Back to France part 2: My Bordeaux

Read part 1 here and part 3 here.

Bordeaux! Je t’aime!

Yup, after a month and a half of being away from Bordeaux, I was finally going back, albeit only for two days. My friend and I decided that we’d make a short stop by Bordeaux, since her European experience wouldn’t be complete without a visit to my main base in France. I will be going to her headquarter in London in May, so let’s just call this an exchange!

The trip was actually quite well-timed, though unintentionally. Just last week, while talking with my supervisor, he was saying how it’d be nice if we could try a different approach with our experiments, the only problem being that the chemicals we need were in Bordeaux and we’d need to get them shipped. You probably saw where this is going. So I said, “Um…actually I planned a trip to Bordeaux this weekend, so…I can go to the lab and bring them back?” My supervisor literally jumped for joy at the suggestion, and so my return had an added purpose. What perfect coincidence.

So you see, my stay in Europe is not all fun and play; I do work too ^_^

Anyway, back to Bordeaux. Remember that word that I used to describe Bordeaux? Elegant. I arrived in Bordeaux during the autumn season, spending my first European fall and winter there. Even then the city was elegant, but my goodness, Bordeaux is a heavenly beauty during the springtime. I felt like I was falling in love with it all over again. Quinconces, St. Catherine, the Garonne River, Place de la Bourse, Victoire…everything felt so renewed, so FRESH under the sun! I absolutely did not want to come back to Louvain-la-Neuve.

Of course, with a friend close by, I finally have some pictures of myself in Bordeaux! The following were all taken near some of my favourite spots in downtown Bordeaux.

A view of the St. André Cathedral outside my apartment. It still looks so majestic and so grand. Oh, I haven’t forgotten about the special entry that I said I’d dedicate to the cathedral. I still intend to do it because it deserves such recognition. Once I’m back in Bordeaux from Louvain-la-Neuve, I’ll find a day to take only pictures of the cathedral from every angle possible. Let’s hope I don’t put it to shame!

The pyramid of vegetables

The French people amaze me sometimes. During rush hour, it is understandable that the trams are jam packed with passengers. Just when you think that the tram is so full that you can’t even turn your head, 20 more people somehow manage to squeeze in one door at the next stop while the number of people exiting is…3. It seems like an everlasting positive feedback cycle where the net change in passengers is always positive – people get on, yet no one gets off…until Victoire. I also get quite pissed off when at a busy stop like Victoire, people getting on don’t wait till everyone has finished exiting before rushing onto the tram. It would be so much less chaotic if some common sense could be knocked into some of them, but I suppose during rush hour, nobody really cares about order. Even in a country as laid-back as France, rush hour is still rush hour. Yes, even in Bordeaux.

I am moving next week, for real this time. I originally should have moved on November 1st, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the move-in date to my permanent apartment has been delayed again and and again. I have stayed in this temporary residence for so long that they finally decided to kick me out…or well, I think they are indirectly doing so by stating that the reservation will only be booked till December 3rd. The best part of moving is the new location. I think I am going to love living in downtown Bordeaux, right by all the fun and convenience. Moreover, I can take so many more night photos. Those shown two posts ago are just the tip of the iceberg. I anticipate a lot of night walks and photo sessions once I re-settle down!

Once again I had not been actively taking photos this week, but on Sunday (today), I dropped by the city hall area and saw that Christmas festivities have begun! In addition, our very own Pyramid of Vegetables was on display this weekend. Let’s see whether it stands a chance against the pyramid at the Louvre.

We start out with the third cat around the neighbourhood, a black cat. This one was tricky to capture. As soon as I stepped closer, it scampered and hid behind the tree. That was why I was only able to take a picture of it from a distance…

From Quinconces to Garonne

After one week of officially being a grad student, I am already starting to appreciate the weekend. Though the first week consisted mostly of burying myself in literature, I find that both my body and my mind are exhausted by the time it’s 21:00. I have been steadily keeping a sleeping schedule of 22:30 to 6:30 for the past week, and I guarantee this will not last more than a month. Me sleeping early – that’s like snow in Bordeaux (according to my supervisor, the locals are wowed every time it snows in Bordeaux).

Also, I’ve decided to update the blog weekly instead of whenever I want. I’ll put up something new every Saturday or Sunday, so check back or subscribe! 🙂

I’ll start with the pictures this week, because a picture is worth a thousand words but starting an entry with a thousand words may drive away my visitors. This week, I took a trip down to the Garonne, the river that traverses Bordeaux. The weather is gorgeous and a walk sounded like a perfect idea, so why not?

I started my trip at the Place des Quinconces, and this is the first thing I saw when I got off the tram. Trees – lots of trees. I really like this place. Like…really. When I first saw this (which actually was last week) I literally said, out loud, “Wow, this is…nice.” Yes, the ellipsis too. I paused between “is” and “nice”. Anyway, I have a thing for perfectly aligned trees creating a pathway between them. Quite lovely.

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.