A train ride away

Saint-Emilion

45 minutes east of Bordeaux, Saint-Emilion is a lovely medieval town in the middle of a vast vineyard.

From the 9th century onward, the city developped as a pilgrimage site around the burial site of local saint Emilion who is said to have performed several miracles and founded a Benedictine abbey. After digging an impressive network of catacombs (which went on for centuries as underground limestone quarries), the monks also dug what turned out to be the largest underground church in Europe. At the peak of the pilgrimage, the town could boast up to 4 religious communities. In the 17th  century, the Ursuline sisters invented the local specialty: the macaron of Saint-Emilion (not to be confused with the macaron of Paris).

The vineyard of Saint-Emilion is one of the oldest around Bordeaux. Although it used to produce mostly white wine, winemakers changed their production to red wine after the many crises the vineyard underwent in the 19th century (oidium, mildew, philloxera). Contrary to the Médoc, where wine estates are relatively large, Saint-Emilion wine properties are less than 10ha big in average because it evolved naturally throughout history from the medieval vineyard organisation granting everybody a small plot to make their own wine. This is why the vineyard of Saint-Emilion was listed as a Natural Heritage Site in 1999. Famous Saint-Emilion wine châteaux include Château Ausone, Château Angélus, Château Cheval Blanc and Château Pavie.

Many bus tours focusing on the medieval town, the village, or both are organised by the Tourist Information Centre of Bordeaux.

Saint-Emilion is also easily accessed by train. The Tourist Information Centre of Saint-Emilion organises walking tours in the village and the underground church. You can also tour the village and the vineyards in a touristic train or an electric tuk-tuk. Find all the information you need here.

Arcachon

Born as a bathing resort at the turn of the 19th century, Arcachon really started to thrive thanks to the development of the railway. Brothers Emile and Isaac Pereire, owners of a train company in the south-west of France, wanted to make more profit from the line to Arcachon which only worked well during summertime. As doctors notices that people living and working in the neighbouring pine tree forest did not catch tuberculosis, they came up with the idea of the "Winter Town" (Ville d'Hiver), an entire district designed to be a sanatorium for wealthy patients to come and attempt to cure their illness in gigantic villas. The whole district was designed by hand in hand with doctors: sinuous lanes to cut off the wind, pine trees all around, perfect sun exposure on the balconies, etc. The treatment, however, does not sound very scientific nowadays: breath the pine-scented air, eat a lot and... do nothing!

Many a celebrity (artists and royalties alike) have come here on vacation in the past. Nowadays, Arcachon is a favourite place of the metropolis dwellers to go to the beach or walk around the shops and dine out. The yachting harbour has a legendary waiting list of... 30 years! There, you will see many pinasses, the traditional boats designed to sail in Arcachon Bay even when the tide is low. The Bay is also famous for its oysters and its wooden cabins on stilts (cabanes tchanquées).

Find all the information you need to plan your trip to Arcachon here.

 Images Saint-Emilion: macaron; Arcachon: header, long pictures