First Day?

8/29/13. First day ... or is it second day? I'm never sure. A night spent on a plane, when six hours pass as twelve, never feels anything like a night at all.

Gardens planted along the promenade on river's edge

Since yesterday: car to bus, wait; bus to airport, wait wait hurry wait; plane to airport, hurry, wait, hurry, wait; another, shorter, plane to airport, wait; bus to city, tram to centre ville, walk to hotel. With all that travel, most of it not actually feeling like travel, more like a lower form of passing through space and time, carrying my gear: handlebar bag and one pannier over shoulders, full of everything I'll need for 3 weeks of bike travel; pulling my bike behind me in its travel bag, I arrive at my hotel, feeling a bit sore, a bit stiff and more than a bit tired. And so, a day, or is it two, passes.

Awareness of the difficulty of getting here, of the need to pay attention to decisions made, being aware that I am more than able to make stupid decisions when jet lagged, is strong. I remember getting off a train in the wrong place two years ago. I do not want to nap, I want to get into this time zone and so stay awake, ensconced in this little hotel right in the midst of Bordeaux.

Get my phone activated and loaded up.

Bikes everywhere

Put my beautiful bike Papillon back together. Thankfully I see no evidence of damage during the trip. Tomorrow I'll go for a ride to make sure all is in order.

Take a shower, check my email. Rest a bit.

Go out into the street to walk a bit and find dinner. Immediately reality hits me in the face: wow! I am actually in France, in a beautiful old city that I have never before visited, with a very different culture than the States... this is what I miss when I'm home. How exciting! The difficulties of the process .... and the travel anxiety ...  I have just been through quickly evaporate (though not the fatigue.) This is a gorgeous, bustling, city: an old city, with a reputation now as hip, young, chic. Not unlike Toulouse, which is not so far away.

I sit in a cafe, outside on the place, next to a 14th century church, drinking an aperitif. It is my first night here, it is of course, a Suze.

This large "pool" is 2 or3 inches deep, on the river promenade, and well used

I walk along the river, watching the world.

I eat dinner, this was the second course.

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