Bordeaux on a Friday

April 26.

Today is our big CITY PASS Day! After a frenetic breakfast at the hotel we headed out in our ever-present drizzle for tram stop B and the nearby Hotel de Ville. From there we rode it to La Cité du Vin, which took about 15-20 minutes. Located near the bassin a Flot and within shooting distance of the WWII German submarine pens, The City of Wine is truly an incredible experience. The building's architecture is fantastic, as you can see from the photo. And once inside, the arrangement of the exhibitions and incredible creativity applied to what one might think of as just a simple fermented beverage is nothing short of remarkable.

There are 18 stations - each of us sort of drifted at our speeds through them, listening to the accompanying narrative in our audio guides. I am unable to do justice to what we experienced but it was tremendous fun and very informative. Everything from wonderfully arranged videos on enormous screens talking about wine around the world, through a sensory exhibition where one can actually smell the wide array of aromas that are found in most wines produced today and the experience of laying back and watching a surround video of a year in the life of a winemaker. Worth the money and the time.

tram stop

committee at work

La Cité du Vin

all the smells

the wine store

From the extensive wine shop we slid into the museum's brasserie for lunch. Then it was on to the 8th/ top floor for our free glass of wine which accompanied the wonderful views of the city. (I opted for a Bordeaux clairet, a deep-colored rosé from La Freynelle.)

 

looking toward the WW2 German Uboat pens in the far distance

the Delmas Bridge across the Garonne

bassin a Flot and the canal that connects to the Garonne

School of Tourism and Hospitality

Our City Pass allowed us to hop on and off the tram as much as we needed over a 24 hour period so we took advantage and rode to the end of one line then back to switch to another for a change of scenery. We thought it a cool way to take a city tour from the above ground rails.

The B line tram took us south of the city center past the huge complex of the University of Bordeaux. On returning to the city center we changed to line A at Hotel de Ville, taking it across the Garonne for a couple of stops to get a sense of that side of the river. By then the tram was getting pretty crowded so back we went, alighting at Hotel de Ville for an afternoon coffee at a quintessential brasserie, Le Café Français, on the main cathedral square. 

checking out the route

We returned to the hotel for a short respite while I attempted to locate a restaurant for dinner. In a remarkably short time I found one that was literally around the corner, L'Univerre, another classic provincial Bordelais restaurant. The service was superb, the food outstanding, prices very reasonable, and the wine list something to behold in a space that was really quite small. 

L'Univerre

starter cheese plate

 oeufs mayonnaise

broccoli frite

Next: It's off to the Gers and Mouchan!

Bordeaux on my birthday

April 25.

Today began overcast again and, as usual, eventually turned to off-and-on light drizzle. After a somewhat leisurely breakfast marred only by having to contend with dozens of young skaters (more of that in a moment) we left the hotel and began our day of meandering. 

Before I move on to our touring of the city I should mention that our hotel and presumably one or two others in the vicinity was hosting dozens of young skaters from seven different countries, including the USA, here to compete in the Nations Cup & Gold Cup international ice ballet and theater on ice competition. Since the event just began today and runs through the 28th, we apparently are doomed to have to undergo our own morning competition over breakfast seating, food and coffee. Moreover, no one seemed to be in charge of monitoring the students, whose ages range from preteen to older teens. We did run into one adult mother and her mother, who happened to be from Rhode Island, and they explained that there are a variety of age categories represented, some as young as 10-12 years old. They also pointed out that the French had been doing ballet on ice competitions for more than 30 years and the Americans got into the act about a dozen years ago. 

