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kazu
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Remember I mentioned the steps of tears?

 

Here they are.  Yes we went up and down these steps and they are tricky and slippery as all get out.  The railing has gaps which makes things very tricky indeed.  We all got down safely and back up too 😉 

 

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after some walking our guide took us to a lovely view point.  She had brought the macaroons that she had bought and I found out that there was method to her madness.  She had some champagne and flutes tucked in a bag very cleverly and we had a small toast and drink at this lovely view point.

 

Here are a few shots of Saint Emillion from there.

 

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This is the square where we were - if you find this square just go the wall to get the views.

 

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We were on our walk back to the van to return to Bordeaux and I couldn’t believe my eyes:

 

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A little humour.  Some needed a bathroom stop before we headed back.  Leticia told us that the men’s was free but the women’s 50 cents (1/2 a euro) which bothered her.  I quickly found out why when I nearly ran into a roll call member.

 

The boys kindly agreed to pose for this so you could “get the picture”.

 

Enough said.

 

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Yes, part of the old wall.  Beautiful!

 

 

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Well, it was a very full day.  We got back to the ship around 6 pm if I recall correctly.  Might have been a tad later.  My memory can fade quickly when there are a lot of good times 😉 

 

Were we done?  Not some of us!  We were going out for dinner in Bordeaux.  Canysayvacation and I had booked and reserved tables at Le Bouchon Bordelais.  When our guide heard where we were going, she said it was her favourite restaurant.

 

So a BIG food PORN alert to anyone that doesn’t want to see food pics.  

 

You DO want to see the menu, right?

 

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The snails:

 

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The amuse bouche which was quite good.

 

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The other table of our roll call members having a bit of fun.

 

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The duck:

 

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The monkfish:

 

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The Brill:

 

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The other tables’s dessert.  Were good since we were chastised for not finishing dinner so no dessert 😉 

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The curd cheese cake that I was so tempted to try.

 

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Walking back to the ship after was magical:

 

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Bordeaux is absolutely gorgeous.  Nothing nicer than an overnight here for sure 😉

 

Viking was also here but they couldn’t dock down town.  They were out at the industrial port. And they didn’t overnight.   There is a certain pleasure about being on the little Prinsendam  

 

Today we had a walking tour that I have arranged.  OMG we got the owner and Hela was brilliant.  What a fabulous time we had.

 

Bordeaux has the largest pedestrian walking area in all of Europe.

 

The entire corridor is a UNESCO site.  

 

Our walking tour started by taking the tram.  The previous mayor who was in power for many years, brought in the trams and along with them ordered that everyone clean their buildings.

 

If they did, they got a favourable tax treatment and if they didn’t they got dinged.

 

 

 

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The mayor didn’t want the skyline ruined with all the beautiful buildings so he installed these little boxes you see on the rail line.  They are like batteries and charge the trams when the lines are gone.  The lines at the top stop when you get to the historic, really beautiful part.

 

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Here are the lines where we were for the tram:

 

 

 

 

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And here you can see where they disappear.  The tram still operates but it does it because of the those little boxes.

 

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The Roman Forum was here - now it’s the theatre which is beautiful as well.  The Romans actually introduced grape vines to France.  Believe it or not, they were from Albania..

 

Bordeaux, because of it’s port was a major trading area in 300 BC

 

It was a popular stopping spot as it was on the Camino (St. James Way to Santiago).  The theatre is part of the way.  It was built in the 15th century and finished in the 16th century by the two Louis.

 

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So, the entire area where the theatre is was once the Roman Forum.  Some things are still built on the initial foundations.

 

It’s a beautiful area.

 

A few more shots of it if you can bear with me.

 

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There are several of these bronze statue maps about.  They are for the seeing impaired.  If you look closely you can see that the streets are labelled in braille.  They are for the seeing impaired.  How wonderful

 

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I totally confess I didn’t want to forget this building.  We planned to go back after.

 

It’s the place where wine merchants meet and also wine is sold subsidized so everyone can taste it.  My friends told me about it so I wanted a pic to return early.  Our guide warned us if we were too late we would in a very long queue.

 

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Our guide Hela telling us about the wine regions of Bordeaux and the map.  I didn’t have the heart to tell her we had done that yesterday 😉. And, she actually added information.  Amazing!

 

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This is the place I wanted to remember for later.

 

Everyone mark it down.  It’s a government subsidized wine tasting.

 

Sommeliers and sommeliers in training run it and it’s really well done.

 

We’ll be back to that later 😉 

 

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For now, let’s continue on our walk.  

 

And we come to this lovely place.

