Bordeaux

Our prearranged tour was over, and we were now on our own. We had booked two nights in Bordeaux at a different lodging, so we started the day by collecting our things and grabbing a taxi to our new digs.

We would be staying at Ecolodge des Chartrons, the entry to which was a thick wooden door set in a massive stone building, accessed via a narrow alleyway of a street. Going through the door led to a long stone tunnel of a hallway.

 
At the end of which was a twisting stone staircase.

The building dated back to the 18th century. The stairs had depressions worn into them. It is possible to see where material has been spliced into the stone to rebuild the steps.

The stairway led to an open courtyard area, which had been glassed over to form a ceiling and protect from the elements. The window to our room is visible in the center right of the above picture, opened slightly inward.

This courtyard is where we would have our breakfast, along with others staying in this guesthouse.

 Our door was unlocked with a funky old style key, and opened into...

A spacious living area. The windows let in lots of natural light, and it was very relaxing - for the roughly 2.5 daytime hours we actually spent in the room over the next two days.

The bathroom was similarly spacious, with lots of natural light.

Our hostess allowed as to that she had the place on the market; she used to have a partner to run it, but was now solo, and it was too much work for just one person to run. She said she hoped it remained a guesthouse. We feel the same way - this was a wonderful place to stay.

***

We spent the morning strolling around the nearby city. Down the alley, around a corner, and forward fifty paces we were greeted by some nifty architecture. Gothic architecture never gets old... (get it?!)

Spent some time walking through a large public park, with a coolly ornate gate

 The French seem to take their parks seriously. We dug that. There were lots of trees, well maintained grassy areas, a children's playground area, and lots of park benches.

And a stream, because, you know, park.

The prevailing architecture in the area surrounding our lodgings was neoclassical, constructed of yellowish stone quarried from nearby St. Emilion.

Whether crossing a large public plaza, or simply strolling down a quieter street, it felt totally Old World. Probably because it was totally Old World.

***

We stopped for lunch at a place bordered by...

Neoclassical buildings

And a gothic church

 I just wanted a light lunch, so I ordered a Caesar salad. The grilled chicken was lightly breaded, and grilled to a light yet assertive crunch on the outside while remaining tender on the inside. It was garnished with juicy tomato and Parmesan shavings. And the dressing was... mayonnaise. Bland mayonnaise.

I did a double take. I mean, really? How hard is it to add some zip to a Caesar?

Harumph.

I'm more of a foodie wannabe than I am an actual foodie, so perhaps I'm wrong here. But I pretty much thought that dressing with a particular zing was part and parcel of a Caesar salad. I was disappointed. I ended up picking out and eating the chicken, croutons, Parmesan, and tomatoes with my fingers, and leaving the lettuce/mayo conglobulation behind. Such is how a mature man such as myself throws a muted, passive-aggressive food fit.

Julia opened up with a cod salad. The cod was chill and fresh, and came accompanied by double-peeled wedges of orange and pink grapefruit. The bubbly white foam was, um, we're not sure. It was simply salty, fun to eat, and worked well to season the salad.

That was followed up with the dish of the day, grilled hake with risotto. The risotto was nondescript, but the hake was flaky and delicious.

Dessert was a molten chocolate cake-thing, with pear beret. Cutting into it revealed a bunch of gooey molten chocolate yumminess, with pear chunks.

 

***

The church next to our lunch spot was actually the Cathedral of Saint-André. The original cathedral was consecrated in 1096 by Pope Urban II. Today, only small portions of the original edifice remain. Like many large churches of the time, it was constructed and augmented over a number of decades.

It had the impressively intricate stone work you would expect of any gothic church, as well the typical figures of holy men gazing down upon those entering and exiting

These guys make it look like it was pretty badass indeed to be ranked clergy in the eleventh century...

 Yup. Definitely ballin'.


Interior views, toward the pipe organ in the rear...

 

 And toward the alter in the front

Next to the cathedral is an equally impressive bell tower. The picture below does not really do justice to the impact of the tower. There is a shot later in this entry that provides some additional perspective.

We wanted to take a stroll along the river, but the sun was bright and the day pretty warm. We returned to our room to clean up and snooze out for a bit, before heading out again as dusk approached.

 ***

Riverfront property is typically choice real estate, and here was no different, back in the 1700's. The buildings that front the river were all imposing and attractive in the fading light.
 

Here is a shot, from a good distance away, of the Cathedral of Saint-André and the nearby bell tower. The picture is not the best, but I think it does a decent job of conveying how they dominate the skyline. As intended.

***

 We strolled and strolled, looking for a place to have dinner. Yelp had some really good suggestions, but they were either closed on Monday, or reservations were required and we didn't have any, or someone refused to have hot dogs for dinner with me, or whatever. And so it eventually was that it was 9:00pm and we still had not eaten.

Our temperaments began to reflect our hunger, so after a brief emergency pow-wow we decided to simply get something to eat at whatever place it was that we were standing in front of at that moment. That place happened to be Le Grand Bar Castan.

I think we will both remember this dinner fondly, if for no other reason than the almost David Lynchian weird.

The interior decor was a trendy Large Rocks motif. With flying lightbulbs.

The placemats enthusiastically recommended a rosé cider beverage, so I enthusiastically ordered one. 

It was as cloyingly sweet as you might be imagining. At only 3.5% alcohol, there seemed to me to be relatively little payoff. I ordered second one anyway.

From the menu, I selected a couple of things. One was lasagna. I knew what I was getting into; this would be Pub Lasagna. There is kind of some meat in it, and noodles, but the noodles tend to be insipid, and the sauce is straight up chef boyardee. There is a layer of melted cheese on top, though not enough really to redeem the rest. If you've never had pub lasagna before, I really can't recommend it. It's an infrequent affectation of mine, so I got one.

Because I wanted to have, somewhere in the mix, something good, I also ordered Galette Traditionale. Galette is French for Über Crepe, and the traditionale came filled with cheese and ham, with  sunny side up egg tucked in the center.

Julia went for the Galette Forestiere, which was stuffed with mushrooms, cheese, ham, and carmelized onions in a creamy sauce. Both crepes were salivatingly yummy.


As for Bar Castan itself, we remain, overall, puzzled.