Today was a good travel day as those things go. Pam picked me up in her rental car and we drove a little over an hour to Tours-Nord to return the car. Then a brief walk to take the tram to the Tour Center Gare. Had enough time for a coffee and then on to the TGV from Paris. Just over an hour to Montparnasse and then on the 96 bus to Odeon for a crepe at Breizh before heading to Ile St. Louis to find my AirBnb. Fourth floor tiny one bedroom, but has an elevator and great location. Got settled, went to the supermarket and ran into Atsu on the street. Then it was off to a meet up for Frenchie types from my facebook groups, and the headed to rue de Montorgueil for a bite of dinner. Got lucky and got into Frenchie Bar A Vins, and few appetizers did the job. A stop at Les Philosophes on the way home completed the evening.

A very rainy day today! Off to Chinon which has the remains of a big fortress on the top of a hill. Explored this between rain showers and then eventually found a good place in the town for lunch. Then it was back to Saumur to pack for tomorrow’s trip to Paris. Dinner at Domaine Beaumont with Pam and Gerald and Sarah-Jane, was fun and casual.

Met up with Pam for coffee and the took her rental car to visit my brother’s friends at their Chateau. They bought this place during the pandemic with the idea of using it for a semester abroad program for young college students. It has been quite the project as the place is enormous and was largely in a state of decay when they got it. They’ve put untold hours and effort into fixing it up and have enough of it functional to house 25+ students, but they have a whole floor of 13 rooms they haven’t started on yet! Beautiful place and it was fun to meet them, but wow, what a project! They have not moved more or less permanently there from Portland, OR. After our Chateau visit we went to a nearby locals restaurant, La Brocard, that they recommended and were not disappointed. If anything a little too much food! Then back to Saumur, where Pam went back to the winery and I did the Combier distillery tour. Combier History. Quite interesting with copper stills from the 1850s still in use. Here is a link to the Chateau Grifferae YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@chateaudelagrifferaie953?feature=shared

Started today with coffee at a place that deemed to be be open at 9:30am! From there a walk up the chateau in the center of Saumur, very nice, but closed inside on Mondays. After a walk around town, a light lunch on the main plaza and then some down time. Then the real fun. Pam is staying with friends who run Domaine Beaumont. So, we got the royal tour of the vineyards followed by the caves and then then an extensive 9 wine tasting and then dinner! Quite the wonderful affair! Gerald is quite a renown wine maker and after tasting his wines I can see why! Together with his Wife Sarah-Jane, they run some Chambre D’Hote as well as the winery. Huge project. We had a fab dinner and then, I got a taxi. Back into town to my AirBnb. Takeaways: Climate change is having a big effect on the Loire valley wine producers, and the AOPs, the local regulatory groups, are not adapting to the new reality. Gerald is planning to plant fruit trees in between the vines to provide more shade. If you are interested in staying in the Loire, they have Chambre d’hotes that are brand new and beautiful! https://www.domaine-beaumont.com/en/

Had time to pack, clean the AirBnb and then take the tram to the Bordeaux train station. Then onto a OUIGO train, kind of like the budget TGV carrier of France, but honestly not much different than a regular train. That got us to St. Pierre des Corps, just outside of Tours, then a local train for 30 minutes to Saumur. Of course it being Sunday, not taxis either at the station or on call. So dragged the roll aboard quite ways to my AirBnb. Nice little compact apartment on the second floor, 3rd floor American, with view of the Loire. Did a quick recon and then met Pam for an Apero, followed by a most excellent dinner she had booked at a local spot. She has been coming here for years and has the place pretty wired, stay tuned for more. Still feeling a little punky but much better than a few days ago, suspecting mold from AC at hotel in Bilbao.

Woke up to a lovely sunny day today. Headed out to the Bassins de Lumieres. This is a WWII Submarine base that was converted into an art space. Built by the Germans to service Italian submarines it somehow survived the war. The submarine pens are still there and full of water so you can see interesting reflections in the water. The current show was Vermeer to Van Gogh. Really nice and the scale of the place is really huge. After the show it was off to the Halles de Bacalan, a huge food court near the the wine museum. From there a coffee at Eriu and then some down time.

It was really chilly this morning, around 44degrees F. Luckily it warmed up fairly well. I took a bus out to Chateau Taillan in Medoc, took about an hour to get there. An excellent tour followed with just 3 people and a lovely guide. The harvest was actually being sorted as we watched. A small tasting followed with a rose, a white, unusual for Medoc, and two reds. Nice wines, but the economics don’t make sense for sending them home. Took a good long nap in the afternoon and then back for more oyster happy hour!

Took the tram over to the Bilbao bus station, which has to be the absolute nicest bus station ever. Clean, places to eat, places to sit and well organized. Bus left exactly on time and arrived in Bayonne about 20 minutes early. Had time to use Bounce to store luggage near the station and then have a good lunch at a bistro that I have been to before in Bayonne. Then back, pick up luggage and just under 2 hour train ride to Bordeaux. Amazing when it all goes smoothly!! Immediately bought a 3 day transit pass and took the tram to my AirBnB. Very large, creaky wood floored apartment, in a convenient location. Only downside is that it is up 5 flights of stairs! Got a load of wash done. European washing machines are always a battle and although this one had a 20 minute program it was reluctant to release the door at the end. Eventually I turned it on and off and it let go. Not sure why every washer I have dealt with in Europe does not want to let you open the door. The internet in the apartment is about the same speed as mine in Seattle, 500mbps, which is wonderful after weeks of patchy wifi. Did some google research and off to find some oysters in the Chartrons neighborhood. The place I found had an oyster happy hour so, 1 euro per oyster! Then stopped in to my favorite wine bar, used to be Le Bistrot des Frerots now called La Bande de RoRo. They are so friendly and lots of regulars and good charcuterie and cheese, so that was dinner.

A rainy day today, which made me glad I wasn’t walking on the camino. My right knee has been unhappy for the last week or so, so I decided to have a light day today. Took the tram to the Guggenheim, and did a walk around in the rain. On a previous visit I was disappointed with the collection so didn’t enter. I did go to the Fine arts museum, which ended up having free entry. Even though I was not trying to walk much I still logged 14,000+ steps. Did a tour of the iconic Tapas bars for lunch then back to hotel for some down time.

Sure felt longer than 10Km! Last night was in a funky guest house, but perfectly fine. The only restaurant anywhere near that was open was in the next town, so I took the Euskotren one stop over. Of course the kitchen didn’t open till 8:00pm even though the chef and the staff were all around. No matter, ended up with a very good Salad with Jamon, duck and goat cheese, then caught an Uber back with a couple from Canada that were staying in the same place. The walk today looked to be short, but the vertical profile showed an intense climb followed by an intense descent. Both proved to be true. Still managed to get into Bilbao by noon ish, after many stairs and elevators down into the old town area. Little bit of culture shock after being in the countryside to get back where things are moving quickly and there are lots of people. Headed nearby to the local market building which has a tapas food court area. Definitely sore from all the walking, but that was the last day for this trip of Camino walking. I have tomorrow in Bilbao, then bus and train combo to Bordeaux on Thursday.