Monday 01/11/21

So, wanted to see what the outlying suburbs of Bordeaux look like, so I took the tram all the way out to Pessac. I should say that Monday, today, was a holiday, so many store etc. were closed. Pessac was basically a ghost town, so after a quick exploration, back on the tram and back into town. Went to the St. Michel neighborhood which had a bric a brac market going on, and had a so so lunch at a cafe. The soup came out cold, and, after talking with Etienne, the greeter in Nantes who was also a chef, I’m coming to the conclusion that his comments were spot on. He says that one of the reasons that many French cafes have the same menu is that they are buying things in prepackaged bags which they warm up in pots of boiling water. I’ve since noticed the soup I had at lunch, butternut squash on the same menu of many other places…. Hmm. Weather today alternated between a few sunny spells and pounding down rain. Since Bordeaux is paved with a lot of what appear to be limestone pavers, it can be really slippery. Anyway, after walking around a fair amount, went back Brasserie Bordelaise for dinner and had a reasonable entrecôte for dinner, nothing fabulous but it was decent. After dinner, it really started raining with some vigor. (Internet really slow here, so posting pictures is taking a bit of fiddling)