Monday, September 18, 2006
Back in Australia
As my last entry said, i was quite happy to play tourist for a few days before heading back to Australia (i still don't believe that 6 weeks have gone but that's what my calendar says), first of all i have updated my comments for days 6 to 10 the feelings (and pain) are still very fresh in my mind.
However i think the body is still in a time zone of it's own, got home from Tullamarine at 8AM on Saturday 16th felt good though i had not slept at all during the flight as my sore knees meant i couldn't bend enough to get into a sleeping position, felt strange getting into my car (i hadn't driven for that long either), but had to get food in, off to bed at 10PM however i then woke at 3 and though "that's strange it's sort of light" 15 minutes later i got up and realised it was actually 3:15 PM, the whole day had gone - must have needed that sleep. Meant i didn't even get to do all the gardening i wanted to do, strangely that 15 Hour sleep now means i'm up at 2AM typing this blog as i'm now no longer tired (well it is a bit early to head off to work although i think it will be a slow run in !).
Monday was St Emilion one of the really big wine growing areas of Bordeaux, so of course we went to a couple of the local wineries, including one with age old "catacombs' where the wine is stored at a constant temperature, will admit to having enjoyed my tastings.
Lunch at a local restaurant, duck was the main course probably my best meal so far (did the animal rights thing and didn't have foie gras as entree however my entree was still delicious just wish i took notes as to what it was !!).
Then a 2 hour guided tour of the actual town, have to admit i find it hard to relate to the age of the place as essentially it was named after Emilion a Benedictine monk (who was a miracle worker - i think the story was he turned food into wood as he was not supposed to have food under his coat - for the poor - when he was stopped) who lived in a cave around the year 750 !!, we actually went into this cave (funny enough the statue of this saint in the cave is actually St Francis of Assisi - talk about false advertising) as well as other incredibly old places, it may sound like dry history but it was actually fascinating and on a warm day (30 odd degrees) his cave was the place to be as was the underground church.
Back to the hotel, and for our last night in Bordeaux another local restaurant (at least it was 2 K's from the hotel so it was a chance for some exercise), probably the most genuine real local restaurant i've been on this trip (La Tupina), family pictures on wall (who knows how old some were) and a 300 year old local version of a rotisserie !!! (i do have a picture but i'm still sorting out downloading all that so that may be put in later). Only downside was the menu would you believe duck (and frites) again !!, however any qualms i may have had about the menu were gone when i tasted it, even better than lunch (but let's face it that was the second time during the week in Bordeaux i'd had two 3 course meals in one day due to the fact they were part of the tour - talk about too much of a good thing), however i did have the foie gras for entree this time (simply as there was no choice of entree and the toasted bread given to us was too tempting !, however i still can't fathom the incredibly sweet wine given with foie gras possibly i just don't have the right taste buds ??). Anyway a great way to finish the Bordeaux trip and also to say good bye to others from our tour (they were leaving at 8AM whilst i didn't have a train till 2:30PM so i was unlikely to see them at breakfast), ceratinly a late night but an ideal finish to the day as it was beautifully balmy and all the monuments on the walk back were lit up brilliantly.
Tuesday was back to Paris, with a 2:30 TGV from Bordeaux had plenty of time to kill so was happy to see on the net that Paris was warm and 26, so much better than last time i hoped.
Certainly the fast train is, as it's name suggests fast, 2.5 hours for the 370K trip to Paris, and then a short trip on the Metro to my hotel (funny thing is i now knew the Metro and it's stations as well as the Met back home and had probably used it more often) in Wagram, finally a room with a double bed absolutely every other place i'd stayed at had two singles which frankly i didn't quite fit !!, basically a couple of miles straight down the road from the Arc De Triomphe, thought i should at least go for a wander down there and get some night time photos (it's a worry every time i see a McDonalds i go in and get a 0.95 Euro milk shake it appears to be the only place in France with milk shakes so of course i had to pop into the Champs Elysses Maccas on the way through), looked quite incredible as well as the Eiffel tower in the distance with sparkling lights.
Of course Wednesday was to be my big tourist day, as i had to finally get to the Eiffel tower as well as Notre Dame Cathedral and a few other places on the Seine, so i was just hoping for fine weather.
