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FRANCE 2023
  • Nicole Cool
  • Nicole Cool

FRANCE 2023

A 15-day adventure by Nicole Read more
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  • Trip start
    September 30, 2023
    Nicole CoolFRANCE 2023Traveler

    Departure day - On y va!

    September 30, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Ok wow - it's finally here! We are going to France! (Hopefully!) We are using our confirmed seat passes so hopefully that means we get on our flights. We decided the loads look better out of Montreal so we have to head there first. I dropped Roxy off this morning at Pinetree Pet Resort. It's not quite what I had expected so I felt sad leaving her but I'm sure she will be fine. We packed up all our new luggage and are traveling for 2 weeks without checking any bags! I'm impressed! Our flights to Montreal and Paris went smoothly. JP and isabelle got upgraded for the long overnight flight to France. We didn't sleep much - dinner was served at midnight due to turbulence. We watched a couple movies and tried to sleep a few hours. Once we landed in Paris we felt like we were on the Amazing Race bc we had to find our way to a different terminal and even with our French skills we got turned around multiple times. We finally made it to the Bordeaux gates but the first flight was full. We got a Starbucks and in less than an hour we had seats on the 1 hr flight to Bordeaux. We were so happy to pick up our cute "little" car - a silver Suzuki. Small for us but longer than most cars in France! Crazy narrow roads but we made it to our Air Bnb just on the other side of the Gargonne River from old Town Bordeaux. Great place - ground floor with large patio. Brand new condo. We decided to rest and then head into the city for dinner. We found a great little patio and ate outside. We slept well and are so excited to see the city tomorrow!Read more

  • Nicole CoolFRANCE 2023Traveler

    Day 3 - Bordeaux

    October 2, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Ok - our first real day to start sight-seeing! We drove into the old city of Bordeaux. We had pre-booked a "free walking tour" with Rosie. After stopping for coffee (espresso) and pastries , she walked us around the city and showed us so many sites and did a great job of explaining all the history behind them. It was a 2 hrs tour that covered La place de bourse & Girondin fountain, mirroir d'eau. The grand theatre, grand hotel & boat building. She told us about the golden triangle and the gates to the old medieval city walls (grand cloche). The tour Pey-Berland (bell tower) beside the cathedral. We loved the story of Eleanor (renaissance feminist)! It is crazy to think how old these structures are! Older than Canada! We took her advice and went up the bell tower to have an amazing view of the city. We also bought a box of the Caneles. They are the traditional Bordeaux desserts. They get their name from the "canals" on their sides. They are dense bc they are made from "left over" egg yolks. The whites used to be used for removing impurities from the wine and the nuns found this recipe to not waste the yolks. They taste like the burnt sugar on a creme brulee. We liked them! Especially the ones made with rum! We did a little shopping on la rue St-Catherine - isabelle found a cute black off the shoulder blouse. We decided to go on a mission to find a grocery store to get dinner and breakfast stuff. We made pasta & caesar salad for dinner - it just happens to go well with the local wine we bought 😉 🍷 We all slept well after an exciting day!Read more

    Trip end
    October 14, 2023