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Bordeaux

I flew into Bordeaux yesterday and picked up car number two from the airport. The drive to the house here was only 6km away and this time the GPS said it knew EXACTLY where it was. And it was right.

Host Bruno was one of the first people to email me about the house concerts when they first started back in February and finally it was happening. That afternoon he and his oldest friend, Frédéric, took me into Bordeaux. We wandered through Le Jardin Public toward the Garonne River and onto the antique market that only comes to town twice a year, bumping into a friend of Fred's who is famous in Bordeaux for his huge comic collection. He was, of course, scouting one of the bookstalls.

The Garonne comes in from the Atlantic and travels down into Spain where I'll be heading tomorrow for the next show. We walked along the river for about 1/2 a mile past the Place de la Bourse, with it's shallow pool of water that when full is a mirror, and when refilling creates an eerie mist in front of the imposing architecture. Then, continued along the waterfront following the Quai des Chartrons before heading back to the house.

Today I decided to walk around Bruno's neighbourhood a bit before the concert began. Only a few days into the tour but already I realised I probably should have bought some kind of phrase book for all European languages with me, when trying to order a simple slice of pizza became a chore. But I am amazed that people really try to communicate in English all over Europe, even though I cannot do the same. And people were just as kind at the concert, listening patiently as I recounted tour stories in English.

I have loved being in Bordeaux.

03 May 2011

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