From Bordeaux to Paris: All is good but Starting to miss a good margarita!

…a beautiful bridge to walk across shortly after our arrival. It is only used by pedestrians, bicyclists and the occasional bus…

I questioned the wisdom of visiting too many cities on this trip…Brooklyn, Porto, Lisbon, Lyon, Nice, Sete, Bordeaux and Paris, but I have to say in retrospect each was truly separate and distinct. Honestly I think the people were very similar in all the cities…for me it’s the architecture, geography and food that varies. I really loved all these cities and would happily return to any of them. (Hah but probably won’t because there are so many other places to see!)

…hmmm red v blue….I think the election is getting to me…

At this point in the trip, one is getting a little tired of researching and planning, so when I saw a food/wine tour in the city we just booked it with minimal further thought. What a great tour! Excellent food and wine. Our tour guide seemed to have a real passion for what she was doing. Best duck breast of the trip, excellent wines and a pastry so good even Brant dared to eat it (cream filled)…..

We tend to book our stays months in advance and I believe this was our 17th lodging (19 total for the trip, 20 if you count the red eye). So for this stay we had completely forgotten where we were staying. We kind of forgot that it would require dragging our luggage down these alleys to find the spot

…one of those doors above opened to a hall which lead to a stair case…and 2 flights down it opened to this beautifully renovated apartment. We are not sure what it was formerly but for us, was a perfect place for sleep and relaxation which I suspect was not it’s prior role…laundry? kitchen?

..and here is the giant 16th century sink that was just behind the beautiful Roche Bobois -like white couches….note the sink drain in the right upper corner of the sink. It drains right out into that courtyard which interestingly was 2 flights below street level.

Our tour guide, leads the way to chocalate….

…only 2 pieces per person but it was excellent! So many unique flavors…

This is a church converted into a movie theatre….French subtitles. It also has a bar and restaurant. Hmmm…interesting. Our guide says the movies help with her english, most are in english.

I thought Bordeaux felt like a mini Paris. Easy to walk around, a great mix of food, and that architecture that transports you to a French novel. Just around the corner from our apartment was a hamburger spot that was always packed with young people having CHEESEburgers (served with 1/2 lb of cheese) and lots of wine. It was an ancient place with a very young and diverse vibe.

Which is more odd? This building with the repetitive standing human motif?

Or this Wine museum building looking like an ultra modern snow board boot…

Just as pretty as stained glass I think. This is one of the exhibits and all that you see in this this pic is from projectors. We had heard this place was perhaps a bit of a rip off but one of the shows was excellent. We booked it but sadly it was in French (English program had ended for day)so we did the rip off museum instead. SO was it a rip off? Well if you know much about wine (turns out we know more than we thought) it really is not extremely educational. It is however very well done and I loved the global information especially regarding history and cultivation was very interesting. Interesting to here that a symposia was basically a wine fest back in the day….hmmm not the symposiums I attended (at least I would have a good reason for falling asleep).. It is a beautiful, unique place to roam around in and we did get to enjoy a glass of wine on the top floor. (The wine was free with every overpriced ticket).

I think I would have been a better tourist had they given me the wine first….look at Brant pretending to understand French (jk…this place had lots of english…and spanish…etc).

It was at this point we realized that carry on luggage alone would not work for the return trip home. Well, you know those stores that put all their stuff out on the sidewalk to sell then pack it up at the end of the day? Haven’t you always wondered what it looked like inside after they packed it up? Here it is! The poor guy had the key in the lock when we came by to get the luggage we had seen earlier. He tried his best to dig it up but in the end got his friend next door to unlock and get us a piece of luggage. We could have gotten an even better deal but the man wanted dollars! That’s right US dollars…not euros, or pounds or pesos but dollars…which we did not have and he found perplexing. We have a hard time explaining our living situation.

We have only been to Paris once when we spent a week there spending every day packed seeing every tourist site in the city. I loved it! This time, we admit, we were a little travel weary and starting to think of our future. Paris was perfect for aimless wandering, more excellent food, and just getting absorbed into a big beautiful city. When we were here before I said if we came back I wanted to stay in the Marais arrondisemant which we did and it was a perfect combo of old architecture with young people enjoying the city.

Compare to Bordeaux bridge pic…Similar but this is more massive and better lit. In Bordeaux all auto traffic had been stopped so made for a nice stroll.

