Balcons de L’Ocean at Biscarrosse
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44°26’55.3128″N, 1°15’14.3460″W

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Dune du Pilat
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44°35’34.7820″N, 1°12’54.2052″W

Today we went to see the Dune du Pilat, the largest sand dune in Europe. The entire coastline in this area has dunes but in this particular area the dunes are absolutely massive!

Photo above  – Catherine at the base of the main dune. If you look closely at the top of the photo the black specks you see are people on top of the dune. The photo doesn’t really do it justice.

The dune is 103 meters high, 600 meters wide & 3 kilometers long. The entire area is a national protected park.

A staircase has been installed by the park authority to help people ascend the dune. The sand is very difficult to walk in because it is so fine & soft. It’s hard just walking through it on the level ground. It’s almost impossible for a lot of people (like me) to climb the dune without using the steps.

Photo above – there are 168 steps in this staircase.  I was puffing pretty good by the time I reached the top but the effort was well rewarded!

Photo above  – a sailboat off in the distance on the Bay of Biscay

Photo above – looking back inland from the top of the dune you can see only forest for miles. The forest is mostly low trees & scrub brush.

Photo above – I was intimidated by the prospect of walking down the staircase (vertigo) so we walked down the side of the dune instead. The slope of the dune (going straight down) was pretty steep but the path along the side of it was relatively wide & a reasonable descent.  We just kept our focus on the pathway & didn’t look down.

Photo above – the forest at the base of the dune.

In July 2022 there was a major forest fire in this area due to drought & heat. It took firefighters 11 days to get the fire under control. Approximately 7,000 hectares of forest were burned & it effectively ended the tourist season for this entire area.

Photo above – there is still lots of evidence of the forest fire for several kilometers along the highway on our drive from the dunes back to Biscarrosse. The tall trees are mostly burned but there is lots of new growth at ground level.

On our way home we stopped at a grocery store to pick up some supplies for our dinner & breakfast tomorrow morning. I got some stuff for a special meal tonight.

We had a brief rest & then went down to the beach to check out the surf. Catherine contemplated going in for a swim but decided against it because the undertow was pretty strong. It was almost dinnertime, so that was my cue to spring into action!

Photo above  – armed with can of fine French beer (1664) chef Wally makes quesadillas for dinner!

During our boat cruise with David & Valerie I had offered many times to make quesadillas for dinner but no one was showing any interest. I finally wore Catherine down to the point where she gave in so it was my time to shine!

Photo above  – a tortilla, some sliced chicken, shallots, mushrooms,  shredded mozzarella cheese & a glass of fine French wine (€5.00 a bottle!) & voilà  – an almost Michelin star dinner!

Photo above  – the sun was setting just as we were finishing up our dinner. We were already dressed in our evening clothes (pajamas) so we opted to enjoy the sunset from our balcony.

The forecast for tonight & tomorrow is for rain. So far we have been lucky & the rain has held off. Hopefully our luck will continue. We shall see!

Cheers!

Bordeaux Train Station
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44°49’35.5008″N, 0°33’22.3488″W

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Balcons de L’Ocean at Biscarrosse
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44°26’55.3128″N, 1°15’14.3460″W

This was our last day in Bordeaux. We took the bus from our hotel down to the main train station. Very convenient as we didn’t have to make any changes to get to the train station even though the bus ride was about 30 minutes.  The Avis car rental depot was located there and we were scheduled to pick up our car at 2:00 pm.

We had to check out of our hotel by 10:00 am so we had several hours before we could pick up our rental car.  We took advantage of the time & had a long lunch at a nice restaurant across the road from the train station.

Photo above- this restaurant has an amazing bar. It’s huge & must be 25-30 feet high. The inside of the restaurant was also very large & must be a very busy place in peak tourism season.

We had a 90 minute drive from Bordeaux to Biscarrosse. Most of the trip was on divided highways. We would have preferred to have taken secondary roads, but that would have involved a lot of driving through a major part of Bordeaux, and we just didn’t want to get into that.

