Bee Oh Are Dee Eee 'Ay You Ex -- Bordeaux!

I had an absolutely fabulous weekend in Bordeaux with the girls!! N., V., C., and I left Nantes after work on Friday and took a leisurely four-hour train ride south to beautiful Bordeaux. I had visited the city before in 2009 on a weekend road trip, but none of the other girls had ever been. I think the city is just lovely, and there are plenty of great things to see and do. I'm so glad the four of us decided to go!

One of my friends who also studied abroad in Nantes in 2009 is now a teaching assistant in Bordeaux, so I gave him a call after the gals and I got all settled into our hotel and we met up with him for a drink! He introduced us to a few other teaching assistants at a house party downtown, and then a group of us wandered over to The Charles Dickens, a local pub. They were selling bottles of the craziest beer- Banana Bread Beer! I decided to give it a try, and HOLY CRAP, it was so good!! I'm pretty sure that's now my favorite beer ever (outside of porters). It tasted perfectly like Banana Bread, while still being nice and beer-y. It was delicious! I need to find more, haha.

At the bar with the gals and my friend Carter (far left)!

Banana Bread Beer = the best

After a giggle fit while we were all falling asleep, we woke up the next morning and charged out to conquer the town! We walked to Place de la Victoire, then up the main road towards the city center. We wound up near the Opera house and the Marche de Noel, where we took a couple of hours to snoop around the stalls and pick out a few gifts. After much debate, I would up buying myself two beautiful paintings by a local artist. They're about 8in x 8in and are slightly abstract renditions of wine glasses filled with red wine. Bordeaux, red wine, France - I couldn't resist! And I thought they'd look perfect in my apartment in Nantes, and in any future apartments or houses I have!

We bought some lunch at the market and then headed back south to check out the Cathedrale Saint Pierre. There is a huge old bell tower in the plaza right next to the cathedral (they built it separate from the church so that the vibrations from the bells wouldn't break the stained glass windows!), and you can climb up to the top for some wonderful 360º views of the city. Knowing how much I like to climb towers in Europe, we had to go! The stairs were tiny and cramped, but we battled dizziness and vertigo and made our way to the top. Such a beautiful view!

Spiral staircases from the 15th century were not built
for easy access by people in 2012, but we succeeded! 

Looking towards the river and the
main section of old town Bordeaux.

Holy flying buttresses, Batman!
Looking down at the cathedral from the tower.

Next up was a walk by the Garonne River along the Quai Richelieu, past the Pont de Pierre and Place de la Bourse! The part of town that hugs the western side of the river is my favorite area in Bordeaux.

This kid was doing awesome bike tricks!

The fountain in Place de la Bourse. 

Place des Quinconces was our next destination. There, you find a big open space (currently housing an awesome junk market) and an amazingly beautiful fountain! The fountain is my favorite in France, from what I've seen so far. :)

Chandeliers at the junk market in Quinconces. 

Best fountain ever!

Since we were in Bordeaux, of course we had to do some wine tasting! We circled back from Quinconces towards the Marche de Noel and settled in for a nice treat at the Bar à Vin restaurant and wine bar. Swanky and super lovely! We all enjoyed trying several half-glasses of various wines from the Bordeaux region, along with a couple of cheese plates. Everything we had was delicious!

Each of us wound up buying a bottle or two of wine for ourselves and/or our families, and then we headed out for more walking and dinner. We wound up eating at the same Italian restaurant that I had been to three years ago- crazy! It was still as tasty as I remembered, and all four of us slicked up our plates AND dessert!

Lights at the Christmas Market.

We met up with Carter again for another night on the town and then headed back to rest up before our last day and another big train ride back to Nantes.

We got a late start in the morning, but then headed out with all of our baggage in search of Sunday Brunch! C. had read about an English-owned restaurant near the big cathedral called Plume: Small Kitchen. Boy oh boy, what a true treat!! As soon as we walked in, we all said that it felt like we were back in the States/Canada! This restaurant would have found itself perfectly at home in Wallingford or on Capitol Hill in Seattle- I was so pleased. :)

In addition, their brunch was spectacular!! Juice, coffee, grilled veggies, white cheddar and bread, baked beans, a scone, a muffin, and eggs Benedict! The latte I had... Oh my gosh, the latte... I died and went to heaven. The foam was perfect and the latte itself was just like at my favorite coffee shops in Seattle! I wish I could have had four or five of those things, but I knew that wouldn't be a good idea, haha. So, I contented myself with one and savored it. If you are ever in Bordeaux over a weekend, go to this restaurant!!!!

Admire, drool, eat it all, and then want more.

Then, it was off to the train station to head back home! All four of us had a really great time exploring the city, the Christmas Market, trying wine, eating delicious food, and taking lots of photos!

Recent happenings outside of the trip: another dinner at Anne-Marie and Andre's place! This was the last one for the UW kiddos before they head back to Seattle. Only three of the 15 are staying in Nantes for the full school year. I can't even imagine going to back to the States for good at this point. I'm so happy and fortunate to be here for a full eight months (although, I wish I could just stay forever!).

I had to get a picture with Poupette.
This dog is my hero. 

Also, several of us went to a Nantes FC soccer game a few weeks ago! We played a town called Niort and wound up tying 0-0 (Nantes is in the lower-division league in France, haha). Anyway, it was fun to see a game and listen to all of the crazy dedicated fans singing and chanting for the full 90 minutes. It made me want to go see a Seattle Sounders FC game for comparison!

Staying warm at the game