Trip to Bordeaux

Bordeaux, more like Bor-beau! So beautiful. The city still has all of its old pretty buildings because it was not destroyed during the wars. I don’t really find myself saying this often, but I really think that I could imagine myself living there :). The city is lively and full of really nice, friendly people. The buildings are beautiful, the beach is nearby, and there is just so much diversity terrain-wise in the surrounding area. It has got to be one of my favorite places in France! :)

On Monday, I took a long walk through the city thanks to a little map from Leo’s roommate, Anais! I saw a few things in the city like this nice little garden area, the theater, the city hall, two churches, and lots of nice old buildings. 

It was nice outside when I started my walk, but all of a sudden, this crazy rainstorm came out of no where! I decided to use this time to go get something to eat. I got a sandwich and eclair. The rain continued for a while though, so I decided to take shelter in a grocery store. When I got out of the grocery and started heading back to the apartment, the sun started to come out… great timing, lol. I have not had the best luck with the weather today. Luckily for me, I am not really in a rush to see the city.

Place Gambetta

Weather was so strange, overcast, then rainy, then sunny for a bit, then rainy again

Later in the afternoon, Anais and I ran some errands in town. We walked around and did a little shopping. We went into this one store that had all these cute little kid stuff. 

Very colorful, happy store!

Then we continued to walk around and I got a picture in front of one of the many ancient doors of Bordeaux. There are quite a few of them around the town. 

There I am with one of the old doorways

After our walk, we returned to the apartment. After dinner, we had some canelés which are a specialty of Bordeaux. They are like these little pastries that kind of remind me of mini pound cakes. That night we finished watching a strange Japanese movie that we had started watching on the train ride over Sunday night. This movie was about a lady and her lover and how they killed her husband together so that they could be together. But, it was kind of pointless to kill the husband, because they pretended he was away at work in Tokyo for three years… so they couldn’t be seen together anyways… For some reason, after three years, the ghost of the husband haunts the widow and she can’t handle it. I won’t reveal the end exactly, but I will say that it’s not a happy ending. 

On Tuesday, I went and explored Bordeaux again, but the weather was rainy off and on again. In the afternoon, I visited the interior of a pretty church. I wanted to visit the tower of another cathedral in town but it had certain visiting times, so I had to come back later.

Then, I went to get lunch at this little cafe called Columbus. They had bagel sandwiches which were so good!! And their muffins were homemade and yummy as well! 

yummy bagel and white chocolate raspberry muffin

After getting lunch, I went back to the grand cathedral and the tower. I visiting the interior of the cathedral. It was really big and beautiful.

you can see the golden Mary statue on the left which on top of the tower next to the cathedral 

Better view of the tower with the cathedral further back

Interior of the cathedral

Then, I was still too early to climb the tower, so I took a walk around Bordeaux and saw another door of the city. 

After that little walk, I went back to the tower and climbed up the narrow staircase to get a nice view of the city. I would not recommend this staircase to claustrophobic people. because it was really narrow and pretty long (200 something steps). There were two levels where you could get off and see the view. The highest level had a very tiny door that you had to go through! 

Such a tiny door!

The climb was worth it though, and I really got a nice view of the city from up there! I also got a nice view of the cathedral St Andre (which is the one that is right next to the tower). It looks really cool from up high. The roof is very cool.

View of Bordeaux

View of St. Andre

Later, I continued to walk around and stumbled upon a shop that sells canelés and other treats.

So the pictures on the right are of canelés, which are a specialty in this region

I also saw the opera, the grand hotel, a cool fountain, and a ferris wheel. There was even a little amusement park surrounding the ferris wheel. 

awesome fountain, but unfortunately no water in it this time of year

In the evening, Leo and I went to eat at at his friend’s place. It was so great to meet some more of his friends! They are all really cool and I enjoy talking to them and hanging out with them. It was a really nice evening, but of course on our way there and back it drizzled. It was very nice to see Bordeaux in the evening though as we walked! It’s so pretty!

So pretty!

On Wednesday, the weather was beautiful all day long! I spent a lot of time outside exploring! I was out for about 6 hours just enjoying the town and trying to see everything and anything! 

