To Bordeaux

October 8, 2022

Adieu la Dordogne, bonjour à la Garonne

Since 1984 I have lived on Garonne Drive in our suburban St. Louis Missouri neighborhood of streets with French names. I didn’t give it much thought until a few years ago when I heard Phil Liggett exclaiming during the Tour de France "There they go over the beautiful Garonne River shining in the sun!" as the peloton rolled over it somewhere in the Pyrenees. Wouldn’t it be cool to cycle along that river?

Turns out we’ll have a shot at it today. Our next base camp is Arles in Provence. Getting there from Sarlat by rail and bus takes at least 14 hours with 2 connections on the weekend when train schedules are sparse. If we break it up with a Saturday night stop in Bordeaux, our train time will be just around 8 hours – 2.5 to Bordeaux today and 5.5 to Arles tomorrow. Back in the trip planning stage while studying the map around Bordeaux I spied the Garonne river with bike trails on both sides. Hot damn! Our afternoon train will get us there at 3:20, time enough for a little spin by the river before dinner.

Saturday is Market Day in Sarlat and we have a chunk of time this morning to wander a bit before our 1:00 train. After checking out of the hotel and stashing our bags with the bikes in the velo parking room, we walk up the Rue de la Republique for a shopping fix.

Pretty day for a walk in the sunshine to check out the market

Anybody know what this instrument is? Such a beautiful sound.

I get through the market with minimal wallet impact - a cute watch for €10 to stand in for my dead Timex and a bag of walnut cookies. Barry splurges on a handsome suede jacket. He'll have to bungee it to his panniers but doesn't mind; we don't have many loaded bike rides left on this trip.

We collect our belongings at the hotel and ride to the train station. It's been a wonderful three night stay in Sarlat, just enough time to appreciate the beautiful country here. I'd love to come back and spend more time exploring this area on the bike.

Barry's pannier bag is still in backpack mode and he doesn't bother to break it down and strap it on the rack. Seems like it would be top-heavy, but not a problem for the short ride to the station.

I like the TER trains that don't require you to bag the bikes. We just roll them on.

First train we've been on with hooks to hang the bikes.

Rumbling through the Perigord on the train

Our Bordeaux hotel is less than 1k from the train station, making for an easy landing today and a quick exit tomorrow morning. By 4:30 we're checked in and back in the saddle pedaling towards the river. After our lovely rides in France on the Seine, the Loire and the Dordogne, I look forward to notching another one.

There's a lot of construction here, making it tricky to navigate the bike path, but we find our way to the river. The Garonne in Bordeaux is rather larger than the others, 550 meters across here. We cross over on the Pont St. Jean to the east side and ride up the path to the Pont Jacques Chaban Delmas, the highest lift bridge in Europe.

The Garonne from the path on the east side.

The très moderne Pont Jacques Chaban Delmas - the highest lift bridge in Europe, named for the French prime minister under Georges Pompidou

We were lucky to hit the bridge when it was down. The lift rises 50 meters and has been known to close for hours when raised to let ships pass.

It would be cool to see this bridge at night when the four towers glow with blue lights. The Bordeaux tourism site has beautiful pictures with the bridge up and lighted at night.

We cross over to the west side where the pedestrian and bike traffic on the path is getting thick. Its a warm sunny Saturday afternoon and everybody is out enjoying the day. We ride the river for a while, then turn off on Rue Esprit de Lois to see more of the city. It's a hectic ride with all the bodies and kids running about but little car traffic.

Its peak day for street music. Near the Hotel de Ville we stop to hear this jazzy brass band. Barry loves it, he was a big 'bone player in high school.

The Cathédrale Saint-André de Bordeaux dates back to the 11th century

At the Place du Palais we find open bar seating in the restaurant Avant Comptoir du Palais. Washing down some tasty plates of pork belly, chili sausage, blood carrots and potatoes with a bottle of Bordeaux, we finish off the meal with an amazing hot dark chocolate concoction.

The bustling big city vibe here is in stark contrast with the quieter, more laid-back atmosphere of Sarlat. We've satisfied our curiosity about Bordeaux for now. It would be interesting to ride more along the Garonne upriver in the Pyrenees some day. For this trip, we're ready to move on tomorrow to Provence.

Cailhau Gate at the Place du Palais, a 15th century defensive bastion

View from our hotel near the train station

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Today's ride: 15 km (9 miles)
Total: 467 km (290 miles)

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Suzanne GibsonWhat a treat to see pictures of sunny France while it is snowing here. I am glad you didn't get your journal finished sooner as I have been suffering withdrawal and a glimpse of pedaling in France is so welcome.
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1 year ago

Bob KoreisLoved the band video. Fun group.
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1 year ago

Janice BranhamTo Suzanne GibsonOh thank you Suzanne! I hadn't thought about that little silver lining but I'm loving the look back too.
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1 year ago

Janice BranhamTo Bob KoreisGlad you enjoyed it. The girl jumping in the pink jumpsuit cracks me up.
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1 year ago