My room is cold

At one point during the night, I was shivering like mad in my room. That was why I dressed more warmly than needed today, although it was a brilliant 16 degrees Celsius outside. Note to self: 16 degrees Celsius is pretty warm.

If I were to describe what I’ve seen of Bordeaux so far in one word, it would be the word “elegance”. When talking to my friends, I’ve told them that there is an indescribable elegance that surrounds the atmosphere wherever I go, and I kind of like it. Elegance is once again the word I am going to use to describe the tramway system. It reminds me of a mini-TGV, fast (in terms of intra-city commute) and efficient. For 192 Euros a year I get unlimited travel within the Bordeaux public transportation system. Converting that into Canadian dollars using today’s exchange rate, that’s roughly $268 a year, which is around 5 times cheaper than what you’d be paying for TTC if you were to get a Metropass every month. Pretty sweet deal.

And yes, I finally have my first set of photos. The following sequence loosely describes my routine of the day.

This is a tram taken near the location of my future apartment. I love the sound of the gliding tram – so elegant. I apologize for the redundancy.

This place is called the Palais de Justice, in other words the law courts. It’s a bad angle, but you can clearly see that…thing. I’m really not sure what it is. Mushroom, cone, bell…beats me.

The building in the front with the flags is the Bordeaux Hôtel de Ville, or City Hall. There were big scary people guarding the gates.

French people are enjoying an afternoon break in the patio outside a building with some old-style architecture. Is there ever a time when the French don’t relax?

This will be the tram that takes me to my lab every single day from November till at least February.

Sign should be self-explanatory. I wonder what they do in there. Doesn’t matter to me, this sign only serves as a landmark for me to remember my way back to my residence.

I really love this wall. It is on one of the university buildings and I have absolutely no idea what any of the equations means. Once again, elegant but at the same time amusing.

…and that concludes my day. I am now in possession of a bank account and I have met my supervisor for the first time today. Unsurprisingly, the word elegance can be used to describe her as well, although I think simply “cool” is sufficient to describe my first impression of her. Let’s make it a great start!

By the way, a lot of French people smoke…and by that I mean, A LOT, especially women. And lab entrances seem to serve as a gathering spot for smokers on break…gotta get more used to their culture!