Bordeaux
Yellow! I don't have a ton of feelings I need to impart about Bordeaux, so I thought I'd do a hop-skip-jump about my two weeks there, and tell you quickly about my fav spots. That isn't to say that I didn't have a lovely time: Bordeaux (especially during August) is a gorgeous place, with all the architecture and frenchability that comes along with Paris in a calmer, kinder setting. A lot of my time was taken up by getting to know my host family and taking courses at the Alliance Francaise, but I wandered around a little.
A lot of my experiences in Bordeaux also surrounded going out at night in search of fun dancing and drinks--these two weeks were kind of like college orientation all over again, and with college orientation comes bonding in all its many forms. My favorites were House of Parlement, which was a British pub/bar that offered an extensive menu (I picked the one with the most St. Germain in it, naturally) Mama Shelter (a little pricey, but we love a rooftop bar), and most importantly La Comtesse, a cozy bar with delish drinks and a quirky ensemble of chairs that make the space feel reminiscent of someone's living room or an antique store's back room.
For after-bar fun, I spent some time at Calle Ocho, a salsa bar that was often too crowded to actually dance, but loud and fun anyway. I caught Life towards the end of a Saturday night, where we heard a combo of French and American pop followed by Greased Lightning. La Plage had seemingly endless rooms, all with different music, but the crowd got a little aggressive as the night went on. L'Empire was more of a bar-with-dancing than anything else, but when I was there my group of friends was so large that we overtook the dance floor and had a fantastic time twirling and laughing and mouthing the words that we knew.


As for the ~culture~ and ~food~ I did what I could/wanted in my free time, and (as they say in the business) all the rest was New Girl.
Maybe that says something about me and not the museum.
The Musée des Beaux-Arts was lovely, and housed a handful of older and contemporary works that were filled with evocative painted faces and a feature on Henri Martin, who's art was particularly bucolic and intriguing.

Hands down, the best food we ate out was at Palais de Saveurs, a small resto that offered a few options for lunch that are making my mouth water just thinking about them. Most of our meals were bread and cheese based, (not that I'm complaining) but Palais' well-rounded menu is making my mouth water just thinking about it.
My favorite activity was, surprisingly, outside of Bordeaux itself. My program and I took the hour car ride to beach-side Arcachon, where an awe-inspiring sand dune towers over the water, forming a mountain that doesn't seem quite right among its landscape. We climbed to the top, and something about the sand brought out a childish tranquility; we spent about a half hour laughing, leapfrogging, and lounging in the sand.
Then our tour took us to try some oysters, and since I was opting out I became the official shenanigans recorder as my friends built sculptures out of shells and balanced on anything they could find.

Then before I knew what was happening, the second week was through and I was emptying my suitcase in order fill it again.
I feel like there was so much of Bordeaux that I missed, but I'm not sure that I would do anything differently. With classes and tours and host-family dinners taking up a chunk of my time, what remained was the occasional meal, the occasional museum, and the nightlife I could manage. As I played out the prologue of my study abroad experience I wasn't sure how to settle correctly, and I have a feeling that I'll be spending a lot of time learning how to "be" here. That's the college experience for you, I guess?
Next up on this hot blog machine will be some ~content~ about Paris, and of course a presentation of my one-woman-show version of Les Mis. Stay tuned.
For after-bar fun, I spent some time at Calle Ocho, a salsa bar that was often too crowded to actually dance, but loud and fun anyway. I caught Life towards the end of a Saturday night, where we heard a combo of French and American pop followed by Greased Lightning. La Plage had seemingly endless rooms, all with different music, but the crowd got a little aggressive as the night went on. L'Empire was more of a bar-with-dancing than anything else, but when I was there my group of friends was so large that we overtook the dance floor and had a fantastic time twirling and laughing and mouthing the words that we knew.
As for the ~culture~ and ~food~ I did what I could/wanted in my free time, and (as they say in the business) all the rest was New Girl.
I visited two museums while I wandered, the Musée D'Aquitaine and Musée des Beaux-Arts. As I'm sure I've said many a time, my museum style is less of a leisure ride and more of a leisure jog. I don't particularly need to read every description or regard each monument, and instead, I'd rather look at artifacts that pull me in emotionally. That being said, Musée D'Aquitaine was not my favorite. We were on an organized tour (already a no from me), and the part of history that I find alluring (the story of the artifacts) wasn't easily accessible for me. Truth be told though, I was so tired that the only pictures I took were these:
Maybe that says something about me and not the museum.
My favorite activity was, surprisingly, outside of Bordeaux itself. My program and I took the hour car ride to beach-side Arcachon, where an awe-inspiring sand dune towers over the water, forming a mountain that doesn't seem quite right among its landscape. We climbed to the top, and something about the sand brought out a childish tranquility; we spent about a half hour laughing, leapfrogging, and lounging in the sand.
Then before I knew what was happening, the second week was through and I was emptying my suitcase in order fill it again.
I feel like there was so much of Bordeaux that I missed, but I'm not sure that I would do anything differently. With classes and tours and host-family dinners taking up a chunk of my time, what remained was the occasional meal, the occasional museum, and the nightlife I could manage. As I played out the prologue of my study abroad experience I wasn't sure how to settle correctly, and I have a feeling that I'll be spending a lot of time learning how to "be" here. That's the college experience for you, I guess?
Next up on this hot blog machine will be some ~content~ about Paris, and of course a presentation of my one-woman-show version of Les Mis. Stay tuned.
I want to have been in Bordeaux with you...
ReplyDeleteLove this! Bring me to Bordeaux PLEASE?!
ReplyDelete