Day 43: Romagne to Bordeaux

May 8, 2018

Maxine of Chateau du Crecy came up with a full fledged breakfast this morning, including eggs, cheese, ham, and many types of jam. We think that while in France there is never a guarantee, the chances of a real breakfast are best at a B&B. The same would seem to be true for a large size room and wifi that is straightforward and possibly fast. All that probably means B&B is better than hotel. On the other hand it is easier to find a cheap hotel, and the hotel cost can be reduced by not including the breakfast.

I had been been of the opinion that the town of Romagne, which was in the address of our chateau, does not actually exist. But shortly after we set off, Dodie was able to display a cluster of buildings plus church sporting the road sign Romagne. Ok, but places around here sure are small.

This could be a good time for a quick review of just where we are. Even if you the reader may not need it, maybe I do! Romagne is about 45 km from Bordeaux, but where is Bordeaux? Bordeaux is about 50 km from the Atlantic ocean, if you head right over there by heading west. The city sits on the Garonne River (which we have been following for a few days now) which runs through town, going north. The Garonne is on a mission to meet up with the Dordogne in about 125 km, then they both go to the sea in a huge estuary called the Gironde.

This whole area is famous for wine, but is broken into several sub regions, that look like this:

In this map you can clearly see the two rivers and the Gironde, with Bordeaux city sitting firmly on the Garonne.

By the way, I asked Maxine about the apparently cheap price of her wine. She replied that while good, it is not "Grand Cru". She also commented that with taxes, the price would likely be much higher back in Canada. I had a quick look at that and found bottles in the $15-60 range. There was also a 6 pack for sale in one government store for $21,000, so who knows!

Our run into Bordeaux was about as easy as you can get, since the Roger Lapebie route despite a few ups was running mostly down. We got to go through one exciting tunnel, and we also passed a pond boasting the largest number of yellow iris we have ever seen. The bike route was being well used, not only by cyclists but also by runners and walkers. It was an encouraging sight and as usual spawned discussion between us as to why this type of thing is not developed near our home. There is an unused rail line right there, but for years it has been used neither for rail nor for cycles. (To be fair, some bits have been developed, but progress is glacial.)

It was not too long before we rolled up to one of the bridges into Bordeaux. From the vantage point there were could see something of a city skyline. On one side were some new buildings, while on the other was the St Michel basilica and some of the surrounding buildings. If it were not for St Michel, some of the new buildings might have been slightly interesting. But in comparison to what they built in the 14th century, sorry to say, they seriously suck!

Up and over the bridge (which by the way had a separated bike lane) and one of the first things in view was a wonderful old chateau style building. I remembered this from the only other time we have been here. At that time, on finding the building essentially disused, I commented that there are so many wonderful buildings in Bordeaux that something as great as this can just be cast aside. Dodie said she did not remember the building or for that matter the town, at all. That's kind of a plus because she gets to experience it all over again. Like in the movie Groundhog Day.

Wonderful, disused abbey?, but in Bordeaux, so what.

We continued along the river front trying to decide where to dive into the city, and came to a stop by a sign giving some of the cycling options. We could choose to go to Spain, for example, or to Norway, or we could just go to the St Jean train station and leave town! As we contemplated the options, some cyclists drew up and asked us some of the usual questions. We were fielding these when along came -- Nico and Charlene, whose path we have been crossing for a couple of days. With those greetings underway, a man cycled up who was was Istanbul and had been to Spain. He was now headed home. Yet another cyclist, or two ot three joined in and soon it was a convention!

Now we plunged into the city, entering at the St Michel basilica, which is near the river - accounting for its place in the skyline from where we were looking at first, on the other side. Coming, as we were, right out of the countryside, the square in front of the basilica was a big change. Here lots of people were walking about, or eating at outdoor cafes. It was a lively and friendly atmosphere, much like that in Toulouse. And a big plus, few or no cars moving about.

