Relaxing in Bordeaux

Saturday June 14th, we meet Lisa and Rich at their apartment and say goodbye as they are headed off for their week in Amsterdam before returning home to Toronto. We had a great week with them.

After seeing them off at the bus stop, we head off for a long walk taking in the ruins of the Palais Gallien, an amphitheatre which dates back to the first century. It is the only remaining monument from that era. It is only a couple of blocks from our apartment and was on our list of things to see and Rich and Lisa had reminded us about it as they had visited it. Really off the grid and I wouldn't think most tourists would see it.

Then continue on to the Basilica Saint-Seurin, a fifth century church. Many of the pilgrims travelling to a Saint James of Compostella would stop here and is a Unesco World Heritage site as it is part of the pilgrim route. There is a crypt, but not open when we arrived.

Then continue onto the Musee d'Aquitaine which houses a collection of objects and documents from the history of Bordeaux and Aquitane from it's prehistoric beginnings to present day. One facet that we found interesting/disturbing was that Bordeaux was a centre of slave trading. Also a strong history of trans Atlantic commerce and the Caribbean, South and North America. Nice walk home and quiet evening.

Sunday mornings we always go to the market at Le Quay de Chartrons. Once again bought some wonderful fresh foods for a picnic lunch later on today and some great main dishes for dinners this week. Stopped for coffee at one of our favourite local cafés, no tourists here....except for us that is....and the waiter tries to encourage us to come back tonight (Sunday) for the first French Football game being played tonight as part of the World Cup. With the time difference, some of the games are much later in the evenings.

Decide to walk about 20 minutes to Le Parc Bordelais, the largest green space in Bordeaux and take along our books and a picnic lunch. Beautiful place to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon. Father's Day today and a Robin receives a text from Rich from Amsterdam and when we got home a FaceTime call from Christine and our wonderful granddaughters, Caitriona and Lauren.....special!

On Monday we decided to go to the Cotes de Bourg and Premieres Cotes de Blaye for another wine tasting tour. This was only a half day tour and a much larger group than the first tour. This area is about one hour north of Bordeaux with beautiful countryside which is quite undulating. It has been nicknamed "the little Gironde Switzerland". Once again I will say that the guide was very informative about the appellations we were about to visit. These two areas follow the estuary of the Dordogne and Gironde rivers and due to these vast expanses of water the temperature here is much more temperate and receives less rainfall than the whole of the Bordeaux region. Many historic villages along the way and three fortifications which were built in the 17th century to protect the City of Bordeaux. These are listed as Unesco World Heritage sites. The first winery we visited was Chateau Bertinerie which has been owned by the same family for some 300 years. The most interesting thing about this winery is the "lyre" system they use to grow their vines. Basically a "v" type system that allows more sun and wind into the vines which is said to make for a better quality of wine. The second winery Chateau Haut-Giraud is run by a brother and sister and has been in their family for over 300 years. This chateau produces wine without residual chemical traces. The wine treatment products they use are biodegradable.

Must mention that there were fishing huts all along the river and apparently in years gone by, large sturgeon were caught in abundance to the point of overfishing and are now protected. Our guide told us that in the 1700's (not sure if that is the right era), the aristocracy could no longer get caviar from Russia. They found out that the fishermen/farmers of the Blaye/Bourg area would feed the caveat to the chickens. Needless to say that didn't take place after the wealthy French found out about it! Here in Bordeaux, we see caviar on some menus. Our guide told us that they now farm Sturgeon in the area for the caviar.

Another interesting fact is the partial spelling of village names in this area. Numerous village names end in "ac" such as Teuillac, Tauriac, Samonac, Gauriac, Plassac, etc. we were told that the "ac" means "the home of" and this dates back to Roman times. Do you think this question would ever come up in a pub night quiz?

We wish we could have spent some time in Blaye to visit the town and the fortifications. We are looking into getting there by local bus later this week. Sometimes we think it would be nice to have access to a vehicle for this sort of touring, but it's very expensive to rent a car here in Bordeaux.

A beautiful late afternoon as we are walking home and we decide to stop for a "Lillet" aperitif before dinner. Another beautiful day in Bordeaux. Temperatures not quite as hot as last week, so more enjoyable, for me that is!

