Day 12 - Mirambeau to Bordeaux - France, Top to Bottom

May 6, 2023

Day 12 - Mirambeau to Bordeaux

We had to leave early today because we had a ferry to catch an 11:00am ferry. The ferry was 21 miles away. Now you might say 21 miles is not that far, but factoring in our slow pace, inevitable distractions of birds and photos too good to cycle past, and wanted to allow ample time for the unexpected, we decided to leave at 7:30am. This was too early for our hosts to serve us breakfast, obviously because they eat dinner so dang late, but thankfully he did agree he could make it out of bed by 7:30am to let our bikes out of the locked yard. We had to make the 11:00am ferry because though the ferry sailed every hour and a half most of the time, there was a four-hour mid-day break which we assume was so the ferry workers could eat a proper lunch.

If yesterday’s ride had the hardest hills, todays was a breeze. It started almost immediately with one rather rude hill up a rough dirt road requiring all of us to dismount and push. But the 180 feet of elevation gained seemed to set us up for mostly flat or slightly downhill riding the rest of the day.

We arrived at the ferry with enough time to scavenge food from a boulangerie and a large Saturday market next to the ferry. Our previous night’s hosts had recommended that we buy a box of canellés at the market, a regional specialty that is a small little cake/pastry thing flavored with rum and vanilla. Attempting to buy a petite box of canellés with my stumbling French, I managed to buy a rather large box, filled with petite canellés. Despite eating quite a few myself over the course of the day and encouraging Doug and Donna to do their part, we arrived with a mostly full box of cannelés in Bordeaux, where our hosts upon arrival presented us each with a canellé as a treat.

Bordeaux is amazing, but I'll save that for tomorrow's post as we have an off day in Bordeaux.

The day started rudely with this climb up a dirt road.

We saw a few old windmill bases earlier on the trip and weren't sure what they were. This confirms our suspicions.

"Open the pod bay door HAL". The toilets in Bordeaux may have taken high tech a little too far. First there is a cleaning cycle between uses, that requires the next person in line to wait for a couple of minutes before it will let you in. Upon entering, it provides instructions in French and English, including informing you of a 15 minute time limit after which the doors will be rudely unlocked. Then it plays elevator music for your enjoyment while you do your business.

Cycling along the river towards center of Bordeaux.

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Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 621 miles (999 km)

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