BLOG # 4:  FROM FRANCE TO SPAIN

On Wednesday morning we sailed up the Gironde River to Bordeaux.  Large cruise vessels must dock a 2-hour drive from Bordeaux, medium vessels 30-minutes away, but small vessels can dock right in the center of the city.  With only 1150 passengers and 800 crew, and being just under 800 ft long, the Marina meets the small ship criterion.

The weather was sunny and warm.  However, Betty’s leg was bothering her (too much recent walking) so she stayed on the ship (mostly on the balcony)

and I walked into the city to do some shopping on Rue Ste. Catherine, which claims to be the longest pedestrian street in Europe.

In the evening I unfortunately slept through part of a very nice classical concert by a Ukrainian pianist.  As it turned out I needed the sleep as the next morning Betty sent me on an impossible quest to find a particular French table cloth.  After almost two hours of walking and looking I purchased a cloth of the correct dimensions.  However, I missed some of the other instructions, and apparently have a lovely covering for my workbench.

On Friday we were scheduled to anchor off Saint-Jean-de-Luz in France.  Because of high seas the Captain decided that the tender boats would not be safe to board so we by-passed.  From Saint-Jean-de-Luz one can access the Guggenheim Museum.  We had visited it a few years ago so we were not overly disappointed in docking instead at Santander in Spain.

Santander is a lovely city on a beautiful coastline.   It Is known for a terrible fire in 1941 that destroyed the medieval center of the city.  The airport In Santander is named for my very favorite Spaniard, Seve Ballesteros.  Seve was born, and tragically died too young, in a tiny village 11 miles from Santander.

In addition to taking the hop-on-hop-off bus I did a little wine shopping and purchased a bottle of Cantabrian Tinto (the local wine of Santander) for 1.99 Euros ($ 2.67 in Canadian dollars).   I may drink it with a few Tums.

In the evening we attended a private cocktail party hosted by the Captain and the General Manager.  As special guests we were formally presented our platinum pins. 

Over the past 12 years we have spent a lot of money taking Oceania cruises.  This has earned us “platinum status” which means we are now on a free cruise, we had a number of small gifts send to our stateroom, and we were honored at the cocktail party.  The party was fun and after the presentation lots of guests approached us to ask how they could earn platinum.  After several glasses of Champagne and a bottle of Chianti at Toscano’s later in the evening, the return to our cabin was something I did not want videoed.

On Saturday morning we docked in Gijon, Spain.  Gijon is an industrial city and my bus ride to the center did not reveal a lot to interest me.  This is the first time this trip where I was left wondering “why did we stop here?”