Bordeaux

Sally spent the morning looking around the new developments but most of it is bare ground at the moment. Bordeaux has a long project ahead of itself. We were told that the bourgeois Bordelais lived on the left bank and anyone who lived on the right bank was just a foreigner, a bit like those who live on the North Shore of Auckland.

In the afternoon we walked over the bridge, back into town and looked around the sights. Bordeaux is a town which has literally cleaned up its act recently. The old buildings were black from years of air pollution and the mayor gave owners a rates rebate if they cleaned them. The results are stunning. It glows like a jewel in the sunshine.

The avenues are mostly wide, the traffic in town is severely limited and pedestrian only streets make for a very pleasant environment. The houses cost a fortune. Nothing is over 4 stories high. The tram system is very efficient at moving people around town at a price of $3 for one hour duration. Fantastic. So far it is Sally’s favourite city. And it must be close to mine as well.

In the evening we cooked diner for Dominique of vegetable lasagne and apple crumble. Both went down a treat as did a bottle of local French wine. We asked nicely if we could stay for one more night to do more more research the next day and Dominique kindly agreed. The next day we spent the morning hunting for needle then we walked back into town for another dose of sight seeing.

Then we returned to Dominique's for a wonderful evening meal of

duck and ratatouille. Dominique has a large vege garden and every year she and Françoise turn them into preserves. They have a large (professional) bottling system and they preserve vast quantities at a time.
But they use a system different from New Zealand. In NZ we fill the bottle to the brim with liquid and put the lid on. Dominique fills the bottle with preserves and then heats it in the oven to sterilise and par cook, then puts the lids on with air inside. Even for fruit. She opened a jar half full of peaches (no added water) and it tasted just fine.

We chatted the night away and in the morning we bid her farewell, sad that after 3 days we were leaving behind a new friend. We are both very grateful of the 3 days we had in Bordeaux with her, as she was so welcoming and helpful. We hope we can return again next year to renew our friendship.