A night at the Opera

Courtesy of Grand Opera

As I listened to Carmina Burana’s strong notes in Bordeaux’ beautiful Grand Opera, I couldn’t stop reflecting on two things:

· The power of music and how it never fails to affect me.

· If a man’s body is good, he still looks hot in funny skirts. 

Anyway, back to the present moment. When we decided to visit this region couple of weeks ago, buying these tickets was the first thing I did; as a result our places are just below the nose-bleeding level. But the opera house is beautiful, the ballet combines best of modern and classical dancing and the music is moving. All in all a perfect ending to a day in the city of Bordeaux.

Earlier in the day we walked the boulevards and quays, enjoyed the sights, sat at the roadside cafes and drank Lillet (we both prefer the red, but the white is delicious as well), looked at the shop windows at the Rue Ste. Catherine and climbed the 200+ stairs to the bell tower to gape at the city.  At night we met with our friends Anne and Andre for a delicious dinner and enjoyed the lights reflecting on Miroir D’eau at Place de la Bourse.

Bordeaux is old, rich and beautiful. Situated on both banks of the Garonne river, it was an important trade centre from 11^thcc thanks to its ‘port of the moon’. By 18^thcc, the city was at its peak and played a big-scale role model to Baron Haussmann’s transformation of Paris from a medieval town to today’s beautiful capital.

Our French friends, when they heard about our plans to visit this area, have asked us if we also plan to visit Bassin d'Arcachon, the seaside region on the way to Cap Ferret.  After establishing the fact that Cap Ferret is not Cap Ferrat (which is in Cote d’Azur so a bit far away for a day trip) and learning that the region is famous for its locally cultivated oysters, mais bien sur, we hit the road again.  

A street at L'Herbe

It’s an area of villages and towns placed in close order along the Atlantic with its sand dunes and never ending beaches. The French kept the area to themselves so it’s very local, beautiful and were still buzzing in late October.  We had the best lunch at a seaside restaurant which consisted of a dozen oysters & two bottles of Rose and visited some thoroughly cute seaside villages.

Best lunch ever :-)

Biarritz

The next day we continued to Biarritz, another very famous holiday location. As oppose to other seaside towns along the Atlantic coast, Biarritz is located on cliffs and the sea bottom is mostly rocks. Therefore the colours and sights are very similar to the Med Coast, which adds special charm to this trendy resort.

After Biarritz we’ll be leaving France and continue to San Sebastian in Spain. We know about ten words in Spanish, so it'll be interesting !