We decide to go back into Bordeaux today. This time, we’ll walk around the old town and have dinner there.

We have a wonderful morning at the house today. Stefan runs while the kids and I have our own workout on the gravel road behind the house. They are so cute following me in my workout. We run back and forth and do jumping jacks (which they hate) and squats (which they love). We have a nice lunch on the patio. This may be the longest we’ve spent at home, and we are enjoying the calm time.

Around 3 we start driving into Bordeaux. We park in a nice garage near the city center and walk around a bit. The sun is beaming down on us, and it’s very warm. Lillian and Stefan think anything over 70F is hot, so they are miserable. There are a ton of shops, and Stefan is patient as Lillian and I peruse a few.

We find a wine tasting shop mentioned in NYT’s 36 Hours, Max Bordeaux Wine Gallery and Cellar. It’s state-of-the-art wine tasting with machines dispensing top quality wines from all regions of Bordeaux at the desired quantity. You put money on a card, place the card in the machine and select the quantity of pour of your desired wine. The machine automatically pours. The kids think this is amazing. It’s the most excited I’ve seen them about wine tasting, for sure. We think it’s a bit gimmicky, but we have to try it! We taste some great wines. They should be at these prices. I’m not sure I’d recommend this place to everyone. But it is an experience.

We walk down past a beautiful park, cordoned off as the Euro2016 Fan Zone. What a waste of beautiful park property. They had a similar Fan Zone at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I think this “Fan Zone” concept is ridiculous. It clutters a beautiful city, draws fans to an area made bland and undesirable and pulls customers away from the authentic local establishments. End rant.

We walk to the waterfront, farther south than we were yesterday. As we walk toward the palace, we see a large number of people congregating. As we approach we discover Miroir des Quais. It’s an amazing shallow fountain that is refreshed every 11 minutes or so when it mists and then fills again to a about 5 centimeters of water. The kids can’t get their shoes off fast enough. I’m quickly in after them. It feels nice to have cool water on your feet on a hot day like this. Oly is the happiest I’ve seen him….maybe ever. Well, meeting Lightning McQueen at Disneyland probably wins. But this is a close second.

They run and run, splashing and chasing one another. It’s a delight to watch. Then Oly sees a girl around 18 months laying on her tummy in only her diaper. He looks at me expectantly. “Of course you can take your clothes off too.” And even more fun and mayhem ensues. We are there over an hour.

Now the kids are wet. And the clothes they disrobed: wet. So they walk around without bottoms for awhile as we attempt to dry them out. All of a sudden everyone is starving. Starving and wet. So we go shopping! Lillian is super excited to pick out a few outfits and try them on. She doesn’t remember ever trying on clothes at a store before. She selects two beautiful outfits (on sale), and we head to dinner.

Stefan made us reservations at Bistro Boardiase, which he found on TripAdviser. The only negative comments said it was too large. We were seated in the front room, so it didn’t feel too large to us. But it seems to be a restaurant that expanded into the adjoining space.

Stefan gets a steak too rare for me to eat (his plan to not share with me?), and I get oven-roasted chicken. It is the best chicken I’ve ever had in my life. The no sharing thing worked out for both of us. The kids are happy with the charcuterie plate, sausage and, of course, french fries. It’s a beautiful meal. It’s nice to be out to dinner for the first time in a bit.

We eat delicious ice cream on our walk to the car. Lillian always picks strawberry, but Oly surprises me with his choice for lemon this time.

We drive home, give everyone a quick shower (they played in a fountain after all) and put them to bed. What a great day.