To Bordeaux - French Fling - CycleBlaze

April 28, 2019

To Bordeaux

Despite our late night (late for us), I didn't sleep well.  I think Al did, he appeared to be asleep every time I woke and during the hours I read because I couldn't sleep.  However, when we woke, we were surprised to learn that it was already 10:45!  Checkout time was 11:00 and breakfast would end then too.  I guess we really needed the sleep!

Shower, pack, and down to the lobby to check out.  One of the dining workers let us get coffee and brought us some pastries. Everything had already been put away, so that was very nice of him. We sat in the comfortable lobby, ate our croissants (sadly no jam), and reorganized our bags, moving a few heavy things like locks and tools into our wheeled bike bags to make our duffels lighter.

We left at 2 to allow lots of time because we did not want to miss our train (especially having paid 222€ for the tickets). CDGVOL to Terminal 1, then BusDirect to Gare Montparnasse.  The most difficult thing was getting our gear into the Gare; there was no evidence of a lift so we shuttled everything up an escalator.  Now we wait!

While we waited we did learn something interesting:  our train is a TGV!  No wonder it was so expensive and our bikes needed to be in cases.

The trip was uneventful and we arrived on time at Bordeaux St-Jean.  I'd booked a place to stay near the station and it was straightforward to get there, once we'd managed to get out of the station. No lifts that we could see.  There was a ramp to get from the platform under the tracks to the station proper, then an escalator to get up to street level.  I managed that with my heavy bike case and unwieldy duffel on top.  I was pleased with myself. Back in Paris, the duffel (large and heavy) kept falling off the top of the case and a young man had eventually carried it to the train car for me. He got a workout and my gratitude!

We are staying at "Hôtel Particulier" which seems to have only one room, but what a room!  And a very friendly and helpful proprietor(?).

Kitchen area complete with all-in-one washer and dryer. We didn't need to figure out how it worked because we haven't dirtied anything yet!
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Sleeping area
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Ultra-modern bathroom
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