As I write...

...it has just gone 6.30pm on Friday night, 17th November, 2017. It is dark. The blinds are open, and I turn to the right and see across the road into the building opposite where the lights are on. On the top floor of the 4 story building is a piano, just inside the window frame. Someone keeps walking to the instrument and then away again. They aren't playing, so there is another occupation of this room. Perhaps it is the same as the floor below? On the next floor down is a dance studio. Students move in and out of view in various balletic movements, with the instructor pacing past the window occasionally.
Our window is partially open and I should close it. People are obviously standing below our window smoking. Gah! The French need to stop smoking! Seriously! It is a major health issue here, not to mention the mess left all over the pavements (butts)...along with the dog poo, which we have encountered here in the city of Bordeaux more than we ever have walking the streets of Paris.
Now that I am on THAT subject, I'm going to sound off a bit in regard to the filth in this city. We have spoken to locals who tell us that the city used to be much worse in regard to the dirty streets and buildings. There is obviously a move afoot to clean up the horridly blackened buildings...centuries of airborne grime defaces most of the beauty...but it takes so little for a population to be aware of the mess they leave on the streets. Yesterday  I felt like getting a long handled brush and shovel (dustpan) and picking up, everywhere we went. I am big on 'looking up' when you are in a foreign city, but here you HAVE to look down or you will end up with dog muck on your shoes. Thank goodness Waz has my hand in his most of the time, because he has 'rescued me' more times than I can think of.

One thing I forgot to mention, yesterday, was that we sought and found a Carrefour supermarket. Normally one of the first things we do, when in a new country, is find a supermarket for the things we don't pack. No point in bringing a roll-on deodorant if you can buy one for 1.39 euros...much less expensive than in the USA. We also purchased a box of tissues, large tube of toothpaste...this time getting two for the price of one...3.39euros (for the two), a couple of Pink Lady apples for 1.34 euros and four oranges (.99 euros per Kilo), which Waz says taste great compared to the normal California variety.
We also purchased water, and only because the tap water here doesn't taste very nice. We prefer not to buy bottled.
We went a bit gaga over the fresh produce in the supermarket, so you can imagine what we did at the large Marche des Capucins this morning! More on that later!

I'm pausing here to go back to the 250 something photos I took today, in order to reduce some of them to post here on the blog. Back shortly!

In the meantime Waz has had his nap and we have been out for dinner. Photos all reduced, so here goes!

We are always fascinated by the difference in school grounds, wherever we go. I remember arriving in Australia the first time and being amazed at how brown and dusty the school grounds were, with no real play equipment for the younger grades. As we walked into the Centre Ville (center of town) this morning, we delighted in not just the Gingko Tree in the foreground, but that this is a Boys Technical High School, or Lycee. Such an inviting place.

Backing up the horse a weeny bit...I stayed up until almost 11pm, not just to finish writing the first page of blog, but so that I would be tired enough to sleep all night, seeing we are now 6 hrs ahead of Florida time. I had already showered and was sitting here at the small desk in my PJ's, and slowly my feet turned into ice-blocks. The room was a bit warm for us, so we put on short sleeved t-shirts, not having realized we could lower the temperature some degrees. Obviously our brains were mush! With Waz already snoring in bed, I fell into bed thinking I could put my ice-blocks somewhere in the vicinity of his body to get warm, without waking him. They needed more than that, and that cold did a none too slow creep up my body until I was out of bed, light on, fishing around in our bags for sox and something warm to put on. A blanket is sitting on the bunk above our heads, fortunately, and I spread that over us (he was hot at this stage and had been asleep until then). With a sweater on and the blanket covering us, and the sox on too, I felt somewhat warmer, though I could still feel the cold through the sox. I fell asleep, but some time during the night took my sweater and sox off and then the blanket off both of us. 
me idiot had the brainwave to open the blind, about this time! AIEEEE! CLOSE THE BLINDS!! LIGHT BE GONE! You know how your eyes feel when you have been asleep in a very dry room for aNo, I wont post a photo, sorry:)

Moving right along....We drank copious glasses of water and dressed ready for a long day out. Breakfast was going to be whatever took our fancy, but had to include coffee! Walking a different route to the Centre Ville, we happened upon a Nth African Café with all kinds of sweet delights inside. I don't want to say it was Algerian, or Moroccan, but the sweetmeats in the glass cases could have been from Turkey also. We ordered our Café au Lait, having failed to order deux Grand Crème (il ne comprend pas..he didn't understand) and two pain chocolat, or as they call them in Bordeaux, Chocolatines. We thought we would try something else and different, so Waz chose a coconut/almond 'cigar' and I chose a Pistachio Baklava. This one was made with pastry instead of the 'normal' filo pastry.
The interior of the shop was rather gloomy, so we sat at the first table just inside the open door and enjoyed the morning sun. It was almost noon, however.  Waz is tearing apart his chocolatine.

