Picturesque Saint-Émilion and its neighbouring chateaux are what (my) French countryside dreams are made of. Cycling through vineyards, sipping on Grand Cru merlots and staying in a miniature castle were at the heart of our trip to Bordeaux and its neighbouring wine region last May. The old medieval town aglow at night is magical, as is waking up to a tray of freshly baked croissants outside your château door. It’s a quick 30 minute train ride from Bordeaux though once you arrive, you will need wheels of your own to get the most of the area (ie. car or a bicycle). The train station itself is about 15 minutes from the town by car and I do believe you can book a taxi (though I heard there aren’t many).
When looking for where to stay, I couldn’t believe it when I came across this place on Airbnb. Built in 1341, Château Lescours sits on 8 hectares of grape-growing land. White peacocks roam the property, while a cheeky spaniel greets you every chance it gets. The gracious Chariol family has lived here for 5 generations and there truly is something special about this place. Life-size bronze animal statues dot the property, including alligators (guarding the moat nonetheless), a rabbit and a moose. Our room even had a giraffe! Speaking of our room, we were in the Blue Room, an antique lover’s dream, filled with an eclectic mix of treasures and troves. A secret door leads to the rest of the château (where the Chariols live) and it’s outside this door that the heavenly breakfast tray awaits for you each morning.
We rented bikes from Les Bicyclettes de Saint-Emilion for the course of our stay, so we could (boozily) hop from one chateau wine tasting to the next. The journey into the actual town of Saint-Émilion wasn’t far from our chateau (about 5km), though it is a bit of a hill. Visiting this region is all about the wine of course. There are SO many chateaux (ie. wineries) to choose from and we really only had time for 3 (4 if you count Château Lescours). For most you need to book a time slot in advance (on their websites) and that usually involves a tour followed by a tasting. About an hour to an hour and a half per visit. Some also offer a picnic, which we reserved at Château Soutard (we were a bit disappointed though to be honest – it was quite pricey and we wish we had just picked up our own provisions in town.) Soutard was definitely the most lavish of the 3 chateaux we visited. Their cellar is something else. The other two we toured were Château Coutet (our favourite) and Château Franc-Mayne. Coutet prides itself for being one of the oldest and least modern of the bunch, still using traditional harvesting practices. Franc-Mayne is sort of in the middle. Their limestone wine caves carved out under a large tree looks like something out of The Hobbit. It was actually the limestone extracted from these caves that helped build the town of Saint-Émilion. They also have accommodation, similar to Château Lescours. All in all, these 3 chateaux seemed to give us the perfect variety of what the region offers. This was a great blog that helped me choose which chateaux to visit.
The charming town of Saint-Émilion (a UNSECO World Heritage site) itself is small and can easily be walked in half an hour. Its winding (and hilly) cobblestone streets are lined with wine shops, restaurants and historical monuments. Head to La Tour du Roy for picture-perfect views of the town and surrounding vineyards. Stop by Nadia Fermigier for the original macaron, a much simpler version of the pastel version you are used to. We had an amazing dinner at Chai Pascal, slurping down Arcachon oysters and glasses of red Saint-Émilon. We skipped Les Cordeliers, a 13th century convent that now produces sparkling wine, though many recommend it. There is also a monolithic church that offers underground tours (again, we skipped this but it comes recommended).
Saint-Émilion is the perfect day trip or weekend getaway if you’re travelling to Bordeaux. I definitely recommend spending a couple days if you can so you aren’t rushing around from chateau to chateau. We spent one day exploring the town, one day château hopping and a half day lounging about at our Airbnb, which was the perfect amount of time. Cycling was the ideal method of transportation, allowing us to explore off-road a bit and take time to stop and enjoy some of the most spectacular views.