Thankfully the train station is located just a few blocks from a divided highway passing through Bordeaux,  so getting out of the city was very easy. Hopefully it will be just as easy when we have to return the car to the same place a week from now.

This time Avis gave us an Opel brand 4 door car with a 6 speed manual transmission. The car feels a bit bigger & more peppy than the Fiat we had last year. We really liked the Fiat. Hopefully the Opel will be a good car for us too!

This car is bright red. We have decided to name it “Opiee”.  Catherine feels comfortable in this car because it already has a small dent in the right rear door (from a previous rental that Avis has noted), so we feel like that the car has already had an incident. Therefore we will have less to worry about.

Photo above – Catherine with Opiee the Opal – on the “dent free” side.

Our drive to Biscarrosse was fairly easy & we didn’t get lost – not even once! Our route took us past the giant sand dune that is a major tourist attraction in this area. We will travel to see it tomorrow, it is only a 15 minute drive from where we are staying.

We arrived in Biscarrosse around 3:30 pm. This is not your typical French village. It is more like Bondi Beach, with a surfers vibe to it. The houses & commercial buildings are fairly modern in design – a big change from what we’ve been used to seeing for the past few weeks.

Photo above – our hotel. We have a room on the 2nd floor, just above the surf shop & beside the casino!

Our hotel room is actually part of a condo/hotel. It appears that many of the units are owned by individuals who rent them out when they are not using them. Our unit is a compact one bedroom with a nice sized bathroom & a combination kitchen/living room. There is a balcony that faces the ocean but we can’t see it because of the giant dune in front of the property. It is the same for the entire village. No ocean views unless you walk up to the top of the dune. Then the view is fabulous!

Photo above  – the view of the Bay of Biscay from the top of the dune in Biscarrosse is stunning. Pure sand beaches as far as you can see in either direction.

There is a really nice sidewalk path along the top of the dune in the village. The authorities have done a pretty good job of protecting the dunes in an area that is very popular with tourists & surfers.

After walking around the village for a while we went back to our hotel then Catherine decided to try out the pool.

Photo above – the pool at our hotel. It’s not very big but Catherine said it was fun to have a few laps in.

After supper we walked back to the dune & down to the beach. Even with the sun setting there were still lots of people on the beach & also in the water catching the last few waves before dark.

Photo above  – the surf is not big today but people were still having a good time.

Photo above  – Catherine (center) contemplating the surfing life…..

Photo above – surfers catching the last waves before sunset.

Photo above  – Catherine got this shot just as we were getting ready to go back to the hotel. It caught the waves & the wet sand perfectly.

Photo above – Biscarrosse has something for everyone. This casino is beside our hotel. We were a bit worried about this location being noisy at night but it turned out there was no concern. I expect that my snoring was louder than anything going on outside after 10:30 pm – at least during this time of year.

Tomorrow we go to see the really big dune – the Dune du Pilat – the largest sand dune in Europe!

Cheers!

Place de la Bourse Bordeaux
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44°50’30.4188″N, 0°34’8.0148″W

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Porte Cailhou Gate
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44°50’19.6476″N, 0°34’6.5064″W

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Porte de Bourgogne
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44°50’10.8168″N, 0°33’58.4244″W

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Grosse Cloche
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44°50’7.6164″N, 0°34’16.7808″W

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Musee d’Aquitaine
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44°50’9.3624″N, 0°34’30.7524″W

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Cathedrale Saint-Andre de Bordeaux
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44°50’14.6976″N, 0°34’39.5220″W

Today we did a LOT of walking. We walked from our hotel to our first stop – the Place de la Bourse Bordeaux (stock exchange or Old Royal Square)

Photo above – fountain at the Place de la Bourse.

Photo above – Catherine sitting at the edge of the reflecting pool across the road from the stock exchange

Photo above – the reflecting pool is in-between the river & the stock exchange. This entire area is so incredibly well done. Also very calming.

