Another Cathedral, and Our First Million Bottle Wine Cave

Whoops – failed to write about Tuesday afternoon, after our stops at Chateau d’Arzy de Rideau and Villandry. We decided to head into Tours and find a place to eat lunch, as well as maybe check out some of Tours.

Well, the GPS struck again – sending us to a street outside of Tours instead of to the historic Cathedral St-Gatien in the center city. So, after futzing around with that for a bit, we got into center city and, quite remarkably, found on-street parking near the cathedral. We walked quite a ways and had a late lunch a nondescript restaurant at Place Plumereau, a pleasant enough pedestrian-only square. We walked back a different direction to the car, including a stop in the cathedral.

The cathedral had the combination advantage and disadvantage of displaying information for each of the stained glass windows in English. It was interesting for a few panes, but then became a pain. I finally tracked down Carol, who was reading each one, and noted that it was time to go to the wine tasting. The city is fine, but you don’t need a lot of time touring Tours.

At the suggestion of the Rick Steves guidebook, we made the short drive to Marc Bredif winery, on the road between Tours and Vouvray. We took the tour of the deep caves of this major wine producer. There are over a million bottles stored there, including several from 1874. The oldest our guide had tasted was from 1947. It was quite interesting seeing all of the bottles, particularly the old ones, stored in the caves.

Our guide (we were the only people there at the time) talked about how they turn the newer bottles of wine a quarter turn daily – thousands of bottles by hand. That’s a job that would get old after a day or two. We also saw the barrels they use, and some old barrels about to be sold to cognac producers.

The wines were good – I’ve had more white wine to drink on the this trip than probably the rest of my life combined! (An exaggeration, but only slightly.) We bought a white and a red to have at the Alps.

After we got back to the hotel, Carol took a nap and I went for a swim at the pool. Which, contrary to what I was told when we checked in, was definitely not heated. Dinner at the hotel was good, and it’s always a plus when the sommelier doesn’t argue with your pick!