When we left Amboise, I announced to Ron that it was going to be a very nice transit day because we had nice first class seats on the train and it was a pretty quick ride. And I should know better than to make a statement like this. My pronouncements trigger reverse corollary chaos.
We started out with a .5 mile trek with our luggage – across Amboise to the train station. From Amboise, we took a train to St. Pierre de Corps, where, in theory, our direct train to Bordeaux awaited. We were so early to the Amboise station that Ron declared we were going to take the earlier connection to St. Pierre and I should have put my foot down right then – but when Ron wants to take charge, I try to let him.
Just a few minutes before we were due to board the train in St. Pierre, there was an announcement over the PA and then a mass of confusing movement by everyone at the platform. Having not heard the words chien or chat, I was pretty much at a loss, but fret not, I was about to double my French vocabulary.
I approached a station agent (Station Agent 1), handed over our tickets to Bordeaux, and he offered a detailed explanation, which clearly contained the words dangerous baggage. He pointed to a train and said Tours and so we got on a random train to Tours. At Tours, we wandered around looking for help and I found a station agent and offered my new improved French – bagages dangereux and St Pierre de Corps.
Whatever was going on at St. Pierre de Corps was some kind of big deal because Station Agent 2 further supplemented my French by clearly offering up the word situation and told us to get on a train to Poitiers, which turned out to have a school field trip of 100 prepubescent 10-year-olds in our car, which, in my mind, is a situation in and of itself.
Station Agent 3, on the train to Poitiers, looked at our tickets, I spoke my magical French – Bagages Dangereux – and she showed us a map on her phone, and told us to take the next train from Poitiers to Bordeaux. When I asked about our assigned seats/car, she just waved her hand, which I assumed to mean get on the train and hope you’re not sitting with another entire elementary school.
So when I say to you that we have an easy transit day, I suppose what I mean is that I’m planning to haul our luggage on and off 5 trains, none of which I even had a ticket for:) Oh yeah – and the incident at St. Pierre? Not sure, but they brought the mine squad in to deal with the baggage and sealed off the station.
Oh, and the picture at the top? Those are caneles, the specialty baked good of Bordeaux. We stopped to try one as we made our first loop of the neighborhood and they were extraordinary. Crispy from fried sugar on the outside with a dense, custard taste on the inside. About 5 minutes later, I made Ron stop again and then we had yet one more a bit later. They are going to be a serious problem for me here in Bordeaux.
First thoughts on Bordeaux? Beautiful but it looks noticeably different than Paris. The city has a French feel but with a little Eastern Europe lilt to it. Here’s a main square near our hotel. It’s a little unnerving to have the trams going right through the square
Here’s a pedestrian shopping street. The streets are packed with stores – way more so than the typical Parisian street. And it’s a lively city – young people everywhere!
And as we walked, eating our third canale, we turned a corner and saw the Cathedral of St. Andrew of Bordeaux, from the 11th century. This, like almost every church in Europe, is open for random visits by tourists, and we love to wander in.
More from Bordeaux soon!
Travels with Valerie 