French Trip May 2026. Journey

 Start off with an earlier bus than usual to catch the very punctual train to Bordeaux. 

By mistake took the airport bus...€10 as opposed to €1.90 on the tram..but it was a change and made for a quick and comfortable journey in half the time. Nice to do something different!

I arrived at Merignac (Bordeaux) airport far too early....so that gave me time to consume all my remaining supplies and people watch from a quiet spot..including the group of three young army personnel with weapons...but I did get a smile from one as I did some drawing of bits of a pinecone. I suppose the verdict on me was Mostly Harmless....

Then through security as the breeze was getting chilly. My bits went through in two trays..one came through and it looked like she ended her shift......luckily the supervisor rescued the second one for me!

Then it was more people...and flight announcement board...watching. 

The acoustics were bad ..typical "railway station announcements" and even the French people around me were complaining that she spoke too fast!! 

Planes were running late....delayed...one for over an hour...Then it was my flight announced, and on the way out I was face photographed   ...it had been fingers on the way in ..and chatting to an English (now French resident) who works on golf courses and has to visit Scotland to work once every three weeks...delays have been bad, sometimes as much as 5 hours..seeing as he has a two hour drive each end of a 2+ hour flight.....But we all boarded without incident and were only 10 minutes late...

That meant that the plane was parked at the arse end of the line and we were bussed to the terminal. Passport checking was slow even though it was just passport down and look at the screen...

Then to find the bus. I asked one staff member...stance G...the far end...I saw an airport bus that had come from Glasgow .Did he stop at Ratho by the Travelodge...No says he...so I have to wait half an hour...until 10.50pm...for the other service...

Breakfast in the morning ..they were asking £15.99....for what I paid €9.50 in an airport hotel in Bordeaux...so I skipped that! Back to the airport to get the Airport service back to Glasgow...and it stopped ...at Ratho...speaking to that driver, we reckoned that he wanted to get home and off shift asap...

Bus to Ayr straight away, fresh food shopping in Ayr then home ..

to washing, and re-organising everything to get back into gear for life here...gallery duty tomorrow....

But I'm thinking about what I'll do next visit..

a little of Limoges gâre de Bénédictins history

no mistaking the place to stand safely....the strips are rubber with raised dots

a "digger" on train wheels and road tyres ..they were mending local lines..part of the work that closed the lines for four days over the Ascension holidays so I missed a local train trip

SNCR TER train..and look at the station names

in Occitan as well as French

Tiles in Bordeaux. nice patterns

seats at Merignac ...

and the control tower at Edinburgh...quite elegant

French Trip May 2026 Quiet day.

 Today was not as wet as feared..just a few showers...when I walked around to the bakery café La Feuillette there were dark clouds in the distance, but blue sky above. That, and Eat Salad where I walked to for supper this evening are in the Limoges Nord Zone Industrielle...but there are plenty of cafés ( including the USA fast food joints) and they are well attended any day. La Feuillette wasn't just selling sandwiches and pizzas to eat now...there were salads. all kinds of patisserie and viennoiserie, all sorts of bread...proper bread!! 

My bag is just about packed....tickets checked...fortunately...I remembered the arrival time in Bordeaux not the departure time of about 10am!! So no rush...and I'll still be arriving at the station ...then half an hour's bus to the airport...and then the gates close at 8pm...I'll have a few hours to kick my heels there. but better than being late.

The Haviland porcelain factory..company established in the 1840s.

Despite it being an industrial zone they are looking after the river L'Aurence..there is a wide wooded section where the river flows with paths...some tarmac some gravel..and the sign is explaining the work on the wetland areas

new bridge needed here!

but a beautiful walk

now what is making this noise???

 La Feuillette...interesting shapes on the coat rack...

souvenir!! A good strong bag for only €1.50

French Trip May 2026 Photos Saturday 16th

 Backwards photos...whatever you do, it decides which way you'll get them!!

Any ideas on this insect? I think those are wing cases like a ladybird..but it isn't one

In a garden by the river..taken through the fence! The bigger pot is from La Borne.

Holly full of berries!

Bzzzz

??

lunch!

through the restaurant windows out into the Coeur du Temple

I had to get this registration

there are quite a few around town

squeezed in !!

a detail...

of the back door...

of this lycée(high) school

French Trip May 2026 one last wander?.

 The wind was really chilly this morning..despite leaving setting out until 10am. Of course by the time I got to town at 11 am ( I'd just missed one bus but they are frequent) it was warm in the sun! First stop was the Tourist Information Centre for a couple of small gifts..and the WiFi and toilet!!  Nice to be greeted and have a short chat.  I really needed to have used more French this past fortnight....but I'm not a chatty person at the best of times! I've not done too badly anyway and plenty have said that I speak naturally. A nice compliment.

I wandered around bits of the centre that I'd managed to miss before..had a coffee in a spotless kebab café/carryout. I think the coffee was the only vege thing on the menu!!

It was clean and the welcome was as good as anywhere. I thought of walking further but decided on an early lunch..yesterday I'd missed out on my favourite place. Going earlier than usual French lunchtime today gave him more business and I had a nice quiet lunch.

Then from the centre...carrying my coat!! to the oldest bridge, Pont St Martial to cross over and have a leisurely stroll just over 1 km to the Pont St Étienne. I was fortunate to spot a wren...and not so much to see a rather large rat crossing the path to the river. They are everywhere round the globe where humans are.

A nice sit in the sun by the bridge on a beautifully warm granite bench..before crossing the river and tackling the steep streets back up to catch the bus. 

The forecast is for rain all day tomorrow...but we can live in hope!

French trip May 2026. lost count of days!

 I tried to number the days on my posts...but I've lost count! One weekend to go then sadly I have to leave on Monday.

More wandering today, but beginning to focus on shapes and ideas that I can start using. 

I came back a little earlier because the weather was turning again...came through a heavy slushy shower in the last 500 metres before my bus stop...then walked home in sunshine! The rain/hail looked like curtains falling from the clouds, but it turned to a fine but chilly evening....eventually!

This is a series of cartoon posters around on empty shops

porcelain again

I had to resist....my bag is full...