C'est Lundi 27 Septembre 1993, Nous arrivons en Paris.
We left Kingston on Sunday at noon in the rain. Judy, Virginia and I were on our way to Montreal to catch our Air France flight to Paris, France, the first leg of the journey, on our cycling trip to the wine region of Bordeaux. The flight was an hour late leaving and after a nice dinner, we were able to settle down and get some rest. There was a strong tail wind, so we made up for lost time and landed in Paris on schedule at 6:10 in the morning. The landing at Charles DeGaulle aeroport was a little hard but safe. We had a three hour wait in the aeroport for our connecting flight by Intra Air to Bordeaux. While we were waiting we checked out the boutiguaire, a place where we would be able to store our bikes and panniers on our return trip, while we spent the last night in Paris.
We arrived in Bordeaux at 10:10. Our bicycle boxes had a rough flight. Judy's was all wet and torn open at one end but nothing was lost. We found a convenient spot in the aeroport and begin the task of putting our bicycles back together. No problem!
We arrive in Bordeaux.
Our bike boxes are damaged but all our equipment is there
The attendant in the Tourist Information office booked a Hotel for us in the city and took our picture. To make sure our brakes were working properly we took a spin around the parking lot. We were then on our way into Bordeaux. "The three Musketeers". This was the land of Gascony, the home of D'Artagnan, captain of the King's Musketeers that we were setting out to explore. It was now up to us to find the Hotel Clemaceaux.
Ready to begin our Adventure
The three Musketeers
About twenty minutes out of the aeroport the sky became overcast with black rain clouds. We were hungry and seeing the Golden Arches in a shopping mall on the horizon, we decided to stop and eat. It was fortunate, because when we were ready to leave a torrential rain storm hit and if we had been out in it we would have been completely drenched. Little did we realize that this would be a feeling we would become quite familiar with in the days to come.
As we rode into the city center the traffic became very heavy and the streets were narrow, so in the interest of safety we decided to walk. We were looking for the Hotel Clemenceau just off the Place Gambetta. right in the middle of the city, which meant we had to walk a long way, about 11 km. It started to rain again, but thanks to our goretex jackets we did not get soaked, and with the aid of a tourist type map we found the hotel without much difficulty. We were surprised to find the city still busy with tourists at this time of year. I guess everybody had the same idea, to tour the wine country during harvest time.
The room at the Clemenceau was on the fourth floor of the hotel, had three beds and une salle de bain. The room was not big but adequate. We had to take our bikes to another hotel, Le Boite, managed by the daughter of the lady who ran the Clemaceaux.
Cafe on La Place Gambetta
Reflection of virginia in the window
We went to the Place Gambetta and had dinner at a corner cafe. I had an Omelette Herbes which was very light and tasty. 50ff. We then went home to bed. I did not sleep very well because it was very noisy from the street. I couldn't find my ear plugs.
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To check out some of my other adventures follow these links.
El Camino de Santiago, Spain
Ecuador and Peru adventures
Iquitos, Peru on the Amazon River
Trekking in Nepal