Spending 48 Magical Hours In Bordeaux With Lalique
An insight to our magical 48 hours in Bordeaux, France with Lalique!
Where? Lalique Store, 19 Cours de l'Intendance, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Last week I was very kindly invited on a press trip to spend 48 hours in Bordeaux with Lalique. I'd heard of Lalique before, but it wasn't a brand that I knew tonnes about, so I was super excited to get to know and understand the brand a little more, which is exactly what we got to do on this incredible trip!
We flew into Bordeaux last Thursday morning, and our first stop of the day was to visit the stunning Lalique store in central Bordeaux. The store took my breath away from the moment we walked in, from the clean scent of beautiful fragrance that filled the shop, to the crystal vases, divine scented candles and gorgeous jewellery, I was like a magpie in that shop! I couldn't stop picking everything up, smelling every candle and trying on as much jewellery as I could - it was an amazing experience (the staff were SO accommodating!).
Lunch at Le Gabriel, Bordeaux
We spent about an hour browsing the shop, learning about the new fragrances (Soleil Lalique was my favourite!), and collections! After our store visit we headed to Le Gabriel for a delicious lunch! Set in Place de la Bourse, we had a table in the window with the most beautiful view over the square. Deemed one of the most iconic views in Bordeaux, it was laid out by architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel as a mirage of elegance and symmetry, overlooking the Garonne River, it really is stunning!
One thing I have to say about Bordeaux is that it completely surpassed any expectations I had of what it would be like, I love discovering new places and it's even more satisfying when you have no idea what to expect from a place. Bordeaux went above and beyond anything I could have imagined, to me, it was a equally-as-pretty, but less busy version of Paris!
Checking in at Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey
We spent one night at the impressive Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey, the third Lalique hotel, after visiting the Lalique store in Bordeaux then heading to the hotel, we could immediately spot the Lalique decor and touches, from the wine glasses to the door handles, and even the chocolates in the room.
The Lalique hotel opened last year in 2018 to celebrate Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey's 400th anniversary, the hotel has already received a five-star rating and Jerome Shilling and the Lalique restaurant have been awarded a star by the Michelin guide, providing the Sauternes region with it's first ever Michelin starred restaurant!
Cocktail making & wine tasting...
I'm pretty sure that no trip to Bordeaux is complete, without sampling some kind of wine - and boy did we do a lot! On our first evening we were treated to a cocktail making class using the Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey 1er Grand Cru Classe Sauternes wine, my favourite was called "From Boomes With Love" and it was delicious!
We were fortunate enough to sample lots of the Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey wines during our stay, and on the Friday we had a tour of the vineyard, including a sampling session at the end. If you're visiting Bordeaux, I'd highly recommend stopping off at Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey for a night, or even taking a tour of the vineyards / booking a tasting session - it was an incredible experience!
Dining at the LALIQUE Michelin-stared restaurant...
We were fortunate enough to experience both lunch at dinner at Lalique's Michelin-starred restaurant within the hotel, Jerome Shilling's menu is carefully designed to reflect the signature features of each vintage and the carefully selected produce.
The restaurant, which has 40 covers, also has an entirely vegetarian menu (we sampled a couple of the vegetarian dishes and they were delicious!). I'd highly recommend a visit to the restaurant, the lunch menu costs €65 for three courses with wine and drinks included.
The BIGGEST thank you to Lalique and Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey for a wonderful trip to Bordeaux, I adored learning more about this beautiful brand and staying at such an exquisite hotel!
Bordeaux is on my list to go back and explore more of - what a truly beautiful part of the world!
Have you shopped at Lalique? Are you a wine fan? Could you see yourself staying at Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey and doing a wine tour?
*A HUGE thank you to Lalique and Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey for an amazing trip - this trip was a sponsored press trip, all images and opinions as always are my own.