April 13, 2025

We are here after our flights – Newark to Zurich and Zurich to Bordeaux. All went well with the travel and we checked into our hotel – Le Boutique Hotel and Spa. It is a wonderful place. For anyone coming here, I would highly recommend it. It seems to be a renovated building which has kept its charm. Each room is named with wooden wine plaques. We are in room 10.

We were welcomed into our room with traditional pastries and a personal note.

Here are some pictures of the hotel and our room. The glass reflection is the huge shower with 2 overhead shower heads and one on the side. Easily a family shower!

After settling in, we went for a long walk around town. This is our 4th visit to Bordeaux so you would have thought we would have a better sense of direction. We passed our street and walked a good bit out of the way on our way back to the hotel. But it was good to stretch after the flights.

We walked along the river and saw the boat we will board tomorrow. It is the Bon Voyage, not the Joie de Vivre – that one is for our second leg which will start in Paris next week.

We went to the restaurant for tapas and wine, then turned in to bed early to begin our river cruise tomorrow.