Leaving the hotel we made our way on foot to place Gambetta, a lovely park and square surrounded by cafes and shops, rather typical of many of the places large and small in Bordeaux. We passed by the porte Dijeaux, one of the original gates into the city.

place Gambetta

porte Dijeaux

From the place we made our way to the nearby Basilica of Saint-Severinus. One of two very unique aspects of this rather unassuming church is it has two well-defined entrances to the crypt below the church proper. In the crypt are sarcophagi dating back to the 4th to 6th centuries. Outside in the small park adjoining the church is an ancient early Christian necropolis dating to the same period, which was unfortunately closed when we were there. Fascinating.

down to the crypt

up top, the exterior of the crypt entrance

sarcophagi

additional tombs below the grate

entrance to the ancient Christian necropolis beneath the park

In addition, the pave stoned walkway along the church grounds is part of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrim route.

you are looking at the ground above the necropolis

We went in search for coffee and stopped at one of many of Baillardran's cafes, a warm and quiet place to enjoy a hot beverage and a mini canelé. Eventually we walked to back to place Gambetta in search of the line B tram stop to take us back to the hotel. 

That evening Pauline picked another lovely place for dinner: Chai Maestro, a short 15-minute walk from our hotel. Oh, and chai (pronounced SHAY, not the tea) is the French word for an above ground storage space for wine. We're learning new things every day!

Next: La Cité du Vin and fun with trams!

Bordeaux on a Wednesday

April 24.

We started with an overcast morning with occasional bouts of rainy drizzle, a phenomenon that remained with us off and on today.

After a leisurely breakfast we headed out to explore Bordeaux. Fortunately our hotel was located right at the edge of the old quarter. In fact it was just a stone's throw from the Saint-André Cathedral, our first stop of the day. 

the cathedral rear left

entrance

Cardinal de Cheverus 1768-1836

learning about the restoration of the church organ

Archbishop Ferdinand-François Donnet 1795-1882

Archbishop Victor-Lucien Lecot 1831-1908

Cardinal Pierre-Paulin Andrieu 1849-1935

Back outside the cathedral we plunged back into the drizzle and headed off in search of the tourist information (TI) office. We walked to the corner of the cathedral where there was a small open air food market with one vendor selling Venezuelan specialities and another various spice and herb mixtures.

We continued our stroll down a number of narrow streets, many lined with shops, some posh some not so. . . Anyway, we were getting a pretty good sense of the old part of the city.

As we continued our search for the TI office we passed one of the staples of Bordeaux, a Baillardran canelés shop. Canelés, small caramelized flans, are unique to Bordeaux -- although they can certainly be found further afield -- and are absolutely scrumptious.

Heading for the TI

A main pedestrian shopping street (notice Apple on the left)

Once we reached the tourist information office we each picked up a 24-hour city pass (they also come in 48- and 72-hour versions), which will give us unlimited public transport in the city as well as free entry to La Citè du Vin and a number of other places we may wish to visit.

Leaving the TI office we headed back in the direction of Galeries Lafayette. I was in search of a scarf and another sweater - the temperatures have been quite cold and the brisk wind just adds to the chill. 

Place de la Comédie near the TI office

on Place de la Comédie

We popped into Galeries Lafayette and discovered there was a separate store just for men across the street. After a bit of browsing I purchased a new scarf and sweater in short order.

Galeries Lafayette

Across from Galeries Lafayette was an older original galeries space that had few shops and was warm and full of light.

We opted to settle into one of the cafes there and have a bite of lunch. It was a rather hectic arrangement having to queue up to order then find a table to sit and wait until our little beeper device went off telling us it was time to go get our food. But we were out of the chilly air in a place we could relax for a bit.

From the restaurant we walked the few blocks down to the Garonne River and strolled along the riverfront past the place de Quinconces. 

The rain picked up so we decided to pop into a bar for a coffee then grabbed a tram back to the hotel. A good day of exploring the city, topped off by picking up our city passes and finding the city tram system a real pleasure to use.

For dinner Pauline found Le Bistro du Musée just a 3-minute walk from our hotel. The food was delicious and the setting warm and inviting.

Pauline and Susie each had white asparagus with mustard sauce for a starter

sea bass with grilled endive and mashed potatoes for me

Richard had a leg of lamb

Susie and Pauline both had Merlu (Hake)

Susie had a cafe gourmand

Richard and I each had canelés with ice cream

It was a short walk back to the hotel. Rain notwithstanding, it was a lovely day.

Next: More wandering in Bordeaux.