France by Bicycle | PART 13: BLAYE

We leave our gracious host in Mortagne-sur-Gironde and head further inland along the Canal des Deux Mers, or the Canal of the Two Seas. Our goal is Bordeaux, and soon we find ourselves riding into the western edge of the gorgeous wine-growing region of the same name. But we are slowed by the serpentine path along the myriad canals of the Gironde Estuary and then by the charms of the town of Blaye, where we run into a fellow traveler who is backpacking the Camino de Santiago. In Blaye we also stumble into an incredible wine tour. Little did we know that we were in the heart of a major wine producing village, and we get an education and some welcome entertainment from the south African host, Leslie. We will never see (or taste) wine in the same way!
Music:
Accordion and Glockenspiel Comedy - JK Productions
Pond Five
081716572-accordion-and-glockenspiel-com
a href="www.pond5.com/royalty-free-mu..."Stock Music/a provided by JK_Production, from a href=“www.pond5.com/"Pond5/a
Parisian Cafe - Aaron Kenny
KZbin Audio Library
The Nymphaeum Part III - Angelwing
www.freemusicpublicdomain.com...
Eric La Garenne au Zèbre de Belleville
• Eric La Garenne au Zèb...

[@PumpkinVillage]

Glad the bike got straightened out. What a wine tour that was so educational and entertaining. We need more of that. Thanks for the video and take care, Al

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Thanks Al. I definitely have a new appreciation for wine now!

[@sergemilaire3474]

Thanks again for letting us tag along on your journey thru the beautiful French countryside. Happy trails.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Our pleasure Serge! See you next week!

[@dondonner1095]

We received a nice bit of education today, makes the whole trip even more interesting. Another winner guy's, Thanks for taking us along.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Thanks for joining! And thanks to the awesome folks on this video. Olivia and Leslie were both awesome!

[@garyseckel295]

The very best captured scenery, classy, tasteful background music, beautifully humble personalities ALL add up to such incredible tours! You two are genuine and artistic! So love taking your tours...

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Thank you Gary! It really has been such a joy to put these together. Appreciate you appreciating them!

[@eff6582]

Bonjour ! we taste this video with happiness, and we appreciate the beautiful encounters A bientôt, au revoir !

[@TheBicycleTourists]

You meet such beautiful people when touring! It’s inspiring!

[@dougmckinney7575]

Fantastic! Loved Leslie.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

He's the genuine article for sure.

[@lindahowes5949]

Nice to meet a delightful fellow traveler and take part in the interesting wine tour. Good for you working on the derailleur! Happy you got it fixed. Really enjoying traveling along with you.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

So great having you, Linda! Just love the people we meet along the way. Sometimes they don't want to be filmed, but when they do it really adds a lot.

[@cyclistefroisse9267]

Salut Roland, People not wanting to be filmed is a very much a cultural thing, even enshrined in french law (and 🇪🇺 law), French protect their privacy and are very much camera shy.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Well, of course we're respectful. But on the whole we found folks to be quite forthcoming.

[@michaelvikhman7926]

Wow what a fantastic experience. Leslie made all the difference. Well now I have added another place on my bucket list.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

The list just keeps growing! Leslie was a great person to stumble into! A real gem.

[@unibuzzer]

Your editing skills have improved. Very nice. Also, it is amazing to see two people in love like this. Thank you. It helps to align my perspective on marriage. . .and yes. . . That dress is super cute.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Thanks, and I'll pass the compliment on to Julianna!

[@lesleykenwood2715]

Because of your current France Grand Adventure, I'm considering the country of wine, baguettes, cheese, crepes and profiteroles, my favorite dessert.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

A perfect balance: ride hard, eat and drink hard. I hope you make it happen. Life is short, and it’s so worth it!

[@klasjansson5814]

Another great video!

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Thank you for watching, Klas!

[@alanwilliamson6421]

Great green jacket 😊

[@TheBicycleTourists]

They can definitely see me coming!

[@jkelly1701]

Brilliant great vlog

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Thank you Jim!

[@colinwellman9480]

Very enjoyable video. The wine merchant was very entertaining. The French do produce some fine wines and you can pick up a very tasty wine for little money. Some, not all, French people who claim to know an expensive wine by taste alone can't. 4 or 40 euros, for me as long as I like the taste it's perfect. Those were indeed grape harvesting machines. Built by New Holland in a large plant 10 kms away from me. I believe at one time New Holland was part of the Ford motor company. You're now heading for a part of France I'm not so familiar with. I know it better when you get to Landes. I had a holiday sailing on Lac Biscarrosse which was great but I found the flat trails and endless treas made for dull cycling. It was very hot so in one way the trees were welcome. Thanks again for a pleasant 20 minutes watching, I hope you got the derailleur fixed.

