Wee-Fee!

(That's how we say WiFi in France.)

Finally, we have contact with the Internet again! To our surprise, we had neither WiFi nor computer access on our river cruise barge. If we understood the purser correctly, the barge's router had just gone out around the time we boarded. (We now suspect that was not the case, but it sounded plausible at the time.) He assured me we would have WiFi when we docked in Pauillac the next night.

Then the next night, we got a long story about the cruise company being headquartered in Strasbourg, which is at the opposite corner of France, and how they are reluctant to send someone by TGV or plane so far away to fix a problem. Hmmm...They're always headquartered in Strasbourg, and this barge is always in the rivers of this part of France. Let's just say that story went straight downhill over the next several days, until most of us simply stopped asking.

Our group leader made several attempts to get us access when we were docked in Bordeaux (her hometown), but none of us were able to truly connect. Magically, we were able to get enough of a signal in one spot along the quay where we were moored to get several days' worth of emails to read, but were unable to respond to them or get onto Facebook or a browser. Bordeaux is a large city, so we thought we might find a Starbucks, but did not. I'm sure there must have been Internet cafes somewhere around, but our only free time was usually before breakfast or around 10pm, and setting off on foot to search one out before morning sustenance or after a long and tiring day just didn't happen.

The good news is that we were left with few distractions and could concentrate on learning more about the rather complex Bordeaux wines, as well as their appellations and subregions. This was good since we started our tastings at 10am most mornings in a class setting and rounded out our afternoons with visits to one to three wineries (with multiple tastings at each!). Many of our companions were quite overwhelmed by this inundation of lectures and tastings, but Jerry and I are proud to say that we were in "fighting trim" for this experience and had no trouble keeping up with our learning requirements.

When we traveled in France in 2009, we had free WiFi in every place we stayed. We were functioning under the assumption that our WiFi problem would be solved when we checked into our post-barge lodgings in Basque Country. Unfortunately, all they offer is cable hookup in the rooms. We did not bring a computer with us on this trip--just an iPad (pronounced ee-pad here), which needs a wireless connection.

When quizzed about this problem, our nice reception person said she thought we could get WiFi in the salon of the inn's rather vaunted restaurant. This is where they serve aperitifs and take your dinner orders. But they are closed on Mondays until dinner time. In the name of blog progress and in the hope of making connection with our regular life (and unsure that that is actually an appropriate vacation goal), we ventured over to the salon, ee-pad in hand, and see if we might be able to spend some time with our email, etc.

That didn't work either. Our nice reception person (and breakfast server and general question answerer) was very surprised, so called over to the restaurant, which is in a separate building across the garden, and was told they are having "trouble" with their WiFi. This is starting to sound like a theme. With the confidence of the ease of WiFi access on our 2009 trip, we are quite surprised to find ourselves in this situation. We don't know if it's purely coincidental, or if it has to do with our location in the southwest of France. Since we are about to go deeper into the countryside and will be in a less populated area, this problem may not get remedied anytime soon.

Note: We just checked in at a small inn at the end of the road near the Spanish border in French Basque Country. Amazingly, they have WiFi, so am attempting to post.


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