I am going to write a diary of two days, yesterday and today. Since the bed is much nicer than the one that I slept on in Angoulême, my sleep quality has been much better. The tracker shows that my recovery rate was more than 90 % for two days back-to-back, which reminded me of the importance of the environment of the bedroom. I am happy about that. Since I had a lot of energy, my brain could focus on reading, studying, and writing.
I had a food and history tour that I booked beforehand through Airbnb at 10 AM. I have never tried a tour like this before, and I have liked eating pastries in a boulangerie since I came to France. So, I was excited about it. The tour fee includes all the pastries and transportation costs during the tour. The meeting point was at a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Basilique Saint Michel, which was 10 minutes away from this Airbnb apartment on foot. I arrived there right before 10 AM, but I could not find a person who looked like the host. I decided to kill time walking around the building. Since it was morning time and cloudy, there were not a lot of people there. And I went back to the meeting point, and I could find the host. We introduced each other, and we started talking about random stuff, such as where we came from and where we live. I found out that he is from Australia, which made sense because he had a different accent that I have not really heard of. He has lived in Bordeaux for 6 years and started hosting the tour. He speaks English and French. I asked him how many people are on this tour, and it turned out that only two people, including me. Another person is a woman and his friend’s friend. She is also from Australia. About 5-10 minutes later, she showed up. She is tall and has blonde curly hair. She and I introduced each other quickly. She has an accent, but I felt like her accent sounds more like an American accent, although she is from Australia. The tour began.
The tour was basically led by the host explaining about the history of each spot and blangerie. We went to 4 different bakeries to try a little bit of the pastries that he recommends at each site. I don’t remember how many historical spots we stopped by, but it was quite a lot. Along the way, we were talking about ourselves, so I could get to know them more personally. Speaking of the host, he has been to a lot of countries all over the world, except South America. Since he came to Bordeaux, he has loved to eat pastries in France. He realized that this is a unique thing in France, so he decided to start this food and history tour. He told me that this season is not a popular season for the tour, so there are many fewer tour members, but during the Christmas and summer seasons, there are more tour members. He set the limit of the number of members on each tour, which is 12. I guess that I was lucky to be in the small group. Speaking of the Australian woman, she quit her job, TV recording, or organizing (I am not exactly sure), and she decided to come here. She has been in school to study French in different cities, and she is going to a different school in Bordeaux, as well. She speaks French a lot better than me. She hopes that she can find a job in France, but if she can’t, she is not sure what she is going to do. As I talked to them, it seemed that they had known each other for a while before the tour. Because of it, I felt isolated a little bit, but I got used to it. The whole tour started at about 10 AM and finished at about 2 PM, although it was supposed to finish at about 12 PM. I guess that we could spend more time together since the group was small. All the explanations were very detailed and well-explained, and I enjoyed the tour. One negative thing is that we had to walk and talk a lot, so I was kind of tired toward the end of the tour. But it was fun to talk and get to know about Bordeaux’s history, their personal stuff, and Australia. They were so nice person, but I do not think that I will be able to see them again, unless I book his tour again.
After the tour, I came straight back to the house, and I was chilled. After talking to new people a lot, I need some time to be alone. In the evening, I went outside to look for a good dinner spot around here on foot. As I was walking around this area, I noticed a couple of things. The first one is that there are a lot of barber shops, which I figured out during the conversation with the host of this house, is popular around here because it is cheap. Compared to the center of the city, this area is much cheaper. The second thing is that there are many first-foodish and street restaurants. It was difficult to find a decent restaurant. After about 50 minutes exploring by walking, I ended up with being in one of the fast-food Thai restaurants. I ordered Pad Thai, which was my favorite Thai food back in the US. The taste was good for 13 Euros, although it was very oily. After coming back to the house, I tried to stay up until the big Judo competition began, but I ended up falling asleep just passed 12 AM.
I woke up with a good sleep. I talked with the host for about 30 minutes about random stuff. I found out that he is 62 years old. As I wrote yesterday, I thought that he was in his 50s. He used to be more than 100kg (more than 200lb), which surprised me a lot. He also used to smoke, but he stopped smoking a few years ago. He told me that he regrets that he did not take good care of his fitness at his young age. He said that if he could reset his life, he would have chosen fitness jobs. He was working as a nurse for more than 30 years, and he has retired now. He started renting his house through Airbnb 2 years ago, and I am the fourth Japanese person who has rented this house since then. Surprisingly, he told me that I am the most talkative Japanese person among 4. He said that the Japanese people were shy, but I think that it might be because of the language barrier. I have no idea, though.
Another interesting thing is that the relationship between the Asian guy and the host sounds like the relationship between son and dad, even if they have known each other for only one year in total. I noticed that the Asian guy spends time playing games on his phone and playing music all day long inside the house. The host told me that he was not like that before, but all he focuses on is playing games on his phone, and he does not talk much to him. The Asian guy responded by saying that the game he has been playing is an important and valuable thing for him. The host just ignored the response. I did not know how to react to it. But I agree that the Asian guy stays on the couch throughout the day, so I am kind of worried about him. I believe that he hasn’t taken a step outside for the last two days. It is none of my business, but it is interesting to see a person who prefers staying inside much more than me.
Anyway, I watched all the competition matches of Judo and World Series baseball games on YouTube, which I tried to watch live. I don’t usually watch baseball, but it was exciting to watch. In the afternoon, I went to Café Japonais, a Japanese restaurant, in the center of Bordeaux, and one of the bakeries that I visited during the tour. Both were pretty good.
And I am writing this now. I am leaving this city tomorrow morning. It was a very quick trip, but I am happy to talk with some of the different people, the Asian young guy, the French host, and the Australian tour host and member. I don’t think that Bordeaux is my favorite city, unfortunately, but it might have been a different feeling if I had stayed for longer. I am excited to visit and stay for two weeks in Toulouse tomorrow. I hope that I will be able to meet wonderful people. I am leaving the Bordeaux station at about 10 AM. Goodbye to Bordeaux. See you tomorrow in Toulouse.