 

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The Girondins monument - it honours both the revolutionaries and those that were revolutionaries but want were against the guillotine and the killing of the monarchs.

 

You can see the symbols of liberty and victory.

 

The monument represents everyone at the time - both the republicans and the monarchists during the French Revolution.

 

 

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Can I bore you with a story on the statue?  When the Nazi’s came they dismantled this beautiful statue and  took down the horses to melt them to use for ammunition or cannons.  Somehow, they forgot about them and they were never melted down, thankfully.  The statue at the top was too high for them to bother with.

 

Later, the people realized that the horses were in a field and brought them back (with a great procession) and the entire thing was restored, thankfully.  This is what this beautiful statue looked like after the Nazis dismantled it.

 

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So glad to see them back in their glory.  They are truly a work of art and well worth admiration.

 

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A little humour as we passed along.  I heard roosters and we were trying to figure out where it was coming from.

 

Well they were right there, walking around and crowing their heads off.  Too funny.

 

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Why did i take this picture?

 

Because in medieval times, they were used to deliver and store wine.

 

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This is the Plaza of the Great Men - they are the philosophers

 

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This is the Baroque church of Norte Dame de Bordeaux.  It was built in 1705.  The Catholics were trying to make a bold statement outside.  The emphasis was on the outside, not in

 

 

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This is a fine example of one house that did clean to get the favourable taxation and another that didn’t.  A lot of homes are connected but if you look you can see the wall inside that separates them.

 

just the same, would you want to be the neighbour of the person who didn’t clean?  LOL.

 

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On 5/1/2019 at 5:52 PM, sansterre said:

Porto is now on my bucket list!  Thanks for sharing your photos.

Looks like you threw quite the party in your suite.  In one of the photos I saw Lynn from my home town in Ohio;  we met her on a cruise several years ago.  However, I did not see my brother.  Bob joined the cruise in March, had trouble figuring out how to get on Cruise Critic, finally posted just a week or two prior to sailing intending to go to the M&G.

I can't wait to see the next two ports as I have not bee there either.  Enjoy!

I will get to tell you all I know when I get back.  Will give you an update on ports, and Bob!

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Glad you are almost home safely,   It it is chilly. You have brought back fond memories of our visit to Bordeaux.  We were lucky enough to stay in a wine agents home,  and were served several grand crus.  Pretty amazing!  

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22 hours ago, sansterre said:

Bordeaux is also on my bucket list now.  The city looks interesting and we enjoy wine and wineries.

Your blog is very well-written and the photos really bring it to life.  Thank you again!

I checked the roll call and my brother posted on there just a week or so prior to sail date.  You promptly gave him additional instructions but he may not have returned to Roll Call to see them.       I now look forward to seeing his photos too!

I invited you to come with me!

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3 hours ago, bennybear said:

Glad you are almost home safely,   It it is chilly. You have brought back fond memories of our visit to Bordeaux.  We were lucky enough to stay in a wine agents home,  and were served several grand crus.  Pretty amazing!  

 

We are now home.  We’ve been up for 24 hours so once we relax a bit, we’ll hit the sack and I will continue with Bordeaux tomorrow in between unpacking 😉 

 

There’s lots more to show and see including our day in Dover so if no one minds, even thought it’s not technically live, but it was when I did the pics 😉. I’ll continue on and finish the itinerary on this cruise.

 

It really was a wonderful itinerary.  I’m sad that it can’t be repeated without the Prinsendam.

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Incredible, Jacqui! Your photos and descriptions are great. I'm so glad you got to experience this amazing itinerary on your favorite ship. Thanks for sharing and allowing us to travel along with you. 

Bobbie

 

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Jacqui! Glad you made it home safely! I’m home now from a long flight from Paris and was able to catch up on all your travels! Great pictures, food but most of all

your writings! I’m sure your two babies are glad to see both you and Jose.

WELCOME HOME

Denise😊

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3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

We are now home.  We’ve been up for 24 hours so once we relax a bit, we’ll hit the sack and I will continue with Bordeaux tomorrow in between unpacking 😉 

 

There’s lots more to show and see including our day in Dover so if no one minds, even thought it’s not technically live, but it was when I did the pics 😉. I’ll continue on and finish the itinerary on this cruise.

 

It really was a wonderful itinerary.  I’m sad that it can’t be repeated without the Prinsendam.

Welcome home. We enjoyed following your cruise from Civitavecchia to Dover. Great pics and wonderful descriptions. For us another 40 days before we board the Prinsendam on its final voyage for Holland America bringing us from/to our hometown Amsterdam to the Northcape.

Peter Monica.

