Our hotel was a cheap one near the train station that we'd found through on-line reviews. The Hotel California has since been torn down. but it was clean, centrally located, and a short walk from the auto rental; we only wished there'd been an elevator. Our luggage-burdened climb was five tall floors, but that gave us a view and good ventilation. As soon as we'd gotten unpacked and showered, we got directions for a good sightseeing amble. We did part of it that evening, ending after dinner where the sunset photos of the city and the church are. The rest are from our return a couple of weeks later, when we explored parks and gardens on both sides of the muddy river.
While we're not drawn to flat places, Bordeaux offered too many distractions for us to notice the lack of hills (except that walking was easy). It's a pedestrian city and that's facilitated by the large center being free of all but public transportation. There's a superb light rail system ringing the city and connecting to its suburbs and neighborhoods. We saw lots of small feeder buses funneling people to hubs, and we realized that, as in Paris, deliveries were being made at night. That's something we really should be doing in the US.
Good exercise at the Hotel California
A very old cathedral
A very old cathedral door
Linny at the door
Unfortunately nobody was practicing the organ
Illustrated chapel wall
Perhaps a saint
Fascinating old hardware
Hinged.
Thrown bolt
Door knocker
In the old city
The streets are their own museum
On an old lane
We found a quiet retreat
The old main cathedral
Dinner in a bistro by the cathedral
Day is done.
An apartment house by the river
Puppets in the park
Park in the park
Fowl weather
Overpriced coffee
A destination garden
Lunch stop
Lunch
Chapel ceiling
Chapel columns
Bridging the Garrone
No cars allowed downtown
Drawing
A street of shops and bistros
