February 13, 2026 - Our first full day in Bordeaux

 

We took the morning slow. We both went to bed around 9:30. Despite being very tired, we slept soundly until around 2:30 and then woke up every hour until morning. After a leisurely breakfast of fresh baguette, cheese and serrano ham (sandwich) we went out in our rain gear, for our first cache in Bordeaux at the Grosse Cloche. After doing the two caches there we continued to the Marché des capuchins. After tasting the canelé Bordelais, we bought some for our desserts this week as well as a triangle of brownie which tastes nothing like the ones at home. We also bought some smoked salmon black ravioli for our supper tonight. We were told that we didn’t need a sauce just a drizzle of olive oil. Jacques also bought snacks for the week, 3 different kinds of olives, serrano ham, and a pkg of mixed saucissons and a slice of rabbit pâté. We should be good for a few days.

We returned to the apartment to make a sandwich for lunch and unload our groceries before heading out again. Our first stop was for a cache at the ‘’Monument aux Girondins’’ which is in the ‘’Place des Quinconces’’.  The fountain reminded me a bit of the Trevi fountain in Rome. We did one cache but were unable to do the others in that neighborhood. We will need to do a bit of research before trying again.  So off we went to the tourist bureau to ask about the city pass.  We took some pamphlets and will decide tonight how many days to take as there are many options from 24 hours to 96 hours. 

Since it was drizzling again, we headed towards an Auchan store to see what they had. Jacques likes to have handkerchiefs and since you can’t find any in Canada, we bought half a dozen for him.  We also picked up some mache salad to go with supper tonight.  When you go to the self checkout at Auchan the machine asks you if you want a printed receipt.  I don’t know how they manage to leave the store without their receipt because you have to scan it before leaving the store.  We were glad that we had asked for the receipt. 

On our way back to the apartment, Rollande stopped for a quick photo of Place Pey Berland and the Cathedrale Saint-André. We will come back for a visit another day.

We stopped in many bakeries to see if we could find a mille-feuilles for Jacques since that is his preferred pastry when in France. So far, we have not found any.  I even asked at our local boulangerie, and she said that she didn’t know of any bakeries that made them.  So, I guess that we will have an excuse to stop in more bakeries while we search for the elusive mille-feuilles. 

We didn’t do much sight seeing just walked around to get our bearings. Everyone seems very nice so far.