The morning after in Paris. Yesterday was a day of a lot of destruction around France and also in Paris. Lots of pops, bangs, smoke, sirens etc. For the most part, my neighborhood in the 4th near St. Paul did not suffer any damage. Many of the protests walked off in small groups in different places and did not result in violence. There were a lot of hooligans that did damage late into the night. I went to Pl. de la Republique this morning to see what it looked like and other than lots of garbage, a burned car and kiosk and one store with broken windows, it was not bad. Bastille, usually a center of protest, had the usual massive Sunday market with no damage in evidence. I do know there are places in Paris that did suffer damage and the pictures out of Bordeaux lead me to believe that the main shopping street, where I was last week, got totally trashed. Ugh….After the Bastille market, I walked over to the Marche d’Aligre and had some oysters at the Baron Rouge. Then home briefly before heading to St.Sulpice for a concert featuring 4 brass players with the organ. Some great noises! After that out with the gang to Avant Comptoir for an apero. Clean up around the city seems to be in progress and we will see what tomorrow brings!

Today was interesting day, with massive protests all over the city. I decided not to stray too far. Headed over to the Rue Mouffetard Saturday market, had lunch at a butcher shop, and then walked back from the 5th, Ended up walking through a couple of minor protests, just groups of students walking, nothing violent. House concert at CC house with excellent piano and a really nice group of about 20 people. Metro stop, Les Halles closed on the way home, so off at Cite and walk from there. Lots of residual tear gas in the air and many cops around but nothing really happening at that point. Did need to wash off on returning home.

After a quick coffee at Peleton, headed out to the Porte de Versailles exhibition center where the Paris Auto show is going on. Massive affair, and lots of brands that you have never heard of, mostly Chinese. At this point, most cars are either a sedan, SUV, Truck, Van or supercar. Absent color and brand you really can’t tell them apart. The coolest thing I saw was a 2 passenger drone type thing that folds up and fits in a custom designed truck. Lunch at Tasca, an all GF restaurant that does an excellent pizza. After that it was an Apero at Le Lutetia on Ile St Louis with Sharyn, June, Lily and their friend Rachel. As we were finishing, a rain storm came through so we stalled and had a mixed plate while waiting for the rain to let up. All are a little concerned as multiple protests are planned for tomorrow and the routes etc have not been agreed upon.

Headed out for coffee, and then tram to Bordeaux St Jean station. Flawless 2:15 TGV ride non stop to Paris. Caught the bus over to the apartment and then did laundry and spent some time getting things set up. Went to the storage space to retrieve my bag, grocery store and of course the fromagerie for some aged Comte. After that, headed over to L’Avant Comptoir du Terre for a bite of dinner. Met a lovely French couple who were fun. Bus back to the apartment and time to call it an early night.

Started today with a sandwich from Copain, a chain that does all GF food. Then headed to the station for train to Cerons for a tasting and tour at Chateau Cerons. Small place and I was the only guest so that was nice and some interesting wines. They make a sweet white, like a Sauternes but a little less sweet and quite tasty. Train back to Bordeaux and then a quick burger for lunch. I had called a Cordonnerie to see if I could get the wheel fixed on my suitcase and the guy said he could do it. So, unpacked everything and took the bus a half hour to his store, and sure enough it took him about 30 minutes to replace both the wheels on my bag. So that was well worth it as wrestling a bag with bad wheels through multiple streets and stations doesn’t work too well. Off to Chartrons, the neighborhood where all the wines were stored for some oyster at Cabane 101, then back to Madame Pang to try some more dishes, tonight was a beef thing and some dim sum type things that were tasty. Back to Paris tomorrow morning.

Was a long day today, started early with breakfast at my SB place and then a bus to the Euskotren to Hendaye. I was early enough that I took a local bus into Hendaye and had a coffee before my train. Train was on time and I ended up meeting a lovely young family and the father suggested what turned out to be a very good choice of restaurant in Bordeaux. Madame Pang. Asian fusion type food but many GF options labeled as such on the menu. Off and on rainy here. Managed to stop by the CIVB, the school of wine and tasting a few things. On arrival there were protests happening, so the tram stopped well short of the the hotel and I ended up dragging my bag for quite a way. One of the wheels is totally blown so that will be a project to get replaced. My favorite locals wine bar remembered me and had an enjoyable glass with locals hanging out.

Got a late start today, but went to my favorite Simona coffee club breakfast place. Then bus down to the other end of the bay with hopes of taking the Funicular up to the old amusement park. Wait was too long, given that I have done it before. So explored Antiguo for a few minutes before busing back and hunting down to Pinxtos for lunch. Headed to an English meet up, which was a discussion of perfectionism, but a few religious types were a little heavy on that. Anyway a couple more snack and then home to get organized for bus, train and TGV ride to Bordeaux tomorrow.

After all the traveling, I decided to just hang out in San Sebastián today. Found a new breakfast place that had a GF avocado toast, but not as good as my usual stop. Walked around a lot and went around the point before heading to lunch in Gros. Was trying to find one of those Basque steaks, but ended up with something that was somewhat disappointing. Oh well…. Did some laundry and then went out for a few pinxtos before heading back to the apartment. Great weather today, and crowds were moderate. I ducked out for a quick bite around 9:30pm and am amazed at how many people are out and about and socializing on a Sunday night. Spanish definitely work on a late schedule, for example the lunch place would not serve until 1:00pm. Thankfully tapas seem to be available almost any time, although there are places that don’t open until 7:00pm.

After a quick breakfast with Portland friends I took a bus to Tolosa, about 18 miles away and famous for Casa Julian, considered one of the best steak places in the world. Unfortunately fully booked 3 months in advance, so not luck there, but I still wanted to check out the town. It used to be the capitol of the Basque country many years ago. The bus ride was exciting to say the least. A big bendy city bus driven on a winding highway at remarkable speed. After exploring the town, and trip through a rather interesting puppet museum, seeing the rather disappointing Saturday markets, I had a burger and grabbed a bus back. A good nap ensued and then out to explore a bit with dinner at the Verumteria with the Portland gang. Lots and lots of people out and about. Funny how in the USA people aren’t generally out walking around and socializing but in Europe everyone is out around 5:30 or so. Lovely weather today.

Early start today with a bus over to Montparnasse for train to Hendaye. Nice smooth ride with interesting people, an art dealer and his Latvian wife were next to me and then a couple from Portland, Oregon who were also headed to San Sebastián. I guided them to the Euskotren and to their hotel via local bus. After finding my airBNB, which is fabulous, did a load of laundry, certain amount of wrestling with the machine to get it to run, the door was a little flaky. Then off to for tapas and met up with the Oregon couple and two of their friends for a fun evening of tapas and Pinxtos followed by cheesecake. All in all an excellent first evening in San Sebastián. Gorgeous warm weather and then a light jacket for the evening.