Day #11 Viking Western Mediterranean Cruise - Bordeaux Day #2

Well due to the fear of contagion, departure for La Havre was cancelled last evening and the ship stayed in port and is possibly going to leave at 7 pm this evening. They say we’ll see Paris but it will certainly be a shortened visit.

We got off the ship at about 9 am after eating breakfast and decided to purchase all-day tickets for the trams to explore the outer reaches of Bordeaux. There are three tram lines that are color coded (pink, violet and red) and the routes are clearly marked at the tram stops. Purchasing a ticket can be done at the metro stops in the grey machine next to the tracks or in the metro offices that are scattered around the areas.

We tried to purchase at the kiosks using our credit cards but were not successful as the machine kept kicking out our credit card. Other passengers were successful however, so perhaps it was just our particular kiosk that was faulty. In any event, if you wish to try your luck, use the selection wheel to get a trip du jour and push the center button of the selection wheel. You will be charged 4.3 euros for an all day ticket. You can also use the selection wheel to add additional tickets before inserting your credit card. No PIN number is required if you have a card with a chip. It will then ask you to insert the card and if you are fortunate, it will charge your card and kick out the tickets in the tray below. There is a language selection button to the left of the selection wheel from which you can choose English or Spanish. It seemed to work intermittently for us, but we could not complete the transaction. Perhaps there were no tickets in the machine to be dispensed.

We purchased our all-day tickets at the tram office located in the Place des Quinconces where our credit cards worked just fine. We then rode the red (B-line) to both ends to see different areas of Bordeaux. We did the same with the pink (C-line). This gives you a pretty good picture of where people work and live. 

Pizza Delivery

Another Cathedral - Old Bordeaux

One of the four gates to the old city of Bordeaux

Unique sculpture made from old movie projector parts.

We finished our exploration at about 4:45 pm and decided we were away from food and drink for too long. Therefore, we went to afternoon tea/coffee with a variety of canapés.

Following dinner, we went to the ship’s operatic show that was pretty good except for the fact that the computer generated backdrop was out of sync with the song selections. The Cruise Director said they would present the show later when the glitches were worked out.

We decided to go to the Torshavn night club following the show,  to dance to the music of a very professional band composed of keys, bass, guitar, drums and two singers. Calling it a night, we are on our way to Lahavre, France. Tomorrow will be a sea day.