 This very pretty Baklava was also very delicious, with a very fragrant honey holding it all together. VERY sticky! Delish.

Before we hit the coffee and sweet stuff, we happened upon the very large Marche des Capucins, the marketplace in the middle of town. What a sight! The smells of fresh caught seafood, coffee, pastry and bread, cured meats, fresh vegetables and so many other  delicacies drew us inside.

 We were sorely tempted to stop here and enjoy a café au lait, but knew there would be plenty more later, and we did want to see most of what was inside the Market.

These scallops (coquilles St Jacques) were HUGE. Atlantic scallops with their roe on. I still don't know why the USA takes it off, but the scallop is nothing without this lovely part of it's anatomy. That is an excellent price per Kg, and we would have been sorely tempted had we a kitchen to cook in. Next time! All the fresh fish and other seafood was so clean and shiny and FRESH!

 As were the freshly butchered Lapin (Rabbit). Tagine de Lapin is divine, if you ever get the chance to try it.

 Because we aren't so far from Basque Country, these Andouille Saucissons were also tempting to try. Andouille sausage is normally associated with Cajun cooking, in the USA.

Having ummed and ahhhed over all the delights, we made our way out the other side of the market. As we were leaving, we happened upon a delightful couple who generously allowed me to photograph their lunch...or brunch, at that time.  How exquisite does that look!

They were shucking oysters at the bar! We are hoping tomorrow we will be able to get to the source of these oysters, out on the Cap Ferret.

With our hunger sated, we set forth for more exploration of the center or the old city of Bordeaux. Again we encountered the Tower of St Michel, just from a different side street. This time, we found the Brocante (car boot sale type) market in full swing. Of course we had to inspect ALL the tables set out in the middle of the square. Apparently this market is on 6 days a week, with Tuesdays being the only day off.

 Elsewhere in the square life went on per normal.

 You needn't buy anything new in France...seriously, we found a bit of everything here, this morning. What a hoot to find boxes and boxes of 45s and LPs. I imagine we might find that elusive first press of the Beatles 45 that is now worth 100 grand! US dollars, of course.

 There was plenty of this kind of thing too!

 On the other side of the square, life was...normal!

 We remembered the small café owned by the English fellow and his French girlfriend...well, maybe they are married...we didn't ask, so we shouldn't presume! but, we were VERY happy to have found it again. Thank goodness for Waz's memory!
Sam and Loubna are the owners of Excuse My French Café, 87 rue des Faures, 33 000 Bordeaux, if you  have a mind to visit! I told them I would give them a great 'plug'! We enjoyed our Latte yesterday and today we opted for black tea in a pot. Always good to get the real thing. Too bad we didn't go there for the Scrambled eggs and Bacon, which Sam said is their nod to the traditional English Breakfast. We caught them making chocolate cake and quiche (I think) but of course we kept interrupting their baking, with questions. Loubna speaks fluent English, having lived in the USA as an Au Pair some time in the not too distant past. A delightful and welcoming couple, their food looks great, though we didn't get to try any of it. You can find the on facebook too! excusemyfrenchcafe should find them.

Stepping outside the door having satisfied our need for tea, we found the dreaded tourist train. We took one of these in St Augustine, USA, one year, and it was very informative, so I shouldn't be too harsh in my criticism of it. We always see so much more when we walk everywhere. Canned tourism is great for some things, however.

 We turned around to take a photo of the café from across the street, and there was Loubna rehanging the lunch specials board. Caught in the act!

There are always spires on the horizon in French towns. I cant speak for other countries, but I'm pretty sure the same goes for all over Europe. This usually tells us that there is a church/cathedral there, and/or similar. We were somewhat taken by these towers, as they were a bit different. Curiosity got the better of us, and we found, to our great delight...

 ...a beautiful Bell Tower and Clock. This is also a Portal into another part of the old city, as you can see.

