Bordeaux Things to Do

The area around Bordeaux is one of France's most distinguished wine regions. Due to an interplay of different factors, Bordeaux's "terroir" is superb for producing red and white wines alike. The factors include the sun, the maritime climate due to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean, the influence from the Pyrenees further south and the huge forests west of Bordeaux.
What, then, could be better than wine tasting in Bordeaux? There are many places to do this, some in the city centre, some further away and very many outside the city in the châteaus producing the wine. We went to a place in Bordeaux called CAFA which is a school for oenologists and offers degustation classes for amateurs as well. A two-hour session run by a professional oenologist will include some theory and the degustation of three wines from the area. Yann, our course instructor, did a very good job and taught us a lot. I can truly recommend this, be it at CAFA or any other place, because more often than not you'll be the one who has to degust the wine in a fine restaurant.

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I decided to visit St Remi because I read on the city site about interesting relief sculptures in the church. We got it in a midday and the church was closed (as fas as I understood the info onto the church door, the church is open from 9 am to 11 am).
The church was built in XV century. It is situated on the crossing of Rue de Francois de Sourdis and Rue Georges Bonnac (not far from Meriadeck shopping center).
There are cemetery and monument to soldiers of two world wars near of the church.

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The Notre Dame was recommended to visit by Lionel. I sought it a long time in spite of I saw it on my map. As a matter of fact sometimes the streets in the old town are narrow and sometimes they lead to the blind alley (in any way, I chose often such ways while I was seeking the church). The church was situated on Place du Chapelet, near of Marche des Grandes Hommes. The church was built in 1675-1678.

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St Michel Basilica is situated between two squares Place Meynard and Place Duburg. But the area is not big and I couldn't make a good picture of the ensemble of the Basilica and its tower near by. Basilica was built in XIV-XV century, the bell tower, 114 meters high, was built in XV century.

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Not far from Porte Cailhu St Pierre is situated (next turn to the left if you go from the Pierre Bridge). There is square in front of the church and the interesting thing is when sun shines there is only one, left corner of the square is in the sun light cause of the height of the church and houses around. The church was built in XV-XVI centuries and was restorated in XIX century.

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The massive Cathedral St. Andre at Place J. Moulin is one of the centerpieces of central Bordeaux. Even with the large square it is almost impossible to get a photo of the entire cathedral. There are regularly scheduled organ concerts featuring the massive organ in the back. It took over 800 years to complete beginning with the 12th century Romanesque nave.

Definitely my favourite place in Bordeaux, the Miroir d'Eau is wonderful place to hang out and watch people or just to cool your feet in the water. If you are travelling with children, this is the place to be. What's it all about? It's a 2cm deep body of water that reflects the beautiful Place de la Bourse. While this alone would be worth checking the place out, the special thing about the Miroir d'Eau are its special effects. Every some minutes, the water changes remote controlled by a computer. Within a minute or two it's all gone, but only a short time later, small holes start to emit a fine vapour which, depending on the weather and wind, can rise up several metres. Suddenly, the Place de la Bourse is only visible through a dense haze - but again only for some minutes. The vapour ceases and small holes in the ground become tiny bubbling springs. Within minutes the whole area is flooded again and acts again as a mirror (hence the name). While this is beautiful in daytime, it is also very impressive during the night when the Bourse building is lit by hundreds of lights.

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Bordeaux is the capital city of the Aquitaine region. So it boasts a splendid museum devoted to the story of the city and the region, its history, traditions and treasures. This was the only place in Bordeaux that seemed to cater for English speakers, for example there were audio headsets in English.

There was an impressive display on show, covering Bordeaux's history and international trade. A large part of the main exhibition covers the culture of the region - farming, sailing and, of course, wine-making.

In 2007 part of the main exhibition is closed while the fire safety features of the building are modernised. During that time the main exhibition is free to enter. Normal adult admission is 5 euros. There are separate temporary exhibitions too, for which a modest tarif applies. For example, when I visited there was an excellent show of Voodoo paintings from the Caribbean.

Open 11am to 6pm. Closed Mondays.

Museum Webpages