Saturday morning, bright and early, we were up, packed and saying au revoir to our beloved Paris.  We had an early train from Paris to Bordeaux to meet our cruise ship for the remaining portion of our trip.

Train travel in Europe is amazingly easy, efficient and comfortable.  We were taking the new high speed line to Bordeaux, traveling the distance in just under 2 hours.  These high speed trains are going between 200-300 km/hour and you hardly feel the movement at all.

Arriving in Bordeaux we found the taxi stand (after rolling, or rather JOLTING our luggage over the cobblestones) and hailed the first available to take us to our ship.  A smaller city without tremendous traffic problems, we arrived on the dock in only 10-15 minutes.

Let me tell you about Viking River Tours.  You'll see a lot of accolades for them in commercials and on line. Every . single . word . is .  true.  From the moment we stepped out of the cab we have felt like royalty.  Every staff member, including the ship director, captain, right through to the housekeeping and boat crew, exist to make everything about the experience top notch.

We have a stateroom (left) with a small balcony, and the room is much more comfortable and spacious than I thought - lots of room for storage and what not. 

Below was the view of Bordeaux Quai from our stateroom.

We got settled in than walked around the ship to familiarize ourselves with the layout and amenities. Our friends were here, but were napping to get over their jet lag.  Dale and I joined a short, half-hour orientation walk into the town of Bordeaux and upon our return, retired to the upper deck with a lovely glass of wine before the evening's orientation lecture and dinner

Top Sun Deck:

The evening started off with a welcome from the Ship Director, Bea, and introductions to the team that would be coordinating our various on and off-board activities for the week.  The Program Director, Dan, gave an overview of the history of Bordeaux, and the evolution of the wine making trade in the area.  He's adorable - very French and very funny!  Each night in the lounge, Dan gives an overview of the next day's program and plans.  They also provide a handout that outlines the day so everyone knows what's going on at what time. For someone like myself that is completely compulsive about timing and schedules, this is the next best thing to vacation heaven.

The Executive Chef is Daniel (with a last name that is Greek and impossibly to spell correctly from memory) and every night he will provide a preview of the dinner menu.  They have a very nice selection of options, and each evening, the "chef's recommendation" which will be a 3-course meal of regional specialities.  If Daniel wasn't a chef, he would be a stand up comic. Absolutely marvelous sense of timing and a dry-British sense of humor!

This evening, the entire group that traveled from Pittsburgh was able to share a table, and our waiter enthusiastically took our photo for us.

First night, dinner on board. Notice the multiple bottles of wine at the end of the table.  I'm going to be hungover for a week!!

There was a formal, guided tour of Bordeaux by Night offered, but I only wanted to do one thing - which involved night photography again! I wanted to get a shot of the Bourse and Water Mirror - a very famous landmark here in Bordeaux (Dale was tired and decided to pack it in for the night so I was going solo on this).  I asked the Program Manager how to get to the Bourse, and he offered to actually take me down there!  We took the tram and walked down to the Bourse area. 

This is a popular spot for obvious reasons, and the place was very crowded.  I did get a great spot, set up my tripod and began shooting away!  I managed to get what I came for as well (see below). After finishing up, I walked back to the boat, keeping my fingers crossed that I'd find the right one (easier than I thought).  Yes, it is perfectly safe for a woman to walk alone, at night, in Bordeaux.  There were people of all ages out along the riverside. Besides, I was carrying my tripod like a walking stick.  Never mess with an old broad carrying a tripod!!  :-)

Hopefully will update again tomorrow!