Greetings from Bordeaux, France! I haven't felt ready to check in for myself because I've been waiting to get more of an impression of the place.

Bordeaux city center has beautiful and old architecture and certainly fits the bill as romantic in its base appearance. Also, the many shops are filled with especially beautiful things (clothing, knicknacks, etc.) with likely the most tempting pastry and bread shops in the world. Restaurants are everywhere in the city and of course the wines are excellent. However, traffic here seems like hell with jams, detours, and some aggressive drivers. Some historic areas have crowds of people with bicyclists and motor scooters in near collisions with pedestrians. Even in the suburbs.

It's way too hot outside here for my taste, with most businesses and houses not having airconditioning, unlike in the US. Czech businesses often don't either, but CZ is cooler, on the whole. The suburbs we've seen are kinda ugly. The countryside further afield we've seen has been attractive, but without any other major strongpoints to lure us...yet. Today we'll see more further afield places outside Bordeaux, but in another area.

I'll look forward to heading more north. In Bretagne, it should be cooler, with perhaps some rain. Rain is very common up there. That might bother Hubby more than me. The traffic should also be a bit less extreme. I want to also have more access to nature. Without bird sounds, I would not be happy.

After Hubby doing most all of the talking in Czech Republic for over a year, I find myself speaking more French here than him, even though our French is comparable. Traveling with him is always an exercise in tolerance, as he has some strange ways that can drive me nuts and being too close to them exacerbates the situation. However, he does all of the driving, so I must keep my mouth shut, for the most part.