Europe 2014: Bordeaux (France) 2 nights before driving to San Sebastian

Sunday 18th May 2014

Take your dog on the train - no worries

Took the 10:13am train from Brussels to Paris Gare du Nord station arriving at 11:35am and then swapped using the Metro which was fairly painless (even had some people give us their day metro tickets) to Paris Gare Montparnasse station for our first French lunch at a Parisian sidewalk cafe then a 2:28pm train Bordeaux arriving 5:42pm. With the train reaching speeds of 299km/h we covered a lot of distance in good time.

Through AirBnB we stayed with Sonja in her apartment right in the middle of town. It was the perfect spot and an excellent apartment. Bordeaux has amazing buildings plus statues, fountains, arches, churches etc. and inner city is mostly pedestrian traffic. Found a place for dinner but finding the language barrier widening the further we travel from Amsterdam.

Monday 19th May 2014

For 2 Euro purchased a self guided walking tour map from the Visitors Centre "Unesco Heritage Tour" so as not to miss any of the major sites (almost the whole city is world heritage!) Toward the end, walking north up rue des Argentiers, we came to a large square with a cathedral "St Pierre" on one side and many cafes lining the other three sides. A busker was playing music at the centre of the square (after a suitable time he walks cap in hand around the cafes for tips).

Bordeaux Grand Theatre

St Pierre cathedral was empty, which astonished us as it was really beautiful with stone columns and magnificent stained glass. We thought a choir was playing and hesitantly crept further inside to find discreet speakers were the source of the spiritual music. The acoustics of the church enhanced the sounds. Despite its comparative small scale it became one of SR's favourite churches so far. Before and again after lunch, we spent a few minutes silently soaking up its atmosphere.

Lunch was enjoyed opposite the church at a Le Grilladin St Pierre. The lady/owner of the cafe was very welcoming (unlike some of the French), and despite language difficulties she helped us select wine and dishes. AR even did his first Trip Advisor review and left a 5 Euro tip.

Dinner in Place Gambetta was made easy with an English menu offered at Le Grand Cafe. Got talking for an hour or so to an American couple who were seated next to us. They were experienced travellers and had great stories and tips. For Europe they just hire a car and find accommodation as they go. They had only been stuck once when they arrived to find the Grand Prix on and had to drive to the next town to find a room.

Arrived home to find our key wouldn't work and when Sonja didn't answer her mobile (she often sleeps at her boyfriend's house) we were considering the possibility we'd be sleeping on her porch! Thankfully she was home and her boyfriend had left the key in the other side by mistake preventing ours from working and after being disturbed by her mobile message came to the door and let us in, crisis averted.

Tuesday 20th May 2014