October 15 - Bordeaux

Bordeaux - Day 1

Today was the big travel day as I began my solo adventure to western France and on a Viking River Cruise out of Bordeaux.  My 30-hour day began when I climbed into my Uber ride at 10 am on Friday and concluded at 11 pm (Bordeaux time, 5 pm EST) Saturday.  My flight left right on time from Fort Lauderdale, but the flight was delayed out of Atlanta - and no one, even the pilot could not explain why the "clean up and security sweep" took so long.  

We landed in Paris some 8 hours later where I had about a two-and-a-half hour layover.  But this turned out to be a good thing because the walk from the terminal where I landed was anything but close, and once I got to the next terminal (after a inter-terminal train ride) I had to go through a customs check.  We left on time and landed at the small Bordeaux airport about 10 am Bordeaux time.  (Note France is six hours ahead of our time at Florida, so it was 4 am at home).  The luggage came right out and we were quickly met by the Viking reps.  A brief misunderstanding where they thought I did not have a transfer to the ship was cleared up because (a) I had my paperwork and (b) when they went to add my name to the list, there I was ON the list :)  I thought it interesting that the Viking reps thanked us after we got on the bus for coming saying they knew that it was a very long distance to travel and they truly appreciated us coming to their city and to cruise with them.  We arrived at the ship within a half an hour and though we'd been told not to expect our rooms until 3 pm, mine was ready when we arrived.  A quick freshen up and lunch was being served.  I sat with a couple from Georgia over glasses of wine and a delicious soup that was uniquely prepared in front of me after I hand-picked the ingredients.  I came back to the room and my luggage was there so I quickly unpacked and then we headed out on a "Welcome Tour" which had been designed knowing that most people had traveled, like me, for hours on end and it would not only introduce us to the city but allow us to stretch our legs.  

It was interesting to see the buildings which were built in the late 1700s and early 1800s and hear the stories about how Bordeaux's history had developed from out guide Jamie.  After we returned to the ship I took a short nap and then showered as it was time for dinner.  I sat with two couples at dinner - one was from the Orlando area and the other was from near Baltimore.  Two quick stories from dinner - the couple from Orlando had gone on the same Viking Grand European tour as we had taken two summers ago AND they had gone last year on the Portland Columbia River/Snake River Cruise we are going on this coming June!  The other couple....she was a citizen of the United Kingdom and just as we sat down to dinner she could not find her wallet, and what was most distressing to her was that in there was her green card which she needed to return to the United States with her husband.  She tried to enjoy dinner but first she and then he went back to the room to look for it - no luck.  We asked her when she'd seen it last and it seemed to us that she must have dropped it at the dinner table, but she looked and no.  Finally she said she was going back to her room to look again and lo and behold there was the wallet on the floor right beside her chair.  Of course we all celebrated and that celebration called for yet another glass of wine!  

One thing different about this cruise - on both the other Viking cruises the cocktail hour which includes a look at tomorrow's schedule from the program director was always at 5:30 with dinner at 6 pm.  On this cruise the presentation doesn't start until 6:15 and dinner doesn't begin until 7 pm.  That was interesting to me because on our tours today our guide said that restaurants didn't even open for dinner until 7 pm and most people ate between 7:30 and 11 pm.  By the time we'd gone through all the dinner courses - and more than one glass of wine - it was nearly 9 pm.  The "Evening Walk Around Bordeaux" was scheduled to begin at 9:15 pm so we all said good night and hurried to our staterooms to get our walking shoes on.  We walked past St. Louis Cathedral, which we'd seen in the afternoon, but now it was all lit up.  

And then we boarded a tram which took us to the Central Square where we saw the Place de la Bourse - which is the largest open square in Europe; it was built in the 18th century and is the symbol of Bourdeaux.  If you google Bourdeaux and click on the "images" you see this iconic square and the "Mirror d'eau" (Water Mirror) which is directly across the street.  It was pretty cool with the night lights on.  

We headed back towards the ship and passed by the opera house, but Jamie didn't tell us much about it because it will be a focal point on tomorrow's tour.  

Tomorrow we were scheduled to have a morning walking tour of Bordeaux and then sail to Cadillac.  But we were told today that they had little rain this summer and the water under the bridge is only 2 1/2 feet deep - we'd never make it under the bridge!  So we'll bus to Cadillac tomorrow (I'll miss the cruising time) and back again before setting sail during dinner.