Bordeaux was great, in the end.
We got there on a Saturday. C and I, still recovering from our cold decided to get a room for the night instead of taking the night train from Bordeaux to Barcelona per our plan.
The room was a bit spendy at 52 euros, but it was in a good location from central bordeaux, clean, and with very very helpful staff. (Notre Dame hotel) The only problem was the shower was a bit off, hot water worked well but the shower head only wanted to face the wall.
Since it was a Saturday and we arrived in the afternoon, we found all the wine tours were already booked up. At first we were a bit disappointed thinking that there wouldn’t be much to do. However, we soon found a wine bar that carried wine from several different locations in the valley. Having already done some wine touring in California, this actually turned out to be a lucky turn for C and I. The wines were fairly cheap compared to getting the same wines in the states(most 2-3 euros a glass, not a taste). I don’t know much about wine but I could recognise some of the appellations etc. But for a fraction of the cost of a wine tour, C and I had a chance to sample several different wines from several different areas. Many of the wine shops also offered tasting, but as C and I are still a bit young, and were a bit bedraggled from the journey from France, they didn’t offer many tastings to us. (pro tip- look like you have money for people to offer you free stuff) We picked up a couple of bottles for much cheaper then we could get them in the states. I hope we can drink them soon as I am tired of lugging them around. We were both disappointed to have to go to bordeaux while recovering from colds but thankfully our sinuses cleared enough that we could enjoy it somewhat.
I know it is a bit uncouth for Bordeaux but we ate lunch at MacDonald’s. I just had to get a Royal with cheese a la the movie “Pulp Fiction” one disappointment- it is no longer a glass of beer, but a small McDonald’s water cup sized beer for the normal size.
The next morning was Sunday, which we should have learned from our first day in Paris, that everything closes down in France on Sunday pretty much. Bakeries were still open and we got some very nice bread and eclairs for breakfast before heading out to Barcelona.
When we were riding the tram to leave for Barcelona, there was a crazy bum in the car. He wore a dirty brown beret and a skirt. C and I still aren’t sure if it was a proper skirt or just random rags he had tied around him. He stank up the car smoking cigarillos and muttering and laughing to himself. Also we met a much more sane woman who struck up a conversation with us. Apparently she was a French woman just returned from 5 weeks in Mongolia and Russia, and was already missing the traveling life.
Even with reservations, we had to ride 2nd class for half of the trip to Barcelona, (we have 1st class eurail passes for the longer train trips) it was a long and tiring journey. First class and second class are quite different, the chairs are of course more comfortable but the main difference is the people who ride. First-class is mostly ridden by 1- Backpackers using a pass and 2- old people. I soon dubbed our 2nd class car the “TB wagon” because it seemed everyone in the car (C and I included) had a dry, hacking cough. Most people were young, and almost everyone had a frame backpack for traveling.
C is backseat blogging at the moment:
Our guess is that most of the people were going to Barcelona for La Marce festival thats going on right now. Theres lots of concerts, free shows, in the touristy bits of town.
We are not sure if its the town or the festival, but people here are alot friendlier then other places we have been thus far. When we were lost trying to transfer to a different train line, two girls walked 10 minutes out of their way to show us how to get to our station. (We weren’t that far lost, the train station was just that far away)
The highlight of the day was the Temple de la Sagrada Familia. It is still under construction (having been started a mere 130 years ago- I hear the Spanish like a siesta or two but get the lead out already) The lead designer was the famous artist-architect-whatever Gaudi. Alot of the elements are breath-taking, but all together the building kind of looks like a wedding cake covered in melting cheese. It was very interesting however, to tour the building, then go down to the crypt (where they have a mini-museum set up) where you can see the inspiration for the various elements used in the decoration and construction, then go back up and look at the decoration again.
Toward the evening, we walked down toward the beachfront area. It reminded C and I alot of Venice beach- lots of Palm trees, blue Ocean and Tattoo parlours. Venice beach had alot more Hare Krishnas, Barcelona, slightly more people speaking Spanish. (If I didnt know better I would swear every sorority sister and frat boy in the states are here in Barcelona at the moment.)
Repatriate 