The St Michel tower, stands separate from the church

We carried on a little randomly toward what was signed as the Marche des Capucins - a covered market. Once there we were puzzled to see its timetable posted and as we read it, it should have been open - but no. So we set off for our next objective - either the Decathlon (which apparently we have not had enough of) or the B&B we had booked.

We came first to the Decathlon, and it was closed too! Wtf? A man on a bike rolled up to the Decathlon and I asked him whether he had a different interpretation of the hours posted on the door. The man was from Holland, so we had the conversation in English, which was fairly refreshing. He explained that this was a holiday in France. (So what else is new?). May 8, the day de Gaulle announced the end of WWII, of course.

We carried on to the B&B, which was just down the street from the cathedral. It was a situation where the rooms are in a larger building and you have to ring the bell, which is only faintly marked as the one for the B&B. But the door was answered by the delightful young couple of Julien and Camille. They had a place inside for the bikes, but it was shared with other residents of the building and they were worried about that. So we carried the bikes up a twisting staircase (Julien one and me one) and stashed them in the large room. It has high ceilings, creaky wooden floors, and 8 foot high opening windows. We love it, of course.

With the bikes and gear stashed we were free to go have a look at the city. For Dodie this means the two walking sticks, but with a slow enough pace it is still possible. The buildings of Bordeaux are something like those of Toulouse, but the stone is white, not pink, and brick is not used. Also, things are taller and grander here.

Here is a quick collage of what it looks like:

Bordeaux had huge boulevards devoid of cars. Not sure if that is normal, or because of the holiday

One of our stops was the Cathedral, which as expected is a huge building. There is also a separate tower beside, topped with a golden Mary. On this trip we seem to be finding a goodly number of golden Marys!

Every church seems to have its own twist of emphasis, and this one was into art works, with many on the main walls, and a special "Treasures" area. It is in this area that they have stashed the Rembrandt from Le Mas d'Agenais. I paid 2 euros to go see it. To put that in context, I had just refused to pay 2.50 for a gelatto.

The art works in the "Treasures" seemed like a boring collection of mainly Mary's and Christ on the Cross's, but I was interested to see "my" Rembrandt. I can attest to this - they are never giving it back to Le Mas d'Agenais. They have it totally built in, holding down a place of honour in their whole display.

The real Rembrandt. The reflection shows the goofy cycle tourist with the camera. By the way, the painting shows a piece of paper above the Christ's head, written in Hebrew and some other languages. I saw this on one other painting in the display. Does anyone know what this says, and if it is derived from some Gospel?

We plunged into the main part of the old town, including a main street with the familiar name of Ste Catherine (a main street in Montreal). Ste Catherine here was amazing. It was absolutely packed with people. The crowd extended for a really long distance, and overflowed into all sorts of side streets. We found a cafe and had some lunch, and then down the street an outlet of "La Toque Cuivree". These people make "Caneles de Bordeaux" which is a local specialty. It's a little rum and vanilla flavoured caramelized crusty thing. The story is that the treat originated with nuns at the convent behind the Ste Eulalie church, in the 19th century. In the 20th century the recipe moved into general circulation, and today is a symbol of pastry in the city. The things were certainly popular with the crowds in the street. Dodie joined the line, giving me the chance to make some "Where's Dodie?" photos - one from the cafe and two from the pastry lineup:

Though Decathlon was closed, we did find a close competitor called Go Sport. There we located a seat bag that we will use to shift weight on my bike just a little away from high on the back, where a trunk bag is holding a lot of tools and spare tubes.

Tomorrow we will have to try to eat and run here in the morning, since our route includes a ferry across the Gironde from Lamarque to Blaye, that does not run so often. We need to hit the 15:30 or wait until 17:00, which will be very late. Pretty soon, we will be on the Atlantic, opening yet another new stage of this great tour.

Today's ride: 47 km (29 miles)
Total: 2,820 km (1,751 miles)

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