Niort

Our aim was to leave by about 9.30am to travel to Bordeaux and then have some time in the city.
It was about that time when we packed the Hollywoods cases into the car and we set off, myself and Mr H in the hire car and Tre and Mrs H following along in Roxvanne. As per the last couple of days the weather was bloody awful and we made slow progress down the N10 in the rain dodging the numerous HGVs that were thundering along with us.
We stopped briefly on route to grab some food and a hot drink and then we were off again on the very short last leg to Bordeaux. One pit stop just outside Bordeaux to fill the hire car tank with fuel and then in towards the airport and to out very cheap and cheerful hotel.
We arrived at the hotel in pouring rain and ran inside to book in. Ten minutes later we had dropped all our bags I to the rooms and had established from the receptionist that the No 1 bus took us to the heart of the city.
We walked now thankfully in light drizzle to the bus stop and waited. The receptionist had promised buses were every ten minutes and she wasn’t wrong. All on board for the princely sum of €6 for all four of us, we undertook what was about 30 minutes to the city centre.
We hopped off at Gambette-Mériadeck as instructed by the receptionist and walked towards the Cathedral.
It was a matter of minutes before we found ourselves in-explicably drawn into an Irish bar ‘The Connemara’ where we had a couple of drinks to warm up from several dousing’s of rain. From there we wandered a few minutes around the corner to Bordeaux Cathedral - Cathédrale Saint-André de Bordeaux. Bordeaux Cathedral, officially known as the Primatial Cathedral of St Andrew of Bordeaux (French: Cathédrale-Primatiale Saint-André de Bordeaux), is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Andrew and located in Bordeaux. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Bordeaux.
Link https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeaux_Cathedral
By now the light had almost gone and we spent sometime in the square watching artists sketching, before finally entering the cathedral. Inside was absolutely jaw-dropping. The height, the design, the detail and the pure amazement of how this could have been built, like this, so many years ago. It was an absolute pleasure to walk around this cathedral and that is from someone who is not the greatest lover of churches or things religious. To top it all at one point, there was an evening service, which in the main was sung by both the church clergy and those attending the service - it was very special and truly lovely to hear.
We finally left the cathedral and walked east until hitting the road which runs along the west side of the River Garonne. We walked along the river before turning back west when we reached Porte Cailhau. Built between 1493 and 1496 on the site of an ancient defensive gate, this gatehouse honoured King Charles VIII’s conquest of the Kingdom of Naples. On the sidefacing the river, a niche with his effigy commemorates his victories in the build up to the Battle of Fornovo (1495). While undoubtedly a military edifice, equipped with a port cullis and wide machicolations, the forthcoming Renaissance period brought with it a new architectural language of mullioned windows and freestone carvings. It provides a 23 metre high panoramic view of the river.
We then walked the back streets until we found a restaurant, which turned out to be directly opposite the cathedral again - when we did we were so lucky to find one that was so typically French, which was perfect for our last night with Mr & Mrs H. Café Français at 5 Pl. Pey Berland, is as you would imagine a French restaurant to be. Styled and just so! We also hit gold with our waitress ‘Harmonie’ who could not do enough to help us, smiling and laughing the entire time. She was a credit to the restaurant - at tentative when she needed to be without overly fussing. Three of us undertook steaks while Mrs H has a lovely looking salad. Very large beers and wine were had before puds!
All four of rolled out of the restaurant, totally stuffed.
We walked back to Gambette-Mériadeck to catch the bus back to the hotel, conscious it was getting late. After realising we needed to find the street for the return journey, which was not Gambette-Mériadeck, we hastily hustled through some further back streets, before having to ask a bar owner for directions. He kindly came out of his bar and walked us down another side street and pointing to our stop.
Ten minutes later we were on the bus back and half hour later we walked into our hotel, said our good nights and retired to our rooms.
Tomorrow was going to be a very early start !!Read more