February 19, 2026 - Making good use of our 48-hour City pass - Day 2

Today was the last day for our city pass and we used it to the maximum starting by taking the tram to the train station to get a feel of where to go buy our tickets for our planned day trips and the time frame to get there. It took 20 minutes, but the tram arrived not long after we arrived at the stop so we must figure about half an hour to be sure. We think the tram comes by every 5 to 10 minutes but are not sure. 

From the train station we hopped on a bus to the Cappucin market but the booth with the delicious cannelés was still unoccupied. We will try again tomorrow before our cruise. Maybe they are only there on the weekends. 

The weather today was very bizarre it would be sunny one minute and the next minute it was pounding rain. This went on all day. Apparently during the night there was a wind and rainstorm (Pedro). We didn’t hear a thing. According to people we talked to, the Garonne river overflowed it's banks and there was water as far as the buildings near the road running parallel to the river. The last time this happened was in 1997. Some trains were cancelled due to debris on the tracks. 

From the market we used the bus and tram to go to the maritime museum. We were the only ones in the museum. It’s no wonder because it’s in a big building housing different businesses and you have to use an intercom to be buzzed in and then follow a maze of corridors and go through a couple of doors plus climb a flight of stairs. The young lady at the desk was surprised that we were from Canada and spoke French well. It is not a big museum and did not take long to visit but it was interesting.

Through the 17th and 18th century, Bordeaux played a major part in trade and became the premier ship-building port of Europe. There were shipyards all along the river and by 1785, one new ship would come out of the shipyards every 15 days.

Various ship models from the museum. This one took 18 years to build. 

Rollande cheated on the next 3 pictures. She took them off a TV monitor that was showing views of the river.

 

We then headed again by tram to the Aquitaine museum. This one is huge and we visited only about half as we ran out of time. We wanted to eat lunch before our scheduled class on wine tasting. The Museum covers the history of civilisation from pre-historic times, through the stone age and bronze age followed by the history of the Romans in the area, royalty, the church etc. We left at this point so we don't know how far into the present day is covered.  

The Roman influence.

Looks interesting. Looks like the Romans has fun.

Rosace du couvent des Carmes de Bordeaux. This one is 5 meters across and weighs 5 tons.

We arrived for the wine tasting a bit early so we visited Église Notre-Dame across the street.

This class was fun. We tasted 3 wines, a white and 2 reds. First, we studied a white wine. He explained how to decide where it was from, the year, the type of grape, what the smells that we could distinguish, how much sugar there is, how much alcohol etc. He then showed us the bottle. We were 5 in the class and we all got the profile and region right. We were then given a plate of cheese, nuts, dried fruit and saucisson. He then gave us two glasses of red wine and we had to figure which one was a cabernet sauvignon and which one was a merlot. All 5 of us had it wrong. I guess we need more lessons. Turns out, the merlot was younger and as a result, had more tannin which threw the group off. The class ran late since one of the ladies had lots of questions so after the class we hurried to catch the tram and then another bus for our next tasting.

 

This last tour was a whisky tasting. We were about a dozen people. We were given a tour of the facilities as well as an explanation of what happens at each process. This facility in again in an old German bunker. The bunker where they store their barrels to age has walls that are 6 meters thick with a ceiling that is 3 meters thick. It keeps the temperature constant all year long. Afterward we went back to the reception/store to sample 3 whiskeys and a gin. It might sound a lot of alcohol but there was such a tiny amount in the glass that there was only a small sip. It was enough for me to decide that I didn’t like any of the whiskeys. I’ll keep my Signal Hill instead. The gin was a bit better tasting but still not great. Every aspect and ingredients for the whiskey and gin are from the Bordeaux area. Since they cannot produce peat in Bordeaux they smoke algae and use wood bark for the smoking process. I don’t remember what kind of wood it was. The bunker has a capacity of 850 barrels and there are currently 700 in use and each holds 220 litres. The barrels are wine barrels from different Chateaus in the region. In addition to taste, the barrels adds a bit of color to the whiskey.  

They had to cut through 6 meters of cement to make this door. Ironically, they hired a German company to do the job.

 

We arrived back at the apartment around 6:45 and decided not to go out tonight. It is still raining off and on as well as windy and it was a long, full day.