DESTINATION INFORMATION
Thanks to a renaissance, France's wine capital is now also its second most beautiful city. Streets have been pedestrianised, trees planted and a new tram system installed. Along with green parks and wide avenues, there are fine-art galleries, excellent museums, great shopping, and a lively ethnic population.
Bordeaux is an absorbing place for a weekend. Compact and largely pedestrianised, it is easy to explore its gracious stone houses and welcoming squares on foot.
For a terrific view of the city, why not climb the 229 dizzying, twisting, irregular steps of the Tour Pey-Berland by the cathedral. The series of seven irregular pod-like structures (reminiscent of a row of wine bottles or vats) lies behind glass and is topped by an undulating copper roof. The English-style Jardin Public is home to the Jardin Botanique and the Natural History Museum.
In the square Esplanade des Quinconces you will find the fountain monument dedicated to the National Assembly deputies during the French Revolution, several of whom were beheaded after being convicted of counter-Revolutionary activities. During the period that followed the Revolution, the Place Gambetta had a guillotine installed and 300 counter-Revolutionaries were executed. Mercifully, today, this area is now an island of greenery from which to escape the hustle and bustle of the city.
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WHAT TO DO
- Shopping ~ For clothing, go to rue Ste-Catherine, the smarter cours de l'Intendance, and the area to its north, known as le Triangle, For food, head for the area around place des Grands-Hommes, which has a market. For antiques, try along rue Bouffard, near the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, and the rue Notre Dame, near Les Chartrons.
- Le Musée d'Art Contemporain ~ One of the city's truly essential sights, as much for its sheer space as well as its collection. A converted warehouse, built in 1824 to hold imports from France's Caribbean colonies, the dramatically lit main space, with three tiers of arcades running its four sides, competes for attention with whatever else is on show.
- Musee des Chartrons ~ For a concise history of the city's wine trade. It occupies the architecturally splendid home of a former wine merchant, built in 1720 with a magnificent stone staircase and, unusually, its store room and bottling plant on the first floor.
- Tour Pay-Berland ~ Climb the 229 steps by the cathedral for a terrific view of the city and the roof of the extraordinary law courts.
- Musee de Beaux Artes ~ Housed within the Hôtel de Ville, a large exhibition of European paintings, including one by Delacroix.
- Cathédral St-André ~ UNESCO listed heritage site, this is where the future King Louis VII married Eleanor of Aquitaine.
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