Ariival done, and night spent at our campground…
Campground report: “Village du Lac – Camping de Bordeau” lies north of downtown Bordeaux, and is about a 10km-ish bike ride from the airport. It’s kinda high-falutin as campgrounds go, but friendly to biker/campers. We got a nice pitch in the shade, were able to buy beer, bread and other sundries at the camp shop, and have a great dinner in their camp restaurant. This is a real restaurant, not just a snack bar. The camp has a ton of permanent cabins, and caters primarily to RVs. No swimming pool, no kiddie pandering either (i.e. they don’t have mascots and activities for toddlers…). Recommended? Yes!
Next morning, we are off to see Bordeaux. We decide to bypass the city’s rental bike stand outside the camp (mistake! Don’t do this!) and also skip the bus to the tram station a km or so way. The tram takes us into town (actually not – they went about halfway to town, then we transferred to a bus for the bulk of the trip. Still, only a half hour or so to the thick of Bordeaux).
And what a Bordeaux! It’s Paris’ smaller sister…something like 1 million people in the area, lots of monuments, churches and buildings to be seen…spread out somewhat, but they are all intact due to France’s prudent decisions in WWIII…
We check in to the TI, grab a map and head out to explore – Scott needed a new hat, having left his back in the car in Vancouver… We also had our eyes open for Tour de France apparel, but that was not to be found. Maybe later in the trip when we visit Carcassonne, a Tour stop?
Sites a great, food is better. We end up at the Marche Capucin, a fairly ‘local’ hangout, and chow down on a massive plate of shellfish and wine…
Then back to the streets, checking out the un-bombed sites!
Site-seeing done, we balked at trying to figure out how to bus/tram it back to the camp, and elected to try out the local rental bike offerings. These are similar to back home in Victoria, but instead of being left halter-shelter around town, there are specific spots to pick up and deposit bikes (like right outside out camp!).
I had my bike gps with me, so we paid for a couple and squeaked and rattled our way the 6-8 km back home!
Tomorrow? Back on REAL bikes and east towards the med!
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