Bordeaux, city of wine

We arrived in Bordeaux at St. Jean train station in the middle of afternoon. Our Ibis hotel was situated near the station, so that we could walk there even with our luggages. It took a while, however to reach there, since none of us knew where exactly it was. Luckily enough, we headed in the right direction as we stopped by a Chinese restaurant to get some food. We’ve had mostly Italian cuisine for the past 4-5 days, and we were ready to change our appetite for something else. We found the hotel eventually and checked in.

I’ve notified my friend, Flora that we’ve arrived. We asked to be given about a couple hours or so to rest before meeting up. So we would try for a rendezvous at 5 pm.

Flora came to our hotel a little after 5 pm. She told us she had forgotten something at home while already on her way, so she had to turn around and thus became late. It was not a big deal, I thought. It was great that finally we met. To me, she has changed a lot since we last met face to face. To her, I haven’t changed at all. To me, that was good to hear, as it meant that I have not aged at all.

I introduced Flora to Sheilla and vice versa, talked for a bit, and planned on what to do. It was decided to have dinner at Flora’s mom’s house, where her sisters, Anaïs and Marie-Lo and their boyfriends will be there. There will also be Alyssa, Anaïs’ daughter, whom I’ve seen from pictures before, but this would be the first time to finally meet. Marie-Lo’s boyfriend also had a daughter who was 10 years old. We were told, though, and warned that she still acted as if she was 6 years old. Oh, and Flora’s grandmother will be there too. Therefore, compared to my last visit four years ago where my dinner with them consisted of just the five of us, tonight that number more than doubled to twelve, not including a couple of cats that didn’t join us at the dining table but nonetheless made their presence vocally obvious.

Before dinner, we had a glass of pink champagne each with some nuts and crackers to build our appetite. Then we had the actual appetizer of liver, foie gras, with French bread. It wasn’t my usual choice of appetizer, particularly having liver in general, but their version was quite acceptable to my taste bud and stomach.

For the main entrée, we had roasted crispy duck with green beans and sliced, steamed potatoes.





As part of the typical French meal, we must include a session of cheese and bread.



And a meal wouldn’t be complete without desserts, and Flora’s mom had prepared for a full night of eating. So, voila!







We ate, drank, and talked, all for the entire night. They asked about America-related stuff, such as the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Obama Barrack. We talked about sports, American football versus soccer, in the name of the sport and the names themselves. They were using this rare opportunity to speak English to us, as it was much more important for us since our French was no where near comprehendible. For the most part, Flora became the translator as she was the most knowledgeable in English, although I’ve noticed that it had decreased since my last visit. It was truly a warm moment, to be taken in and dine with her wonderful family. It was the same as it was four years ago. And like four years ago, Flora’s mom gave me more wine bottles. Back then, the years for the wine were 1985 and 1993. This time, it was 1979 that marked my year of birth, and 1982, which missed Sheilla’s year of birth by one year only because during dinner that’s what we were drinking. Even so, I was very surprised and taken in by her generosity as I knew that these wines were not cheap.

We talked to the best of our abilities and our language limits. Before we knew it, midnight came and it was time to go back to our respective homes. Since we were in Eysines and our hotel was by the train station, Flora had offered to drive us that night. Tomorrow, we’ll see more of Bordeaux.