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Monday 12 May - Morning stop at St Emilion- HIGHLIGHT !!!. We first went on a train ride through the myriad of vineyards surrounding the village, this took 35 minutes. We had 2 hours at this gorgeous medieval town, with the irons of the Cloitre des Cordeliers and the unusual 14th century underground church. I could have spent the whole day here wandering around getting lost and finding amazing photo shots along the way. Once again it rained half way through our visit here, time for a panini and find a doorway to stand and eat it. This area reminds us of Tuscany - arh so many fond memories.
Saint-Émilion's history goes back to prehistoric times and is a World Heritage site, with fascinating Romanesque churches and ruins stretching all along steep and narrow streets. The Romans planted vineyards in what was to become Saint-Émilion as early as the 2nd century. In the 4th century, the Latin poet Ausonius lauded the fruit of the bountiful vine.
The town was named after the monk Émilion, a travelling confessor, who settled in a hermitage carved into the rock there in the 8th century. It was the monks who followed him that started up the commercial wine production in the area.
In the afternoon we visited the Medoc wine area,which is possibly the most famous, high quality wine producing region in the world. The winery we did the tour in was different. They don't keep their wines in old barrels they use concrete vats instead, which made for an "eye popping" moment when we walked into their storage facility. They have inbuilt coils & membranes into the vats so the wine doest seep into the concrete, very untraditional for this area. Wine tasting a must in this area but I wasn't a fan of the wines here, though I still tried them LOL.
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