A tale of beautiful Bordeaux architecture and a disappointing sausage

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Rip off train fare purchased and off to Bordeaux for the day I go. Lovely clean trams leave the train station which is quite a long way from the city centre but a great ride passed many of the main sights which leave me with an idea about areas to walk to. Bagging myself a map of the city I walk round the monument aux girondines which has dome lovely fountains and sculptures at the base of it. Over the next 2 hours I walked through the old part of the town and it's glorious buildings. The Place de la bourse was simply stunning but due to a festival of the sea all along the river bank, the water mirror feature wasn't working... quite gutted as this is Bordeaux's most famous site and something I have long wanted to witness. What struck me around the city was the lack of ugly modern building and skyscrapers, even the shops are all tastefully done and part of small winding streets. Picked up a sightseeing bus for some further sights over the river Garonne and up to an area of the city called meriadeck which gave me the ugly buildings I was missing. It was an area specially created to provide living space, offices and recreation all higher up than street level... in actual fact it looked like a 1970's version of Coventry. Luckily it is tucked away at the back of the city and doesn't impact upon the real heart of things. Upon arriving back in Toulouse and after a few free wines it was time for dinner...tonight's venue a lovely brasserie overlooking Capitole square and the infamous Toulouse sausage. All I can say is what a let down!!!! Shameful to admit but I preferred the Café Rouge version! I know.... I shall pay for this comment somewhere down the line.

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