Off-Season with Shoo for Good

Because SfG is a fairly seasonal business, I tend to travel off-season. Other reasons are fewer crowds, lower prices, and often better weather (based in LA, I don’t mind a little rain). I can’t recommend it highly enough!

My last trip included visits to Bordeaux and Cap Ferret, both new places to me. With just a few nights in both spots, I didn’t get a true understanding of the areas, but with prior research and lots of walking, I got a feeling for them. A very good feeling!

Bordeaux, in southwestern Frace and not too far from the Atlantic, is a quick two-hour TGV train ride from Paris. It’s a port city on the Garonne river with a mild climate and feels a bit like a mini-Paris with its elegant 18th-century architecture. But the pace is definitely slower and there are far fewer tourists running around. (Not just because of the time of year. There were plenty of tourists in Paris the weeks before my excursion and after!) Bordeaux is world-renowned, of course, for its wine, surrounded as it is by vineyards and châteaux, and is also a great spot for food.

I arrived feeling a cold coming on and am convinced that eating oysters, a local specialty from the nearby Arcachon Bay, every night with a squeeze of lemon, fought it off. From now on that will be my medicine. Other specialties: duck and foie gras, beef with wine-shallot sauce (a la bordelaise), and canelés, the spongy, chewy, sometimes rummy pastries. Our top restaurants: Les Noailles, a great brasserie ; La Cabane 101, a casual place where we had the sweetest shrimp, sea snails (bulots), and (of course) oysters; and Au Bistrot where we had lunch after poking around the antiques shops. And one could spend a morning at the Marché des Capucines to see all food merchants’ offerings. (Couldn’t bring myself to sitting down for freshly shucked oysters and a glass of wine so early, but you should!)

I was taken by the many antiques shops, known as “brocantes”, dotted around the city. Lots of treasures! I spent hours poking around. And, one rainy afternoon, we decided to pop into the wine museum, La Cité du Vin. It was really quite amazing, fun, and informative. Maybe one of the best conceived museums I’ve encountered and assuaged my guilt about not scheduling a visit to a local winery.

Of course sleep is important for staving off illnesses and I slept like a queen at the Hotel de Seze (in the Marie Antoinette suite, a delightful, much-appreciated upgrade from the hotel).

Next up, we rented a car and headed to the coast where we fell in absolute love with Cap Ferret. I’d been wanting to go for years, having read about the peninsula, the beaches, and laid-back vibe. Our research led up to a real gem of a hotel, Hotel de la Plage, in the small oyster village of L’Herbe. I highly recommend it for a few days, otherwise you can find some nice rentals on Airbnb for longer stays. We rented bikes one morning and discovered other villages, rode to the famous lighthouse, popped in at the covered market, and walked along the empty beaches. A boat tour in the Arcachon Bay was worthwhile and helped situate us. The weather was lovely as we coasted around the Ile aux Oiseaux (dotted with birds as they were still migrating) and past the bright-white Dune du Pilat, the tallest sand dune in Europe. (Next time we’ll hike up it and roll down.)

And there will be a next time!