St. Emilion
The 10 am tour of the underground church in St. Emilion was a walk through history. Carved from limestone in the 12th century, the church has a 68-meter bell tower. We started with a visit to the hermitage of St. Emilion, and it made me laugh when I noticed that the statue placed there by the 8th-generation owners of the church was actually St. Francis, but they added stone grapes and engraved "St. Emilion" on it. The tour guide spoke French but thankfully handed me a translated sheet in English. The catacombs were a sight, some with bones still present and one or two yet to be excavated. We learned so much about the church during the tour. When it was originally constructed, the builders created canals beneath it to manage water flow. However, as more people wanted to be buried there over the years, the canals got clogged up, leading to cracks and instability in the church.
Thankfully, the canals have now been cleared, and the pillars supporting the 4,500-ton steeple are reinforced with intense supports. What's truly amazing is that when the church was built as a landmark for the pilgrims walking the Camino Santiago, they had the foresight to construct it to last through the ages. The tour left us in awe of the rich history and architecture of St. Emilion's underground church. Stopping at the renowned macaron bakery on the outskirts of St. Emilion was a must-do before leaving the town. And, of course, we couldn't resist getting a few Caneles as well. These traditional macarons were simply perfect – just the cookie part without any filling. They were so delicious that I could have easily devoured all of them in one go, but we decided to savor the moment and limit ourselves to just one. It was a sweet way to end our time in St. Emilion. Now to LaRochelle and the Atlantic coast.
We needed lunch, so we stumbled upon Libourne and discovered an outdoor market! Now, the big decision was whether to eat in or have a picnic. Picnic won! We gathered ingredients from various stalls as well as a knife and small cutting board. This happened at the produce stands. At the first one, the sign said, "Ne touche pas" (do not touch). We respected that, but the woman serving us licked her fingers before touching our tomatoes! Charlie was almost going to freak out. Then at the next stall, the lady firmly grasping her vape pen, took a puff, licked her fingers with smoke still coming out, and handled our apricots. "Ne touche pas" indeed! I know it's to protect the fruit, but the germ passing was quite something. I couldn't help but burst into laughter! Mon Dieu! We sat at a table, outside, next to the Halles, and Gabe made us delicious sandwiches.
As Gabe prepared our lunch, a man squeezed through the narrow space between our table and the one next to us, catching my attention. I glanced over and realized that he was heading straight for a condom vending machine placed behind Gabe. The man stood there, contemplating his choices from the four options available. Meanwhile, Luke was practically in hysterics beside me, unable to believe the unexpected sight before him. In my mind, I thought what if the man goes for the XL super king option - the thought of it made me laugh inside, fearing that I might actually fall off my stool. Charlie innocently asked, "What are those?"
I could see the dilemma forming on Gabe's face, knowing he would have to come up with an appropriate explanation for a 9-year-old. Amidst the awkward situation and the ensuing laughter, I couldn't help but appreciate the humor. Good luck, Gabe, I thought to myself, knowing he would handle Charlie's inquiry with tact and ease. Gabe said, “It is a rubber that goes on a penis.” Charlie said, “Okay, that’s weird.” And that was the end of that.
