Traveling with Mom: Arcachon & Bordeaux

After getting settled into my apartment and taking care of some business at the school this past week, Mom and I decided to go out of town during the weekend. On Saturday (9/25), we went to a nearby seaside town called Arcachon. To get there, we took a train from Aiguillon to Bordeaux and then we took a train to Arcachon. Once in Arcachon, we took a bus and walked a little ways to our hotel. The first hotel we went to was booked, which was Ibis Hotel, so we had to walk to a different hotel, which was Holiday Inn Express. After settling into the hotel, we took a taxi into town. The town is quite cute -- Mom and I ate crêpes at one restaurant, went shopping at a store (where I got some shoes), and then walked along the beach. The water was too cold to swim in. We ended the night with some more food -- ice cream and hamburgers. Arcachon is known for its oysters, but Mom and I aren't the biggest fans of those, so we shied away from them. But if you like oysters, now you know where to go!

The next day, Sunday (9/26), Mom and I took a train back to Bordeaux. Once we arrived, we ate some food at a restaurant -- I got some duck and Mom got a sausage dish called Andouillette. My duck was delicious, but mom wasn't the biggest fan of her sausage. It was a little bit too weird for her. After eating, we walked around the historic town square and visited Place de la Bourse, which runs along the Garonne River. We also tried canelés, which are the little cakes that Bordeaux is known for. A canelé is a small French pastry flavored with rum and vanilla with a soft and tender custard center and a dark, thick caramelized crust. In my opinion, they taste like sponge cake. After we finished walking around Bordeaux, we took a train back to Aiguillon that evening.

Downtown Arcachon

The casino where Mom and I gambled the day away! (just kidding)

La plage (the beach)

I found some pretty flowers!

Basilica of St. Michael (Basilique Saint-Michel)

My duck and Mom's Andouillette

Place de la Bourse, Bordeaux's famous town square

Bordeaux Old Town

Canelés de Bordeaux