Photo above – our next stop – the Porte Cailhou Gate

Photo above – the Porte Cailhou gate was built in the 1500’s & was the former bell tower for Bordeaux City Hall. Lots of tourist like us walking through the gate & taking photos.

Photo above – our next stop – the Porte de Bourgogne arch. This is like a small scale Arch d’ Triomphe without a roundabout. However, it was located at the foot of a major bridge crossing the Garrone River so there was lots of traffic whizzing by.

Photo above – our next stop was another gate to the old city – the Grosse Cloche – an interesting clock tower.  I would have liked to have spent some more time looking at this but there was a lot of construction in the area plus there was a group of noisy “street people” by the gate that a security guard was trying his best to move them out of the area. We didn’t feel very comfortable at that location so we walked by pretty quickly.

Our next stop was supposed to be the cathedral but we were getting hungry so we stopped at a small cafe to get a bite to eat. By the time we were finished our lunch the cathedral had closed for their lunch & weren’t opening for another 90 minutes so we walked down to the city museum.

Photo above – a Roman carving recovered in the city.

This museum has a lot of artifacts & exhibits recovered from the Bordeaux area that date from before Jesus was born, through the Roman occupation, into the middle ages & into the 1700 & 1800s.

Photo above – a section of the museum was dedicated to Bordeaux’s maritime history including some great models of sailing ships. For a time Bordeaux was the second largest port in the world after London. Sadly, Bordeaux was also a key European port in the slave trade until the mid 1800’s. This was detailed in museum exhibits as well as honouring the contributions of people of African descent to France and Bordeaux in particular.

Photo above – our final stop of the day was at Cathedrale Saint-Andre de Bordeaux.

Photo above – inside the cathedral

Copied from Wikipedia: In 1998, UNESCO designated the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France as a World Heritage Site, including the three main churches of Bordeaux: the basilica of St Severinus, the basilica of St Michael and the cathedral of St Andrew. (I couldn’t have said it better myself).

Historic records date the original church building on this site around year 814 & then various records document the cathedral’s expansions over the next several hundred years.

Photo above – looking forward towards the altar. The acoustics in this building are amazing. There were posters outside listing concerts that were being performed here but unfortunately none while we are in the city.

Photo above – every planter needs a little lampshade, doesn’t it?

We had reached the end of our epic tour for the day. We did a lot of walking but all of these amazing places were surprisingly close together.

The historic part of Bordeaux is very compact & also very flat so getting around wasn’t all that bad. My biggest challenge was constantly trying to avoid being run over by all of the people on bicycles – especially the delivery people who were riding like they were in the Tour de France.

Tomorrow we head to Biscarrosse on the Bay of Biscay. The forecast for the next 3 days calls for rain. Hopefully we will get some sunny periods too.

Cheers!

Maison Manege
27 Rue de Manege
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44°50’27.2148″N, 0°35’7.8756″W

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Bordeaux Wine Museum
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44°51’16.4052″N, 0°34’10.0668″W

Today we toured the Bordeaux Wine Museum. This was a very interesting place.

The city tram is very close to our hotel & we found the line that would take us directly to the museum.

Photo above – city tram. Very reasonable cost at €1.50 per person & that includes transfers within an hour of the first ride.

Photo above – Bordeaux Wine Museum.

This building has a very unique shape & the exhibits/displays are unique as well. Each visitor is given a headset & handset which is about the same size as a large smartphone. Visitors walk from one exhibit to another.  When you see something you want to learn more about you tap your device on a special symbol beside the exhibit & you get an audio commentary about that exhibit. There are also multiple short video exhibits.

Photo above – a video explaining the history of vineyards throughout the world.

Photo above – the tour also includes a scent sniffing section.  This was very interesting & fun to try to identify the scents associated with various types of wines.