I went to Ash Wednesday mass in a very huge, beautiful cathedral (St. Andre-the catherdral I had visited the day before). Then, I decided to do a little shopping at a mall I stumbled upon. Upon exiting the mall, this old couple asked me for directions to a Nespresso store… Unfortunately, I couldn’t help them out, but I was a bit flattered that they assumed I was from here :P. *Side note: Leo showed me where the store is so now if anyone asks in the future, I am ready, lol. 

This is after mass, there were actually a lot of people there!

Then, I bought a delicious bagel and muffin from the Columbus cafe again. I love that place! I took it to go so that I could eat it by the river. As I was walking around, I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up getting a little lost… As I was examining my map, a guy walks up to me and asks if I am trying to get somewhere, and he ends up walking with me to the train station and showing me the way to the river. I head an accent when he was speaking french, and soon we realized that we were both from english speaking countries. This guy was from London, England and he was in Bordeaux teaching English at universities through the British Council. It was cool to chat with him, and I wish I had his job here in Bordeaux :). 

Pretty train station

I finally made it to the river, and found a bench where I had my lunch. The bagel was so yummy, but the muffin was even more delicious! 

Nutella muffin!! mmmmm

I admired the Stone bridge (pont de pierre) as I was eating, and I just enjoyed spending time in the sun. Then, I continued to walk along the river, until I saw a cool church coming up. I decided to stop by it and take a look inside. It was really beautiful like all of the churches here! 

Stone Bridge

Another gorgeous church

This looked so cool with the stained glass colors reflecting on it

After that little pit stop, I continued along the river, until I reached le miroir d’eau and le place de la Bourse. There, I sat down and enjoyed the sun. I got a little creative with the picture-taking :).

Place de la Bourse

Enjoying the sun!

Next, I continued on to see the grosse cloche, which is this massive clocktower. 

Grosse Cloche

In the evening, we went out for Anais’s birthday! It was really fun to hang out with everyone and I got to meet more really nice people! I swear everyone I meet here in Bordeaux is so great! I really enjoyed talking with all of them. I even met one guy, Guillaume, who practiced his english with me :). I always enjoy helping and practicing with others and in return, he helped me with my french. 

On Thursday, I went into town in the morning and bought a few things at the grocery store. Then for lunch, I met up with Guillaume and we went to a bagel place! One thing that I miss from the US is a good bagel, so I was excited to go there. It still isn’t exactly like an American bagel, but I will admit, it was pretty good! Then after that, Guillaume took me to a nice park. There, we walked around and even saw some animals because there is a little farm in the park. There was also a small pond with some ducks and strange birds. There were even some palm trees there and one weird tree that looked like it was ready to be used as a goal for rugby or (american)football. It was such a beautiful day to go to the park and there were lots of people just walking, people watching, and enjoying the outdoors. 

Pond at the park

Pretty palm trees at the park

Look at this tree! lol

After the park, Guillaume took me to the beach! It was so nice to be at the beach, but unfortunately, there were some bad storms that brought in a lot of trash recently :(. There was even a washed up buoy! You don't realize how big these things are until you see them up close!

Huge buoy!

I love the beach!

Then we continued to see another side of the beach, because we were on a peninsula called Cap Ferret. Guillaume showed me the Pilat Dune, which is the tallest sand dune in Europe! 

Dune de Pilat

Then, we went further along the peninsula and had some ice cream outside by the water. It was so relaxing and the weather was perfect! I really had a great time with Guillaume and I am so grateful that he was kind enough to take me to places that otherwise I probably would have never seen. 

On Friday, I went for a nice long walk along the river. I saw Europe's largest lift bridge from a distance. Unfortunately, I didn't see it rise, but it was still cool!

Lift bridge in Bordeaux

I also walked by a really cool skatepark! This city is just full of surprises! I really also love the lamp posts here by the river. They are just so pretty!

pretty lamp posts!

After the walk, I got some lunch (yummy bagel) to go and ate outside at the place gambetta. There were so many people enjoying the fresh air, and it was really a nice atmosphere. After lunch, I walked around the city a bit more, and then went to a patisserie to try some desserts. I tried chocolate praline cake and a vanilla cake which I had with some tea later on that afternoon.

Desserts

In the late afternoon, I took a train back to Tours, to spend the weekend with my french mom :). 

I am so thankful to Leo, Anais, Guillaume, and all of their friends for making my stay in Bordeaux so wonderful! And I can't wait to be back sometime soon! :)

Sad to leave Bordeaux, but excited to be back in Tours!

Magdalena