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6 hours ago, bobalink said:

Incredible, Jacqui! Your photos and descriptions are great. I'm so glad you got to experience this amazing itinerary on your favorite ship. Thanks for sharing and allowing us to travel along with you. 

Bobbie

 

 

5 hours ago, jlnprt said:

Thanks for taking us along on your trip! Really enjoyed your posts!

 

5 hours ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

Jacqui! Glad you made it home safely! I’m home now from a long flight from Paris and was able to catch up on all your travels! Great pictures, food but most of all

your writings! I’m sure your two babies are glad to see both you and Jose.

WELCOME HOME

Denise😊

 

3 hours ago, samsonmo said:

Welcome home. We enjoyed following your cruise from Civitavecchia to Dover. Great pics and wonderful descriptions. For us another 40 days before we board the Prinsendam on its final voyage for Holland America bringing us from/to our hometown Amsterdam to the Northcape.

Peter Monica.

 

6 hours ago, bobalink said:

Incredible, Jacqui! Your photos and descriptions are great. I'm so glad you got to experience this amazing itinerary on your favorite ship. Thanks for sharing and allowing us to travel along with you. 

Bobbie

 

 

Thanks kindly everyone.  

 

I’m glad you have been enjoying.

 

To quote a line we used often on the cruise when we were awed - “But wait, there’s more” 😉 

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Inside the church

 

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Just a couple of street shots that I liked.

 

Look at the iron work on the balconies.  Many different styles.

 

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Walking along - there is always more to see:

 

There is a lot of history in all of this area for Eleanor of Aquitaine.  For those that haven’t heard of her - back in the day her father, the Duke of Aquitaine was dying and sent a message to the King of France to marry her to his son as he was dying and Aquitaine would be lost.  (France was divided into regions back then)

 

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Shortly after the King died and Louis VII became King and Eleanor Queen.  Not a happy marriage and she even went to the Crusades with him but after 2 children she wanted out.  The Pope granted her an annulment and she ended up marrying Henry Plantanget who became the King of England.

 

 

So Aquitaine and Bordeaux became English for 299 years.  (No affect on the language since the English court spoke French).

 

I knew this history but loved hearing it.  Eleanor is one of my historical figures I admire along with Catherine of Aragon, Joan of Arc and numerous others.  I love history and especially English history so I was one happy camper to see all of this

 

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No big arches here thankfully:

 

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It looks like this balcony has no supports but it comes from the arches below.  Incredible!

 

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We stopped to have some canelles.  Boy, were they good.  It’s a good thing I don’t live here because I could get addicted to these things.

 

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The mascarpone faces on the walls here are Italian.

 

 

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I know I only posted a couple of times - but thanks for tour and commentary. I did consider this portion but it just didn't work out - timewise.

 

Hope your weather at home stays nice so you can get stuff caught up/ done.

 

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6 hours ago, Happily@Sea said:

I know I only posted a couple of times - but thanks for tour and commentary. I did consider this portion but it just didn't work out - timewise.

 

Hope your weather at home stays nice so you can get stuff caught up/ done.

 

 

Thanks, the weather here has been pretty cold.  We’ve been watching from afar, but tomorrow sounds like it may be warmer.  Hopefully the good weather has followed us home 😉 

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The Gironde River is beautiful.  It’s tide changes every 6 hours which affect when you get in and out.  The bridge takes time to open and timing is key for the Prinsendam and any other ship.  The reason that there is a port is that the French drained the marshes to make it one to increase their trade.

 

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Sorry that the pictures are a tad gloomy.  Fortunately, it didn’t rain (it did later after we left).  We really lucked out.

 

Our walking tour ended at the reflection pool.  It’s really pretty as it reflects the buildings.  Doesn’t show as well here as it would if it was sunny.

 

It’s not really a pool.  Very, very shallow.  The children dance through it.

 

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      After our tour a few of us headed  back to the wine school.  It can get really busy there and we were lucky as we timed it perfectly.

 

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We were able to get a table right away. 🙂 (There aren’t very many of them).

 

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Do we have enough glasses?

 

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Most of us did the tasting menu.  They call it a “flight” and we had a light bite to go with the wine.

 

Look at the huge cheese portion!

 

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And the chocolate

 

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It was dirt cheap and delicious cheeses, chocolate & wines.  I think our bill for the 2 of us came to a grand total of 21 euros.  And, we had no need for lunch after all the cheese.

 

It’s a really pretty spot and run by sommeliers or sommeliers in training.  They explain everything and even suggest the order to try the wines if you are doing a flight.

 

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DH and I went for a bit of a walk after and then headed back to our home away from home that was parked in downtown Bordeaux.

 

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