It's about time part 3 (Bordeaux)

Ok so, Monday afternoon, I got into Bordeaux safe and sound after a long train ride during which I slept...a lot. After a quick panic attack that my friend had missed her train, we met up with each other again in the slightly confusing gare. Our CouchSurfing host, Manue, wasn't going to be done with work until 18h30, so we met up with a friend of my friend's that showed us around the city a bit and we eventually mosied on down to a cafe to prendre a verre in the warm sun. Not too long after, it started raining (again!), so we huddled up under a table with an umbrella. Despite the weather, we had a mission-find me some shoes. I had tried all the usual chain stores I knew in Avignon, but we tried them again here and eventually found me some ones for a decent price that I liked at some place I had never heard of. It was no easy feat(hehe) as many stores had gotten rid of shoes and put sandals in their place, so I was lucky to finally find myself a pair.

It got to be time to meet with our host, so we headed up the same street of the shoe store(she lived right downtown on the main road of the city which was super convenient) and found her place. She didn't see us and keep walking like we joked before we met her, but instead showed up directly from work a bit late and welcomed us in. We got settled and soon after went with her and one of her roomies to the grocery store to get stuff for a typical Bordelais meal. She had invited her other roomie and a few friends and we chowed down on potatoes and some sort of canard and finished up with a light fruit salad and yummy pastries. The canard didn't make me gerbe, so I guess it was alright. That night, we went to a fun Karaoke-except-with-good-singers-kinda-bar called the The Frog&Le Rosbif(I think) that apparently exists in Paris and Toulouse as well. They brew their own beer which was tasty and the people sang in English(score!), so it was a nice thing to do for a change.

The next day, we toured the city as much as we could since I was leaving Wednesday morning and wouldn't have time nor desire to really see much more. We saw the church above that had it's Bell Tower separate from the church because they were afraid it would tip over, the Monument aux Girondins with a really cool fountain, the Gros Horloge, Place de la Bourse and
other things whose names I don't know(at least I'm honest, right?) On our way, we grabbed some bread, cheese, strawberries and a cake canele(Bordeaux specialty) because we had a date at the Tourist Office for a late afternoon wine tour, baby! We made it to the T.O, shoved our faces and then we were off on the tour bus to Chateau Reignac and Chateau de la Fitte. The wine tour was a tad more cher than I would have liked to pay, but I think with tasting 5 wines, seeing two vineyards plus a mini tour of Bordeaux on the bus, it was worth it. It was a cool experience that I wouldn't mind doing again...maybe a day tour? Although I was a bit pompette by the end, so maybe not, then again we did fill up our verres when the tour guide wasn't looking...hmm. There was a girl who ended up bright red and on the floor who they were calling "sick", but my friend and I decided the girl probably was not a big drinker and promptly got wasted. We felt bad for her being on the floor in front of the whole group and having to go in the ambulance. That sucks.

The bus dropped us off around 18h and we waited for Manue to meet up with us at the Grand Theatre because we were getting cheap last minute tickets to see Gisele. Manue had been before and gotten these cheap tickets and ended up in the first few rows. Well, that was definitely not the case this time. We ended up literally in the very last row and couldn't see anything because the very beautiful and intricate theater was in some sort of enclave that made it impossible to see down to the stage 5,000 feet below. Being tricky as we are, we found a little light room that had no one in it and we parked ourselves there for the rest of the show and watched the lovely, ant-sized figures flitter and leap around the stage. I'm definitely glad I had seen that ballet before or else I could have been a bit disappointed. I think everybody liked it though, in the end. We parted ways from the others and headed back soon after because I had to be up early to make it back to Rennes. But before I went to bed, we had been crafty and gone to the grocery store before the ballet in order to get supplies to make our host(s) a "typical" American meal. So, we took the congealed cheese(not really) and pasta out of our bags and made them some baked Mac&Cheese. Good stuff. I think(hope) they liked it anyways. And, that was that and now here I am, so voila my April vacances in the sud!