We do have quiet days during our travels where we do the everyday things one must attend do. Stop at the local butcher and poissonerie to pick up meat/fish for the next couple of nights, have a picnic lunch in the parc just to spend some time outdoors, do laundry, stop for tea/cappuccino and of course watch the World Cup games...that would be Robin. Pictures below taken in Le Jardin Public, which is just across the street from our apartment and a great place to spend some quiet time.

Wednesday arrives and we decide to take the tram/bus to Blaye to see "La Citadelle" which took about 1 1/2 hours. Upon arriving the local weekly market was taking place. First time on this trip that we come across this type of rural market. I always find these interesting with the variety of items they sell......the usual fruit, veggies, meat, cheese....but then you have clothes for young and old, nightgowns, underwear, shoes, colourful market bags, knives (Robin just looked this time!), hats, belts, hardware, etc. Always fun to look at, but not sure I would buy any of the clothes. Then off to see the fortress.

This fortress along with two other forts in the area make up the "Vauban Major sites" which are listed as a Unesco World Heritage site. Vauban (17th century) was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them. He also advised Louis XIV on how to consolidate France's borders, to make them more defensible. An additional 300 sites were upgraded under his supervision and he oversaw the building of 37 fortresses. I read that his heart lies in Les Invalides in Paris, at the order of the Royalty of the day.

As Blaye is situated on the estuary of the Dordogne and Gironde rivers which span over 3 kms. cannons could not shoot this far, so Vauban found it necessary to build Fort Pate on an island in the estuary and Fort Medoc on the left side of the bank in addition to upgrading the Citadelle. These actions were taken to protect the City of Bordeaux.

The Citadelle covers 17 hectares and is quite impressive and in very good condition. We visited the ramparts, outside of the officer's quarters and took a tour of the underground caverns and tunnels which allowed the soldiers to move from one part of the fort to the other, fully protected. Some of the buildings have been converted to small artisan shops, restaurants and even a small hotel.

We stopped for lunch at one of the small outdoor restaurants and we took a table next to a family. As we sat down, the couple acknowledged us by saying "Bonjour Monsieur/Dame" as did the young girl, who turned out to be their granddaughter. This would never happen in North America. Just picture walking into a restaurant and someone at the table next to you saying " Good afternoon". We would look at them as if they were from a different planet....too bad because I think it is so civilized and polite. We ended up conversing with this French couple and their 11 year old granddaughter throughout our lunch, very delightful. Although they did not speak English, as they spoke slowly and clearly, Robin could understand most of what they said. I felt pretty good as they complemented me on my French....even the granddaughter! They also joined us on the tour, funny enough just the five of us on the tour. This type of happenstance is what makes a day...lovely family.

The French rail workers have been on strike for the last eights days and continuing. No set pattern to where and when they close the lines, certainly doesn't help with travel plans. These random work stoppages are due to the fact that the government, mainly Hollande, is talking about privatizing the rail system. Robin's brother Terry and his wife Billie, are due to arrive in Bordeaux on Sunday by train from Barcelona, so we are certainly hoping their plans are not disrupted.

One thing that is very noticeable in France is the fact that workers eat out for their noon time meal. Most restaurants offer a "Prix fixe" menu which is usually made up of an appetizer/salad, a main course and a desert. Our friend Ken, in Nice, had told us that employers provided food vouchers to their employees. When we were out for lunch today, in a non-tourist area, I noticed a couple of the people using vouchers. So remembering what Ken had said, I simply had to investigate this. Well folks, the French workers certainly have it good. By law, an employer must either provide a subsided cafeteria or food vouchers. Now, the food vouchers are for around €5 a day, but still, depending on what you order that could be one or two free meals a week. The companies do receive some kind of tax break, but not sure what that is.

