After visited Barcelona, we hopped on one of those discount European airlines to fly to Bordeaux where we (after some confusion about where to go) picked up a rental car that we kept our entire time in France. We wanted to stop on the way to our destination, Beynac, to visit the small, wine-loving Bordeaux town of St. Emilion.

Too bad our GPS decided, despite having European maps, that it didn’t want to accept addresses. Plus, the fact that you’re never quite sure how to enter in a town name like St. Emilion. Was it Sainte or Saint or St or St.? Also, Emilion has that pesky accent (which I am too lazy to type here) over it’s E. How exactly do you make that accent on an American GPS keyboard? Do you switch into French?

We gave up on visiting St. Emilion. We typed in the GPS coordinates for our hotel in Beynac (thank heavens they were provided) and went on our way. Then, we saw this little sign pointing the way to St. Emilion and decided to follow it. After a nerve-wrenching parking job involving a steep incline with an Aston Martin parked behind us and a tiny parking space, we went off to enjoy the town.

It had a lot in common with many of the towns we’d visit in France: small, on the side of a hill, and filled with shops for tourists.

We took the little walking tour in our guidebook which lead us to an overlook where we saw some amazing views. This one’s of an area just off the town square.

I really enjoyed the small, side lanes.

We went into a randomly selected wine store where we tasted two reds, only one of which we could afford and picked up a bottle to enjoy later in our trip. The gentleman pouring spoke perfect English and was excited to ask us for recommendations for wineries to visit in California. We gave him the name of three favorites near Santa Barbara (Lucas and Lewellan, Palmina, Brewer Clifton).

I’m glad that little sign pointed us the way. It provided a great introduction to small town France (and gave Matt a driving break in the middle of the 3 or so hour trip).