That i will continue in the next blog
However i think the body is still in a time zone of it's own, got home from Tullamarine at 8AM on Saturday 16th felt good though i had not slept at all during the flight as my sore knees meant i couldn't bend enough to get into a sleeping position, felt strange getting into my car (i hadn't driven for that long either), but had to get food in, off to bed at 10PM however i then woke at 3 and though "that's strange it's sort of light" 15 minutes later i got up and realised it was actually 3:15 PM, the whole day had gone - must have needed that sleep. Meant i didn't even get to do all the gardening i wanted to do, strangely that 15 Hour sleep now means i'm up at 2AM typing this blog as i'm now no longer tired (well it is a bit early to head off to work although i think it will be a slow run in !).
Monday was St Emilion one of the really big wine growing areas of Bordeaux, so of course we went to a couple of the local wineries, including one with age old "catacombs' where the wine is stored at a constant temperature, will admit to having enjoyed my tastings.
Lunch at a local restaurant, duck was the main course probably my best meal so far (did the animal rights thing and didn't have foie gras as entree however my entree was still delicious just wish i took notes as to what it was !!).
Then a 2 hour guided tour of the actual town, have to admit i find it hard to relate to the age of the place as essentially it was named after Emilion a Benedictine monk (who was a miracle worker - i think the story was he turned food into wood as he was not supposed to have food under his coat - for the poor - when he was stopped) who lived in a cave around the year 750 !!, we actually went into this cave (funny enough the statue of this saint in the cave is actually St Francis of Assisi - talk about false advertising) as well as other incredibly old places, it may sound like dry history but it was actually fascinating and on a warm day (30 odd degrees) his cave was the place to be as was the underground church.
Back to the hotel, and for our last night in Bordeaux another local restaurant (at least it was 2 K's from the hotel so it was a chance for some exercise), probably the most genuine real local restaurant i've been on this trip (La Tupina), family pictures on wall (who knows how old some were) and a 300 year old local version of a rotisserie !!! (i do have a picture but i'm still sorting out downloading all that so that may be put in later). Only downside was the menu would you believe duck (and frites) again !!, however any qualms i may have had about the menu were gone when i tasted it, even better than lunch (but let's face it that was the second time during the week in Bordeaux i'd had two 3 course meals in one day due to the fact they were part of the tour - talk about too much of a good thing), however i did have the foie gras for entree this time (simply as there was no choice of entree and the toasted bread given to us was too tempting !, however i still can't fathom the incredibly sweet wine given with foie gras possibly i just don't have the right taste buds ??). Anyway a great way to finish the Bordeaux trip and also to say good bye to others from our tour (they were leaving at 8AM whilst i didn't have a train till 2:30PM so i was unlikely to see them at breakfast), ceratinly a late night but an ideal finish to the day as it was beautifully balmy and all the monuments on the walk back were lit up brilliantly.
Tuesday was back to Paris, with a 2:30 TGV from Bordeaux had plenty of time to kill so was happy to see on the net that Paris was warm and 26, so much better than last time i hoped.
Certainly the fast train is, as it's name suggests fast, 2.5 hours for the 370K trip to Paris, and then a short trip on the Metro to my hotel (funny thing is i now knew the Metro and it's stations as well as the Met back home and had probably used it more often) in Wagram, finally a room with a double bed absolutely every other place i'd stayed at had two singles which frankly i didn't quite fit !!, basically a couple of miles straight down the road from the Arc De Triomphe, thought i should at least go for a wander down there and get some night time photos (it's a worry every time i see a McDonalds i go in and get a 0.95 Euro milk shake it appears to be the only place in France with milk shakes so of course i had to pop into the Champs Elysses Maccas on the way through), looked quite incredible as well as the Eiffel tower in the distance with sparkling lights.
Of course Wednesday was to be my big tourist day, as i had to finally get to the Eiffel tower as well as Notre Dame Cathedral and a few other places on the Seine, so i was just hoping for fine weather.
That i will continue in the next blog
# posted by Aussie Ultra Runner @ 1:34 AM 