So, this of course led me down the path to holiday time. Years ago Robin and I, my brother Rick and his wife Sheri hiked the Milford Track in New Zealand. The segway to the holiday story, is that a young French couple were in our group of hikers. This young couple told us that they received some seven weeks of vacation time....yikes. Upon looking into this (sorry folks, just curious by nature, can't help myself), I found out that an employee can be entitled up to 9 1/2 weeks paid vacation leave. On top of that their are an additional 10 National holidays. We wonder why this country has money problems and no wonder workers are always going on strike if an employer would even consider cutting back on any of their benefits. Did I mention many French outraged at talk of extending the retirement age. O.K. enough, I do not want to start into retirement benefits....I will probably just make myself crazy!

Last couple of days in Bordeaux, June 19th and 20th, temperature hit in the low 30's again. Really hot to do anything too active, but both days we have gone for long walks along the left bank and all around the right bank and back again, probably a total of at least 10-12kms. both days. Our apartment is not air conditioned, but we have a large fan that works very well. The evenings cool down somewhat and we have not had a problem sleeping. These high temperatures are due to stick around till next Tuesday. Looking at the long range forecast, it is supposed to cool down somewhat for the week of our cycling trip, which is great.

Today while in the Chartrons area (same area as our apartment) we came across the Wine Museum. This was on our list of places to visit, so we decided to stop. The Chartrons area of Bordeaux was the ancient quarter of the wine making and shipping as it is on the port. This self guided tour was interesting as it gave us the history of wine making in the Bordeaux area. It is located in one of the old warehouses which also incorporates wine caves, nice and cool for such a warm day.....couldn't have planned this better. I have written about different aspects of the wine making in this area in previous blog postings, but one additional fact we learned today was in regard to aging the wine. In the 19th century one of the Chateau owners starts something called "the return from India". His idea was to put new barrels of wine on a ship destined for trading in the Far East. It is said that the wine aged quicker with the rolling of the seas and the hot weather. It is said that the wine was ready to drink upon its' return from India. Not sure how well this worked considering that they now keep the oak barrels in cool cellars to age. Also looking at some of the equipment they used, not far off what one uses when bottling their own wine. We used to make our own wine, from kits that is, finally gave it up as was time consuming and in all honesty one can now buy good wine at reasonable prices.

Read in the local paper today that lawyers in this area have been on strike for the past week and earlier strikes amongst this sector earlier in the month across France. Now believe it or not, this is one strike I agree with, in a way. The reason for the strike is that the Government had cut funding to legal aid and lawyers, known as Avocats here, are the ones that represent those who cannot afford legal representation. Once again the poor are being affected. I think that "going on strike" is certainly something common place in this country and is accepted as a "means to an end". Not sure it will work in this case, considering the financial woes of the country.

Friday evening and we head off to a local pub to watch the French vs. Switzerland game in the World Cup. Nice to be surrounded by people when watching these type of sporting events. In all honesty not too many people in the pub watching the game. It was filled with couples and families having dinner. Some of the young boys were the ones cheering the loudest. When we left after the game around 11 p.m. the local square, which is surrounded by restaurants, was jammed packed with people having their meals (yes at 11 p,.m., this is France). A lovely evening out.

Off to "Le Lac" this first day of summer and our expected high today is 32. Looking forward to Billie/Terry's arrival on Sunday and Suzanne/Colin on Tuesday (Roblin's siblings).

 

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A Week in Bordeaux with Lisa and Rich

On Saturday, June 7th our son, Rich and our daughter-in-law, Lisa, flew into Bordeaux from Toronto via Paris. We are very happy that they will be spending the next week here in Bordeaux and their apartment is only about a 10-15 minute walk away from ours. We met them on Place Gambetta as they arrived on the bus from the Bordeaux airport. Walked to their apartment which was only a block from the plaza. Their landlords spoke very little English so I was able to help somewhat with the information they provided.

After they freshed up, we headed down to the centre of town to have a light lunch, a bit of walking around to get them somewhat oriented to their new surroundings. Saturday the 7th was also their sixth wedding anniversary....what a great way to celebrate with a trip to France. In addition to their week here in Bordeaux, Rich and Lisa are spending a week in Amsterdam before heading back home to Toronto. Saturday evening after going our separate ways for the afternoon, Robin and I brought along a small bottle of champagne to their apartment to toast their anniversary.

The picture above is taken in Lisa and Rich's apartment before going out for dinner. As Lisa said in her Facebook posting, ". No, Dad and Son did not call each other to ensure they would wear the same shirts".

