Chapter 10: Bordeaux Meanderings

I got up at midday after my first long and satisfying sleep. Today, we have no idea what we're going to do, but Mary is making a breakfast of Flammekueche, a pizza base with fresh cream, onion and bacon, a dish from Alsace. And then some chocolate cake while we listened to old 1930s jazz, and because I was a guest and felt I needed to contribute something, I washed the dishes.

We went out to St Michel and the markets there, which were like an open air Vinnies. It's warmer here and I can go out with hat and gloves and scarcely need a scarf. After walking around the basic markets for a while, we started on the main road of Bordeaux near Place de la Bourse, where there is a flat, black stone monument, a few hundred meters long and about 20 meters wide and is sometimes covered with a thin layer of water. Today it was.
"Something people take off their shoes and run through the water," Mary said, "this is the first time I've been here when there's water."
"You want to run through it, don't you?"
"...yes." It was overcast and maybe 8 degrees. So, I took off my shoes and socks and ran through it. At first, the water was like ice, burning my feet with the cold. But I soon got used to it and called Mary over, "It's alright!" So, she took off her shoes and socks and ran across the plain after me, "It's so cold!" she yelled, laughing and smiling, hugging herself, "how can you be so calm?!" I shrugged, "Canadian blood?" We stamp around for a little more until our feet go numb and run back to dry land, leaving wet footprints on the stone. I put my shoes back on and now they feel so warm after the freezing cold, "I can feel my feet again." I said.
"So can I. Just." She said, smiling, "And I was still sick."
And we did it, because we're idiots. But it was fun.
We walked through the large park past a monument fountain to the fallen of some war or other, dedicated to those in Bordeaux, past the fake arc de triumphe, where a castle once stood, and gathered around the base of this fountain were about two dozen Santas and elves, dressed and ready to roam the streets to hand out to chocolate to the populous.
We soon moved from there to the Christmas markets, where I ate an entire assortment of French food from the area, including a native Bordeaux sweet called cannele, a sandwich with smoked ham and onions from Bayonne, l'Aligot - a speciality from Avignon - which is mashed potatoes and lots of cheese - and a crepe with pure dark chocolate.
As we sat eating our crepes, there was a children's merry-go-round that played high pitched, tonalised versions of Jingle Bells. After a couple of round, the machine broke and the music broke down into a chorus of off tune beeps and tones that I could only describe as the machine vomiting.
We continued our way through the large, open air markets and I bought myself a new, betterr flap hat, bigger and black this time. As it was getting dark, all the lights of the city, including the special Christmas lights, got switched on. The main square lit up like something out of a Christmas film. We decided to head out across the main square, down Rue St Katherine, Bordeaux's main shopping drag. On the wy, we passed a man drinking a beer, and dressed as a giant penis, so I did what any self-respecting tourist would do, and took of photo with him. Just a little further was a big band playing some funky tunes, so Mary and I danced like idiots in the crowd doing a mock tango and mock swing dancing. Penis man then jumped from behind the band and into the dance circle below, dancing with people's small children.
We began walking down the crowded Rue St Katherine, just taking in the main Bordeaux shopping district and its many tiny alleys and shops. Pretty soon we decided to check cinema times for tomorrow and moved down a side alley. The film we wanted wasn't at this cinema, but we did find a woman on the street singing and playing the blues on a double bass, so we stopped and danced some more.
As we reached the end of the road, we decided we were hungry and decided to head home to eat, as nowhere but kebab stores and McDonald's were open. We headed home and Mary cooked up some of the left-over pasta and some fish fillets, with an entree of tomatoes and carrots with dressing. As we ate we watched the French dubbed Disney "Sword in the Stone" and then a French film called "Prete Moi ta Main (Lend Me Your Hand)". We talked until about 1 a.m, then hit the hay.

- from The Journal December 20th 2008