Wednesday, July 30
We spent the night in Bordeaux at a B&B Hotel, which is actually a French hotel chain—not a bed-and-breakfast. This one was awesome because every door had a keypad, and they emailed us our room code once it was ready. We didn’t have to talk to anyone! We went straight to our room, entered the code, and we were good to go.
We woke up the next morning and spent a few hours in downtown Bordeaux. My favorite feature was the world’s largest mirror fountain—the Miroir d’eau. Every 15 minutes, it releases a gentle mist, which, depending on the light, can look absolutely magical! After the mist, the reflecting pool slowly fills with about an inch of water, which then drains over about 10 minutes until only a thin wet surface remains. Then it starts all over again. Honestly, I had so much fun walking around barefoot. Kids were splashing and playing—who knew an inch of water could be so entertaining?
The mirror fountain sits just across from Place de la Bourse, one of Bordeaux’s most iconic squares, making for some incredible photo ops.
We had a delicious lunch at a French bistro. We don’t usually sit outside because of the cigarette smoke, but it was such a beautiful day, and sidewalk dining feels like such a quintessential French experience, we went for it—and luckily, no smoke! The meal was great. Katelyn got her favorite Croque monsieur, Geoffrey got steak frites, I had a Thai beef salad, and Grant got Thai beef tartare. Grant and I went halvsies, of course.
After lunch, we strolled through downtown, popped into a beautiful old church, and enjoyed the wide pedestrian-only boulevards. We took a ride on the giant Ferris wheel near the Garonne River and wrapped up our visit with some Bordeaux pastries—delicate cream puffs that were absolutely delicious!
We then headed to our next stop: Toulouse. The road trip has been fun, but we’re definitely feeling a bit tired. We adjusted our plans to spend two nights in Toulouse because we found a last-minute Marriott discount. Bonus: the hotel had a washer and dryer, so we could do some much-needed laundry. Fresh-smelling clothes! Yay!
We spent the evening doing laundry and relaxing—some downtime was definitely needed.
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Thursday, July 31
The next day we headed to the airplane museum in Toulouse, also known as the Airbus Museum (Musée Aeroscopia). It was so fun to watch Grant geek out—this is totally his thing! We learned about the history of aviation from a European perspective, including how aircraft design evolved over time in both war and peace. There were tons of aircraft on display and a really cool exhibit on women in aviation. I’m not talking Amelia Earhart-style history—this exhibit focused on women currently working in the industry, from Airbus engineers to military pilots. All of them were between 20 and 50, and their bios were really inspiring.
The highlight, though, was getting to walk through three different aircraft. The first was a Concorde. It was wild seeing how small and narrow the inside was—teeny tiny windows! Then we toured an Airbus A300, the first Airbus wide-body. This one was a mock-up used to showcase different layouts to potential buyers, so it had sample areas for first class, coach, a conference room with a big round table, a lounge with couches and a minibar, and even a bedroom with a double bed and private bathroom. It was fascinating to see the non-commercial possibilities.
The third walk-through was the A380, the largest passenger plane ever built (and one we’ve actually flown on—to Australia!). We explored both decks. The glass floors gave us a peek into the cargo hold, which was also a feature on the A300. The A380 had a cockpit, crew quarters for the pilots, and a mock-up of different luxury features. There was even a fake shopping area—jewelry displays, counters, and what looked like a cruise ship boutique. Toward the back, they had a lounge area with a bar, couches, and tall café tables. It felt like a train café car, but in the air. So many ways a plane could be designed beyond rows of seats. Very fun!
Afterward, we headed back to the hotel. Grant and I hit the gym for the first time this trip—lol. Honestly, we’ve been walking so much that the gym hasn’t been necessary, but with the long drives lately, it felt good to move.
We had dinner at a restaurant called Hippopotamus. It’s a French chain—kind of like a Texas Roadhouse or Chili’s, and the food was really good! Grant and Geoffrey got steak frites, I had steak with cheese fondue (yes, cheese fondue), and Katelyn got chicken nuggets, which came with chocolate mousse for dessert. Win!
Quick shout-out to Katelyn: she’s done a great job with food in Europe overall. She’s found something to eat at every restaurant except one—and that place only had one item: steak and fries. When she finds something she likes (Croque Monsieurs in France!), she sticks with it, but in Rome and Salzburg she also branched out and tried new things.
Actually, shout-out to both kids. This has been a long trip. They’ve had moments of homesickness and unfamiliar situations, and sometimes they just wanted the comfort of something familiar. But overall, they’ve had great attitudes. They’ve been grateful, said thank you for meals and experiences, and honestly—no meltdowns. I’m really proud of how they’ve handled this whole adventure.
Major props to Grant as well, for many many things, but specifically for being an awesome driver of a manual transmission through Europe, including some tight streets, steep hills, and incredibly tiny parking spots. I could never.
And shout out to all of us - one small suitcase per person, three of them backpack suitcases, enabling us to fit everything in the teeny tiny hatchback of our teeny tiny VW T-roc! (Grant must have said 20 times, “Thank god we have a small car!” )
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Today (Friday, August 1), we’re heading to Perpignan to return our rental car. We’ll spend a few hours exploring the city before hopping on a train to Barcelona for the final leg of our European adventure!
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