 The infrastructure holding the Bell in place is rather awesome.

...as is the gilded clock facing the Rue Saint James.

 The Bell was installed in 1775, and like those that preceded it, was the rung in good times and bad.

Walking slowly down this rather skinny street, we delighted in the many ethnic foods in windows facing the street. These sweet treats were individually wrapped in glad wrap, or whatever the brand is here.

 These treats are sans (without) gluten, eggs, flour, sugar etc.


I love little surprises, don't you? This yarn bomb was one of those things that I did a double-take over. I had already gone past, and had to turn back to take the photo. Such a small thing, but so much fun.

 Looking back down the street to the bell tower...and Waz just happened to be in the way!:) As you can see, not too many people out around noon time. Strange, on a Friday!

As most people who live in the city live in apartments, they play outdoors in the parks, most of the time. When you don't have anywhere inside (or outside, for that matter) to store your stuff, this is what you do. The windows open in, fortunately.

 Would you consider this graffiti? We thought it quite stunning.

 More food stories, anyone?

By now it was 2pm, and we felt slightly puckish. Those pastries for brunch didn't last as long as anticipated. Must have been all that walking!  Where to eat? So many choices, but this one was was no contest, really. A Breton Restaurant. We had just been saying how much we missed the crepes and Galettes that are everywhere in Bretagne (Brittany), here is somewhere we can get them both.
Rue St Catherine is an almost pedestrian street in the more posh part of town. Name brand stores, interesting gift stores, restaurants and generally a more up-market feeling to it and the clientele.

 We sat down inside and took our jackets off. Was ordered a Galette Indien, with chicken, crème fraiche and a little curry. I ordered the Omelette Forestiere with cheese, mushrooms and ham. Marvelous! We finished with a café Alonge (al ong zhay) each. This is a double espresso, basically.
We studied their breakfast menu, and I thought you might like to see the choices too.
Breizh (Bree zhe) means Breton, in Breton language.
If you are British, you can get scrambled eggs on toast, a hot drink and fresh squeezed orange juice...and it is too! (I saw the squeezer). The Breton gives you a butter and sugar crepe with a hot drink and fresh orange juice. The Frenchy gives you the same hot drink and orange juice with is like an open faced sandwich...how to explain this?  Toast with butter and jam, but this would probably be toasted baguette.

 Galette Indien..Wazs lunch choice.

 My Mushroom, cheese and ham omelette lunch choice, with a small salad.

 Low and behold...just two doors down from our lunch restaurant, we found Burger King where they are offering King Breakfast for 2.90 euros. Just over $3 US. A hot drink and a bacon and egg toasted croissant.

In the same street, and not to give you indigestion, or anything, but these are rather eye-catching, don't you think?

We leave this street with its lovely stores, and where we managed to find a fantastic gift store. Would you believe that we engaged a delightful young woman in conversation, only to find that she had attended the same private College in New Zealand, that my youngest son graduated from. He was a couple of years ahead of her, but what are the chances? She spent three years in NZ, and still has some of the kiwi mannerisms and colloquialisms. Small world?

Onwards, and the Victory Arch  on the Place de la Victoire.  You can see the Obelisk behind, and this is an homage to Wine in this famous for it's wine region, Bordeaux. The sculpture is amazing, as detailed in the following photos. You had to take particular care to really LOOK at all the small artwork on the structure and on the Tortoise.

 It looks like just another sculpture until you get upclose and personal. THEN the secrets reveal themselves. Look closely...what do you see? The Tortoise has grapes hanging out of its mouth. Now observe the shell....

 In detail!

 On it's neck...man with grapes.

 ...and a smaller tortoise....in the Place de la Victoire.

 Snakes Alive!  These ones on the Obelisk, which is made of pink granite, I believe.

 Details of the images on the Obelisk.

 It really is fantastic. People were seated around the Obelisk, which made taking photos a bit of a challenge, and I didn't want to get too intimate with them, but they didn't move!

We made the decision to go back towards the river on the way home. It was getting on for 4pm by now, and the light wasn't good for photography.

 We were slightly distracted by yet another spire...or in this case, a spire and a golden sculpture. This one on the top of the steeple of the Cathedral de Bordeaux, the Cathedral St Andre. What a fabulous building. Fortunately they are in the process of restoring it, both inside and out.  I was fortunate to be invited into one of the side chapels in the dark bowels of the cathedral, where the guide was shining his flashlight onto some of the original frescoes that had been discovered in the process of cleaning.

