La Tupina – Exact Wines

On our only full day in Bordeaux City, we started out by attending Mass at the pretty Notre Dame Cathedral just off the main plaza.

We then headed to lunch at La Brasserie Bordelaise. The restaurant specialized in charcuterie and all sorts of amazing grilled meats – we found ourselves wishing we had a restaurant like it at home. We were seated in the front part of the restaurant, but later discovered that there was a whole huge back section with private rooms. Clearly, the restaurant must do well in the evenings.

Bordeaux 2013 158 — Restaurant La Brasserie Bordelaise.

Christina is a huge fan of Lillet, so she was enchanted by the display of this entire restaurant with window displays of Lillet bottles that we came across as we wandered through the city.

The whole restaurant was decked out like this - unfortunately it wasn't open and the other pictures didn't do it justice. — The whole restaurant was decked out like this – unfortunately it wasn’t open and the other pictures didn’t do it justice.

The fountains and monuments were beautiful. There was a very unusual fountain with mists of water that shot out of the ground at regular intervals. It was warm enough that people were simply sitting on the ground being sprayed by the fountain.

Misty fountain (probably not it's official name). — Misty fountain (probably not it’s official name).

Bordeaux 2013 2738 — Beautiful monument.

The river was lined with these stately buildings. — The river bank was lined with these stately buildings.

Christina about to start shopping... — Christina about to start shopping…

At some point, Christina decided she really needed to shop – the close proximity to all the stores was killing her. But it may have killed her even more to realize that 90 percent of the stores were closed on Sunday, though I was happy that it didn’t kill the wallet!

I had to settle for some window shopping as well – I have to say, there were some beautiful storefront displays. We loved this champagne shop – sadly, we ran in exactly at closing time, so couldn’t stay!

An interesting concept - the store, Badie, has a champagne shop on one side of the street, and a wine shop on the other side. Pretty cool. — An interesting concept – the store, Badie, has a champagne shop on one side of the street, and a wine shop on the other side. Pretty cool.

We had dinner that night at the rustic and charming La Tupina, a restaurant that had been recommended by two of our wine friends in Seattle, who claimed we absolutely could not miss the duck fat frites. Suffering from a little palate fatigue, it appears we ordered wines by the glass that were not memorable, because we didn’t take a single note!

The open kitchen where meats were prepped and roasted.

The famous duck fat frites. Greg and Eric, this is for you!

Perhaps it was the effect of having meal after heavy meal, but Christina and I laughed out loud when a small motorbike appeared on the street outside the terrace of the restaurant with a large crate on the back marked “Sushi World,” which the delivery person took to the back kitchen door of the restaurant.

Christina shook her head. “I never figured I’d be saying this while in Bordeaux,” she sighed. “But sushi sounds really, really good right now.”

On the way home, we couldn’t help but notice that the city is as beautiful by night as it is by day. We certainly enjoyed our stay, and very much look forward to returning someday.