We were up pretty early to finish the packing, and to clean out the van. We had booked an inspection sometime after 10, and so had time to get everything done. I wasn't at all happy with how clean we'd managed to make the van, but it was the best we could do with the materials to hand.
The same man who'd fixed our fridge problem came to check on everything, and he didn't pay much attention at all to how clean it was. Oh well, thank goodness.
The car was packed, and we were ready to go. Dave and Annie had headed off early to get the house ready for us, and so we said goodbye to Paul and Sue and got on the road.
The journey was fairly unremarkable, and fairly similar to the way down in terms of where the traffic was. After a few peages, and a quick stop, we headed into Bordeaux for some lunch and a small explore. Christian took us on the scenic route into the city, which was very interesting. The outskirts were university areas with student accommodation, but as we got closer to the centre of the city, there were a lot of beautiful old one-storey stone houses. The roads were narrow, and there were lots of traffic lights. We got a car park in a fairly major road, and set off walking towards the cathedral, as Paul had recommended that area for restaurants.
I got a call from Steve at this point, but we wandered to the cathedral, which was closed at this time of day, and took some photos. There was a separate tower to the cathedral, and we couldn't really understand why this was. We were quite near the town hall, and so there were a few weddings going on.
We decided to eat at one of the fairly posh looking restaurants off the square (Le Cafe Francais), and took seats at a nice table. Vicki and I ordered assortiments of entrees (ham, pate, and something else), and Christian ordered a seafood salad. The salad was enormous, but he got through it. Vicki's and my plates were just the right size, and it was delicious. Vicki very kindly offered to buy us lunch as a thank you. It was a nice meal.
After lunch, we went to have a look in the cathedral as it was now open. It was typical of most French cathedrals - large, beautiful, with stunning glass. We walked on to the tower next to it, and found out that it was a bell tower (Tour Pey-Berland). It was kept separate from the cathedral to avoid the vibrations of the bells damaging the cathedral, and strangely, didn't house any bells until 350 years after the tower's construction was completed.
We got back on the road, and missed a turn or two, and so saw a little more of Bordeaux than we expected to. We did a drive by the Opera House, and then all of a sudden we were at the river, and everything got very pretty and very grand. The city certainly deserves another visit.
There was a lot of driving, and a stop to see if we could buy a gift of some description for Annie and Dave (we failed), and were soon turning off to plunge into the countryside to find Dave and Annie's house in Luxe. The countryside was rustic in the same way St Cirq was. We followed Dave's directions, but found ourselves driving up the wrong driveway. We called to get instruction, and were set straight - we were only a few doors down from their house. We drove up, parked, and took in the house and surroundings. The house was huge, and very well fitted out. We took our things up to our rooms, and came back down to explore. I prowled around the garden investigating all of the interesting looking plants. Annie had done a very good job, and was very knowledgeable about them.
She had an enormous veggie patch on a higher level with all sorts of amazing things growing. We sat down in the shade, and were presented with a drink and some snacks. Dave and I had a conversation about French wine - helping me understand it a bit better. We were introduced to pineau, and I found the white delicious, and the red not much less so. Dinner was set out before long, which was a delicious selection of cold meat, salads, and all things tasty. The sun got low, and it cooled off a little. After the obligatory cheese, Christian, Vicki and I went for a walk in the village, up to the church, which involved going under a rail underpass. Sadly, the church wasn't open, but there were still some lovely sights to behold. It's quite sleepy, but lovely.
A cat followed us back to the house, and Annie shooed it away when we got there. Back inside, we watched the news, and Christian and I turned in fairly soon after. It was a big day at the end of a long week.
The same man who'd fixed our fridge problem came to check on everything, and he didn't pay much attention at all to how clean it was. Oh well, thank goodness.
The car was packed, and we were ready to go. Dave and Annie had headed off early to get the house ready for us, and so we said goodbye to Paul and Sue and got on the road.
The journey was fairly unremarkable, and fairly similar to the way down in terms of where the traffic was. After a few peages, and a quick stop, we headed into Bordeaux for some lunch and a small explore. Christian took us on the scenic route into the city, which was very interesting. The outskirts were university areas with student accommodation, but as we got closer to the centre of the city, there were a lot of beautiful old one-storey stone houses. The roads were narrow, and there were lots of traffic lights. We got a car park in a fairly major road, and set off walking towards the cathedral, as Paul had recommended that area for restaurants.
I got a call from Steve at this point, but we wandered to the cathedral, which was closed at this time of day, and took some photos. There was a separate tower to the cathedral, and we couldn't really understand why this was. We were quite near the town hall, and so there were a few weddings going on.
We decided to eat at one of the fairly posh looking restaurants off the square (Le Cafe Francais), and took seats at a nice table. Vicki and I ordered assortiments of entrees (ham, pate, and something else), and Christian ordered a seafood salad. The salad was enormous, but he got through it. Vicki's and my plates were just the right size, and it was delicious. Vicki very kindly offered to buy us lunch as a thank you. It was a nice meal.
After lunch, we went to have a look in the cathedral as it was now open. It was typical of most French cathedrals - large, beautiful, with stunning glass. We walked on to the tower next to it, and found out that it was a bell tower (Tour Pey-Berland). It was kept separate from the cathedral to avoid the vibrations of the bells damaging the cathedral, and strangely, didn't house any bells until 350 years after the tower's construction was completed.
We got back on the road, and missed a turn or two, and so saw a little more of Bordeaux than we expected to. We did a drive by the Opera House, and then all of a sudden we were at the river, and everything got very pretty and very grand. The city certainly deserves another visit.
There was a lot of driving, and a stop to see if we could buy a gift of some description for Annie and Dave (we failed), and were soon turning off to plunge into the countryside to find Dave and Annie's house in Luxe. The countryside was rustic in the same way St Cirq was. We followed Dave's directions, but found ourselves driving up the wrong driveway. We called to get instruction, and were set straight - we were only a few doors down from their house. We drove up, parked, and took in the house and surroundings. The house was huge, and very well fitted out. We took our things up to our rooms, and came back down to explore. I prowled around the garden investigating all of the interesting looking plants. Annie had done a very good job, and was very knowledgeable about them.
She had an enormous veggie patch on a higher level with all sorts of amazing things growing. We sat down in the shade, and were presented with a drink and some snacks. Dave and I had a conversation about French wine - helping me understand it a bit better. We were introduced to pineau, and I found the white delicious, and the red not much less so. Dinner was set out before long, which was a delicious selection of cold meat, salads, and all things tasty. The sun got low, and it cooled off a little. After the obligatory cheese, Christian, Vicki and I went for a walk in the village, up to the church, which involved going under a rail underpass. Sadly, the church wasn't open, but there were still some lovely sights to behold. It's quite sleepy, but lovely.
A cat followed us back to the house, and Annie shooed it away when we got there. Back inside, we watched the news, and Christian and I turned in fairly soon after. It was a big day at the end of a long week.
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