Bordeaux

We had a relatively late and relatively leisurely breakfast at the Brit Hotel, and decided it was only the wifi that matched the grim exterior. Anne raced back to the church at 8:30 for a pilgrim passport stamp, but it was closed.

We walked to the station to catch the 9:30 train to Bordeaux and arrived to a throng of inaction. There is one every 60 minutes today, so unsurprising. The train arrived a few minutes early and left Shinkansen-style on the dot. It only had 3 carriages, but very light and modern reading lights and charging points on each seat, and it ripped along. We had 45 mins on the first train, a 20 min change, 48 mins on the second train (to Agen), a 90 minute wait, then finally around 1.75 hours to Bordeaux. We walked around Agen in our 90 minutes and had lunch back at the station, so at Bordeaux we walked straight to the hotel (15 mins) and had a cup of tea. The hotel was a Hilton Garden Inn, and we continued a tradition by arriving a little before 3pm.. Lovely room, very quiet, and okay position.

The guy who checked us in suggested a way to see most of Bordeaux in 6 hours. It was much the same as the Bordeaux World Heritage Circuit we found later in a guide, so he did well. The city heart is 1810 hectares - 18 sq kms, so 4km x 4.5km - and we saw a lot of it. We walked north and saw old city gates, cathedrals, the old town, the river and more. it was a glorious day and a holiday, so the streets and esplanades were crowded, and the restaurants along the streets were all full to overflowing. Not just in the main squares or on the main tourist strip: Bordeaux was crowded mile after mile. Definitely holiday time. It was very warm: in the sun it felt as if we were perhaps being burned, but we are the latitude of Dunedin in NZ, so it was more warmth than sting. Sunglasses on (a first) and a T-shirt all day (another first) and crowds of more than 20 or 30 (another first since leaving Le Puy)

Bordeaux is a mixture of the old, three or four storey pale-tan limestone buildings from (say) Figeac, laid out with wide, straight streets, and then infinitely bigger, with some glorious grand old buildings scattered amongst the 3 or 4 storey facades, along with theatres, statues and parks. We walked until 7:00pm, had dinner in a trattoria, walked a bit more and caught the tram back. We were in the hotel by 8:45, and the sun was still shining. it is 9pm now and it is starting to set.

Some huge cathedrals and lovely little streets, a grand old Stock Exchange by the river and not a high-rise to be seen. It is a very different and unspoilt metropolis.

21,389 steps, 16.8km and 3 flights... hardly worth mentioning, really.Read more