We then headed off to dinner. We picked a restaurant that was about a 15 minute walk from Rich and Lisa's called L'Exploit. This restaurant was quite highly rated and fortunately I had made a reservation. They must have turned away about 6 groups of people while we were there, guess we are not the only ones that read the reviews....but we are just smarter by booking ahead! A French restaurant run by a couple who take pride in certain house specialties. Robin and I shared a duck pate which we were told was made by the owner. He told us that normally when you order duck pate it us 80% porc and only 20% duck. He said his was the opposite..80% duck and 20% porc. He really could have told us anything, didn't really care; it was delicious! In all honesty, such a large helping it could have been enough for the four of us. Lisa and Robin both had Farcis stuffed Filet Mignon, Rich had one of the specialties of the house, the meat of pig's feet cooked with cabbage in a wine sauce and I opted for the other house specialty, Oxtail meat also cooked in a wine sauce. I know that these last two dishes sound a little different, but after sampling everyone's meal, couldn't say enough about this place. Poor Lisa and Rich suffering somewhat from jet lag proved to be good sports and we walked along the river a little ways to get home. We went home via La Place de la Bourse where the water feature is located. Got some great pictures there as the sky was starting to cloud up and rain was threatening. We all made it home before the storm. Love the picture below of the two them.

On Sunday morning Lisa and Rich walked over to our apartment and the four of us headed off to the Sunday market and bought some provisions for the next few days. Decided to make life easy and picked up some prepared Paella and seafood risotto for dinner for the four of us. Stopped in one of our favourite squares, Chartrons, for coffee before setting off our separate ways; then Lisa and Rich came over for dinner. Of course, we had to wait for the French open men's final to finish before eating!

On Monday we all head over to the tourist bureau to book a wine tour which we will be taking on Thursday. Sometimes that is just easier than trying to do it on your own. Also, considering we don't have a vehicle makes more sense. Head off to do some more exploration of the city and wind our way towards the Hotel de Ville (City Hall). The cathedrale St. Andre and the bell tower are located on the same square. Today in France is yet another holiday, and believe it in not, the cathedral is closed, so we can't go in to see it. I wanted to climb the bell tower, Pey Berland Tower and everyone else joined in. The bell tower was built in 1440 and was built a short distance from the cathedral in order to protect the church from the vibrations of the bells. There are a total of 231 steps to get to the second terrace where one gets a magnificent view of the city. A golden statue of Notre Dame of Aquitaine tops the bell tower.

Palais Rohan built in the 1770's now houses the City Hall and sits in this same square as the Cathedral. A short distance away are the modern looking law courts building.

Then off towards the Grosse Cloche. This Big Bell is the only vestige of the ancient defensive door of the 13th century, which protected the city. An astronomical clock is located within the tower. We then wound our way to the river and walked along the Quay, then across Pont Jaques along the pathways on the Bastides/east side of the Garonne, crossing over again on Pont de Pierre. All in all about 12 kms. of walking today. Since Saturday the temperatures here have been 28 to 30 degrees, so we have experienced thunder storms each night which are welcome to help cool things down.

Tuesday arrives and we meet Lisa and Rich at the Gare where we rent a car for the day to drive to La Rochelle, about a two drive north west from Bordeaux. La Rochelle is located on the Bay of Biscay and was founded in the 10th century and was known for maritime commerce and trade. It was also the largest base of the Knights Templar and was even under English control at one time. During the Second World War, Germany established a submarine naval base at La Rochelle and as it was a German stronghold it was the last French city to be liberated at the end of the war. Beautiful port town with lots of character. Stopped for the mandatory cappuccino (with chantilly) and tea, then off to discover the town. Walked along the port and the ancient walls, then found our way to a beautiful urban park and zoo and finally back through the old town for lunch.

