Sunday, 7 June, 2015

Yes, it is time to move on. We pack and head out. The first stop is Kings Cross via the Tube. We were afraid that there would be more tube cancellations but we were OK today. We get to Kings Cross / St Pancras with the only stairs we have to face at Moorbank. And some young guys and then a stationmaster helped carry the bags up/down.

At St Pancras we get some ordinary stuff for a meal. Then go to where the jump-off for a train to Luton Airport was to be. No, it is closed with signs suggesting we might have to go a long way around the underground to catch the Luton train. Fortunately, there was an alternative upstairs and soon after we board the train. The ride is uneventful. At the Parkway we board a long bus to go the rest of the way to the airport. That is OK especially when some young guys give up their seats for us. When we get to the airport, there is a very long line for the Baggage Drop which seems rather ordinary. It moves pretty quickly, we were probably in the queue for 30 minutes.

We had not been to Luton before but it seemed like a quite good small airport. Sat around in a food court area with free Wifi for 30 minutes before boarding the airplane. There are delays in boarding and delays in taking off once we finally did board. But all is OK, a quite smooth flight of around 90 minutes to Bordeaux. We get off the plane, on the tarmac, and the first thing we noticee is the weather. It is sunny, no wind and 30C. Paradise!

Immigration is relatively quick and the suitcases come off in reasonable time. We have trouble finding Colin as we walk right past him, he was inside, we were outside, and walked by our bus too. Eventually we found him and gathered up JV and our bags and boarded the bus. We met our new friends in the tour group as well as Chris and Jeremy from the NYC tour group. It is about a 40 minute bus ride to our Chateau.

We have Happy Hour before we even go to our rooms.

Not a bad way to start the tour. We then go to our rooms which as usual are variable in style and location. We are on the ground floor and are quite happy with our room.

There were all sorts of good things on the table including Quail, Chicken, Pork Knuckle, Potatoes, a variety of heirloom tomatoes, etc.