I’m in love again. Yes, I am a fickle traveler. I love the one I’m with. Bordeaux is Versailles of the southwest; huge structures straddle places while narrow streets wind and offer glimpses of cathedral spires. It’s a city of glimmering ochre. After our arrival yesterday we went for an early dinner (late lunch?) at Karl’s where we were offered “clean air and green atmosphere”. The place was packed with 20 somethings chattering away. We did some strolling to the Place de Bourse and then found a little wine store where the owner was a Brit who has lived here for 34 years. He sent us back to the hotel with some local Merlot and Cabernet.
This morning we began with coffee on the Royal Hotel patio across from the Grande Theatre. We walked down Rue Carherine to find our way toward the Cathedral St Andre. Rue Catherine was originally the Roman Gallo way into Bordeaux. It is one L O N G road packed with shops and ending at the Place de la Victoire where we found a delightful sculpture of a mother turtle and baby. A few blocks away was the Cathedral. It is a UNESCO site, built in the late 11th
century. Only the front wall of the original structure remains. The latest formation is in the Southern Gothic style. The bell tower is separate from the cathedral. It was here that Eleanor of Aquitaine married Louis VII.
We made two other stops today. The first at the Grosse Cloche, the only remaining part of the gateway to St Eloise, a part of the medieval town hall. The second stop was the Basilique Saint-Seurin. This is a UNESCO site. Probably the birthplace of Christianity on Bordeaux, part of the church includes an 11th century Romanesque porch, apse, and crypt. At dinner this evening we ate next to an American who had just come from Egypt where he had been living.
Place Bourse, Bordeaux
