First, a health report. Bob seems to be much better, and after another interesting trip to a French medical lab, today's test shows that my regimen of blood thinners has now put me in the range that my doctor wants. All good news.
As for our first day in France's fifth largest city, we walked, and we walked, and then we walked some more. For most of the time, it rained, sometimes hard, but we had five layers of clothing to keep us warm and both jackets and umbrellas to keep us dry. We wandered down to the wide walk along the river where Bob snapped a photo of Pont St. Jean and the spire of St. Michael's Church, the tallest in the city.
On our way back, we stopped at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. I asked Bob to take two photos of the outside, because they show the extraordinary difference between the sections that have been cleaned and those that have centuries of encrusted grime. One photo shows a section shrouded for the cleaners to work in, and another where the work has been finished. A second photo shows the front with part of it cleaned; another not. Similarly, the cleaning continues inside.
We also toured a modern, beautifully displayed museum tracing the history of the area from prehistoric times (closed for renovation!) to the mid-twentieth century, the Musee d'Aquitaine de Bordeaux. And it was free! Mon dieu!
Before coming here, I had read that Bordeaux is undergoing a transformation with buildings being cleaned, sections of the city restored, and a spanking new transportation system of trams that whisk you anywhere you want to go for almost nothing. The streets are filled with young people (excluding us), and we could feel the energy. Even in the rain, it's a beautiful city.
As for our first day in France's fifth largest city, we walked, and we walked, and then we walked some more. For most of the time, it rained, sometimes hard, but we had five layers of clothing to keep us warm and both jackets and umbrellas to keep us dry. We wandered down to the wide walk along the river where Bob snapped a photo of Pont St. Jean and the spire of St. Michael's Church, the tallest in the city.
On our way back, we stopped at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. I asked Bob to take two photos of the outside, because they show the extraordinary difference between the sections that have been cleaned and those that have centuries of encrusted grime. One photo shows a section shrouded for the cleaners to work in, and another where the work has been finished. A second photo shows the front with part of it cleaned; another not. Similarly, the cleaning continues inside.
We also toured a modern, beautifully displayed museum tracing the history of the area from prehistoric times (closed for renovation!) to the mid-twentieth century, the Musee d'Aquitaine de Bordeaux. And it was free! Mon dieu!
Before coming here, I had read that Bordeaux is undergoing a transformation with buildings being cleaned, sections of the city restored, and a spanking new transportation system of trams that whisk you anywhere you want to go for almost nothing. The streets are filled with young people (excluding us), and we could feel the energy. Even in the rain, it's a beautiful city.
