After a nervous 7.5 hour plane ride wherein (half distracted) I was able to eyeball "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Grand Torino," I landed in Paris at approx. 11:30 am on Monday morning. I didn't have too much trouble finding my way to the TGV train station in the Bordeaux airport where I waited for the 1:37 pm train and slogged my all luggage aboard and got settled, where, after four more hours and drifting in and out of consciousness I finally arrived in Bordeaux.
Nathanael, my contact at the chateau with whom I've traded many emails and was very glad to finally see, picked me up from the train station with one of his daughters. They took me back to their incredible apartment in the middle of downtown Bordeaux where I was able to get a quick shower and change of clothes, then after meeting his lovely wife and the rest of his children it was off on bikes to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. At this point I was already sold on the place. When we got back we sat outside on his patio and enjoyed a glass of beer with his wife making brief appearances. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner outside on the patio, and afterward Nathanael gave me a bike tour of downtown Bordeaux. In the course of our conversation he told me that Thierry Lurton dispatched an email to his brothers and sisters about my arrival and says I'll be doing everything from hard labor to working in their cellar...