Bordeaux; Saturday, 19 July, 2014

After a pretty sultry night, despite having the asthmatic air-conditioning on, I got up, had breakfast and headed out into town.

I caught the tram out to the river and had a long wander down the riverside, taking in the impressive Bordeaux riverside buildings, before heading back into the centre of town near the tourist office and wandering through the pedestrianized centre before reaching the square by the Cathedral and Town Hall.

I stopped in a little café overlooking the cathedral for lunch, and was then going to visit the Cathedral, except it was closing for its lunch. So, instead, I wandered up to the Saint Seurin Basilica to have a look round both the church and the impressive archaeological remains in the crypt beneath it.

From Saint-Seurin I walked the kilometre or so out to the only remaining part of the Roman city, a small chunk of the amphitheatre, which is all that survives following a decision made after the revolution to pull the whole of the area down to create new housing.

Having looked round the ruins of the amphitheatre I wandered back into town through the Public and Botanic gardens before picking up the tram round to the Saint Michael Basilica. After looking round the church I was going to climb the neighbouring bell tower for its views over the city, but by now the weather was incredibly close and just walking on the flat was unpleasant enough without the thought of climbing up a tower.

Instead I wandered back over to the cathedral to have a look around, inside it was beautifully cool and so I joined the many other tourists who had discovered this little haven from the oppressive heat and spent quite a bit of time just sat inside the cathedral cooling down.

Some of the humidity had started to ease when I left the cathedral, so I wandered back to the hotel, rather than trying to get onto the packed trams that were going past, to freshen up before heading back out to dinner at a restaurant down by the riverside.

I had a very nice meal, and just as I was finishing was able to see the start of the after-dinner show – another spectacular thunder storm starting to travel up the river. Having paid the bill I hastily made my way back to the hotel, managing to get in just as the first heavy spots of rain were falling. A few minutes later I was able to sit in the dry of my room watching the skies light up and the rains lash down.