[@juliannahenley4921]

We agree on that!

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Hi Colin! The wine was amazing and kept getting better on our trip as we explored new regions. And, yes, very affordable for very good wines. We won't be going through Landes, but skirting it a bit. We actually loved the canal riding, I've heard other riders complain about rail trails in the US, that they are just "a tunnel of trees". We live in Colorado, which is quite dry, so it takes a lot of trees before we get bored with them. Derailleur is fixed, BTW.

[@cyclistefroisse9267]

New Holland grape harvest are #1 in France, market share 46.4% (2020), followed by 🇫🇷Pellenc (36%) and Grégoire. NH harvesters are everywhere (wheat, corn, sugar beets...etc) in France. Excellent customer service, I am told, with field (literally) service engineers fixing broken machinery night&day. Beware of the 🇫🇷NH engineer in his van with his foot to the metal when riding backcountry roads. ;-)

[@TheBicycleTourists]

It makes sense but I'd never seen one of these before. Always fascinating to see what the engineers are creating.

[@samfrazier7735]

I very much appreciate your videos. I’m not a frequent comment type person but wanted to let you know and that I’m one of your silent viewers (so to speak). I did the Canal Du Mi di last year but going back in September to do the Garonne bike trail out of Bordeaux after seeing your episode. Thanks for the great videos and sharing your experience.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Thank you Sam! And you're welcome. Both canals we found to be exceptional bike rides.

[@Biking360]

That sure ticked a lot of boxes :)

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Yes indeed. Some days do that for you

[@carmenraedelaney2795]

Hello, Just catching up on your videos. That tour was so interesting. I am so glad you kept the camera rolling. Once again your story telling is just fantastic. Looking forward to more videos. Thank you. Carmen from Fargo

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Hello again, Carmen from Fargo! So appreciate your comments. More videos coming!

[@dooley-ch]

Entertaining as always. Has me wondering what I'll do for a fix when you guys end the tour... guess I'll have to start watching reruns ;-)

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Ahhh, thanks James. We'll try to keep up, still not sure what's next but it will be something!

[@dreuxdemack1417]

Another fine entry into this bike tour that I feel like I have taken with you. I want some of that wine, loved the tour and the owner. My problem is if I drink wine on a ride day I am ready for a nap! LOL You guys have created a wonderful series. See you soon!

[@TheBicycleTourists]

I've heard the comment many times that wine in Europe doesn't have the negative impact the morning after. then Leslie says that what we drink is what they drink, exactly the same. But in any case we never had an issue. Of course, we only drank AFTER our rides.

[@cyclistefroisse9267]

Leslie is correct, technically half of French wine is American, the rootstock. The phylloxera solution was to combine a rootstock from an American vine and on it graft a European vine. If hadn’t been for Missouri vintners and Munson, Texas (and possibly other places) there would be no French wine, no European wine, even.

[@dreuxdemack1417]

@@TheBicycleTourists always good to drink AFTER rides, good call my friend!!

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Yes, I've known people who did not heed that advice to seriously negative consequences.

[@dennispiciullo8060]

Pretty cool, getting a tour at a French wine yards. I happen to live Sonoma County, and been to lots of tours and tastings, but getting one out of this country would be awesome. Did you guys buy any wine to take home, well, kind a hard when you are on bikes I wonder if you can get it shipped to Colorado?

[@TheBicycleTourists]

We did not. Sadly. One of the downsides of carrying everything with you. We drained every bottle we bought to reduce weight. 😉

[@dennispiciullo8060]

Thinking you could sent some home, but there are restrictions on alcohol, but looks like you enjoyed it. I too love red wine, a zinfandel or a cab is cool. Blended reds are great too.

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Yes, we certainly should have. Especially as we head up the Rhone, as we do in future episodes. The wine got better as we went. Just incredible.

[@greynomadadventuresgna3648]

Great video series guys - really finding inspirational. Well done. Just a quick question - when did you do the bike ride. Was your start date around the end of august 2022 and I assume it took 2 months? Thanks for the update and we will keep watching. Cheers from Australia

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Hello from America (Colorado)! Thanks, and glad you enjoyed. Yes, we started in late August, rode into mid-late October.

[@evanlouis8853]

question if you please...in the beginning of your USA adventure I think you started near La Push, WA...I'm wanting to do the same...I'm trying to figure out the best and cheapest way to get there coming from the Bay Area, CA....how did you do it:? Thanks!

[@TheBicycleTourists]

Good question! But sadly, I won’t have a satisfying answer. We drove out from Denver, doing a road trip with my daughter, and then she drove my car home. I would guess getting to La Push without a car would be difficult.