I’ve taken a little hiatus in Bordeaux, where we have been since Friday. It was a chance to catch up on the posts that I missed last week and relax a bit.  We have had a low-key weekend here.

Saturday, we were window shoppers. The French love to shop and of course, are very stylish. The problem with downtown decay that so many North American cities experience, doesn’t exist here. On Saturday afternoon, the shopping streets looked like this………

I bought this……….

The cutest pair of tweezers anyone could own and completely pack-able in a pannier.  As wonderful as the shopping is in France, I’m reluctant to be more than a window shopper.  My panniers are already heavy enough without adding to the weight.

I’ve been asked by a few readers about our dining experiences here. Dennis and I love to eat, but I wouldn’t put us in the foodie category. We like to try the local cuisine, as most people do, whenever we travel. Restaurants in Bordeaux are more expensive than we are used to at home, but one would expect that in large cities. (Bordeaux and suburbs have a population of 1.1 million people.)

In more traditional French restaurants, (rather than formal French dining) the meal often centers on a very hearty meat course. Duck, beef and pork seem to be favored.  Potatoes accompany every meal, either French fries, which are prolific or roasted potatoes. As we see at home, vegetables seem to play second fiddle to the meat.

Last night, we had an enjoyable dinner at La Tupina, a forty-year-old Bordeaux restaurant. The meats are cooked over a wood fire, which is the restaurant’s defining feature. Dennis’ salad included pig’s ears. We thought originally that we were misreading the menu. The English translation listed one of the ingredients as “pig’s ear parsley”. In fact, it should have read “pig’s ear, parsley.”  It’s amazing what a difference a comma can make! No, it wasn’t a type of parsley we had never heard of, but instead grilled pigs ears, which were then thinly sliced.  It tasted fine, but it was hard for me to get over eating the tendon. The French fries, fried in duck fat were delicious but I’m starting to worry about my cholesterol. The creme brûlée, accented with lavender ended our meal. Superb.

Tomorrow, we are heading off to the Atlantic Ocean for the day. Very excited at that prospect.