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Bordeaux, France
What a pretty city!
Pam and I ate breakfast on both
days in the restaurant here at the Hotel Burdigala (pronounced
rather like it looks: Birdie-GAH-la) then hit the streets
to do exercise/sightseeing walks.
The hotel is near the heart of
the old city, only about ten blocks from the west bank of
the large Garonne river. I'll copy the column technique of
the late, great, Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle
and give a little "3-dot journalism" in a stream-of-consciousness
style:
The French like their dogs. Lots
of dogs are seen all over and they all seem rather well-behaved.
But the owners aren't any better in picking up the poopy than
we in America…Are we the only country that counts the ground
floor as the FIRST floor? Everywhere else, thus far, the ground
floor is floor zero, the one we would call the second floor
is their first floor, etc. At Horta in the Azores we were
in room 300-and-something (how quickly I forget!) yet it was
accessed via the elevator's #2 button. Yet here at the Hotel
Burdigala the rooms on the second floor, where we are, are
numbered in the 200s even though we are on the third floor
if we count like Americans…And what's with the thumb? When
Pam asked a department store saleslady where the toilets were,
she indicated the third floor by holding out her thumb and
first and second fingers. This confused us a bit until I remembered
reading or being told that Americans are one of the few groups
that count on our fingers the way we do: First, second, ring,
and little finger, followed by the thumb for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Most others use the thumb first and all the fingers follow
in order, so the little finger becomes "5"…Cafes are everywhere
and almost always have tables and chairs on the sidewalk or
street outside the entrance. Colorful umbrellas are in abundance
over the tables, but not at all sites. The weather, for October,
seems quite warm and certainly the outdoor portions of the
cafes are still getting lots of use. How nice! Exhaust fumes
with your quiche!…Speaking of exhaust fumes, they are probably
one of the reasons - along with fires, soot, acid rain, dog
poop fumes? - that the lovely stone exteriors of buildings
here are so badly darkened, in many places totally black.
But Bordeaux is undergoing a major renovation push that has
taken many years and will take many more, and many of the
buildings look absolutely sparkling new even though they are
centuries old. I wonder what they use. Steam? Sand blasting?
Occasionally I see a building wrapped in scaffolding and netting
but I haven't actually seen the process in use…Yes, Bordeaux
appears that it is working hard to become even more of a tourist
destination of the future. The Garonne River waterfront as
well as much of the rest of the city is really getting a makeover.
Put it on your French list of places to see…One doesn't see
many American cars here, but those American cars that are
seen are nearly always Chrysler products: Jeeps, Neons, even
a 300M like mine. The big French names are Peugeot, Renault,
and Citroen. Remember when the little Renault Dauphine was
imported to the States in the 60s as a VW competitor? Didn't
work out too well, even though Dave and Betty Giboney in New
Castle had one. And remember how we Americans pronounced it?
"Ren-Ault." Not "Ray-No" like they do here. Well, let me tell
you, Renault has done darn well. Everything from little econoboxes
to huge trucks all share the Renault emblem. I think a fun
game for our return party is to have a slideshow on the computer
showing nothing but various car makers' emblems and then the
winner is the person who can name most of the brands…Damn,
I wish I could speak about four or five other languages fluently!
Even one would be nice, but no such luck. It is fun listening/watching
Pam and me order food or drink. Lots of pointing at the menu
and butchering the pronunciation very badly. Still, we aren't
starving - not at all! - and can get by, but it makes one
feel lonely when so little is understood of what you hear
and read around you. I am reminded of the great line from
an old Steve Martin comedy album/routine: "Those French!"
He says with a snide sneer. "Why, they have a different word
for EVERYTHING!" Well, actually, they don't. "Escalator,"
"Bar," "Toilet(te)" are a few words that are the same, but
it always seems like they must push their lips out very far
to relish the words in their mouths as long as possible before
finally letting them escape…Even their computer keyboards
are different! Before we learned how to connect to the Internet
in our room, we were allowed to use the one they provide in
the lobby for guests but the keyboard had many differences.
It wasn't too bad for a hunt-and-peck typist like myself,
but Pam had to forego her normal touch typing routine…We went
to the Museum of Contemporary Art today and couldn't understand
a word the fellow at the desk was saying but paid our 50 Francs
and went into a really neat old building to tour the exhibitions.
Well, maybe he was saying, "You stupid Americans! Don't you
know the museum is still in the building stages, a part of
the city renaissance effort?" What a bust! One little yucky
exhibit of modern art - The display of Hoover vacuum cleaners
was particularly fascinating to me. Yeah. Right. - and nothing
else to be found. We even went back to the lobby to scope
out the layout map again, but the few exhibit areas shown
to exist were locked up tighter than a drum. Nice building,
though…No one wears hats here. I decided to leave my baseball
cap home today after wearing it all of yesterday, to better
blend in. Men, women, kids all go hatless. No wait! I did
see one skateboarder skating on the steps of a classic old
stone building, who, of course, had his ballcap on backwards…It
seems that everyone smokes, young and old alike. I guess the
"tabac" companies have succeeded well in their advertising
schemes. Too bad. A great-looking young mademoiselle is seen
walking ahead of me and catches my attention, then the telltale
wisp of smoke swirls up over her head and the swinging hand
reveals the little white cylinder. She ain't great-looking
no mo', not to old TC…Have heard quite of a bit of music played
by street musicians, mostly good, some horrible. One guy was
singing old folk songs - I mean, folk songs that are old,
not songs for folks like me! - in an American accent in English.
Kinda looked like Marsh Trimble, too. Do you suppose? Nah.
There was a really good group using those "pan flute" things
you see on late night TV when that foreign guy is hawking
his albums. But the violinist? Bad. Real bad…This town is
old, with buildings dating from the 1400s and before. Yet,
it was built upon the remains of the old Roman town here from
before the days of Christ. Some of these buildings were old
when Columbus sailed. We really do live in a young country!…Rue
Sainte Catherine is the main north-south road following the
course of the old Roman road, but most of it is a pedestrian
walkway now with lots and lots of shops and cafes of all descriptions,
most very upscale. Be careful when it crosses other streets,
though, because the drivers come through pretty fast…Actually,
we have found most drivers to be very courteous and will stop
for you in a crosswalk. The French, like most Americans, don't
heed the Walk/Don't Walk signs much but make a dash whenever
the street looks clear. Works well. Also, rarely is a horn
heard. Will have to wait for Italy for that incessant noise…Included
the Jardin Botanique on our walk today. Get it? Botanical
Garden? It was rather small and the sun was behind a cloud
then so the colors didn't show up well, but lots and lots
of plants all neatly labeled with what they were. In French,
of course…Most of the buildings in town are of stone construction,
solid and beautiful, and four or five stories high. Many have
tall, full-length wooden shutters over the doors and windows
on the upper floors, but almost all of the shutters look to
be in bad shape. Lack of use any more? Giving way to metal
or plastic roll-up shutters or indoor screens? Just out of
style?…They write time differently here. Instead of saying
that it is now 5:57 p.m. (on Wednesday), they'd write it 17h57…Well,
that time is already past the cocktail hour. "Talk" to you
later.
Bordeaux Fair |
Bordeaux Street Scene |
Ferris Wheel View |
Lots of Bordeaux! |
Wine Tasting |
Wine Tour |
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