So Biarritz was a write-off, and it didn't get any better for the last big drive up to Bordeaux (but oh how I love screaming through huge puddles!).

After dumping our stuff in a Bordeaux hostel we headed straight to every wino's heaven! Bordeaux and its surrounds are a major wine producing area with vineyards and big chateaux all over the place.

We drove half an hour out of town to the World Heritage site of St Émilion. This ancient little town's history goes back to prehistoric times, and the Romans planted vineyards here as early as the 2nd century AD.

One of a myriad of shops selling the glorified grape juice.

Bordeaux really impressed the both of us and was one of the nicest places we'd visited on this trip. Bordeaux is a port city with around a million inhabitants in its metropolitan area. As far as wine goes, Bordeaux has about 117,000 hectares of vineyards, 9,000 wine-producing chateaux, 13,000 grape growers, 400 traders, and sales of 14.5 billion euros annually with an annual production of over 700 million bottles. Whoa!

Some sights around Bordeaux include the shopaholic's dream street of Rue Ste Catherine. You name it, and you're bound to find it somewhere along this long and entirely pedestrian street.

"Argh" - probably also what this van's owner said hehe.

Girondins Fountain Monument, and that's all I know.

The Jardin Public (public garden) is a good little spot to stroll through.

The bird whisperer ;)

The Tour Pey-Berland is a 15th-century 50-metre high belfry next door to the Cathedral St-Andre (in the background).

Bust your arse up the 232 narrow steps for great panoramic views right across Bordeaux.

Sightseeing aside, I decided to make some of my own fun. The trams come every 10 minutes or so on all lines, and I wanted to see what one of them would do to a coin hehe. So I stuck a 1 cent coin down on the track...

Tram came along, *thunk thunk* as the wheels went over it...

And that is one flat coin ;) This is actually the second one I put down, the first completely disappeared?! Seven of the eight pairs of wheels went *thunk* but the final wheel made no noise at all and the coin was gone.

So that was fun, but then I tried a euro.

Tram came along, *thunk thunk*...

Hehehe ;)

No more legal tender for these boys!

Central Bordeaux by night along the riverfront of the Garonne River.

Pont de Pierre.

Some fountain along the riverfront, the name of which I have no idea. I know it looks like they're all taking a piss but they're actually holding buckets or something :)