Another unseasonably hot day in Bordeaux- prediction is that it might get to 93 degrees. I had booked both and AM and PM local tours of Bordeaux itself. Yvonne liked her “rest” day and decided she needed another and I even said I would do the morning tour when it was cooler, but skip the afternoon one.

The 2.5 hour city tour included about a 15 minute bus ride through various parts of the city including driving by the huge abandoned (used now for exhibitions) submarine base built by the Germans during World War II. Nearby are a series of new “artistic” apartment buildings that reflect today’s style of living.

We then left the bus or a 1.5 hour walking tour of old Bordeaux which is surprisingly fairly large. Bordeaux is situated on the banks of the Garonne River with a city population of 261,000 (metro population of 1.3 million). It is the 6th largest city in France. From the 12th to 16th century Bordeaux was part of the British empire because of the marriage of Eleonore of Aquitaine to Henry II of England. It became part of France in 1653 when Louis XIV invaded it. 40%of the city was listed as a UNESCO Heritage site in 2007.

We walked through the many pedestrian only streets ( I wish we had more of these in the US)  containing shops and many restaurants. I asked our tour guide if locals eat out a lot (to support all these restaurants) and she said they do.

Our tour ended at the Cathedral of St. Andrew (Saint Andre) which dates back to 1092. Over the centuries it was expanded to be the large structure it is today. We returned to the ship just in time to have lunch. The good news was it had not yet gotten too hot.

Yvonne and I both lounged around in the afternoon and entered our daily trivia contest at 4:30 PM. We have not gotten any better! There is a team with an Asian lady who seems to dominate the game. We learned that she watches a LOT of television, so that is what we attribute her knowledge to.

We were able to book another reservation at Prime 7, the specialty steak house on board the ship for this evening’s dinner.  Tonight I had the filet mignon and we collectively ordered a serving of king crab legs for the table as an appetizer. That is one of the perks of cruising-order as many entrees as you like. And, of course, the favorite dessert was their famous popcorn ice cream sundae; most of us ordered it once again.

 

Our scheduled departure from Bordeaux was 8:45 PM and we again left on time.

Other then after dinner music in the lounges there is a nightly 9:30 show in the main theater. Tonight’s entertainer was Jeff Stevenson (the British comedian) again, and he was as funny as the first time we saw him, having all new material that kept us laughing throughout his performance.

Tomorrow we finally will have another day at sea, allowing us another day to simply relax.

Steps today:  8,544-slowing down!