Pyrenees : Part 10 - Day 5 Morning : Bordeaux

Day 5 (Morning) of Pyrenees Drive

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 5.

Route: Ambois -- Bordeaux (stop for lunch) 

Must-Incur Costs :
(1) Toll from Tours to Bordeaux- EUR32 (it is not a must-incur if you don't use the highway but we did because we wanted to get to Bordeaux by noon)
(2) Parking at Victor Hugo - EUR6 (3 hours)

The Story

050915: Prof Sweet Tooth has parked at a designated spot to rest by the roadside. That is what I saw when I woke up today. I am always asleep by the time he parked for the night. We were extremely hungry when we woke up, and this time, we forced ourselves to leave the warm car and prepared some hot soup. Actually, it was mostly Prof Sweet Tooth doing the cooking because the items belonged to him, and he is very particular about handling them. His cooking utensils are different from the ones I used in Malaysia. For his, one pour fire-inducing liquid in the gas burner, and then strike a match, and voila, there is fire! Anyway, I just sit and take photos, as you can see from below, where he is cooking mushroom soup for the both of us. Hot soup is so welcome on a cold morning.

 

After breakfast, we were back on the road, and took the highway to Bordeaux. Before entering the highway, we passed by small villages, and noticed paintings on the wall of houses. Prof Sweet Tooth explained that back in the days, one advertise their business by illustrating on the wall of the houses.

This I must explain - the super awesome toilet that I never expected to see in my trip. A toilet with sensors that we stopped to use, along the highway. I entered and the toilet lights switch on, and the toilet flushes by itself. Once I finished, the toilet flushes itself. When I opened the door, the toilet flushes again! The light then switches off by itself. I was surprised. Oh, I expected a smelly toilet too but it has no smell! I had to give a thumbs up to Prof Sweet Tooth because he is very sensitive toward discouraging smell and sight. Some people are too pampered. He was very pleased with his experience.

 

We stopped at another rest area and found that it is a lovely garden with huge trees, and picnic spots. Behind it is a large vineyard. Of course, there is a gate, and I cannot venture inside.

 

Ta-da, I present to you - Bordeaux! We reached at 1.45pm, and parked at Victor Hugo Parking Mall. This is a multi-storey carpark. Then, we are off to explore Bordeaux town and enter into random shops that sell antique stuff. We also stepped inside the local church. Gorgeous as always.

 

 

 

I was shocked to see Indian dresses on display. I did not check on the price, because I am pretty sure it is expensive. We did see many Turkish shops selling meat, vegetables and fruits. We got ourselves 2 different types of peaches for EUR0.82. My friend was skeptical about eating the peach, hence, the reason why we took 2 only, but my sister recommended me to try the peach because it is famous in France.

Ooo, I must share on my wonderful find of a wine shop! I asked my sister what kind of wine would she like me to buy in Bordeaux because this place is famous for their wine. I had purchased a Sim card from Prepaidzero and that included a 250MB data plan, hence the reason I could ask my sister immediately. She replied - St. Emilion. So, I was walking around looking for a wine shop. I walked inside this random shop, and saw bottles of wines on sale. I was scrutinising for the brand 'St Emilion' and saw them being placed horizontally on the floor. Pleased with my find, I grabbed one bottle of a 750ml, and was told by the shopkeeper that this was a good buy - St Emilion Year 2008 (7 years old) is the best age for a wine and the brand is famous. For the price of EUR9.95. It is cheap, right? *even after conversion* I am sorry because I am not sure which is the name of the shop.

  

After wine shopping, we stopped to have a late lunch at a random cafe. There are so many cafes around. Prof Sweet Tooth chose this place because he was eyeing for a burger. We shared a beef burger that came as medium rare. It is so juicy. Oh my, it is so yummy. Even Prof Sweet Tooth who dare not eat anything with the word 'raw' inside liked it. Neither of us had any tummyache. The food is clean. Price - EUR7.50. Like I said, don't convert.

 

Now, we continue our journey to Dune du Pilat.