Had things gone according to plan, we would be in Italy today. Yesterday, however, we had decided that we had had enough hot weather and crowds, and that a six hour train ride would be too much. We needed to make a change. Looking at what flights were out of the Nice airport, we settled on Bordeaux. We were able to recover most of what we had spent, but some loss was worth what we had hoped to be an improved trip.
I can Porquerolles out my window!
The morning was spent taking a taxi to the airport, a one-and-a-half hour flight, and a taxi to our hotel in Bordeaux. After settling in, we went for a walk around our little neighborhood, Saint Pierre. We visited a church, browsed antiques, explored a park, and wandered through the old town, down to the river.
This city was such a welcome change– a stark contrast to Nice. Where Nice is on the sea, Bordeaux is on a river. Where Nice was hot and sunny all day, Bordeaux was cool and breezy. Where Nice was impatient and busy, Bordeaux was relaxed and informal, if even a bit silly.
Our hotel had a rooftop bar where we enjoyed a cocktail, overlooking the river. Afterwards, we had dinner on a riverboat while getting a tour of the city. Admittedly, it was very difficult to understand anything over the loudspeaker, but the views were nice, and the food was great.
Glad to hear it was a worthwhile change! You said it was a bit silly … do tell!
Everybody was just a lot more free with smiles and laughs. People were more willing to interact without pretense, make a joke here and there. I think Nice maybe was just so busy, they didn’t have time for patience!
Also, there was a yellow rhinoceros painted as some kind of marker on the street!