On the way back to Bordeaux we stop in Roquefort to discover the famous cheese......Rich finally says, don't think this is Roquefort it's spelled Rochefort........oh well! We are here now so might as well see it. When I looked at the history of the town it turns out to be quite interesting. In 1665, Rochefort was chosen as a place of "refuge, defense and supply" for the French navy. Its military harbour was fortified and in the late 1600's the king had the "Corderie Royale" (then the longest building in Europe) constructed to make cordage (ropes for ships, mainly for rigging) for French ships of war. The Hermione a 12-pounder Concorde class frigate of the French Navy became famous when it sailed from here to the United States in 1780 and ferried General Lafayette to allow him to rejoin the American side in the American Revolutionary War. The ship was grounded and was wrecked in 1793. In 1997, construction of a replica ship started in Rochefort and it is also called the Hermione. In April 2015, this full-size replica of the Hermione frigate plans to make a return voyage to the United States from Rochefort. So a little mistaken side trip ends up to be quite interesting. Back to Bordeaux around 6 p.m.; a very enjoyable interesting day.

A side note...every night just before 9 p.m. we see either a small scooter or a small utility truck drive around the garden across from us. They honk their horn giving people a warning that the park is about to close. Actually, rather nice for us as we keep our bedroom French doors open to get a breeze, so it's nice and quiet at night.

On Wednesday the four of us meet up at the Gare and take the train to Arcachon, about one hour south west from Bordeaux, a seaside resort on the ocean. The town is only 150 years old, a baby by European standards. Prior to that it was just a forest of pine trees, oaks and strawberry trees (arbutus), with no road links. In earlier years, when some hygienists began to recommend sea bathing, this town was laid out by some entrepreneurs especially for the Bordeaux bourgeoisie and other wealthy people. By the way, I can attest to the strawberry trees and their berries (actually the berries look like small blackberries). I mistakenly sat on a sea wall and didn't notice the berries......did I mention I was wearing white shorts!

The architecture in the town is known for the "Arcachonnaise", the local name for an Arcachon villa, which is the architectural style of many of the older houses built here, very charming. Skies a little overcast when we first arrived, but cleared up nicely in the early afternoon.

At its southern entrance from the Atlantic ocean, Arcachon Bay is crowned by Europe's largest sand dune, the Dune du Pilat, nearly 3 kilometres long, 500 metres wide, reaching 110 metres in height, and moving inland at rate of 5 metres a year. As we were only on foot, we decided to try to make it there, but after several kilometres of walking, the promenade by the bay ended. We made our way up to a main road. Rich mentioned that he thought a bus went to the dune. A bus shelter just around the corner, but the bus only came every hour and a half......hmmm! I walk a little further and I see a French woman getting out of her car to pick up her mail. " Bonjour Madame, can you tell me how far to the dunes? Well she says, about 5 kms. although there is a bus but I have no idea how often it comes. Merci" we discuss our situation and decide to hit the bakery down the road to buy lunch and enjoy it by the bay. We will have to leave the viewing of the dunes for our next trip to this area! We walk all the way back into town and decide to take the train back to Bordeaux. Must say we are getting our exercise with all the walking which is great. Don't feel too guilty having a glass of wine with lunch or the odd desert.

Go our own ways for dinner, but we meet around 8 p.m. for a drink and desert. A demonstration is going on in front of a theatre, not sure why, so we have to cross the street to get to the cafe. I noticed a sign that says "no time to play" and a large crowd gathered around the demonstrators. Also when we got to the train station this morning, as we went to buy our tickets at the vending machine, a notice came up indicating that there could be train delays today. Heard later that the various high speed trains, TGV, Thalys and Eurostar, were affected as well as many train lines in Paris......what a country!

Thursday morning we meet up at the Tourist Office to catch the bus for our wine tour of "Les Crus Classes de Graves". A total of seventeen people on this tour in addition to the guide who turned out to be very informative. We visited two separate wineries in the Pessac-Leognan area, just south of Bordeaux, and had lunch at the second winery. The guide explained some of the history of this area. In the 12th century, the popularity of Bordeaux wines in England increased dramatically following the marriage of Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine. This wine was known as "claret" as it was almost like a rose in colour. In the 17th century, the Dutch introduced innovations and techniques, including sulphur in the wine making process, which killed any bacteria, thereby wines were able to ferment longer and deep red wines were the end result. The major reason for the success of winemaking in the Bordeaux region is the excellent environment for growing vines. The geological foundation of the region is limestone, and in particular the area we visited has lots of gravel.....hence the name "Graves". This gravel soil provides good drainage and the gravel also absorbs the heat of the day passing it onto the vine, thereby accelerating the maturity of the grapes. I have a good friend who has many sommelier courses under her belt and is very knowledgeable when it comes to wines and winemaking. Susan, hope your not rolling your eyes at my discourse on this topic!

