Saturday, July 7th 2018
Paris and Bordeaux, France
It’s about 9am CES. We are waking up for our last day in Paris. We quickly get ready for the day and pack up our bags to leave behind the front desk. We make our final stop at the neighborhood cafe. We order our last cafe creme and enjoy the view of the little streets in St. Germain.
Our first stop is the Musee Rodin. Sarah assures me that the garden is the best part and that we can buy garden-only tickets. I am fully onboard with this plan as I am still a little shell-shocked from the Louvre. As we enter the garden we are confronted with the Thinker. My initial reaction is that it must be a reproduction. I feel kind of stupid for not knowing and creep up to the information panel. This appears to be the actual Thinker. My mind is blown. Later I will learn the Thinker has been cast in multiple versions and is found all over the world, but the bronze cast in the Rodin garden was the first one made in 1902.
The garden is peaceful, quiet and filled with Rodin’s statues and explanations of their mostly dark origins. The crowning work of the garden is the Gates of Hell, located at the end of a serene footpath. I spend a fair amount of time taking in the work. I am really enjoying the nefarious nature of Rodin’s work set against the beauty of the French garden.
After a quick stop at the gift shop, we head over to the Grand Palais to look for a cafe for lunch. We end up spending nearly 30 minutes looking for a cafe, we walk through a nice park and some residential areas on the right bank. Eventually we find a small group of cafes and choose the one with the most people. Service is slow but the chairs are comfortable, so we are happy. We order some mussels for an appetizer and each get a large salad. The mussels arrive in the same kind of serving dish as escargot. I am intrigued and stick my little fork into one of the compartments. I pull out a little mussel that has been doused in butter and cheese. This is a great idea! We rave about the mussels until our salads arrive. I secretly wish that mine had a little more ham on it, but, overall, we are both happy with our meals.
After lunch we walk to the Grand Palais to investigate a sign for an exhibition on robots. Apparently the exhibit is sold out and we can only wait in a line for stand by tickets. In the land Monet-Renoir-Manet-Matisse, we both decide that we can do without the robots. We only have about an hour to kill before it’s time for Sarah to head to the airport. We wander into the Petit Palais across the street. It’s cool inside and the small art exhibit is free. We pursue each gallery and then start a slow, ambling walk back to our hotel. At one point, we stop by the street vendors on the river so that I can buy some prints to take home. I settle for 2 vintage covers from French Vogue. The booth vendor acts as though she doesn’t even want me to buy the prints. This is truly the lowest pressure sales situation I've ever experienced.
Once we grab our bags, Sarah and I sit outside our hotel for a few minutes to use the wifi. She eventually gathers directions to her bus stop and we say our goodbyes. Sarah was a great travel buddy for Paris and I am sure that I saw way more than I ever would on my own accord.
The next step for me is to get to Gare Montparnasse, the main train station. I have a few hours to kill but I am worried about my train being canceled (I have received multiple warnings about strikes) and making my way to the correct terminal and platform. I decide to go early and order an Uber on my phone. My driver is nice and we arrive at the station within 10 minutes.
I have a paper print out of my ticket and only need to confirm the location for my train. I quickly find the hall and platform on the board and realize that I still have an hour and half before departure. I decide to grab an early dinner. There are not many options here and the McDonalds looks very accessible. I order burger with blue cheese and set up shop in a very comfortable booth with a great view. I kill a good amount time playing Pokemon Go and looking out of the window. About 30 minutes prior to departure I find my platform, sit close by and wait patiently. When my platform opens I am the first one on the train. I paid a few extra dollars for business class and it does not disappoint. The train looks like it’s brand new and no one sits next to me. The entire trip is about 2 hours and 15 minutes. I welcome the quiet and solitude.
When I arrive in Bordeaux I am armed with both my hotel name and address in writing. I do not want a repeat of my last experience in Paris. There is cab waiting outside and I show the driver my information. He is friendly but does not speak any English at all. On the drive into town we pass by a river front which is covered in different colored lights. It looks really pretty and the driver gives me an explanation, which I do not understand. Eventually we hit a street that has been blocked off. The driver uses a small call box and speaks into it quickly. The road blocks descend into the ground and he drives us into a street filled with pedestrians. He pulls up directly to the front door of the Hotel de la Presse. He hands me my bags and points at the front door. I signal that I understand and smiles broadly and drives off into the night. So far, I can only discern that Bordeaux is the exact opposite of Paris.
The woman at the check in desk speaks to me in perfect English. She apologizes that the elevator is not working, but I wasn’t expecting an elevator anyways. As I enter my room on the 3rd floor my jaw almost hits the floor. This is easily twice the size of our room in Paris and the ceiling must be 20 feet high.
It’s nearing 10pm and I feel gross. I take an incredibly long shower and eat some snacks from my bag. I’m not particularly tired, but I sit quietly and read until I fall asleep. Tomorrow is day 1 of my solo journey in Bordeaux!
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