May 28, 2011 Saturday
Got up a little later than vacation normal given that we didn't get back to the hotel until after midnight the night before. After a light breakfast and Lynne's essential cup of tea, we went first to the Librairie Mollat, which is a huge bookstore in the center of town. Lynne remembers it fondly from her student days and is really glad to see it still prospering. We got some regional cookbooks and basked in the weather which has been getting nicer and nicer. It was 72 or so with bright blue skies. Then we went over to the Grand Théatre and bought tickets for the tour. Lynne saw "Porgy and Bess" there years ago, by the Harlem Opera Company, but never did hear about the history of the building and it's architecture. The building is very nice and has an interesting history. It took 7 years to build, and they brought in an architect (late 1700s) from Paris, who didn't know the locals or their tastes. He brought in a whole team of artists from Paris, and this also was not very popular with the Bordelaise because they wanted their own local architect and artists on the job. But when the job was done apparently they loved it and after 100 years (yeah, it took a while) they put up a statue to him in the lobby of the building. Only downside here was the tour was in French so Chet was doing a lot thumb-twiddling as there wasn't enough time for Lynne to translate in real time.

Next we went to the Centre Jean Moulin, which is a museum to the French Resistance and all they did and went through in WWII. Very interesting and really brought a reinforcement of what people did and how they sacrificed for the world then.

Then, on a lighter note, we walked down to the waterfront and took our shoes off to join the rest of the Bordelais young and old, as we walked through the Miroir d'Eau (water mirror) which was very fun and pleasant and no more than about 3 inches deep. Very refreshing on those feet, which have taken a workout through the past couple weeks.

Dinner in the Quartier St Pierre, which is in the older part of the city. And then back to the hotel by about 10 for a relatively early evening.