The first winery,Chateau Olivier began viticulture in 1846. It produces red and white Grand Cru along with a "second" red wine. We toured the grounds of the chateau with one of the employees of the winery who explained the history of the chateau and then proceeded to the cellars where she went on to explain their process of wine making. This was followed by a wine tasting of their white and red wine. The wine was accompanied by three types of cheeses and some bread.

Back on the bus to the second winery, Chateau Fieuzal. New buildings and all very modern equipment, however they have been producing wine for over 400 years. A quick tour then into a dining hall where we are served a five course lunch. Starter of fresh oysters from Arcachon (we visited earlier in the week), second course of fois gras with crispy bread, followed by the main meal of magret de canard with a great vegetable soufflé, then a small salad ending with a desert made up of a rich chocolate torte, a small creme brûlée and a lemon type cream with meringue and an expresso. Served a white wine with the oysters, then moved onto the red......yum, yum, yum! What a great way to experience the wine country if only for a short time. Back to Bordeaux about 3:30. Took the long way home to get some exercise and spend some time relaxing.

We met Lisa and Rich at 7 p.m. on Allees de Tourny where the City is having a gastronomic festival for four days. Since we had such a large lunch, we simply split salads. Lots of people watching while we were eating. At one point while we were eating, a man stopped by and asked how we were enjoying the food and wine and we notice a crowd around him and someone taking our picture. We think it may have been the Mayor of Bordeaux. At the time you think....who is this guy? Have we met him somewhere in the last couple of weeks? We are pretty tired, so short walk along the river and we head home. Robin stays up to watch the first World Cup game.

On Friday, Robin and I set out of the apartment early as the cleaning lady is coming......I don't even have a cleaning lady at home for heaven's sake. This apartment includes the cost of the cleaning lady who comes once a week and all linens are changed and taken away to be washed....what a treat. We spend some time in the Jardin Public reading and relaxing, then off to discover another part of our neighbourhood which we haven't seen before. A stop at our favourite square for a cup of tea/coffee. In the afternoon we set out to visit the Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez, a contempary and modern art gallery located in the historic Chateau Labottiere not to far from our apartment. Rich and Lisa are off on their own today discovering more of Bordeaux. We will be meeting them later for dinner at a restaurant near their apartment. They leave early Saturday morning for Amsterdam.

Have to say that it has been absolutely wonderful spending this week with Lisa and Rich. Great to see new sights, experience new foods, wine and see new towns with them. Thank you Lisa and Rich for including us in your holiday plans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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First days in Bordeaux

A reason to come to Bordeaux......

"Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy." A direct quote from Benjamin Franklin.

Arrived in Bordeaux late Saturday afternoon, May 31st and we were met by the owners of the apartment, Claude and Benadette, what a delightful couple. They are in their mid 70's and he is a retired University professor and a native of Bordeaux. They welcomed us to the apartment which is a typical French apartment in an old building. Fifteen foot ceilings with beautiful plaster work and mouldings. They were both very informative and had lots of tourist information. They left us with a baguette, fresh jam, fruit, a cake and a bottle of wine as a welcome gift.

The apartment has three sets of French doors and a tiny balcony that overlook the Jardin Public. We are about a 10 minute walk into the centre of town and from the Garoone river. A rental bike station is just a few yards from our front door and the tram is a short walk across the Jardin Public.

First things first, we headed out to buy a few groceries and wine, of course. We also found a wonderful butcher who had lots of prepared foods, so stocked up for our first dinner. Then off to find our way into the center of the City. Lots of pedestrian only areas and an abundance of small squares with cafés and bistros once you get off the main areas. Sat down in a small bistro looking onto La Place de la Comedie to enjoy our first glass of wine in Bordeaux.

In this square there is also a huge statue of a bronze head, a sculpture by the Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, who also did the wire head in front of The Bow building is Calgary.

