So we’ve seen some great sunsets through the big front window of Beatrix but watching the sun go down over the vines of Saint Emilion rivals the incredible views we’ve been treated to in the Alps and the north coast of Scotland for me. This place is absolutely breathtaking.

But wait, how did we get here? That’s right, we’d said goodbye to our friends and had put in what was in the end, a bit of an epic travelling day to get back down to the Bordeaux area. In keeping with the theme of this trip, the sun looked better further south so, south we went. On the way we’d stopped for Diesel, LPG and to fill up with water and provisions so we were full of everything we needed but it did add to the length of the day a little bit. In the end we arrived in Saint Emilion and Chateau La Rose Cotés Rol just after 17:00.

Saint Emilion

People have lived in this area for 35,000 years and perhaps as a result the landscape does seem to have this timeless, peaceful sense to it. The town owes its modern name and history to a monk, Emilion, who fled from Vannes in Brittany and made his home in a cave in this area. Having performed the odd miracle or two, he became pretty famous and Saint Emilion the town, is named in his memory. In medieval times the town flourished and a church was built over Emilion’s tomb which has evolved through the ages into the unique steeple in the centre today. And of course, wine making was introduced to the area.

The qualities of the wines from Saint Emilion are rooted in the local climate and geology and in the Chateau le Rose Cote Rol, where we were staying, the owner grows Merlot, Cabernet France and a little bit of Cabernet Sauvignon which goes into the wines. Alas, due to the lateness of our arrival, we would have to wait until tomorrow to try them!

We were so close to the town, which quite sensibly does not allow motorhomes to enter, that we got up with the sun the following day to get an early start on looking around. It was about a 30-minute walk and I’m really pleased we got in early as when we were leaving the tourist buses had started to roll into town.

You can feel as well as see the history of the town. The stonework of the buildings is textured and worn, the streets which are small and cobbled, wind through the town at uneven angles. It’s also immaculately clean and well-presented which I suppose is hardly a surprise given the value of the products that they sell here.

We walked past one shop and saw a vintage bottle of Chateau Pétrus, one of the most famous houses in the area, advertised for sale at £185,000. We also noted that they sold wines bottled in our birth years for what in relation seemed a much more reasonable £150. Needless to say, we had to leave both of them on the shelves this time around… maybe we’ll be back sometime?

Although we were planning to head out before lunch, we made sure to get in a quick tasting with our host and to relieve his cellar of a few bottles. Sally, most reluctantly I noted, had to the tasting alone today as I was driving. Pierre, our host and the vineyard owner, was super busy but made the time to talk to us about some of his wines. He recommended a lighter, 2021 vintage that we could drink now and would be good by itself and then a more traditional Saint Emilion wine from 2019 that he suggested we ‘could’ drink now but would be much better if we put it down for 6-10 years. As we don’t have much of cellar in Beatrix, I don’t fancy any of the bottle’s chances of making 6-10 weeks, but we’ll see how that goes.

We agreed with Pierre that we would back, and he promised us an extended and relaxed if we come back so that’s definitely going in the calendar for when we’re next passing. Then, too soon, it was back on the road heading back to the coast with our next planned stop at the beach.

We had found a budget friendly, free aire close to the coast at the beach Grand Crohot. Located right behind a massive and now closed campsite the parking was again in the pine forest that lines the sandy beaches all down this coast. We made parking up in what was quite a tight space look easy and Sally said we received an admiring comment from the French chap parked next to us. I think his van would actually have fitted inside Beatrix.

After some of the stops we’ve had, the aire here was a little disappointing which shows how spoilt we’ve been. It was quite a walk to the beach and the paths through the protected dunes make it a bit more difficult to catch a view of the sea. Whilst I’m moaning, we also noted with a degree of uncomfortable scratching and itching that the mosquito’s had returned. Still, we’d avoided them through June on the Isle of Skye so I guess we can’t complain about a few bites. That said a combination of the mozzies and the slowly cooling weather brought out jeans and long trousers for the first time in absolutely ages.

What has been lovely is lying in bed at night with the skylight open (mozzie net firmly closed mind) and being able to see the really bright stars shining through the pine tree canopy whilst listening to the surf crash in on the beach. Amazing.

It feels like our adventure chasing the autumn sun is almost up but we’re not done yet and we’ll see if we can follow it down Cap Ferret which is a tale for next time.

Thanks for reading. If youve enjoyed reading this, please let us know in the comments!

Toby, Sally and Merlin

Links in this tale

Link to the Saint Emilion tourist information we used: saint-emilions-village-world-heritage-site

Link to Chateau Le Rose Cotes Rol: chateau la rose cotes rol