The beautiful town of Saint Emilion

Saint Emilion is definitely one of my favourite places I have ever been. It is also one of the most beautiful.

Saint Emilion is easily done as a day trip from Bordeaux, by either car or train, but we decided to stay one night before heading back to London. It is one of the most popular towns in the area, and can get quite busy with busloads of tourists during the daytime. The best time to visit is in the morning or the evening when the crowds are gone and you can stroll the streets in peace.

We didn't stay in Saint Emilion itself, as a lot of the B&B's and Hotels are quite expensive, so instead we stayed a 20 minute drive away at the Beau Sejour B&B, in a tiny room with sloping floors and a lovely view out over the garden.

Saint Emilion is easily navigated on foot, though some of the streets are extremely steep and have handrails down the middle to help you navigate. I have to say I held onto these pretty tightly when going downhill in my Birkenstocks!

The town is surrounded by vineyards which were planted as early as the 2nd century, but weren't farmed for wine until the 4th century.

Saint Emilion got its name from the Monk Emilion, who legend tells performed 'miracles'. The Monk was a baker for a count in the village and he smuggled out loaves of bread to give to the poor. The count, growing suspicious of Emilion asked him one day to lift his tunic. Emilion said it was only firewood he was taking to the poor, and by a 'miracle' it had turned into bread when he lifted his tunic.

Emilion then became a hermit, and spent his life carving out caves in the forest of Les Combes, which is now where the town of Saint Emilion stands. He carved out the huge monolithic Church out of a huge piece of limestone, the Church is now the most famous and most unique of its kind in the world.

For a small fee you can do a guided tour of the underground caves and the Church led by a local guide from the visitors office. We don't usually like tours, but it was the only was to see the catacombs and the church, and the tour itself was only a small group. 

We missed the English tour, so we grabbed a guidebook and joined the French tour. The guidebook was really interesting, explaining in detail all the old legends of Emilion and the town and it meant we could easily keep up with the tour. It didn't quite change our opinion of group tours but it was close...

Every second shop seems to be a wine shop, with wines ranging from €10 or less right up to those in the hundreds.

The front of the wine crates were displayed in shop windows, and we purchased a couple to take home with us. You can also buy a Saint Emilion vine to take home with you, though I'm not sure Australia or New Zealand would let you bring this souvenir home!

There are lots of restaurants in Saint Emilion which makes it hard to choose. We wandered off the main square and came across Le Table 38. 

We just had burgers and fries paired with local red wine and they were so delicious. Being a Monday night meant it was quiet, with only locals in the restaurant with us.

Afterwards we wandered through the silent streets back to our car, taking our time not quite wanting to leave. Of all the towns we visited during our visit to this beautiful region of France, it was definitely the town of Saint Emilion that captured our hearts the most.