The city of Bordeaux, capital of the Aquitaine region, is a port city lying on the Garonne River. Due to the moonshape bending of the River, it is also called 'Port of the Moon'. Founded as a Gallic settlement, it became an important market town during Roman times. In the 18th and 19th centuries the city underwent a major renovation in order to become a modern city. This historic city, an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble, created in the age of the Enlightenment, has more protected buildings than any other French city except Paris and the historical centre is a Unesco World Heritage site. The population of the greater Bordeaux area is 1.1 million people.

Sunday morning arrives and I read about the market which takes place along the river every Sunday morning. Off we go, through the Jardin to find a glorious market. Prepared foods of all sorts, fresh meat, fish, chicken, duck, rabbit, baked goods, bread and all sorts of new foods to sample. The region of Bordeaux, as in all areas, are known for certain gastronomic goodies. We tried farcou, a fried wheat pancake which is green in colour due to the green chard they add to it. This local chef also made various kinds adding ingredients such s goat cheese, lardon (bacon), gizzards, prunes, etc. ....very tasty. They also make a type of apple pie that they call croustade, looks like it is made with puff pastry. Bordeaux is also known for its caneles cakes, however have yet to try.

Sunday was also a day of celebrating the Velo(bicycle) and there were hundreds of people out riding their bikes along the river paths, great to see. The cyclist here do not wear helmets, there are bike lanes all around the city and drivers respect the cyclists. Like Amsterdam, you see cyclists in suits and dresses on their way to work. Took out some bikes today (Monday) for the first time. The Bordeaux bike system is called VCub and after a few rides, we can say that they are definitely in better shape than those in Nice. As we are within walking distance to the centre, we will rent bikes on a daily basis as we see the need at a cost of €5 for a 24 hour period, pretty reasonable if you ask me.

Must say that in both Nice and here in Bordeaux we have noticed so many people rollerblading in addition to cycling. Not sure why, as I think very few people seem to rollerblade in Calgary anymore.

Today in addition to renting bicycles, we caught the tram to go to "The Bastide" across the river, a neighbourhood in the midst of revitalization. When we sat down on the tram, a young man leaned over to Robin and asked him in French, what he had on his leg, Robin had his small knee brace on. I replied to him, in French that it was a knee brace to help take some of the strain off his knee as he had injured it. Two young ladies sitting across the aisle from him are listening. Well, this young man, probably about thirty went on and on in French..."do you know that when I wake in the morning, my knee and leg hurts, I take pain medication, but that only last an hour, then I take more medication. Where can I get a brace like that? Look here is a picture of my son and I, isn't he precious? Don't you find that girls nowadays wear their skirts too short? Did I tell you that I take lots of medication during the day. Look, here is a picture of my daughter, but she lives with my ex-wife." Yikes, that went on for 15 minutes, then he finally got off the train. The young girls that were sitting across the aisle from us simply started laughing. As this guy went on and on, they were trying not to look at him, but he kept asking them questions....even asked one of them "Why have you pierced your lip?"

Got off the tram and started our walk back towards the main city. Along the way we saw the signs for the Jardin Botanique, so took that in. Nice setting, but not too much to see. The garden is along the right bank, so we hopped on a couple of bikes and rode along the river, across the Pont Jaques, back along the left bank all the way to the Gare (train station), then headed back to the apartment.

Early evening before dinner we walked to a small square, Place du Marche de Chartrons near our apartment. Decide to stop and have an aperitif. I had read about "Lillet" which is a French aperitif wine specific to this region. It is a blend of 85% Bordeaux wines and 15% macerated liqueurs, mostly citrus liqueurs from the peels of sweet oranges from Spain and Morocco and the peels of bitter green oranges from Haiti. They make a white (dry) and red (sweet) variety. We had the white and quite enjoyed it. Had to try it while in this part of the country.

Tuesday morning we head out early, jump on a couple of bikes and scope out where our son Rich and our daughter in law, Lisa, have rented an apartment for a week starting this Saturday. We are looking forward to spending time with them while they are here. They are closer to the downtown area on a quiet street and close to all amenities, think they made a wise choice and only about a 10-15 minute walk from where we are. We are certainly looking forward to seeing them. When they arrive on Saturday, we will go out for dinner to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Walked to the Musee d'Art Contemporaire. The inside of the building has recently been refurbished and the sandstone walls are beautiful. We were told that the entry was free as there were only two temporary exhibits, not sure where the permanent collections is stored.

