69. Bordeaux

Finally we are in Bordeaux.  This is the last of France's great cities on our 'must see' list and I can't tell you how impressed I was.

Like the great, wide Garonne on which it sits, Bordeaux is a very flat, low-rise city that glows in pale sandstone. It is called the Pearl of Aquitaine.

It's oldest bridge is quite new.  It was built by Napoleon Bonaparte following his war with Spain where he needed to move his whole army across the Garonne on barges because Bordeaux had no bridge. I can imagine him being a bit cross!

Bordeaux sits on the outer, long curve of a bend in the river.  A river drops its silt on the inner curve and carves a deep channel on the outer curve. Hence Bordeaux only needed to exist on one side of the river, the side that offered a deep shipping channel for worldwide trade.  So the people of Bordeaux grew their great city on the Western side and grew grapes on the Eastern side and crossed the river with shallow barges to tend their vines and make their wine. Only armies needed bridges.

The main gate of the old city, Porte Cailhau faces the riverfront and the original old docks.

But the riverfront is now sleek and beautiful.  This is Place de la Bourse, the square of business but these days it is a place for the people, rather than for the merchants.

Bordeaux looks almost as it did in the 1700's when traders from all over the world arrived in this very spot.

Photography is quite difficult as the whole area is extremely broad and flat.  There is no where to get up high to get some perspective.

There is a huge reflection pool, right on the waterfront opposite the main gate in the Place de la Bourse.  In the morning it emits a fine mist up to 2 metres high.

And in the afternoon there is 4 cm of water.  It is incredibly popular. 

As I said, incredibly popular.

For about 400 metres on either side of the reflection pool is a lineal park.  This equates to at least a kilometre, probably more, of open people space in the very heart of the city.

The first thing that strikes you about Bordeaux is that people get preference over everything else. The next thing you notice is the cleanliness and then the lack of noise.  This is a city of 1.14 million people (230,000 reside in the inner city) and there is no litter and no graffiti anywhere.

Pedestrian movement is the priority. Every pavement is broad and flat and blends seamlessly with the road.  Trams have priority over all other transport.  Bicycles have designated routes. Cars are restricted to one lane only with almost no parking except in underground public carparks at €25 per day. There are no trucks and very few commercial delivery vehicles.

Rue Saint Catherine is totally pedestrian and is amongst the longest retail thoroughfares in Europe.  There is very little retail in the city outside this street and the small lanes that cross it. This is the most impressive retail district I've seen.

Here is the main city square, looking out from our hotel. It incorporates the Grand Theatre, opera house and the Grand Hotel Bordeaux.  It is 11am on a Wednesday morning. People everywhere and seven cars. Pity I didn't catch the silent trams going through.

But I did catch them just around the corner at the transport interchange. Trams don't stop in the roadways where they would impede pedestrians and traffic flow (taxis, a few buses and cars) but in separate areas of their own, unhampered by other vehicles.

We travelled the long route from the far north to the far south of the city.  Not once did the tram have to stop for traffic lights or for other vehicles.  It ran precisely on schedule for the whole hour and a half we watched the city go by. And the connecting buses which met the trams in the outer suburbs were never more than a minute or two wait.

Needless to say, the outer suburbs are not as beautiful as the city but car ownership is discouraged by requiring owners to have either an off street parking space (on their property) or a permit to park in the street.

A development zone has been placed around Bordeaux to control expansion. Old areas that already have infrastructure are being redeveloped with enhanced service and transport links. The only 'new' development can now take place on the East bank of the river where industry formerly sprawled. Even there, no high rise will be permitted.  New apartment blocks must meet new environmental standards for urban living. 

All of central Bordeaux is built of this soft, pale local limestone, created millions of years ago in the inland sea between the rivers Garonne and Dordogne.

Being soft it is amenable to intricate decoration like the Gothic Cathéderale de Saint-Andé. The downside is that the limestone is badly stained by airborne pollutants and constantly needs attention.  Like many of the limestone cities of Europe, Bordeaux acknowledges the need to save its visual heritage by gradually excluding all non-electric vehicles from its centre.

Bordeaux retains all four of its old gates.  This one is the Porte Saint Eloi. 

   

Originally, one of its towers served as a prison where delinquents who had had one too many drinks were locked up. Then over time, several changes were made. The St Eloi Gate became the city’s belfry in the 15th century and a bell was added to it. 

The Big Bell came to regulate the inhabitants’ lives and would ring in major events. These people were deeply upset when, in 1548, King Henri II had the bell taken down as a punishment. They were then thrilled when it was restored 13 years later. In 1567, another bell was put in, and replaced once again in 1759. Then, in the 18th century, it was time once more to replace the old cracked bell. No less than 14 pairs of ox were needed to carry the biggest civilian bell in France, which weighed 16,535 lbs. 

This magnificent gate, 135 ft tall and crowned with a golden leopard-shaped weathervane, a left-over from the British period, beautifully calls to mind the 13th century, a time when it was essential for cities to protect themselves with defensive fortifications. A symbol of freedom, the belfry and the Big Bell still appear on the Bordeaux coat of arms. 

And just inside the gate we see another plaque mentioning the Way of Saint James, the pilgrimage route to Compostella.

The first plaque was under Porte Cailhau and acknowledged the pilgrimage route that had existed through Bordeaux since the 12th century.

A day and a half was only a taste of this lovely place.  We had a late afternoon drink by the river and watched this strange sight.

A traditional barge, the transport used on this big river throughout history, carrying the wing of an Airbus A380.  We concluded that this huge piece of modern technology is probably too big to be transported by road - so its going by river to the factory in Toulouse. 

Do you remember some years ago that a new Airbus factory was set up in Toulouse to assemble components made in many different European locations.  Very early on a problem was discovered - someone had forgotten to calculate bridge heights or spans in south west France and the trucks carrying the first fuselage components couldn't get through.  I can't remember whether they altered the bridges or altered the fuselage - but the factory is still in Toulouse.

It would seem the wings are too long to go around corners.