Today we leave the ocean and drive up the main highway to Bordeaux. It is 4-lane divided; almost like a freeway but with no charge. There are many plots of planted forest and signs of logging much of the way. We go to three hotels before finding a room in the fourth one. We have to park in a garage and wheel our luggage several blocks to the hotel.
This morning we walk around sightseeing. We go to the Grand Theater and buy tickets for tonight’s performance, then go by the Maison du Vin where we talk with a young UC Davis graduate who is touring the area. We see the market, but don’t buy anything since it all seems to be expensive. We go to the Chez le Chef Restaurant for lunch where we make the mistake of ordering beef and it is very tough. We almost never eat beef in France because it usually is tough.
In the afternoon we go to the Bordeaux Cathedral; it is large, and has pretty stained glass windows, even in the large side chapels. One end of the outside has been cleaned and is a nice light tan stone, while the rest is a grime covered gray.
After a pizza in a cafe above the garage, we go to the Grand Theater and climb to our seats in the top balcony. The performance is by the Estro Armonico chamber orchestra playing Hayden and Mozart. We have to stand to see the stage, but the acoustics are good and we can hear well.
There is a power outage as we leave the hotel in the morning so a man brings down the bags we can’t carry. It is overcast with some dark clouds as we drive north. We have lunch in Barbezieux; Glenn has cassoulet, a bean and ham or duck dish that is a favorite in SW France, and is delicious. We see the cathedral in Angouleme, shop at a supermarket for snack food, and stop at the François Hotel in Cognac. It is a nice large room but with not much light to read the day old Herald Tribune we finally find at the news stand.
After a good buffet breakfast we walk in the rain to Martell Cognac. It is an interesting tour with good smells and tasting at the end; we are gifted 2 small bottles and buy a larger one. We stop at Saintes to see the crypt of the St. Eritrope Church, and with threatening weather, and rain, we drive on to La Rochelle where we stay two nights at the François I Hotel.
La Rochelle is an interesting fortified city and harbor. Two towers controlled the harbor entrance which could be closed off by a large chain. It was the last and most important Huguenots stronghold in France but fell to Cardinal Richelieu’s forces after a month long siege in 1629.
In ‘86 we now leave SW France and go to Loches and Chartres (#10) before seeing more of Paris (#9), Picardy & Alsace (#11), Switzerland (#12) & Germany (#13).
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