Bordeaux, France and the Golden Arches
I slept right through the night until my alarm startled me awake at 7:30 am. It took me a few moments realize where I was and where my phone was to silence the alarm, which I’m sure the other five people I was sharing the hostel room with did not appreciate.
I walked down to the river path with my yoga mat and did a short 30-minute practice followed by reading. It was an incredibly peaceful morning. After yoga, I walked back to the hostel for breakfast. It was a typical European breakfast with bread, more bread, and topped it off with more bread.
Today was my only full day in the city, and I meant to make the most of it. Up first, a digital art exhibit in an old-submarine-base-converted-to-a-museum. It was a 35-minute walk and I’d assumed I’d pass a coffee shop on the way… but no luck. The only place was a McDonald’s close to the museum so my first espresso in France ironically was from the Golden Arches #touristfail.
The art exhibit was incredible. The submarine base was constructed in 1941 by Nazi Germany to support their war efforts. It was a covered building with big tanks of water where the submarines would stay while reloading for missions. The overhead lights were completely off except the Renaissance artwork projected against the walls of Monet, Renoir, and other artists popular of the time. The digital versions of the art reflected against the water of the submarine tanks, and animation was added to the normally static photos. Add the music in the background, and it was an incredibly sensory experience. My favorite art is abstract modern art, and this transformed historically more classic art with a more modern abstract tilt.
I spent a solid 2 and a half hours enjoying the show before I left and did a short self-guided walking tour of Bordeaux. I’d walked almost 15,000 steps by noon…. Which is like 5x more than I’d been doing a day since getting off trail. Feeling tired, I headed back to the hostel for a nap.
Bordeaux is wine country, and I couldn’t leave the city without trying some local wine. I researched a fun wine bar for dinner, and let the server pick out the wine for me. It was delicious!
Post-dinner, I headed back to the hostel where a group of us representing 5 nationalities (Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Spain, and America) headed out for a few drinks. I feel incredibly fortunate to speak English since that is the common language, but also feel the desire to learn another language; everyone at the hostel speaks at least three languages.