Author: Anne JORDAN

Grew up on the East Coast of the USA, and consider myself a Southerner at heart. Lived in France, Italy, Israel and Turkey while working in yachting. Now married to a Frenchman and based in a small town in SW France. I love traveling, eating, cooking and painting...and my wonderful husband and baby girls!

Marche des Capucins and Bordeaux Markets

Named after the religious order that used to inhabit that area, the now famed covered market 'Marche des Capucins' is a sensory theme park. The noises, the smells, the stands of beautiful fruits and vegetables...maybe a local chef sighting as well?! It is best Wednesday-Sunday and often has seasonal finds that you cannot buy in other locations outside of the city, like wild garlic or cepes. When it first started in the 18th century, it was for the sale of cattle but over the next two centuries it morphed into what we see today. The covered roof was added in 1878 and still covers the 80 plus merchants inside.

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A Day in Saint Michel Bordeaux

One of my favorite things to do is simply walk aimlessly in cities. Saint Michel, which is the neighborhood around the Marche des Capucins in Bordeaux, is one of those lesser seen areas full of life! You'll find tajines, Halal butchers, Greek restaurants, upscale wine bars, historic churches, and picturesque facades. A unique multifaceted charm not yet uniformed by tourism.

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Bordeaux Restaurants Christmas 2022

Visiting Bordeaux during the Christmas holidays is charming, with the lights and decorations on the streets and the annual Christmas market. However, many Bordelaise go on holiday as well...so which restaurants are open between Christmas and New Years in Bordeaux? Check out our blog post with restaurants open and links to their websites or booking links.

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Pope Clement V and Visiting Villandraut

Villandraut is around an hour from Bordeaux, only accessible by car or bicycle, but full of history. The Chateau which dominates the center of town was built by Pope Clement V who was born in Villandraut. The Ciron River flows through, offering water activites in the summer, and a weekly Thursday market is a great way to take in the local culinary culture!

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Aquitaine Caviar and Sturgeon

The massive pre-historic fish that once swam freely and abundantly through nearly all of the European rivers are now essentially extinct. You will never find wild sturgeon caviar anymore; it is all farmed (no matter what the label says). The lifestyle of the fish from wild to farm has apparently changed the flavor and texture of the product itself. While these two points can already vary between species, the Siberian/Baerii caviar tending to have a more earthy flavor with the Osetra leaning towards more oyster flavor for example, they are still very different from those who would remember caviar before the 1980's.

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Cèpe Foraging – Bordeaux Mushroom Season

While best used fresh - my ideal serving for cepes is to get really firm smaller ones, trim the ends and sear in a pan with olive oil then adding butter, minced garlic and parsley towards the end. These mushrooms are a great addition to risottos and meat jus for sauces. However, often you'll find you have found older cepe or just have too many and I find slicing them and freezing or dehydrating is the best way to reuse. I'm not a huge fan of the canned ones as they lose a lot of their texture. Making a dried mushroom powder to add to dishes for that extra umami flavor is also a great way to savor them year-round.

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Modjo – Molecular Tendencies in Bordeaux

Having tried to get here twice before, I was very pleased to finally make it and to be able to share the meal with my friend, Ira of Lost in Bordeaux. Modjo is location on Rue des Herbes, a street we pass and discuss often on our culinary tours but have never taken the time to walk down. The façade is rather austere, the interior simple and clean. The menu price of 21 EUROs for the three course lunch was another wonderful surprise and even more hard to believe once you have finished your meal. How does France do it? This would be easily a 50 USD lunch in the USA. You get three courses, but also amuse bouche (small palate 'teasers') and it ends with mignardises (the final small, bite-sized sweet after dessert). For 21 EURO. Vive la France.

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Bordeaux Wine and Food, Classic Summer Pairings

My summers with my husbands family from Gironde were always spent around the lunch table. Hours of sharing wonderful food cooked by his grandmother, stories about life here from his grandfather, and red wine. Always a rather bold, hearty, red wine from Pessac Leognan. Which, is what most of us think about when we come to Bordeaux the first time. However, I want to share some of my favorite Bordeaux whites (a sparkling rose) to enjoy in this sizzling summer heat.

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Touring in the Lovely Lot, France

Long and warm days are the best to explore the department that you will end up liking a Lot! Less known than its neighboring Dordogne, the Lot department is rich in natural beauties as much as in historical landmarks. Over the course of three road trips from Gironde, we started exploring the department, from North to South and from West to East, with younger kids, with older kids and once even leaving the kids at home.

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Nea Berglund, Chateau Carsin Organic Wine, and a Cottage

Nea Burglund is one of the people I met and just wanted to know more about immediately. She is driven and experimental. Originally from Finland, in winemaking she wants to respect the traditional process and classical wines found in Bordeaux, but she is also very open to trying something new. Her organic and more 'experimental' wines have been a hit. In fact, she's all but sold out until the next bottling (run if you want some rose!). Which is really impressive for a relatively new winemaker. You also need to try her delicious balsamic vinegar. And stay at her newly renovated three bedroom gite on property. The perfect French countryside escape. Nea Burglund is one to watch!

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Food and Wine Tours with Kids in and around Bordeaux

While many of our Bordeaux tours are created with adults in mind, we are seeing the importance of finding ways to include our smaller travellers. Aquitaine Travel Guide is happy to help you plan a trip with your children that can include not only a family friendly food tour, but excursions into the countryside to farms to meet animals and run around in the fresh air! Contact us to help plan your trip contact@aquitainetravelguide.com

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Catherine de Médici and her Contributions to French Cuisine

Meals at the French court of Catherine included the ancestors of unmissable classics: onion soup, known then as carabaccia, and vegetables with béchamel sauce, salsa colla (it was made using olive oil instead of butter). She loved broccoli, peas, artichokes cooked in wine and a classic of the French south west: asparagus!

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