Saturday morning we were up early and had our luggage from our room at seven. After breakfast we boarded the bus at eight and soon were on the way to begin the next phase of Europe 2017. It would be a most of the day bus ride to Bordeaux from our comfortable hotel in Tours. The schedule for the transfer would be the usual, hour and a half to the first 'technical stop.' Then another hour to the two hour tour and lunch break, another hour or so to the second technical stop and then on to the final destination. This is for our sake, especially since European law says the bathroom on the bus can only be used if the bus is parked! Sort of useless. And partly for the driver who is required to take two 20 minute breaks and a 45 minute one in each eight hours of driving.
Interesting note. At the potty stop were maybe 75 trucks parked. Semis filled the parking lot. Turns out in France between 8 a.m. Saturday and 8 p.m. Sunday, they cannot be on the road. The exception is if they have spoil-able food or live animals. Sounds like a good idea to me but maybe not to the drivers who were standing around talking to each other, maybe planning a strike as the French are prone to do. Some trucks had black out curtains drawn. Didn't see any hookers loitering as you sometimes do in the States.
Our first stop, before we left Tours, was at the Basilica of St. Martin to see what we couldn't see the day before. The unusual tomb of two small princes. It really was remarkable. I loved that the Guardian Angels were holding the pillows of the little boys. They were preparing the church for the Easter Masses so we made just a quick stop and set out for Poitiers. Carmen was great at giving us a lot of history but after eight hours on the bus it all sort of blended together so I really can't recall a lot. I was sitting in the front seat opposite her and she kindly answered all my questions. They seemed important at the time but no clue what they were! But I did inquire about her family, and her life living in the city center of Paris, and about life in France in General. She was very excited that in mid July they will begin using a high speed train from Bordeaux into Paris so her next tour she will be able to be home in two ours!
At the first stop, where it was cloudy and cold, the men's rest rooms were closed for cleaning. So we shared!
In Poitiers we had a walking tour, The market square has a large farmers market all around the permanent indoor market place. There was also a large, modern mall with a grocer on the -1 level. Viking's plan was for us to buy lunch items at the open air market and eat don the bus during the long afternoon ride. Elva and I had sandwiches and snacks already so we visited the giant town square, the tourist offices, wandered through the market and were glad to be back on the bus and out of the weather.
At the second technical break, the women's rest rooms were closed for cleaning so you guessed it!
On our way to the Viking Forsetti we passed the exits to the towns we will be visiting during our week on the river. We arrived only delayed briefly by the closing of many of the main roads in the town of Bordeaux. Actually city, the metro area is over 900,000 with about 250,000 of those living inside the city wall area. The roads were closed because this was the evening of the Night Marathon. Last year over 19,000 visitors run the race and an even larger crowd was reported to be preparing to run soon after we arrived.
We were not welcomed aboard until we were actually on board. The Program Director hopped on the bus and she seemed lively and invited us to start our trip by joining the wine tasting on board. We showed our passports and were checked off the list in the lobby and went down to our lowest deck cabin. Tiny! No big window like on the Elbe but heated floors in the bathroom are a good trade off. Our bags were delivered to our room and by the time we washed up and went to the wine tasting it was ending. The people who arrived to begin all their travels had had a walking tour and celebrated their arrivals with the wine and cheese.
Feliz, the PD, welcomed us aboard and gave her port talk for Saturday and Sunday. The Hotel Director, Brian, explained that there would be a deviation from the program because the ship propeller had damaged and although it was replaced the engine needed repair. A large chunk of wood had got caught in the screw. Instead of sailing on Sunday, we would bus to Cadillac for our tour and tasting. Some people were very upset. Also upset were the several people whose bags had not made it to the ship. They were either at deGaulle or Bordeaux in the airport. Seemed to be more disgruntled people at the start of this sailing than is usual, especially on Viking. Part of the luggage issue was the five hour shut down at deGaulle due to a power outage. Some passengers got caught in that and couldn't get through Customs and really, nothing would have made them happy.
We did not go on the night walk because the marathon had that messed up as well. It was supposed to include a tram ride to see the city lights but the tram was on the race route so wasn't running. We went night-night!
Easter Sunday dawned grey and gloomy but not cold. When our cabin was made up last night the crew had sent Lindt chocolate rabbits to our room wrapped in shiny gold foil. I surprised Elva with yellow Peeps bunnies this morning. Elva and I had breakfast on the terrace and joined the bus tour of the city. Still altered by the fact that the barriers from yesterday were not yet removed. Not a big problem as our buses literally were the only vehicles on the streets. Stores were closed and we saw no one walking about.
We made a stop at a monumental fountain and spent an hour and a half at the museum. Much of the time was learning about the slave trade! Weird. But it seems France is culpable for that. After lunch on the terrace we set out for a 45 minute bus ride to Cadillac (pronounced Cad-e-ac. The double L is pronounced as a y or long e.) And yes. the car is named for the home town of the explorer / business man who founded Detroit.
Cadillac is a walled city with some of its towers a part of the wall still intact. It has a castle with an interesting history, as do they all, which ended up being a women's prison and then a reform school for girls. Back on the bus we headed to the Sauternes region and a wine tasting. At the Chateau Rayne Vigneau we sampled three white wines beginning with dry, going to 20% sweet and on to 60% sugar! The medium one wasn't bad.Why am I on a wine tour, not for the wine but for the beauty and history. I did have reinforced all the viticulture knowledge I ever might have had. Elva pretty much ends up with double helpings as after a sip I am done.
The return trip on a bus filled with snoring farmers and ranchers from Wyoming and Montana was not fast enough to suit me! Of course, these fellow passengers are still having jet lag, had wine at lunch and tried three more in the afternoon, so sleeping wasn't not a big surprise!
Back in our cabin we quickly changed so we could begin our evening with the welcome aboard champagne toast and proceed to dinner where more wine was served. I had iced tea and diet Coke. During dinner we sailed for two hours, out and back, testing the now repaired and very quiet engines. From our table we had a beautiful view of the broad river as we sailed under bridges and out to where the ocean going vessels can begin to unload or load their cargoes.
The evening entertainment was, you guessed it, a lesson in identifying the wines of Bordeaux and four tastings! Elva is sleeping, I am writing to you, and then tucking myself in for the night.
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