Atlantic Coast Roadie 3: Bordeaux

26th - 28th June: Bordeaux

When you think of Bordeaux, what springs to mind? It's got to be wine, right? Conjuring images of touring wineries on bikes in the hazy sunshine? Yes. Well, that's not the trip we had. To be fair, at the outset of this roadie, we'd already agreed that we would do the cities when it was raining as there's more things like museums to keep William entertained, rather than wet campsites with uninviting outdoor pools. So, it was essentially a weekend of dodging the rain in Bordeaux with a six-year-old. 

I'd booked two nights at the newly opened StayCity aparthotel which, by an absolute stroke of luck just happened to be a couple of streets away from what was always going to be our first port of call: BAG - Bakery Art Gallery. A 100% gluten free bakery, with an art gallery joined on. A bit of a random combination, but I wasn't complaining. Less so when I stepped inside and saw what they had on offer. I was so overwhelmed with it all that I dropped my guard on William's order and before we knew what was happening, he'd actually bitten into a cookie with walnuts in it. To say that my heart was in my mouth was an understatement. We quickly washed his hands and sat, calmly observing him so see if his face was swelling up. 20mins passed and we knew we'd dodged a bullet. Unbelievable. 

With the weather holding, we headed on a meander through the streets. The first thing to hit us was the sheer number of bars, cafes and restaurants. Beautiful cobbled lanes with place after place after place to eat and drink. Cities like these must've felt like complete ghost towns during the lockdowns. 

In the evening, we headed to Max-A-Table for yet more GF options. Even a crossed grain logo on their menu! Why can't the rest of France (ie Pau!) just be a bit more like this. The food was good, and the setting was just perfect. You can tell I'm enjoying it all...

After dinner, we went for a bit more of a wander and managed to get home before it got too cold and wet. It didn't stop William playing in the fountains though. I imagine this part of the city is absolutely buzzing on a warm summers night. (Tbf, there was a bit of a pop-up party happening as some guys had a huge speaker blaring out dance music, but the place still felt quite quiet). 

Sunday began with brunch back at BAG. Iain indulged his inner artist with a personal tour from the gallery owner whilst I indulged myself with the food. The rest of the day was spent trying to stay dry and entertain William. I'm not sure how successful we were with either. We went to the Bordeaux Natural History Museum and it wasn't much more than a three star review from me. Quite dated and far too much emphasis on taxidermy for my liking. I've been to other NHMs and Bordeaux could do a lot better. 

We've decided that when we're in bigger cities, it's always worthwhile trying to get an Indian curry (La Rochelle did not disappoint!) so that's exactly what we did on the Sunday night. We went to Le Rajistan which was only a short walk from our apartment and although the restaurant was a bit ramshackle, the food was decent and we went home satisfied. 

Time to pack and move on. Bordeaux was really just a quick pit stop. With the lively bar and eating scene, we'd probably have enjoyed it much more in our late 20s/early 30s but it was still good for me to get my GF hit. As a big city, however, we did notice a more obvious undercurrent of dodgy looking people (the distinctly European look of people who wouldn't be out of place at a festival, and wandering the streets with packs of dogs tied to ropes). Anyway, we're heading further south next week, back to the cabin type accommodation and we're praying for much better weather. 

Lorna.