Up the Garonne Without any Foie Gras - First Day in Bordeaux

Modern Tram Line at Cathedral Square, Bordeaux 

Typical downtown tourist district in Bordeaux. The round shopping center at the end of this street had free WiFi and clean toilets. Good to know for the world travelers we are.

The electric trams operate with no overhead wires to block the view in beautiful Bordeaux. I wouldn't suggest straddling the median and one of the tracks.* 

Knock-out fountain commemorating the businessmen of the French revolution. Looks like they were a curious group of guys.

Detail of fountain showing snot squirting horses. I chose not to show the naked ladies and their emissions.

Botanical gardens were once a palace grounds

French contemporary office building just outside of the historical area of Bordeaux

Nice view from our suite

Nicer view from the stern of the ship

Monday - 12 May 2014 - First Day Bordeaux, France

Predawn the Silver Whisper docked at Bordeaux. We had sailed the 70 miles up the Garonne River from the Atlantic since 1 am. This explained why the captain was not available to buy us dinner the previous night. The Hotel Director, Norman, was an excellent host. I told him he had beat out the Cruise Director for dinner, and he agreed we had made a wise choice: something about who is responsible for the housekeeping of our suite.

Bordeaux is one beautiful city. There's more museums than you can shake a wine glass at, there's lovely neo-classical architecture all over the place, great public squares, and many well tended parks (not so common in other cities in France: well tended parks, not parks) and even a knock-out botanical garden were all walking distance from the ship's pier which was right in the middle of town. A very weird (read French) fountain was worth a special trip with its nymphs, naked ladies, strange guys, and a bunch of snot squirting horses.

Il ne peut pas faire mieux que cela.

Two of the main tram lines were right outside the gangway. So, of course we bought an all day tram and bus ticket. We spent the entire day exploring this beautiful city on foot and tram.

We took rides through some modern districts (with very French contemporary architecture), hiked through the gigantic gardens, and went up and down the river promenade. The view from our balcony was fantastic, and the view from the Panorama Lounge at the stern of the ship was even better.

The next day we were going to the wine country.

*The Bordeaux tram system is actually safe. A unique Surface Collection System, called APS in French, indeed uses a third rail placed between the running rails for the parts of the tram routes not power via an underhead catenary, but the lethal power "3rd rail" is only turned on when it is under the tram, according to Siemens, the manufacter. Specifically, the ground level center power is divided electrically into eight-meter segments with three-meter neutral sections between. Each tram has two power collection skates, next to which are antennas that send radio signals to energize the power rail segments as the tram passes over them. At any one time, no more than two consecutive tram covered segments are live.