Cruise continues, many stops

 This cruise is different from the previous one in its scheduling of stops.  On Monday night the ship was docked in Bordeaux, I think mainly so Can Can performers could be onboard.  On Tuesday we woke up with the ship sailing to Cussac-Fort Médoc.  From there once again the docking town was mainly the starting point of a bus tour, this time a panoramic tour of the Médoc vineyard region.  Wine-growing estates are called Chateaux even if the main building is nothing like a castle.  All our rides included narrow roads where the bus needed to do difficult maneuvers.  One place to stop:

Our main stop was Chateau Malescasse.  Pictures from there: 

Rows of vineyards are marked with the grape variety, and the barrels have the 2022 harvest, to be bottled in June 2024.  There was a nice tasting.  Where we drove by estates, there were often many cars parked, because this is Futures Week, when many wholesalers are making purchases. There was oyster tasting by the dock on our return.

In the afternoon, we sailed across the Gironde Estuary to Blaye, pronounced Bly.  I briefly went on shore, and it was the starting point of the tour on Wednesday, Margaret’s birthday.  We had scenic views: this marks where the Garonne and Dordogne meet to form the Gironde.

We got back to Blaye and declined to continue with the fortress tour; we took a look at the outdoor market. 

One view of the ship:

In the afternoon there was a sailing of an hour and a half to get to Bourg, where the stop was just for a few hours.  We could follow the tour leader for a tour of Bourg, which translates to Town and was formerly called Bourg-sur-Gironde, which no longer applies because the “beak” of land has grown out pushing the start of the Gironde downriver, so Bourg is now on the Dordogne.  

It is a small town involving some climbing to get to the picturesque center and a park with a view.

Here our ship is the outer one; this is the first time we needed to cross through another one.

Before dinner we had the reception for repeat Uniworld customers, and a dinner with a birthday cake for Margaret. She says it was a great birthday.  The ship took off for the next stop of Libourne, arriving later tonight.  On the other cruise we found it better for sleep when we sailed through the night.