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Made it to France

crhutch

Active Member
Time of past OR future Camino
(2010) March/April SJPP to Santiago and hence to Finisterre
(2016) Hospitalero Grañón 15-31 March
(2016) April Logroño to Santiago
(2017) Hospitalero Zamora 15-31 March
(2017) Hospilatero Emaus, Burgos 1-14 April
We got to France today. Our plane was an hour late so by time we went through immigration, got our bags, went thru customs and took the tram to terminal 2 we only had half an hour to get ou train tickets to Bordeaux. Of course our credit cards did not work in the kiosk so we had to go to ticket window and wouldn't you know their was a line with at least 20 people and only one teller. Long story short we made it. Now we are in Bordeaux, staying at an Etap hotel right by the train station. Very small rooms, but fairly clean. All for 128 Euros for two nights with breakfast. We are going to go broke quick at these prices! Tommorrow we signed up for a wine tour! Now for some dinner and sleep. Bien Camino!
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
crhutch said:
Tommorrow we signed up for a wine tour!

Sweet! Can't wait to hear how it went. :D Plus, if you don't have a credencial, you should be able to get one (along with a stamp) at the tourist office in the train station... :arrow:

Cheers,

VT
 
VT - what was the name of the hiking shop you went to here in Bordeaux?
Our first meal here was terrible. We had a flank steak that was as tough as leather. We are a bit jetlaghed so we did not look to hard for a place to eat. Our bad, but there is always tomorrow!
 
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crhutch said:
Our first meal here was terrible.
:lol:

A rule, not an exception. The French kitchen is grossly overrated. I can't remember any country serving more "shoesoles" in restaurants than France (I have travelled most European countries). I even asked a French chef why, and he said that quality had been degenerating for years. Good food in France=(very) expensive restaurants, he said.

When visiting the Cote d'Azur (French riviera) a couple of years ago, I saw most restaurants advertizing "Real Italian Pizza!", "Real Italian Spaghetti!", etc. so I thought: "Why the h... am I here :?: ". I fired up my car and was in Italy 3 hours later :!: :lol: Better food instantly :lol:

A menu del Dia will often outperform a middle-level French restaurant, IMHO :lol:

Aaahh, I suddenly remember: In the old days, most armies had red jackets and white pants: Red jackets in order not show off the the blood if they got hurt, but keep on being brave. For some reason (you figure), French armies have most of the time chosen brown pants... :wink:
 
AlexWalker,

Enough is enough ...! How can you write with such hatred ... ?!

Unfortunately, there are bad restaurants in France, but in proportion, luckily the good food is more often served -- not only in very expensive restaurants -- in France than in your country ...

Your immoderate language is very inappropriate in this forum.

A Frenchman ...

Théo
 
Well, I just told you what the French chef said to me... I like France, but for some reason, whenever I am there, I do not get the feeling that the French like me. Too bad.

PS: It is actually strange, come to think of it, but in no other country have I been bullied, shouted at, been cheated in bars/restaurants, and treated respectlessly, as much as in France. Why is it so :?:

Last time I was in Paris (October), I tried to speak English to the taxi driver (in Paris :!: ) : He translated everything I said into French, and told me that was how I had to speak in France. Unbelievable. A not so suble hint that I was ignorant...

Edit:

Theo said:
luckily the good food is more often served -- not only in very expensive restaurants -- in France than in your country ...
Well, up here we are more into fish than shoesoles, having some of the largest and top quality fisheries in the world. The Spanish, Italian, Portuguise, and Brazilian bacalao dishes are f.ex. made with Norw. dried, salted cod. A big market for us. Good people in those countries; quality-aware.

And the French buy lots of our salmon in order to reduce bad meat consumption, in the fear that the meat is not properly produced/prepared (cow decease etc.; you know what I mean).
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Guys, let's pull back from criticizing other countries. We are entitled to criticize our own country, but not other lands in which we do not live.

As far as France is concerned, it is a wonderful country. I have said many times that Southern France is where angels go for vacation. It is that beautiful and the people are the best. Can bad things happen in France? Of course, just as in every other nation. However, look for the good and you will find it in plenty.

Leave off now and no more critical comments.

Cheers,
 
MichaelB10398 said:
Leave off now and no more critical comments.
Totally agree. Very well said.

MichaelB10398 said:
As far as France is concerned, it is a wonderful country.
Indeed. Lovely country. Problem is, it is packed with French people. Just joking of course, in order not to be banned from this forum :roll: .
 
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crhutch said:
VT - what was the name of the hiking shop you went to here in Bordeaux?

I can't remember, but it's a bit of a walk into town from the train station. You might check in with the tourist office to get the name/location (they were the ones who told me about it, and even provided a map).

Sorry to hear your first meal wasn't so hot. I hope you subsequent ones are better! :arrow:

VT
 
We had a nice cheap lunch, a baguette ham
and cheese sandwich them I spent 4 euros on a beer. Now for the wine tour
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
The internet is running slow so I will post more on my blog about our wine tour, but it was nice. The sport shop I think VT went to was Decat on Rue de Catherine. Tonight we walked over to Courfore (?) and made a meal of bread, ham, cheese and romoulade. Oh yeah and a cheap bottle of wine. We bought our train tickets to SJPP. We should be there by 1300.
Given the comments on this post, all I can say is that the French have been wonderful, other than one bad meal it has been all great but expensive
 
You are really a piece of work Alex!

One more country for you to avoid. France, of course, is reknowned world wide for having the worst food and the ugliest language, so the problem couldn't possible lie with you!

I'll be there is a couple of weeks. Guess I'm just into self abuse.
 
alex wrote


Aaahh, I suddenly remember: In the old days, most armies had red jackets and white pants: Red jackets in order not show off the the blood if they got hurt, but keep on being brave. For some reason (you figure), French armies have most of the time chosen brown pants... :

is it the purpose you have a brown hat on your head....?

philippe33 ...from France....
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
We are now in Roncevalles. We had a nice walk from SJPP to Valcarlos. The alberrgue there is quite nice. Met a 75 year old German fellow named Dieter who was very nice and pleasent who is walking his first camino. Today we walked to Roncevalles and thought we would die, so much uphill walking for two old geezers. But we made it and are ready for more tomorrow.
 
Hooray! You did it! Piece of cake from here on out...

Is there snow there now?
 
We are now in Zubiri. Good walk from Roncevalles. We made one mistake and missed a sign and ended up walking up a mountain trail for half a mile before we noticed our mistake. We have free internet but I can not figure out how to upload my pictures. Maybe later today I will figure it out. anyway all is great.
 
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We are now in Zubiri. Good walk from Roncevalles. We made one mistake and missed a sign and ended up walking up a mountain trail for half a mile before we noticed our mistake. We have free internet but I can not figure out how to upload my pictures. Maybe later today I will figure it out. anyway all is great.
 
crhutch said:
anyway all is great

Sweet! Hope you are enjoying lots of Spanish vino and orujo de hierbas! Someone told me that the drunks are most likely to make it to Santiago, as the alcohol kills the pain, lifts the spirits, and keeps the gut bugs at bay...indeed the only day I had digestive issues was the day I didn't quaff any wine. And after that, I made sure I was well fortified! :mrgreen:

Salud! :arrow:

VT
 

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