Travel to Bordeaux and Our Cruise

This is going to be a short post. I completely spaced out and didn't take any pictures of lunch and dinner. Most of the cruise guests were staying at the Marriot but eight of us overflowed to the Westin. The advantage to this was that we didn't have to put out our luggage until 7 am unlike the Marriott guest who had to have their luggage out last night. 

We were up just before 6 to get ready and pack up. Breakfast was a standard buffet for a high end hotel. 

I was excited to have a donut but it wasn't very good. The mushrooms were really good and I made a mini bacon and mushroom crepe. 

We were to be picked up at 8:30. We get a call from the concierge around 8:25 that the driver was there. We end up at the Marriott by 8:30. Not sure why we had to get there so early since our bus didn't leave for the train station until 9:30. We arrive at the train station about 45 minutes before the train leaves. I was going to buy some lunch from Paul's but the selection was very plain. We find an Italian place. I get a coppa and Parmesan baguette. I'm sure you can picture that. Aparna gets a salad with Gorgonzola and mushrooms plus a white wine. 

We are in first class but if you've taken a train in France that doesn't mean a whole lot. I think the trains in Germany had more room. Maybe it would have been better if we weren't faced towards another couple. 

The guy across from me was over 6 feet so I let him put his feet in the aisle. 

We watched Ex Machina and eat our lunch on the way. 

We arrived to rain. I get an umbrella escort from our cruise director since I don't have an umbrella. 

Our welcome drink. Sparkling fruit juice?!?

That's more like it. 

We head up to our room. It's supposed to be an upgrade. 

The bathroom is bigger or at least better laid out than the room in Paris. The room is larger if you include the balcony. 

We unpack. Aparna's first causality. She can't find her white cardigan. It's sad since she hasn't even worn it. 10 days of not living out of our luggage. Our butler stops by and briefs us. I get in a short nap while Aparna gets ready for dinner. 

Dinner tonight is a buffet. It's the only dinner buffet of the trip. They have several stations. I start with the Cesear salad station. They are also cooking huge shrimp for the salads. What a great picture. Next up is a carving station with a huge jambon. It also has melon slices, lox and hash brown cakes. 

For dinner there is roast beef and grilled halibut. Of all the pictures I take 

I guess you know my priority. 

We share a table with a couple in their 70s and some Scenic employees. So far the employees are the only ones younger than us. 

Orientation is after dinner. Basic stuff and we hang out. We find out our itinerary is going to be shuffled as dictated by the tides and currents. I get Burt Wolf to sign my book and talk to him for about 10 minutes. I find a passenger who is younger than us. He's the son of a travel agent. Apparently there is a group of travel agents on the cruise as well that's not part of our tour. We end up staying up past 12:30. Time to crash. 

Food cost for the day is $20. 

Steps are low at 5k and less than 2 miles.