..and this is what I love about Paris, beautiful old architecture…then this in the midst of it…

…and lots of green space for people to enjoy….

So that is the biggest Gucci box I have ever seen. Waited around to see who the owner was but they never came out of the swanky store that is sandwiched between a dozen consignment shops. You can pay 5,000 euros for a dress or go next door and spend 5 euros.

…and if you spend all your money on clothes, you can just get a hot dog for lunch….

…we were told taxes went way up (by a hotel clerk) before the Olympics but they were left with better housing and a much better metro. And the city was pleasant because everyone left.

In Marais we could not resist another one of these Dunes Blanches (white dunes that were invented by a Bordeaux baker who named them after the sand dunes near Bordeaux). We only bought one to limit calories and lactose but the salesclerk looked so sad then came outside to hand me another for free when she saw us sharing it. (They cost only one euro apiece).

Little did she know we would be eating chocalate mousse cake 5 minutes later. (Yes that cake is sitting in a puddle of Crème anglaise).

Brant patiently waited for me to line these up….not easy!

So happy to have succeeded in buying a sari. I had no idea they can stitch it up so only one pin needed. Kind of a do it yourself sari. They were very kind to arrange for me to get it done in 4 hours as we were catching a plane.

And this poor woman just wanted to pick up her alterations but happily (sort of) stepped in to get me fitted properly. Not sure what she was telling the guys but she managed to get me stuffed into the blouse. By the end she was laughing, which I think was a good sign?

I wondered if this seemed like an avant-garde sculpture back when it was installed…the same way we look at those crazy lips?

Looking slightly frazzled (14000 steps does that to you) and tangled in a combo of backpack straps, purse straps and an audio guide, but stillso happy to be here in the Orangerie with those famous lily pads. It was closed the last time we were here about 16 years ago. I think my shirt matches those lily pads.

Just saying, this is a ridiculously beautiful city.

At 9:30 at night this flower shop still had this beautiful display outside…on a small side street with all other businesses closed.

…One day we found this art installation…

And the next day it was completely gone! Even more amazing we thought.

The last time we were in Paris we went to a concert of Vivaldi played on old instruments (think harpsichord and other unique stringed instruments) at sunset in St. Chappelle. Something we just happened to see on a poster. So when we saw this poster we booked it. (The last time the poster was completely in French and we could just sort out the time place and Vivaldi). I know because we tore one down off post to save as souvenir). We have a special memory of this because it was on our anniversary and that particular church that we had wanted to see was otherwise closed to tours.

A beautiful and ornate church but newer then some. A perfect nave! It was originally built in 540 AD but then was burnt down by the Norman’s and re-elected (so funny even my auto correct is going crazy this week—I typed re-erected. I guess rebuilt would be a better word) in 1014.

They played all the “hits” ….even the one that was played at our wedding. Last time we felt slightly awkward in St. Chapelle as there was absolutely no English spoken while getting tickets, or in line or during the performance. The French that evening were dressed in their finest. We did not know and showed up in typical US travel clothes (and a crunchy shopping bag).. While no english was spoken during this performance either, a Korean woman (she said South Korea that is, like I would not know that) sat next to us. There was much english spoken in line…and I think we might have been the best dressed that evening. The world has changed but perhaps it really is good. The woman next to us said a friend traveling through Europe texted her shortly before the concert and said she had been and that she had to go as she had seen it and it was wonderful. We have made it so easy to share all these beautiful things. Maybe over sharing is a good thing? Maybe it helps us to all get along a bit better….

This drink was called “Mexico to Paris”….Tequila and red wine….surprisingly good but not as good as the drink below….

We started this trip with a beautiful sunset as we waited for a red eye flight to the Azores ….and ending it with a beautiful sunrise flight to JFK …. Where we stopped long enough to get 2 COVID’s /2 flu shots at an all night pharmacy/ shake shack burgers/ and a good nights sleep.

…sunrise at JFK at the beginning of this trip

Loved all that wine but nothing like a good Tios margarita at the end of a trip! The excellent research by both of us and the amazing scheduling abilities of Brant (and I do mean AMAZING) helped make this a wonderful trip. Of course patience when stuff goes wrong and the ability to compromise when needed or not to compromise when its at the top of the bucket list helped too. Most of all it comes down to luck…and we felt very, very lucky to have so many great experiences. Here is hoping our luck holds out for another week or so! Salud!

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