Tour de France 2010: Bonjour From Bordeaux

It's late but I just wanted to leave a brief post for all of our 2010 Tour de France clients. I was poking around Basque Country today in the southwest corner of France. The Basques are a distinct ethnic group with communities straddling the border regions between France and Spain. Although I love a good GPS, today things went horribly wrong and my "fastest" route between our hotels near Pau and a new hotel I wanted to inspect took me through some terrifying terrain (see photo). As a Canadian, I'm used to driving on slick roads but snowy conditions combined with a 1000 ft drop were a bit much. There was a treat however because I saw a rare Pyreneen Vulture. These majestic birds were almost extinct in the 1970s but through conservation now number in the 100s. I tried to take a snap but the vulture flew away. Its wingspan had to be at least 6ft across and I hadn't seen such a large bird since the bald eagles in northern British Columbia.

After the hotel inspection, I headed north to Bordeaux wine country. I'm here to do final chateaux inspections and also to test our rides for Spyns 2010 Tour de France trips. While driving I had a call from Jean Marc (owner/manager) at Chateau Camiac where our classic tour clients will be spending a few days before the Bordeaux time trial (see photo). He graciously offered to put me up for the night and on top of that cooked me an incredible dinner. We drank too much wine and traded stories about working in the service industry. Jean Marc has owned the Chateau Camiac since 1989 and has had a very interesting life working in high-tech, the medical services industry, and lately tourism. I was planning to do some work but we ended up talking for 3 hours while enjoying some excellent red wine from the local vineyards (even a 2003 Figeac which was excellent). He's a great guy and I can't wait for Spyns clients to meet him.

Tomorrow I'll be in the village of Saint Emilion (a UNESCO world heritage site) to confirm our walking tours there. The town has incredible underground caverns, including an underground cathedral if you can believe it. I'll also be stopping by a friend's wine bar for a chat over lunch. More updates to follow over the next few days.

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