

 

It was known by  the four letters ANIZ but not in that order 

[Host Jazzbeau]

I think CC stars that word out not because of the historic connotation but because of current slang throwing shade on any over-zealous activist.  But your meaning was clear to me in the original post, even with the stars.

[Canal archive]

I and many of my friends were and have been encouraged to use the N word to differentiate and not to use the Nationality, G word, I was castigated by an American for doing just that because he said I obviously didn’t know what I was talking about. 

[pontac]

Again I agree with @Canal archive.

 

Not all ANIZs were German, and not all Germans were ANIZs.

 

I came to the same conclusion as @Host Jazzbeau but all the same it was irritating when it wasn't used to insult anyone but was being used in its factual historical sense.

 

I wonder if anyone using these forums comes from that fine old English town of Scunxhorpe* and has tried to use it in their Profile?

 

I think you can guess what the x should be..........

[Canal archive]

Teaching Girl Guides map reading used to be absolutely required, one tool I used was to get a patrol to find a strangely (to them) named place work out the map reference then get the other patrols to find it, having to explain some, what I suspect were old English place names to over 30 girls could be just a bit testing at times. There are loads that but for the inclusion on one letter won’t get through any spell checker or language recogniser thankfully that letter is usually ‘silent’.

How many people read maps anymore and have the fun of getting thoroughly and completely lost even for just that full on panic minute!

[Host Jazzbeau]

14 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Teaching Girl Guides map reading used to be absolutely required, one tool I used was to get a patrol to find a strangely (to them) named place work out the map reference then get the other patrols to find it, having to explain some, what I suspect were old English place names to over 30 girls could be just a bit testing at times. There are loads that but for the inclusion on one letter won’t get through any spell checker or language recogniser thankfully that letter is usually ‘silent’.

How many people read maps anymore and have the fun of getting thoroughly and completely lost even for just that full on panic minute!

Many years ago we had a fun afternoon in Acadia National Park doing 'orienteering' with a Ranger.  We got a compass and a blank paper and had to map out the borders of a field.  It was fascinating, and humbling, that our boxes never closed!  [We haven't been able to do this again, because some beavers took over the field, built a dam – and now it's a pond!]

[Canal archive]

Oh wow some years ago now we visited our Canadian cousins who lived outside of Edmonton Alberta they had beavers, basically at the bottom of their garden (well small holding) how cool to be able to say ‘we’ve got Beavers at the bottom of our garden’. They are beginning to be reintroduced in various places in the U.K. The nearest slight unusual creature water wise here is very, very occasionally on an English canal you could be privileged to see an Otter.

[Host Jazzbeau]

15 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Oh wow some years ago now we visited our Canadian cousins who lived outside of Edmonton Alberta they had beavers, basically at the bottom of their garden (well small holding) how cool to be able to say ‘we’ve got Beavers at the bottom of our garden’. They are beginning to be reintroduced in various places in the U.K. The nearest slight unusual creature water wise here is very, very occasionally on an English canal you could be privileged to see an Otter.

DW loves Otters!  But after reading your post, I can't get this ear worm out of my head:  Bea Lilly singing "There are fairies at the bottom of our garden"

 

[Canal archive]

Yup you’d be surprised at what is supposedly happening at ‘the bottom of the garden’ it’s always a good idea to have a sneaky peak, just to be aware/sure!