April 22 - We’re at the Port of the Moon!

No, I haven’t taken a flight to the moon.  We’re docked in Bordeaux, France, right downtown.  Bordeaux is on the Garonne River and as the river flows through the city it does so in a shape of a crescent moon.  The romantic French named it the “Port de la Lune”(port of the moon). We picked up a pilot in the early morning on Wednesday the 22nd and sailed about 15 miles upriver to this city of approximately 1.4 million (including the metropolitan area). I didn’t wake up until nearly 10 AM and when I looked out from my cabin it didn’t look really exciting.  The banks I saw were just flat and green.  We docked close to noon and then had to be cleared by the French customs authorities.

I had booked two excursions for our time in Bordeaux and the first wasn’t until the evening, so  on Wednesday afternoon I went ashore and took a walk along the promenade on the river. The  Ovation is docked right in front of the Bourse Maritime,  an impressive neo-classical style government building.  It’s the anchor of a large square in which today there is an “antiques” market.  Some of my British friends called it a “rubbish” market because truthfully much of what was in there looked like what you might find in a yard or garage sale at home.  There were a couple of things that struck me about what I saw on this first glimpse of Bordeaux.  First, I didn’t see a single building more than a few stories tall, nor were any at all modern looking built of glass and steel.  Second, one takes one’s life in one’s hands trying to avoid the bicyclists and  e-scooters (not the motorized kind – I mean the ones on which you stand) which share the walkways along the river. They whizzed by and I had to be careful if I stopped and turned to get a better look at something that I didn’t get run over.

These two are the promenade along the river Garonne

I walked for a mile or so and then headed back.  Some of my fellow shipmates told me later that they experienced the same thing I did.  After only a few minutes my eyes felt gritty as if I’d walked through a sandstorm and they began itching and my nose was running.  There is evidently something blooming here which has created a cloud of pollen.  I had a nice walk nonetheless and got quite a few steps in.

This is the Bourse Maritime building which is some kind of administrative building

Can you see how yellow the air is?  It was pollen central.

The flea market  right across the street from the promenade. I didn't feel tempted.

My evening excursion was to the Château Kirwan, a vineyard for a wine tasting and dinner.  Our group gathered for the 45 minute ride to the Château.  Along the way our guide Barbara told us more about Bordeaux wine than I can ever remember but I will try to recount some of what I learned.  I’m going to end this post and write all about what I remember in the next post because I don’t want each to be too long.  So for now À Bientôt.