Well, I can not deny it any longer, when James sees an empty wine glass, he swirls it. You would think that we drink wine all day long. I promise you, we do not. I blame his Cappy (Justin’s dad) for this behavior. He really enjoys the ritual of swirling and sniffing a glass of wine. It’s pretty dramatic 🙂

Perhaps it is something that we should support. We could start refining his palate at a young age and let him become super sophisticated. I can already see him at parties in college. Everyone else will be funneling Natty Light, and James will be sniffing his wine. It’s possible that we are creating a little monster.

Today, we left San Sebastián and headed to Bordeaux. We are driving a giant Mercedes Vianno Van. It is absolutely ridiculous. It is gigantic, but we all fit very comfortably in it. The car seat is very nice and way better than the one in the car that picked us up from the airport. It was about a 2.5 hour drive to our first stop. We grabbed a quick lunch of meats and cheese and headed to the first winery.

Our first stop was Chateau Haut Bailly. We had a quick tour and tasting. James actually did really well. The tour guide said that she has a 1 year old and 3 year old boy. So I felt like she “gets it.” James was in a good mood and was showing off most of the time. The wine was excellent as well, and we bought a couple of bottles.

Our next stop was at Chateau Haut Brion. When we fist got there I was nervous because it is on a huge gorgeous property and seemed a bit stuffy. There was another older couple in our group, and I just wasn’t sure how it was going to go. We started out the tour in a room to watch a short video about the history of the winery. Surprisingly, James watched the movie quietly. We then proceeded with the tour. At the end, we went into a beautiful tasting room and tried 2 wines. Apparently, one of the wines sells for about 1,000$ in great vintages. So, no purchasing wine at that estate! James got to run around the property outside and fed pebbles to the lion statue that he referred to as “Moosie” (our Mastiff).

So, the activities for today were a success; however, the biggest success came when Justin backed the giant van into the driveway at our house. Seriously, there were millimeters on either side. I was very nervous and very impressed when it was over!

The house that we are staying in is much bigger than our place in San Sebastián. It has a big kitchen, living room, and 3 bedrooms upstairs. There is a big closed in yard perfect for James. Once we got in and got settled, we headed out to get something to eat. There was a burger place called La Table 38 that was recommended so we stopped there. It was rocky to start with, but James finally settled in and watched Toy Story and ate French fries.

The town is very old with cobble stone roads, castles, and old churches. We didn’t get to explore too much, but it looks like a really cute spot.

More wine tastings tomorrow

Au Revoir

Alyce