Arrived in Bordeaux yesterday afternoon after a 4 hour drive from Clermont. Not really sure what to expect from Bordeaux, apart from fine wines that is. We haven't done much research on the area, but it does appear on quite a few travel sites as a place to go.
First impression of Bordeaux? Quite a beautiful city. Wide streets, very French architecture, lots of pedestrian boulevards. Not sure how we are going to spend our time here, maybe just get lost wandering the streets and taking it in.
Our hotel is tucked away in the backstreets, about a 10min walk into the central city area, so we can just park the car for a couple of days (been here a week so far & we haven't had a parking ticket yet). Really nice boutique hotel. Although the owners first words to us were not "Bon Jour" but rather "You are too early". Apparently the check-in time is between 5.30 & 7.30pm, a small fact we missed in the fine print of the hotel info. All was good though. He checked us in without too much fuss.
Exploring we shall go. Bordeaux proves to be quite an easy city to navigate. The river becomes a reference point for everything else. Xmas markets were in the process of being set up - we are about 3 weeks early for them yet. Patisseries, bakeries and chocolate shops abound everywhere. And wine shops of course.
Found a cosy wine bar to partake of a couple of glasses of red. Looking at the menu we decided to eat there as well. Entrocote and fries for both of us (steak and chips). And very fine it was too. So good in fact we returned there the next night as well.
All up, a relaxing visit to Bordeaux. Well worth the visit. Must come back again some time.