Bordeaux - Wednesday 6 September

We were spending our final tour day in Bordeaux, the largest city in Aquitaine with approximately 245,000 inhabitants. The city has been a major port since pre-Roman times and for centuries a hub of European trade. Around 300BC the Celts established a small village named Burdigala that was later taken by the Romans. After the fall of the Roman Empire chaos reigned until the 12th century when Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine married the English King Henry II. Thus the region as under English control and prospered greatly with merchants making huge fortunes due to its wine trade especially to England). After the Hundred Years War the city and region came under French rule. Peace didn't return again until the 18th century, and Bordeaux experienced another golden age, trading also with the Americas. This is when many of the elegant buildings along the waterfront were developed, with wine warehousing on the ground floor and wealthy merchants' homes on the upper floors.

More recently the city has been developed even further, with old warehouses being demolished to make way for the amazing esplanade along the river (for walkers, cyclists and the excellent tram system), and the blackened limestone facades of the buildings have been cleaned and restored to their white/yellow colour.

Our city tour was a combination of bus and walking, and took us through a new residential apartment area, including around an area that used to be a submarine base for the Germans in World War II. Then we visited the central city Triangle d'Or area, driving past or stopping at the Cathedrale St-André and its Pey-Berland Tower, the Opera House, the Rue St Cathérine (a long pedestrianised street), the awarding Public, the Palais de la Bourse and Miroir D'eau, the Monument Des Girondists, Pont de Pierre, Porte de la Monnaie, and Porte de Bourgogne.











We actually ended up abandoning the tour after an hour or so because couldn't see things from our side of the bus, and when we were doing walking sections the guide was too fast and not giving time or good positioning for photos. So we went on our own way and walked about 7km, mostly along the esplanade area and in the direction of our boat, so we could see things properly and I could get some decent photos of the sights in Bordeaux. It was a beautiful morning, and not too hot for walking.

We got back the to boat around 12:30pm for lunch followed by a brief rest. Then we headed out in the other direction from the boat to see some outlet stores nearby at the Quai des Marques where we did just little shopping. Then it was back to boat for a shower and to begin packing for tomorrow's long trip home.

At 6:30pm we had the Captain's Farewell cocktails (held at the end of each cruise and at which which we meet all 41 staff members). There was a big cheer for our favourite waiter, Nickolai. We also found out that the youngest passenger on this trip was 45 and the oldest was 91! There were 78 Aussies and 17 Kiwis on this leg of the cruise. We also had some Brits and some Canadians. Next, we all headed down to the restaurant for another amazing dinner. My baked goat cheese brûlée entree and the chicken main course were exceptional! Then it was an early night, to finish packing and to try and get a good sleep under our belts for the journey home.