June 8, 2014
The highlight of the Global Summit of Women is the extended trip to Bordeaux, a city three hours away from Paris by train. The three day/ two nights Culinary and Wine Tour would be the fun part of GSW.
Sixty three signed up for this private tour arranged by La Conciergerie, TO DO TODAY. Slots were limited so I booked as early as beginning of February. Actually 150 slots were reserved but I didn’t know that only 63 came on board. Maybe due to time constraints.
I brought along my two children and with each slot, came their own hotel rooms.
No twin sharing here.
I only had a few minutes sleep on the eve of our departure for fear of missing our early train. Ganyan ako talaga, I couldn’t sleep the night before a scheduled travel. I also worried about our bags. We could hardly close our luggage. Puno na kasi yan when we left Manila. No more space for other things.
Our train’s scheduled departure is 8:28 am. By 7:00 am, we were already heading to the nearby Gare Montparnasse in the 14th arrondissement. TGV trains use this station to go to the southwest of France which includes Tours, Bordeaux, Tennes, and Nantes.
I didn’t want rush. With 63 people checking out of the hotel at the same time and flagging for a taxi, I would be stressed out, So better early than be stressed-out.
The departure board listed Tarbes as the destination of a train that leaves at 8:28 so I kind a got worried that I got the information wrong.
Every minute or so a group of 3 or 4 military soldiers scour the area for undesirable faces. They looked intense. Brandising high powered firearms, I didn’t even want to look at them. Baka mapagpractisan ako.
The trains arrive and leave on the dot. And sometimes a tab too early. We’ve seen some French people running with their bags, waving their tickets, wala rin, ayaw ng isakay. late na daw. Hindi pwede dito ang pakiusap.
Heres comes our train. It’s hard to drag heavy and big luggage. Dapat dito back pack lang.
63 people plus 3 tour coordinators, each has one or two luggage, no pre-printed tickets, no pre-assigned seats EQUATEd to UTTER TRAIN CHAOS.
I didn’t want to get stressed, no big deal. As long as my children and I made it to the train, we’re fine.
We were on the second class section of the train. It’s fine, it’s only a 3 1/2 hour ride. A little tight, yes, but it’s fun.
Lady, your butt is on my face. Ayan kasi, ang sikip.
My son’s favorite part of train ride is going to the train cart to get food and drinks.
The bartender couldn’t understand what we meant by ice. Hindi kasi gaanong malamig yung Coca-cola. Dapat din hindi coke. Coke and Ice sound like some illegal drugs.
After a few naps, here we are at the Bordeaux train station.
Pacita “Chit” Juan joins my kids for a souvenir snap.
Getting to the bus stop is a little bit challenging with all those ramps and uneven floors.
We haven’t started our tour and yet she broke one shoe.
Ang bigat mo ano, ang hirap iaakyat sa bangketa.
