Bordeaux and area

[revyd]

Our current itinerary is going to put us in Bordeaux for three nights/ two full days. I've checked the guidebooks and I'm struggling to see what we'll do there for that long. We do love wine so we'll hit up the Maison du Vin de Bordeaux, but other than that I'm lost. I'm sure some of the architecture will be worth seeing.
Any suggestions from more seasoned travellers?

[madamtrashheap]

Ah, that's the thing about Bordeaux city, and why I commented on it in your previous post - great for a day, but you need to get out of the city to the vineyards to experience things. You're correct in that you will find a day's worth (or thereabouts) of wandering to be had in the city itself, but you will need to either hire a car or book a tour in order to get to the vineyards/cellar doors and taste wine out in the terroir. You could stay in another city in the region (eg St Emillion - world heritage listed, pretty medieval town, vineyards close by) but Bordeaux is a good base if you want to get out to specific regions within the area, and the town centre is quite pretty. Plus there are several places (including, of all things, an Irish Bar) which have a great selection of local wines by the glass to keep you going.

Do a little research on the actual places/vineyards you'd like to visit and that will help you decide where to stay and if you need to rent a car rather than take a tour. For tours, check the Tourism Centre in Bordeaus (online) and even look at staying at one of the Chateaux close to Bordeaux city which are also wineries.

[revyd]

So... considering that there is not much of great interest here, at least to us, we will probably drop Bordeaux out of the itinerary. That leaves us with some extra time between Madrid and Paris. Any suggestions on a good place to spend a couple of days enroute. I would still like to break up the trip a little.

[Eagle]

revyd,

There's LOTS of choices between Madrid and Paris. I can't comment on locations in Spain, but hopefully herrbert or MTH will have a few suggestions.

I haven't checked the travel times, but one area that's somewhat "on the way" to Paris is the Dordogne region of France, and the town of Sarlat. It's a wonderful smaller town (with a vibrant street market on Saturday mornings), and a great activity in that area is a Canoe ride down the Dordogne, ending at Beynac. Have a look at www.youtube.com/watch?v=D14prsqlza4 for a look at the experience.

Cheers!