 Details on the outside of the clean part of the Cathedral. Dragons suckling on the left, and a lion being run-through on the right. Cheerful stuff these Christians did!

 Inside the building is this stunning Organ which has quite a rocky history. It appears that it has always been troublesome, and right from the 15th century onwards. It has been remade completely in the 1800s, but still has 'issues'.

 The interior taken from the Organ end of the church. There were rehearsals being held in the middle of the Cathedral for some Catholic ritual, involving candelabra and gold crosses...large and shiny ones.

 Of course not worthwhile cathedral is complete without the stunning stained glass windows, of which there were many.

 The façade that has been cleaned looks wonderful. The flying buttress out to the right side looks a bit weird though.

 As the sun dipped lower, we turned around to see the Hotel de Ville, or Town Hall, which also happens to be the Maire, or where the Mayor has his offices. Silly me had thought I might just rock up there and tell the Mayor to get the street cleaners out more often, but of course there were very well armed guards at the gate, and besides, the Mayor was probably about to go home for the day.
The gate needs to be cleaned next, methinx.

Off we went, homeward bound. Too bad we are easily distracted, eh? The smell emanating from the Fromagerie demanded a photograph...from the outside, of course. Waz had complained that he has yet to go INSIDE a fromagerie...well, here was his chance! non?  Non! He had other things on his mind.

 So did I! I was in need of some chocolate...really!! Definitely!
Fortunately, they aren't hard to find:) The choice was challenging, but this little Buche or Log was the prefect size for a 'snack' (don't you think?) and it was citron (lemon) so it wasn't too sweet. The Ganache was citron, not the outside chocolate. I couldn't possible tell you all the flavors, or you would be drooling all over your keyboard.

 As Bretagne has it's regional dessert, so does Bordeaux. Like they need them, right?
Canele have religious origins, or course, and one could be thinking religious thoughts...like OH GOD, these are wonderful...? when eating them. We have yet to try them...butter and sugar are so tempting, but one thing at a time, oui?

 Voila!

As I said, we had other sugary things on our minds...well, Waz did. He didn't participate in the eating of the Buche Citron, so he opted for deux boules of Gelato, and I, for one. He loves Fraises (strawberry) and Fruit de Passion (speaks for itself), while I tried something new this time, and went with the Speculoos. We get the small cookies (speculoose) with our coffee every time, and that is what was in side the gelato.

 Waz wanted you to see how large the waffle cone is, and that you didn't have to pay extra for the cone the way you have to in the USA. 4 euros for the 2 boules (balls),  and 2.50 for one.

 This is what is left of mine, and I particularly wanted you to see the cookie inside. Yum!:)
We get away with eating all this because we endless walk...all day!

 Our feet were hurting ...and our backs, and we just had to sit a while, so we stopped on this seat for 5 minutes. It was getting cold, as the clock turned towards 5pm, so we didn't tarry. The park looks out on the very busy road alongside the River, and we watched the world in their vehicles whizz by. Speaking of vehicles...you have to really watch out for the bikes, motorcycles and other motorized things that whizz around you constantly. I must remember, when we pick up our car tomorrow, to look at the little traffic lights on the right hand side of the road.

 Oh how tempting to go and see what this Portal is all about, but tired feet, backs, hands and shoulders (carrying those heavy handbags across our bodies) drove us homeward.

 At this point in the day, I was ready to hijack this cuties for the rest of the way home. Don't ask how many Kms we walked today, but I might need new shoes in 3 weeks time!

Once back in the Hotel, Waz lay down for a nap, and before we knew it, it was 7.30pm.

Waking the sleeping giant was a little challenging, but we eventually put our shoes back on our sore feet and went outside into the cold evening. We opted to try out the Bistrot in the Train Station, this evening, and we weren't disappointed with our choice. Slightly more expensive than last night, at 39euros, but we felt happy with our meals.
I was game for a Rose wine this evening. I don't normally drink wine due to the headache inducing Nitrites in the wines we get in the USA. I didn't get a whiff of one last night when I sipped some of Waz's Beaujolais nouveau, so decided to wing it tonight. Delightful, light and cold! Waz had a Val de Loire merlot I believe.
He was upsold on the New York Burger and fries...the latter being delicious and hot, and the burger living up to the hype...pastrami making all the difference.
I chose the Cocotte de Poulet with mushrooms, potato and carrots. It was creamy and delicious, and well worth sopping up the sauce with the baguette placed on the table at the beginning of the meal.

