The river is quite narrow in places and it was exceptional to stand on the balcony and watch 200 feet away, as homes, cars as birds sang in the twilight (It stayed light until almost 10pm)
The ship was docked in the center of town and it was fantastic to look out on the balcony at all the people walking, biking, rollerblading by the ship.
We had a day and a half in Bordeaux and across the street was an humongous antique market.
The sunshine and cool air made the day exceptional. We walked the rows and rows of antique
vendors - must have been at least 300 of them from 9 in the morning till 6 in the evening.
Beside the market were plants and flowers for sale and I've never seen a wider variety of exquisite roses, lemon trees and every flower imaginable for sale and all in springtime bloom.
This is a limequat tree - never even thought you could cross a lime with a loquat tree.
Look at the size of this very fragrant rose!
You only need money and a shipping container to buy the most fantastic items we've ever seen in one place!
It became overcast around 6 and started to drizzle but we walked back across the street to get on board, change our clothes and go out again into the old part of the city. The old city was beyond our expectations. Fabulous fountains, statues, scenic roads and at least 300 restaurants with people sitting and eating or just strolling.
Most Frenchmen had a dog on a leash. Water is put out for the dogs to drink at most restaurants and people in general were having a fabulous time socializing.
We stopped at Sweeny Todd's English Pub where we met a couple of people. One was living in Bordeaux and would you believe was from Boca Raton, FL and the other guy was from London. People on the streets and stores were friendly and I guess it helped that Len especially spoke French and me enough to ask for directions and prices.
Not a drop of graffiti, no litter, no dirt. It was fabulous and the most beautifully kept statues.
There are places all along the city where you can park your cars in the cool shade of sycamore trees, and an electric tram, spotlessly clean, takes you through the city.
The city is huge - sprawling for miles and miles with a population of over 250,000.
This is in the old part of the city. The building in the background in called the Bourse. It it is stock exchange and was immaculate. Len photographed the exquisitely sculpted gargoyles that were on just 2 sides of the building each with a different face.
Just a quiet street after some rain.
We had only till 12 noon before the ship left (high tide) and wandered more streets. In these 2 days we must have walked 10 miles!
As out shipped pulled away from the quay there were hundreds of spectators waving us goodbye.
Little kids yelling Bon Voyage!
Our sail up the Garrone was peaceful & beautiful as we passed wineries and chateaus all along it's picturesque banks.
The water from the river is quite muddy and as we sailed into the Bay of Biscaye you could see the color change.
It was a fabulous port in a wonderful part of France that we would love to revisit.
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