Training to Bordeaux

We left Paris this morning and headed to our main destination, Bordeaux, by high-speed train.  Now Patrick and I both work with the rail industry everyday at work, and typically we don't even want to see a train on vacation - much less ride one.  However, it is just different in Europe - they just know how to "do trains".  It's always an enjoyable experience.

When we are in another country, many things that amuse us are things we haven't seen, or experienced in the US.  Take a look at this picture to the right - if you look closely, you will see the young man sitting at the round table is pedaling. These are free charging stations we saw throughout the train station - where you can charge any of your devices, for free, by sitting down and pedaling for your power.  Maybe they have them in the US - but with all of our work travel - we haven't seen them, yet.  Gotta love it!

The train ride was about 4 hours, and at high speeds, the scenery was always changing.

The train station in Bordeaux is just 2 1/2 miles from where our ship was docked - so after a short cab ride we reached our main destination, the Forseti long boat.  I will admit, the two of us don't like to be trapped anywhere on vacation - so this was a stretch, and a surprise to both of us that we ended up here for a whole week.  

But, the very small size of the boat, the educational wine itinerary and special access to some wine chateaus make us give a river cruise a try.
After an amazing dinner of local duck, cabbage with lavender, tomato and strawberry soup - and a cheese plate for dessert...we decided to get some exercise and join a night walking tour of Bordeaux.

We loved our tour guide, Lora, who not only showed us historical places in Bordeaux, but also the unique everyday items, Check out these "libraries" which are hung all around town in old wooden boxes.  You can leave a book for others to read, or take a book and bring it back when you are done.  We just loved these!











The highlight of the night walk was getting to see Place de la Bourse and the "Jardin des Lumieres" (Garden of Lights) where in the center is the stunning Miroir d'Eau - the worlds biggest water mirror.  It is a flat granite fountain that is covered by only 2 cm of water.  This evening there was a little bit of a wind, so my picture has some "wrinkles" in the water.

But, if you look closely, you will see some of the water "wrinkles" were caused by some local children who just couldn't resist the temptation of splashing through that beautiful puddle...we didn't blame them one bit.

Paris

 Our flight to Paris was good - completely full - but good.  I thought the flight was going fast when I looked out the window after falling asleep and saw the sun starting to rise.  Wow - that overnight flight went fast.   Until I hit the map button to see where we were...

 ...and the tail end of our plane was barely out of Canada!  That wasn't the sun rising, it was just setting!  I will admit, that did make the flight seem extra long.  (Wende - quit looking at the map!)

 When we arrived in Paris the weather was good for site-seeing.  We had some clouds all day, but not a drop of rain.  Since Patrick has never been to Paris, we decided to take a 2 1/2 hour general tour so he could see some of the highlights of the city.

 Being the political junkie that I am- this building (National Assembly) fascinated me.  It was here hundreds of years ago, that someone noticed that the conservatives sat on the right side of the room and the liberals sat on the left side.  So - this is where "right" and "left" descriptions for political views all started.

Aw, yes - "The Iron Lady" as the locals call her...the Eiffel Tower to the rest of us.  It always amazes me how big this structure is, and how oddly beautiful she looks from many places in the city.













Notice the big screen of the French Open being played under the tower on the photograph below?

The "Under" view

  

This building is the setting for the original "Phantom of the Opera", and yes, it really is an opera house.  It does house different types of theatre plays and musicals besides opera - much like the Kennedy Center in DC.  There is chandelier in the opera house that weighs more than a city bus.  A piece fell on an audience member one year and killed them - that was written in as a scene in the "Phantom of the Opera".

How did we end our day in Paris?  Eating at a cafe, of course...and do you see anyone you know sitting in the window?  Yep - that's Patrick in the blue shirt.  Next on the agenda...SLEEP!

"Bordeaux Decade"

What's with the name of the blog, Wende?  I know...it needs a bit of an explanation.

I'm not into big birthday celebrations for myself nine out of ten years. The day usually passes as any other day...until it comes to that first digit changing.  Somewhere along the line, THAT, became a big deal to me - and when I know it is happening to a friend or family member I try to convince them that they need to turn it into a big deal also.  How often does it happen in one life?  If we are lucky, eight, nine or ten days - that's it.

Decade Birthdays
10 - Big slumber party with my girlfriends.  My dad even changed all of the white light bulbs to colored light bulbs in our big family room for a "disco effect".
20 - I have NO idea what I was doing - actually, speaks volumes of who I was at 20. Married and divorced in my twenties...I'm just going to chalk that one up to getting to know myself better.
30 - Turned 30 on the Atlantic City Boardwalk at midnight with some great friends - took a midnight swim and won a tidy-sum at the casino.  Oh - those thirties were single and fun.
40 - Turned 40 on a cottage we rented perched high on cliff in Maui with my then, new husband, on our honeymoon/birthday celebration trip.  Why didn't I find this man sooner?  I can't imagine my life without him now- 40's = awesome.
50 - On a river in Bordeaux, France

So, that first digit is changing while we are in Bordeaux, France, so "Bordeaux Decade" became the obvious blog title for this trip.

It is just another day, but a day when that first number rolls over does give the soul a chance to look back at who we were in chunks of time.  So, what were you doing on your "decade changing" birthdays?