The French city of Bordeaux has been selected for the new label "Destination pour Tous", a Destination for Everybody.
This new certificate, is designed to recognize the places that have created tourist 'packages' suitable for disabled people, and to help them sensitize those in Bordeaux who offer tourist services (hotels, restaurants, shopkeepers, etc.) to the need for adapting their establishments to the needs of the disabled.
The Tourism & Handicap label was established in 2001 at a national level. The purpose of this label is to provide reliable, descriptive and objective information concerning accessibility to the various tourist sites and facilities, taking the four types of disability (auditory, mental, visual and motor) into account.
This new label complements the national one. This is a means of creating a coherent, overall policy for both private and public organizations with regard to facilitating access for everyone. It enables the town and the surrounding region to be a welcoming place for people with special needs.
Today, Bordeaux has twelve sites certified to be handicap friendly and in total there are fifty-six in the surrounding area:
Here are three hotels which have met the certification:
Ibis Lac**
Ibis Bastide**
Seekoo****
A Paris Travel offers wine tours from Bordeaux.
Source: Bordeaux Tourism Office
Named after a monk Emilion, the town of Saint Emilion is located in the southwest of France in the Aquitaine department.
Its history goes back to prehistoric times and is now a World Heritage site. The town is charming with its steep and narrow streets and has Romanesque churches as well as ancient ruins.
As early as the 2nd Century, the Romans planted vineyards in what today is Saint Emilion.
It is interesting to note that the primary grape varieties used in Saint Emilion wines are the Merlot and Cabernet France, along with small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon.
The grapes permitted within the Montagne-Saint-Emilion appellation are Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot is by far the dominant variety. Generally it is partnered with Cabernet Franc, known in the area as 'Bouchet'. Cabernet Sauvignon is much less commonly planted in the cooler soils of the Saint-Emilion area and only produces wine of reliable quality when planted in very specific spots. The prevalence of Merlot (an early flowering variety) means that the appellation is susceptible to spring frosts and can lose the majority of its output in a cold year.
To qualify for the Montagne-Saint-Emilion appellation status, wines must contain a minimum of 11 percent alcohol. Wines made from hybrid vines or vines under three years old do not qualify.
When visiting the Bordeaux area, book a St. Emilion tour with A Paris Travel.
A tour to the Medoc region near Bordeaux will take you to an undulating plain extending for about fifty miles north of Bordeaux to Grave Point. Well known as a wine-growing area in the Gironde department of France, it is Bordeaux largest wine-growing region.
The grapes are grown primarily along a strip of gravelly soil between the estuary and Landes Forest. The forest separates the estuary from the Bay of Biscay in the Atlantic.
The grapes used in Medoc wine production are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot and the Medoc region is divided into the Bas-Medoc ("lower" Medoc) and the Haut-Medoc ("upper" Médoc).
For the purpose of identifying the wine, when you see the word Medoc on a wine label, it is used as an appellation and refers to a very particular region of Bordeaux, north of St. Estephe.
If you plan to be in the Bordeaux region, contact A Paris Travel to book a group or private Medoc wine tour.