Showers on Wednesday morning, so we set out with jackets and an umbrella. Although cloudy all day, we never had rain during our outing. We decided that we want to take the boat today (part of the public transport) along the Garonne, it hs about four different stops along the river. On our way, we walk along Rue Notre Dame in an area near our apartment. The shops along the street and around the square, Halle des Chartrons, are all local and this is definitely not a tourist area. We get to the river and hop on the boat. Free for one of us as I had picked up a free pass on the weekend and we use a bus pass for our other fare. A bus pass here works for bus, tram and the boat. For the last four days they have been trying to promote the boat service with the locals, so it's free if up you have the special pass. Apparently over the last year since it's inception they have had a lot of mechanical problems. We rode the boat to the right bank, then walked across Pont de Pierre and walked towards the Basilica of St. Michel, one of the many churches in Bordeaux. Unfortunately we couldn't get in due to all the construction in the square and when I asked a young gentleman if we could enter, he indicated that exams were taking place inside the church and that is why all the doors were closed.

Our landlords told us not to venture close to the Gare in the evening, can understand why as we wind our way through the streets in this much older somewhat seedier part of the city. But....we come across the Marche Des Capucins, their local market. What a treasure. It's similar to the St.Lawrence street market in Toronto or Granville Island in Vancouver, just a lot older. The market is open air and people riding their bikes right through the market. It's around 1 p.m. when we arrive, so a lot of the merchants are already closing down. We are hungry and find a little bistro inside the market called Poulette. It's specialty is moules, served in any different ways. I had Moules Campagnard (bacon/ham in the cream sauce) and Robin had Moules au Curry. Both very delicious.here we are in this little hole in the wall and the young owner brings us finger bowls with lemon to clean up. Haven't even had this amenity in higher end restaurants!

Enjoying our first few days in Bordeaux, certainly a different vibe than Nice, not necessarily better or worse, just different. Nice to experience a different part of France.

Thursday, June 5th we decide to go to Biaritz which is 200 km. south of Bordeaux, and takes two hours by train. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, it is only 35 km. from the Spanish border and is in the midst of Basque Country. Took the tram from just the other side of the Jardin Public directly to the Gare. Had a croissant and tea/coffee at the train station as we had an early train. I could hear someone playing the piano and found a young teenager playing beautiful classical music on a piano that just sits on the inside of the Gare for people to play. Nice way to start the morning.

Chose a great day to go, 26 degrees and sunny. We took the local bus from the train station, stopped at the tourist office to get our bearings and headed towards The Grand Beach. Originally a whaling settlement, doctors started recommending Biaritz for its medicinal qualities back in the 18th century. In the late 1800's, Napoleon's wife built a castle on the beach, today it is a high end hotel, the Hotel du Palais. The architecture in Biaritz is a potpourri of styles from Art Deco, some Tudor influence, Belle Époque era and even an Orthodox Church. Walked along the walkway enjoying the weather and watching the surfers. Biaritz is said to be a prime destination for surfers and needless to say they are all wearing wetsuits. A lighthouse in the distance, but we did not venture in that direction. Continued walking around the bay and headed for "Le Rocher de la Vierge". This is an immense rock outcropping that juts out into the ocean and has a statue of the Virgin Mary on the top. It is connected to the mainland by a metal bridge. This area is undergoing quite a bit of shoring up, but we were able to cross over. Great views of the ocean and the surrounding vistas.

Around the bend to a little bay "Le Port des Pecheurs" which services fishermen and pleasure boats. Tiny old fisherman cottages have been turned into bars and restaurants. Stopped for lunch here and enjoyed fresh calamari and prawns cooked over an open fire. Continued onto "Le Vieux Port" ( old port) were the water is much calmer as this bay is well sheltered. Many people picknicking and sunbathing. Bus, train and tram and back to our apartment about 5 p.m. A very enjoyable day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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