Blogs from Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France, Europe - page 9

The Bathroom of Horrors Struggling with the heavy metal door, we squeezed into the ladies room, which was already teaming with people. Fortunately, most of the girls were only in there to add a couple finishing touches to their already sublime hair, so I managed to secure a bathroom stall right off the bat. It was one of those fancy handicap bathrooms with a 4inch thick wooden door and sturdy crank lock that looked as if it was designed to keep grizzly bears at bay instead of old ladies needing to take a tinkle. Clicking the lock into place, I relieved myself, washed my hand s in the high-tech in-stall mini sink, and then twisted the bathroom door handle…it didn’t budge. After a flash of white -hot panic had shot through my chest, I remembered ... read more

After several train rides we made it to Saint Emilion, our long awaited French wine country stop, in the late morning. We hoped off the train and were immediately in awe of the landscape. Rolling hills with vineyards surrounded us in all directions and the small town of Saint Emilion stood atop of them all. The train station itself was picturesque –a small free standing building with a single sign reading Saint Emilion. As we discussed what to do next (where to begin the two and a half mile walk through the vineyards to the Cabadentra Bed and Breakfast we had no idea), we barely noticed that there was only one other person in our presence at the station—an older man reading the paper. As we crossed the tracks in search of a map we were ... read more

Du pain...du vin...du Boursin. En Bordeaux. Bordeaux is an historic little town in the Acquitane region of France. The region has been occupied since pre-history, and the city has it's origins in pre-Roman times. The Romans conquered it and built masses of architecture, including the partially preserved Colosseum on Rue de Dr. Albert Baraud, and many mosaics preserved in la Musée d'Aquitaine. Bordeaux is a city of two halves. Where I arrived in to, and stayed, is the old heart of the town. These days it is a run down maze of streets and markets, interrupted by the occasional medieval cathedral or two. It's population is mainly African and Arabic, and as such it is bustling and alive. The cleaner, newer center of town is West along the Gardonne river, and is exceptionally well kept and ... read more

Mudaram as estações – mês de outubro Em meio aos passeios (Cadillac, Périgueux), visitas ilustres e aprendizados enológicos, o mês de outubro passou, e passou rápido. Já estava instalado, já não era mais o primeiro mês... mas mesmo assim não faltaram novidades, e o mês ficou longe de entrar numa rotina. Vamos aos fatos principais (eu e os resumos... quem sabe até o final do intercâmbio eu aprenda a fazer um digno do nome). Caso alguém queira relembrar os meses anteriores: - Setembro: ; Ofiicializado: Por mais que eu tenha vindo do Brasil com o visto que me permite ficar 1 ano, era preciso, uma vez aqui na França, validá-lo. Trata-se de um procedimento obrigatório para todos que vão ficar mais de 6 meses, e quem se encarrega é o OFII (Escritório Francês de Imigração e ... read more

The flight from Milan to Bordeaux was brief, only an hour or so. We hitched a ride as soon as we arrived on the easybus. Making the initl transition from Italian to French was difficult at times we caught ourselves saying grazie as opposed to Merci, which made us look a little stupid. Our first impression of Bordeaux was one of beauty. It's a lovely city, very clean and well presented, we never really saw any horrible old architecture or suburban type living areas, it was all genuine to the original architecture. Maybe we were just in the right areas. The night before we had panicked and book an Ibis, it was a one off luxury and the only expensive place we have stayed at this entire trip. I loved it, a touch of home comforts ... read more