26.12 Day 101 . . . Destination Bordeaux

So - up with the larks . . . no, not really, we just had to be out by about 1pm so we could get to see a bit of Bordeaux with Munch before she flies home tomorrow.
Bags packed and loaded into Roxvanne, final checks indoors as we won’t be home for a few days and we are off.
The journey towards Bordeaux was uneventful until we crossed the Dordogne and then hit a mother of all traffic jams. We then crawled along with the hundreds of others on what normally is the fastest section of road towards Bordeaux.
I got Tre to find an alternate route as soon as we could, as we didn’t need to get to the airport today so had time on our side. We hopped off the motorway and headed initially east to Saint Loubès then south to Yvrac, then on and through Tresses and fort her south towards and through Cénac. We then travelled west and then across Pont Saint-Jean into the city of Bordeaux.
We set the sat nav for a cafe we used weeks ago as I managed to find on street parking for Rox near to the cafe. The multi storey car parks are all too low for her.
As luck had it, as we hit the road with the on street parking someone left a bay and we were able to take the now vacant one and only bay.
Parking paid on the phone with one of the numerous apps I now have for parking, and we set off to Le Café des Arts which we had been to before. We all needed a loo stop and we knew the cafe had facilities!!
It was lovely sitting in the cafe with hot chocolate just people watching. Bordeaux is so busy but in a weird way absolutely not like London or any other UK city. There seems to be a different pace about the business, slightly less frantic.
After chocolate we told Munch she would love the cathedral in the centre and as it was a five minute walk it was a perfect idea . . . . For two grown ups who now like architecture and such like . . . Not for a 17yr old. Munch first words when entering the cathedral were - ‘I’m hungry’ . . . So we didn’t stay long!
The cathedral ‘Cathédrale Saint Andre de Bordeaux’ is definitely worth a visit if in Bordeaux - if only to wonder at how they built something like this when they did, I can’t get my head around how!
Our last visited restaurant which was close to the cathedral was rammed full, the next restaurant we tried was only serving drinks as it was about 5pm. So when in Bordeaux with all the best French cuisine within your grasp, where do you take a now getting grumpier, hungry teenager . . . Burger King!!
Burger King wasn’t that bad - just don’t order fries with onion rings . . . That’s not what you get. If you are interested, I won’t spoil it, just give it a go!! 🤢
The rain had been on and off all afternoon and as the now slightly chirpier teenager had only a coat with no sleeves we opted to return to Roxvanne. Our parking wasn’t far off ending anyway. The only stop was a small shop to stock up on teenager chocolate requirements.
We then drove the southern side of the city and towards the airport and to our hotel from the south, something we’d not done before.
We pulled into our regular cheap and cheerful (we are only here to sleep) hotel and quickly found our way to the room. As before Tre and I with a double and Munch in a bunk bed that is above the double. We were still due to get up early to get Munch to the airport and so after a little social surfing we decided to have an early night.
Tre and I also have all day in Bordeaux tomorrow - so we need a Power Nap!Read more