The lettuce with a drizzle of vinaigrette was perfect to accompany the meal...and I forgot to mention the petite tomates! Quelle Horreur!

Satisfied, we went in search of the Car rental offices, and found them in the underground garage area of the train station. We need to pick our car up tomorrow morning. Yay! Getting out of the city and to the coast. Whoohoo!
A demain! A bientot!

In Our Happy Place!

You couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces if you tried! The arrival hall at immigration was the usual French disaster, but we didn't care. Predicted time to get through the mass of arriving humanity was just over 60 minutes. We have to admit to queue jumping in order to make our TGV connect to Bordeaux, just before noon.
Arriving at 7am, a good 35 minutes ahead of schedule made no difference to the masses all trying to get through Customs. No bio-security here: Just get your passport stamped and go through the Nothing to Declare gate and you are free to go, as it were.
We looked around for the Police, but only spied two armed officers, in direct contrast to previous visits to the same place.

This year, the arrival hall was much nicer than last year, but it appears Charles de Gaulle airport is in a similar state of eternal reconstruction as so many other ports of entry around the world.
Last year, Laduree only had a small carte for their famous Macarons, at the airport, but this year, I took special note, they have their very own store. The shop assistant kindly exited the store for me to take my photo. If you have never been to Laduree (Lar dur ray), be sure to visit their Champs Elysee Tea Rooms, which are stunning...and so is the food!

When I first came through CDG in 1981, I was very taken with this series of people carrying tubes in the center of the airport. they are looking pretty tired now, but they are iconic, and I cant think of the airport as not having them. Inside are escalators, or Escalier.

 I deliberately didn't make this photo larger...The old woman staring back at me is about to pass out, I believe. We were on the RER train from the airport into Port Royal, on the Blue Line into Paris Central. Port Royal is the station at the Montparnasse end of the Luxembourg Gardens, and the closest station on that line, to Gare Montparnasse, where we had to catch our TGV train to Bordeaux.

One of the most pleasant parts of this journey is the short hop across the Atlantic. With a 6 hour time difference, it is very 'friendly' to our general health, and apart from the Jacksonville to Newark trip, it was a comfy journey. We wont say much about the airline food because there really is little to say about it that is good. Suffice to say, the feeble attempt at a 'French' breakfast was not generally well received.

The Jax - Newark 2 hrs was from hell! It is every parents nightmare that their overwrought/tired babies will scream for the entire journey. Well, we had two sets of twins, both less than a year old, who did just that, and they were only three rows in front of us. We felt for the parents trying to hold onto these wriggling messes, determined to throw themselves backwards, and little calmed them. Thank goodness it was a short trip. We wouldn't have survived a longer one, I'm sure. The whole place was breathing a sigh of relief, on disembarking. Of course one of the children fell asleep 10 minutes before landing! phew!

The only aspect of travel that we abhor, is the two days before departing. Usually we are fully packed with very little to occupy us beyond the final vacuum and fridge emptying exercises. The same cannot be said for this time around, however.

We had wall to wall medical and dental appointments on Monday and Tuesday, as we will be away 3 1/2 weeks, this time. Waz is in the process of having a crown installed at the very back/bottom, and they sent him away with a temporary crown, after spending 5 1/2 hours and three separate crown installation attempts during which two of the new ones broke. The dentist kept him there until 6.30pm on Tuesday night, but gave up, not wanting to make-do, and she will make a 4th attempt at getting this thing installed, upon our return. His mouth is still a little tender from all the pushing and pulling, on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile...Back in Paris...

We found the RER B line in Terminal 3, and caught the train into Port Royal, as I said. One of the reasons for not changing trains at this station to arrive underground at Gare (Gar) Montparnasse, is that we LOVE the walk from the Port Royale to Gare M.  I hope you can see why. 

Another reason to like this station is that it has both Escalier (escalator) and an Ascenseur (Elevator/lift). Sure beats carrying our heavy bags up endless steps, depending on how deep in the bowels of the Metro you are.

This is the view from the exit, as we ready ourselves to cross Rue Montparnasse. The Plain trees still have plenty of leaves on them, and the Liquidambar are still flaunting their bright red foliage. 

