I thought I'd sussed out a good deal when I went to Toulouse for £26. But when I went to look up prices for places in January, I found a flight to Bordeaux for £25 return! I'd been wanting to go to Bordeaux for ages - it was originally part of my road trip around France in 2016, but was then cut because it was too far out of the way. I'd been kind of keeping an eye on prices ever since. So when this one came up, I just couldn't pass it by.
My flight left Stansted at 2pm on a cold Friday in January, arriving at Bordeaux airport at 6pm, and getting to my hotel (finally) after 7pm. First port of call was a quick dinner, planning my day for tomorrow, then bed!
Me being me, I was up early, the first to breakfast, then out the door at just after 8am. But oh how I was rewarded with the most beautiful sunrise - it looked like the whole sky was on fire! Definitely worth being up super early. I was staying on the eastern side of the Garonne, so I had to walk across a bridge to get to the main part of the city, so I crossed then continued along the Garonne to the Place de la Bourse. Disappointingly, the Miroir d'Eau (or water mirror) in front of the Bourse had no water in it! So sad.
From the water's edge, I walked up to the Office de Tourisme and Hotel de Ville. It was a bit early for things to be open so I basically just wandered around, enjoying the solitude and quiet! I walked up through a nearby park, then got a little lost wandering up some streets nearby. I ended up walking quite far away but it was just so enjoyable exploring all the little places outside of the main city centre that I just kept going. Of course, after an hour of this, the city started to wake up so it was time to head back to the main areas of town.
I wandered through the main town next, but I'd been walking continuously for 2.5 hours and I was beginning to get cold. So I did a very touristy thing and stopped in Baillardran, the main place to get the sweet treat of the area – canelés – to have with my cup of tea to warm up. Sated, I walked back into the cold day. I headed down to the cathedral to have a look around. Bordeaux was an amazing place to just walk around, so that's what I did for hours, picking up a baguette and eating it in a park, watching the world go by.
I started getting super cold again so found my way to a cafe called Tamatebako cafe that actually sold tea! I mean, fancy, perfectly-timed tea. For anyone who likes tea and has been to France (and often many other places in Europe) their idea of tea consists of an Earl Grey teabag served next to a cup of hot water. So I was really happy to find this little cafe where I could take my time and have a proper tea, with some lovely staff and in a very cosy place. A perfect break from the cold outside.
I walked back to the Tourist Information office to get a bit of info about my day trip planned for tomorrow, then just kept walking, taking in the sights of the old city. I covered off about 5km then head back to the hotel for a relax - I was knackered!
That night I went to a restaurant that my hotel recommended to me, but that I would not recommend to anyone else. I went in and sat down at a table, ordered a glass of wine and food. The waiter came over and began uncorking a whole bottle of wine - I thought that was a bit much for one glass - and I tried to explain to him that I had only ordered a glass but he didn't understand. Thankfully someone else came over and explained that it was for another table.... then within a few minutes of me ordering my slow cooked beef, it was plonked in front of me. It had obviously been sitting under the heat lamps in the kitchen for a while, and was lukewarm and slightly congealed looking. I got them to take it back to the kitchen and bring me a new one but I'm pretty sure they just put it in the microwave and brought it back out again. At this point I'd had enough, ate my dinner, paid and left.
All in all, a very nice first day in Bordeaux, despite dinner. I went to bed early, as I was catching an early train to Saint-Emilion tomorrow.
