Almost two weeks ago, we said bonjour to Bordeaux, & it was off to a somewhat rough start.
I’ve clearly, procrastinated on writing about this as I didn’t particularly feel like re-living some of it and others I am a little embarrassed by my behaviour. But I’m blogging about all parts of my journey through Europe & that includes the good, the bad & the ugly…..
We arrived by bus from Paris. As this was my first bus experience for our trip I didn’t know what to expect, but I naturally reverted to my pessimistic ways, and I expected the worst. I wasn’t right but I wasn’t far off either!
The check in process was unorganised and I think we were in the ghetto bus terminal…lol. It got very stuffy and I was on the verge of one of my anxiety attacks and we were only checking in! Personal space is a bit of a thing for me, and those common courtesies where out the window! A BIG group of people pushed in and they were mad doggin me pretty hard so I didn’t say anything, then the old man behind me felt it was appropriate to stand so close I felt his franks and beans between my but cheeks! When I turned around and said in my best French accent “Pardon!” He didn’t even look at me, continued to rock on his heels & I was publicly dry humped til it was our turn at the counter. *shudder*
The bus itself was a ‘first come first served’ basis. Naturally all the window seats were taken after a lot of pushing in (by others) & Tim and I were seated apart. There was no toilet on board, so we couldn’t drink much as the driver only announced when toilet breaks would be in French… Which gave birth to the ‘bathroom break guessing game’… It wasn’t a fun game.
Eventually, after a LONG 9hrs, we were dropped off on the side of the road in the middle of the night. No map, no GPS & no idea how to get to our hotel! By chance we walked and ended up near a map, unfortunately, we read it upside down and started walking in the wrong direction…. *oh no* luckily my super-charged gut instincts kicked in and I went back to the map to confirm how stupid we were. GOOD NEWS, it wasn’t far from there. BAD NEWS, its up several flights of stairs with all our suitcases!
We eventually got to our hotel, after some language barrier directions, & it was looking like a nice little bustling hub at 10:30pm. So, eager to sleep and shower, we went to our room (which wasn’t cheap) and were horrified by the smell & size. For a non smoking room, it smelt like Uncle Bob and his cigar club were having regular meetings there! The toilet was next to my side of the bed and only separated by a curtain and 2 steps…. Normally we would of laughed, said it was unacceptable and dealt with it calmly. But we were tired, smelly, cranky & whingy.
Something about when you are in one of those moods that all the problems are 10 times worse than what they actually are. I put it down to the public dry humping and prison style bathroom breaks that pushed me to this point.
The poor hotel staff….. I got my way, but there wouldn’t be a room available until mid morning tomorrow… “It’s ok, I’ll just cruise on the net in the lobby til I’m so tired I can sleep in the smoke stack” wrong
Internet not working on either devices.
FYI– in Europe, when a room says ‘free wifi’ it doesn’t necessarily mean in YOUR room. This is something we have confirmed with several examples a few times now. So, if you want to change rooms, organise it straight away.
The next day, we both woke up with sore throats and coughing, thanks to the smoke. GOOD NEWS, we got a new room and it was perfect! 3 times the size and no smoke! Luckily the staff were super nice about it as they must get a lot of late check ins that get put in that room because they handled my ‘im so tired and a poor princess’ attitude the night before pretty well.
If your staying in Bordeaux, do a bit of research on your location, before booking. Although after night 1, our room was great as was the rest of the hotels facilities, we later learned we were in the ‘Red light’ district. *whoops!*
For what we paid, we might of been able to get something closer & NOT in the sketchy part of town. However, on the plus side, it was close to all forms of transportation and everything was open very late.
Hotel California website
That’s my little whinge over for a while, stay tuned for all the amazing Bordeaux put on offer for us, during our 5 day stay there…I swear, it really got a lot better after that!
au revoir!
Map Of Jo 
I am loving your blogging Jode… it makes it easier to follow your journey as some of this stuff doesn’t come to mind while we are chatting… and the pictures are perfect for what you are blogging about!.. Keep them coming xx
You are totally bias in that opinion… But thanks mum xo
Shes not bias, i am enjoying reading the blogs too, great to hear of things exactly how you are experiencing them š
That’s the idea rod š even for people who don’t know me in the real world.
So how was the red light district?
We didn’t sample the red lights facilities, if that is what you mean, Gareth.