 I always like juxtapositions, and these newer apartments are in direct contrast to the classical beauties in the photo above (right)

 Rue Montparnasse at 9.30am had very little traffic, surprisingly. This is very familiar territory to us, as we usually choose to stay not far from here and the boulevard Saint Michel which runs alongside the Luxembourg Gardens down to the Seine River and the Isle de la Cite.

Our favorite grumpy Poissonier was out dressing his display case of fresh seafood, and I asked him if I could photograph these sea urchins, lobsters and crabs. I believe they all come from coastal Bretagne (Brittany).

That's him on the left. Those are scallops on ice.

Verring of R. Montparnasse and down a few familiar side streets, we delight in the known shops with their glorious displays. I lagged well behind Waz as I took in the gorgeous meats in the Boucherie.

Stunning!!!

Puppies out strolling their people, per usual, and these two woolies were waiting outside a Poissonerie for their mistress.

 We didn't stop to ask what they were dump diving for, but the puppy wasn't too impressed.

We were somewhat fearful that we would be held up in the Customs hall and not make our noon connection to the Bordeaux-bound TGV, but of course we needn't have worried. Our timing was perfect, and this gave us a few minutes to enjoy our first Grand Crème (Double shot espresso with hot milk) and Pain Raisin (raisin pinwheel with apricot glaze) at Paul Café. We were pretty desperate by this stage...for both the coffee and some sustenance. No he hasn't sucked on lemons...just savoring the delicious pastry.

Satisfied, we went in search of our train and platform, and hopefully a toilet...yes, we found the latter...80 centimes, thanks.
The departing train platform is often not announced until the train is almost ready to leave, and there is a crazy mass exodus of people in the direction of the newly announced platform. We watched this happen several times, and decided to find where our train might possibly be departing from and to move closer to it. Eagle-eyed Waz went walkabout and found the right place and we moved in the nick of time. Boarding the train early means we get to put our large luggage on the rack at the beginning of our carriage. This time we were upstairs, and we were happy to stack our bags after lugging them for a couple of hours.

While waiting, we had both taken time to go walkabout...I found a lovely book shop...too bad they were all in French...ha! just kidding! but I did look at some of the gossip magazines while there, keeping a keen eye on the shop keeper who discouraged this kind of behavior I was exhibiting.
We agreed that we should have some food for the train journey, and I purchased two grain bread Americain sandwiches, which are not sandwiches as we know them, but rather a split baguette with varied fillings. I think ours had grilled chicken, tomato, cheese and a bit of lettuce. Eu 5.60, thanks. I also found a Tarte Armande et Cassis...Almond and black current tart...which of course I ate before the sandwich, as you do in France! Non? Waz was a good lad and ate his main course first:)  I took one bite of the dry Pain Cereal sandwich and declared I wasn't in the mood for 'dry' food, and put it back in it's bag for later....which of course never came.

Gare Montparnasse is directly opposite the Tower with the same name...without the Gare in front. This building is impressive, and yet another major transportation hub under renovation.

The TGV trains (literally: Trains of very great speed) are all lined up at the station. They are double ended, so they just pull out from the other end. They could all have done with a jolly good clean, but then I guess that would be an endless task, given that we clocked 317kph at one stage, on our journey. You don't actually feel that you are going that fast, but think about this....Paris to Bordeaux in 2 hrs and 5 minutes. Take a look at the map, and you will see how far that is. Sorry...it's late and I'm not going in search of that information. Suffice to say, it is a long way!

We watched this floor washing machine (and it's driver) with much amusement. He didn't warn people he was following them closely...people on their phones, or talking to each other as they walked along in front of the machine got quite the fright when they realized this thing was close on their heels.

 ...And of course there is always a McDonalds when you need it. This wasn't in the Station last year, so we were somewhat surprised to see it here. Did you know that France is second only to the USA in it's consumption of McDonalds? I knew you would want to know that!

This is a map of the lower half of France On the left you can see the Atlantic Coast and Bordeaux, and on the right, the Med. As the crow flies, we aren't that far from Spain!

This is the huge map we found as we exited the train at Bordeaux St Jean station.

Plenty of old buildings are train stations, and Bordeaux is no exception. She lacks some of the glorious ornamentation of some others, but she is still impressive.

We choose to stay close to the Train Station, and so we only had a short walk to drop our bags off and head on out again to explore.
These are the local and very efficient trams that we followed down to the Gironde River, and walked alongside that for a couple of Kilometre.

