Bordeaux

A nice calm post... but things might start to get kinda wild now... stay tuned everyone. :)

Whew. Finally back from Bordeaux. Tiffany and I went for the weekend. For some reason it is nearly impossible to get from Grenoble to Bordeaux by train. We took a 12 hour night train on the way there (which was MUCH better than the last night train) and a 10 hour all day train on the way back. At least I got all my homework done, I was able to read quite a bit of my book, and I got to nap too! Bordeaux was a really nice city, albeit incredibly cold. I wore two shirts, two pair of socks, a sweater, my coat, and gloves the entire time. Our hostel room was incredibly cold, and the heat never did work, and the walls were paper thin. We could hear the man next door snoring through the wall over the music from our headphones. The main cathedral in town is really beautiful, so we checked that out on Friday. There’s also a tower next to it that offers really incredible panoramic views of the city from the top. It was Bordeaux’s jazz festival so we got tickets to one of the concerts Friday night. Right beforehand we decided to go check out their park, which was rather extensive and beautiful, but apparently it closes at dark (there were no signs whatsoever) and we almost got locked in the park since it’s completely surrounded by a very tall fence. Luckily we got out, but unluckily we went to the jazz concert. My dad really likes jazz so I’ve heard a lot of different kinds of jazz. Tiffany lives in NYC and she’s heard a lot of jazz too… so we’re both wondering why this was jazz. In fact, I’m pretty sure it was only “music” in the very broad and technical definition of the term. The guitarist and saxophonist seemed intent on showing off the top 50 most annoying noises their instruments could make, and I don’t think they or the drummer were ever playing the same song at the same time. It can be most accurately described as sounding like a group of 13 year olds who decide to start a garage band, but have never played instruments before. The first song started and Tiffany said “Oh, they’re tuning”. No. No… it was the song. The 15 minute long song. Certainly a story though. Saturday we checked out one of the museums in town and walked around a pedestrian quarter for a while. Then we went on a Chateaux/Wine Tasting tour offered by the VERY helpful and modern Tourist Office in Bordeaux. If you ever go, make sure to stop in there. The tour was really nice because it was well narrated in both French and English (my brain kept translating each language into the other…) and it was on a tour bus which was good since it was FREEZING and raining and everything was included for a very reasonable price. I am not a fan of the Bordeaux wine from the Medoc region, but it was really interesting to see different ways of making it, and some of the chateaux there are amazing, especially because quite a few of them are still the primary residence for the family that owns the vineyard. Sunday was all day on a train. The last leg was a different train from Lyon to Grenoble and it was either overbooked, or a lot of the students were riding illegally without a ticket, because by the time Tiff and I got there there were no seats left! A note to any train riders out there: After about 20 minutes of sitting on the tiny stairs, your behind goes completely numb. And when we got back to Grenoble we realized that the trams still weren’t running at night as the city’s violence deterrent… Luckily my family loves me very very much and Elise sent my brother to pick us both up and drive us both home! A very relaxing weekend of travel overall. I reccoment Bordeaux to anyone travelling in France. The city has been completely re-hauled in the past decade thanks to a new mayor. The streets are wider and safer, the tram system is gorgeous, brand new, and very easy to figure out. The VAST majority of buildings are in the classical style which gives the city a very old-world feel and the tourist office is immensely helpful. Just take lots of warm clothes! Hope everyone is having a good week!