We wrapped up the tour with an elevator ride to the top of the building where there was an outside viewing platform that gives you very good views of the city. This was accompanied by a free wine tasting – but only 1 glass.

We really enjoyed this museum. It was very well done & a great way to spend a few hours learning more about wine.

After the tour we stopped at a market beside the museum & had a light lunch. Then we were back on the tram for a ride back to the center of the city.

Photo above – this statue is in Place des Quinconces. At 12 hectares it is one of the largest city squares in Europe.

The square is beside the tram terminal at the city centre. The main monument commemorates the victims of the reign of terror during the French Revolution.

Photo above – the bronze statues from the fountain at the base of the monument were removed by the Nazis during the occupation in 1942 & were supposed to be melted down to make cannons but were later recovered, restored & put back in place.

Photo above – the Opera National du Bordeaux, built in 1780 is just a few steps away from the square.

Photo above – carousel & a wedge shaped building at an intersection across the plaza from the opera house.

Bordeaux is a very walkable city. The opera house is only a 20-30 minute walk from our hotel. Even I can do that!

Tomorrow we plan to do some more exploring in the historic center of the city. We will also check out (sample goods from) one or two of the many patisseries we passed by today.

Cheers!

Angouleme Train Station
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45°39’13.1868″N, 0°9’53.5428″W

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Bordeaux Train Station
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44°49’35.5008″N, 0°33’22.3488″W

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Maison Manege
27 Rue de Manege
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44°50’27.2148″N, 0°35’7.8756″W

After breakfast this morning we walked from our hotel to the Angouleme train station.  It was an easy walk as it was downhill all the way.

Photo above – in front of the train station. I’m still working on taking decent selfies.

We arrived at the station at 10:30 & our train was not due to leave for another hour so we had a bit of time to reflect on our trip thus far & also about what was ahead.

Our train to Bordeaux arrived in Angouleme right on time & after a quick boarding process we were underway.

Photo above – the TGV to Bordeaux.

Riding trains in France is a totally different experience compared to Canada. These trains are electric, very fast & very smooth.

Screenshot above – I opened the driving navigation app on my phone to see how fast we were going.

We boarded the train at 11:20 am & by 11:34 we were speeding across the countryside at 293+ km/hr! Just like on the trip from Paris my navigation app was going nuts with all kinds of excessive speed warnings & sharp curves ahead. I had to mute the sound to avoid disturbing the other passengers.

The company that operates the trains in this part of France is called SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français or French National Railway Company). I think it could also be called Smooth Nice Clean Fast. It’s unfortunate that we can’t get this kind of service in Canada – at least in-between major cities & population centers.

Photo above – Bordeaux Train Station

We arrived in Bordeaux right on time. We still had 2 hours before we could check in to our hotel so we decided to have lunch at one of the restaurants across the street from the train station.

After lunch Catherine went back into the train station to get some information about public transit in the city. She learned that we could take a bus that would drop us off just a couple of blocks from where we were staying.

The bus ride was easy, even with our luggage & we found our “hotel” without too much effort. The place we are staying is really, really nice. There are only 5 guest rooms but they are large & very comfortable. The entire building was renovated a few years ago to a high quality standard. This must have been a large private residence at one time or a few apartments.

Photo above – Catherine standing outside the entrance to Maison Manege. 

Photo above – our room

Photo above – luxury is having a queen size bed in a French hotel room.

In some of the other places we have stayed this bed wouldn’t even fit in the room! We feel like royalty!

The hotel is located near the center of the city & just a few steps away from a vibrant commercial area.

We would certainly recommend this place to anyone visiting Bordeaux.

Photo above – the view from our hotel room window.

Photo above – this part of Bordeaux has an interesting mix of classic & modern architecture. Look at how this office building is cantelivered out over the street below.

Tomorrow we will explore Bordeaux. Catherine has booked a tour of La Cite du Vin – The Wine Museum. That should be a great start to our adventures here in Bordeaux.

Cheers!