Crossing the road first, these purple chairs caught my eye in the mid afternoon sunlight. What a pretty day, and though not warm, it was delightful in the sun. About 15C.

 We came back to this restaurant (below) for dinner. Waz had the Moules Frites (he was in heaven!) and a glass of Beaujolais nouveau, and I ordered the Salade Norvigienne: Smoked salmon, potato, hard boiled egg, tomato, cucumber and plenty of butter lettuce topped off with a delightful vinaigrette. Delish! The accompanying panier de pain was not so delish and I didn't have the wherewithal or the French words to complain about it before eating. After food was another matter, however, lol. We enjoyed a Grand Crème instead of dessert, and were very happy to just sit and soak up the atmosphere and the feeling of utter contentment we both had.

This is the sidewalk sign that brought us into the restaurant. We ate so many when in Bretagne, the past two years, and this was comfort food for his honor. They charged us another Euro for the dinner variety, for some reason. Still, our dinner was a very reasonable 35euros for two mains, two grand crème and a glass of Beaujolais nouveau.

Going back to our arrival in Bordeaux.
After dropping our bags, we walked to the river, as I said, and followed it up to the Pont St Michel. A splendid bridge over a wide section of the Gironde River, which was running very fast, as the tide was going out.

Always plenty going on where you have water. Can you see the current in that river? It reminded us of a certain boat trip we did down the Mississippi when it was in flood. Our boat was doing 8.3 knots, but the Mississippi was doing 8.5, for a combined speed of 16.8 knots! What a buzz!

 The lamp posts on the bridge are as lovely as any you will find.

 Looking UP the river. What glorious weather we are enjoying. About 15C and though the wind had a bite to it, I had my scarf off more than on.

 As we turned away from the bridge to head back to the hotel, we saw this trail of school kids, aged about 7, I guess. They had obviously been across the road alongside the river to the park to play, for PE. Most of the schools have paved yards with very little grass, we notice.

 We usually find water first, on any given day, and having satisfied that need, we took the route home that followed the Spire. As churches usually have space around them, we sought it out.
This is the spire of St Michel, dating back to the 15th century. It is generally in rather bad shape, but we notice that the city is putting much effort into restoration of many historic buildings. Still, it is sad to see the degradation of the stone and the decorative elements.

 You can see the area to the left, in this photo, that has been boarded up. The spire is part of the Church (Eglise = Aye gleece) of St Michel.

 By 4pm we were on our way back to the hotel along the waterfront. Before we found the Spire, we stopped at a small English owned café and enjoyed a 'take 5' moment or 10 with a Café Latte. We didn't actually particularly seek the English part, it just happened to be that way. Normally we try to find everything but.

Along one of the Quai, we spied this almost new American flag. We wondered if a student had moved in here, this being a University city.

 The late afternoon light was glorious, and the cool in the air  was welcome. I do love these stone buildings.

I plonked down on the bed, on our return to the Hotel, and didn't raise my head for another two hours. Waz reminded me that if we wanted to eat, now would be a good idea. We headed back to the restaurant I told you about previously, sat down and ordered our dinner. Service was not hurried, and we were reminded that Americans tend to want everything NOW! Oh dear....is that us too? If it is, we need to break that one poste haste!
The greeter decided we should have English menus, but we declined in favor of the French variety. This somewhat surprised her. Our waiter insisted on practicing his English on us, and I answered in my best French, when my brain finally kicked in after some food. I have to remember there are regional differences in accent, as I wondered if people were listening to my accent more than the words I was saying...or were the words just wrong? They weren't, because when I repeated myself in French, they understood me. Phew!

We walked for a bit after dinner...back to the train station, actually, and took a good look around that lovely old building. We found a couple of restaurant...perhaps we will take a look there tomorrow night, for dinner. Casual is great, and we aren't into fancy!

We were glad to come home and shower in our tiny cubicle...oh...didn't I tell you about the SMALL hotel room? You could not swing a kitten, let alone a cat, in this tiny place. We aren't into big and expensive hotel rooms, as we spend all our days out and about. This room was a bit of a shock, however. We like the brand for it's non=pretentious design and the convenience of its hotels. We also get great specials. You cant beat 44 euros per night for a mid city hotel room, can you?

Waz went to bed before I did, because I had to at least start this blog post. If I don't keep up with them, the days get left behind as do the memories.
Bonne Nuit. A bientot.