Trip goes on

Hey everyone,

I am in Bordeaux now, and will be here for about 3 days. I came in this morning. I had to get up at 6:20 AM to catch my train from Paris to here, and that was not an easy task, considering how much cheap beer and wine I drank last night with all of the fun people I met at Friend's Hostel in Paris.

During my last day in Paris I went to the palace of Versailles with two Americans from the hostel (one of them - John - is a Iraq war vet). We were told it was closed due to a strike, but we didn't care. With the EurRail ticket the trip is free and we had nothing else planned. When we got there, it was indeed closed, which I think was really a good thing. They wanted 20€ to get in, just to see more of the same, fancy, gold-encrusted china and other crap that I had already seen enough of in museums. Old rich people were dull. Instead, we went around back of the palace to the HUGE gardens (with built in canals - the King wanted boats and there was no river near by) where there were golf carts to rent. Split through 3 people, this is very cheap. We had a blast driving all over, cutting off other tourists in their own carts, and racing other young guys who had rented carts. It definitely beat a museum.

Bordeaux is pretty nice. Less touristy, so the price is lower. I actually have a private room here, and can afford to go to a restaurant for dinner. I did a little wandering today and happened across a great cathedral. It reminded me of Notre Dame quite a bit. There are a few sites to see so I'll probably do that tomorrow. The day after I will try to find a beach (which is not as close as the map lead me to believe).

After the cathedral today, it started raining so I cane to this internet cafe. It's very cheap at only 1€ per hour, and they have video games! I've been playing Counterstrike (1.6 - weird) for a couple of hours now, which I have really missed!

Anyways, till next time...