Bordeaux and beyond

July 5, 2011

Later in the evening yesterday I met a couple French guys around my age who were also bike touring. We chatted for a bit using a mix of broken English in french... Their English was better than my French though haha. We were both heading to Bordeaux the next day and they were staying at a friends flat for a couple days. They ended up inviting me to stay with them in Bordeaux and we would ride there together the next day. 

So this morning we hit the road by 8 and covered 115km to Bordeaux on back roads and a convenient bike path for the last 40km or so. The ride went well and it was nice to have company during the breaks.

We rolled into Bordeaux just before three. I liked the city right away. To give you an idea in 2007 half of the city was Unesco-listed. That made it the largest urban world heritage site! All the buildings and streets  make it feel like I'm walking in a constant time warp. 
After arriving we heading to our accommodation which is right in the thick of it all. The apartment is very old, but had so much character. It's hard to explain what it looks like haha. I dont think i would do it justice. After getting settled and fed we lounged around for the afternoon and I got to sit on a couch and watch tv haha. I haven't had either since I left. The tour de France was on tv, it felt weird watching it and knowing it was occurring 500 or so km up the coast from me. 
In the evening we walked around Bordeaux looking at the flood lit buildings. We spent most of our time hanging out by the river. There were lots of people out and about cause the weather stays so warm late into the evening. It was a really cool evening. 
I was super tired by the end of it all and fell asleep in seconds in my own bed :)


July 6, 2011

After waking up and hanging out for a bit I decided to get lost in the city today. I mostly strolled around the city taking in the architecture, cathedrals and shops. Bordeaux is home to the longest European pedestrian shopping strip. It had lots of great stores, but again I don't have room for shopping haha. 

I also went to the apple store here to get my iPhone looked at. It decided to pooch out on me a while ago and I'm not sure why. Big kudos for apple. After they tried to get it fixed and couldn't they simply pulled out a new one and gave it to me. Pretty much every place you go to tries to place the blame on you. Apple didn't even ask me a question about what happened or anything. But it's not like it was beat up or anything. 
However, there was trouble getting it activated with Telus and stuff because of being in France or what not. Should be good to go tmrw though. 

I am gonna stay another night here in Bordeaux because they offered for me to stay longer. I will probably leave tomorrow morning to the coast. Only 21 days left so I gotta keep moving. 
Bordeaux has been flat out amazing. Having company obviously has made it even better. But the city is alive and in general gives off a good feeling. It's geared towards interactions between people. But it's always easier to do that in a nice warm climate.