After 2 busy days in Bordeaux, France I will try to keep this entry brief and just hit the highlights - good luck with that! The 70 kilometer sail into Bordeaux on the Garonne River Estuary is a good one. Only the smaller cruise ships can make it into the city and the timing has to be right to coincide with high tide. With an 11:15 am arrival time, we had time for a scenic breakfast.
One highlight is sailing under the Pont Jacques Chabon Delmas lift bridge.
And then you are docked right in the city just 100 meters or so from the Place de la Bourse.
We had booked a river cruise at 3:00 pm so, after lunch we walked around the city with a goal of passing by the Grosse Cloche. We first walked through the Place de la Bourse. It was a hot day in Bordeaux with temps in the 90's. A rest stop in the shade was very welcome. And then it was on to the Cloche.
We then stopped at a bistro for cold drinks. What interesting art work they had in the bathroom!
We walked through the Ports Cailhau to the boat dock.
The cruise was a nice way to relax on a hot day. It included a glass of wine and rest time for Linda.
Did I mention that it was hot?
Dinner that evening was in the Terrace Cafe where they had a French Chef's Market Dinner with plenty of fresh mussels and a great halibut dish that Chef Paolo brought up just for us!
After dinner, it was time for a stroll along the river and a nice sunset.
We had an overnight stay in Bordeaux. In the morning I was able to go for a bit of a jog/walk.
Thankfully, it was much cooler on Saturday. We walked up to the Jardin Public and the Jardin Botanique.
As recommended by concierge Julio, we went barefoot in the park to relieve our stress (which was already non-existent).
From there, we made our way to the crowded Promenade Sainte-Catherine where we had a quick lunch and did just a bit of shopping.
On the way back to the ship, we were surprised to pass a shop selling Patreis de Nata. We had to sample one to compare with the Portuguese delicacy. It was good but not as good.
And now for the story of serendipity. When we were getting off the ship in the morning, a familiar looking guy was walking up the gangway. It was Shane Erickson who used to be an Oceania Club Ambassador and who we sailed with many times. He left Oceania 7 or 8 years ago but his wife, Gordanya, works on board. We arranged to have an evening drink with Shane and Gordanya eventually joined us. The evening continued for 3 hours including dinner with them. So much for our plan to have dinner in Bordeaux, but it was great to catch up with Shane and to meet Gordanya.
And Shane, being a quality guy, brings to mind Rule of Civility number 56:
Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'is better to be
alone than in bad company
The stop in France brought our country total to 3.
Sunday is a welcome sea day, a day to relax and catch our breath before the upcoming 9 port days.
Peace and blessings,
Linda and Larry
And now for a post-script - the saga of the port glass. As you may recall from my post from Lisbon, we made a stop for bacalhau and port. The port glass is a give-away and I was anxious to bring it home to add to my collection.
Well, our butler mistakenly took it from our cabin that evening. When I mentioned it to her, she was very apologetic, took a picture of it from my photo and the search began. It took a few days with that picture apparently posted all over and, as we were sitting on our balcony in Bordeaux, the head butler came to our cabin and presented the glass!
The saga of the port glass had a happy ending.
