Bordeaux

Bonjour!

I hope all is well wherever you, Reader, are. Where I'm at, its great! Haha

After leaving Amboise the next morning I took a 4 hour ride to Bordeaux- home of France's wine country. I checked into my hostel, which took far too long, and headed out on a late start. I had heard there was a wine festival going on, but I had no idea where it was.

As I wandered around downtown Bordeaux, I was surrounded by tourists. Nevertheless, I popped into a little sandwich shop and got a sad-looking 3 Euro creation of salami, butter, and lettuce. Luckily, I was simply too hungry to mind. I then strolled over to the main Cathedral, which was quite large, but somewhat boring. After travelling just a little through Europe, one gets a little tired of Cathedrals and they all start looking the same. It was nice to find some peace and quiet away from the tourist-riddled streets.

I made up my mind to walk over to the river that divides the city and upon arrival I see, to my great pleasure, the wine festival! It was set up in tents all along the river, with vineyards of all shapes and sizes showing off their wines. I purchased my ticket, which included a wine glass and 12 tasting coupons, and set off. While trying some refreshing Rosè, I met a British couple, who were in town for a party. They're son had also applied to Oxford, except he got in! He's there right now studying Physics.

As I continued on I ran into a couple from Wisconsin- they were here for the guy's brother's wedding. To calm my again-starving stomach I bought an artisan pizza from one of the vendors in the festival. My next stop was the red wine, where I talked to the French owners of a little vineyard. Interestingly, they had only started their vineyard two years ago, after changing careers from an architect and a real estate agent! They taught me a lot about growing wine and about selling it.

I took a break on a bench near the river, got some mango sorbet, and walked back to the hostel. There I met Sam, a guy from North Carolina who is in the Teach for America program. He had so many stories from that, and apparently that organization works you really hard without too much information on the front end. Its too bad but he's doing a great thing. Not only did he have some stories about that but also from his travels so far, including a night spent sleeping in the park next to the Eiffel Tower since he couldn't find a room! haha

I talked to him and also met an Irishman and a girl from Brazil before I went upstairs, called some upcoming hostels, and watched a little of the Spain/Russia Eurocup game. It was a nice night. The next morning, this morning, I got up at a decent hour, ate breakfast, and got on the train to Carcassone.

Here, I checked into my hostel and marvelled at the city. Its a big walled medieval city on a hill, with narrow streets and towers to match! Not only that, but my hostel is right in the middle of it. I went to the cathedral thats in the city, where someone was playing the huge church pipe organ. It was epic and really fitting for the cathedral. Next, I wandered around the outside of the inner wall and stopped to read East of Eden, which is only getting better.

By then it was time to tour the medieval palace in the city. It was interesting, and the most attention-grabbing part of it was how much restoration work has been put into the palace and city as a whole. I went back to the hostel and met my roomates, who are from Mexico City! Pretty cool.

Tomorrow I head to my three night stay in Marseilles, with a day trip to Arles and Aix En Provence. Word out!

Once again, pictures aren't possible on the computer- so sorry!