Bordeaux is a large city located along the banks of the Garonne River in the Southwestern part of France.
A historic city of great importance that needs to be protected, in 2007 at least 40% of its surface area became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It is actually the most protect city in all of France right after Paris.
When visiting the city you'll see 18th century architecture and buildings.
La Grosse Cloche, a 15th century bell tower that was once part of the Town Hall building. It has two 40 meter tall towers and a bell weighing over 7 metric tons.
Of course, old churches are a given in any town and city in France.
Bordeaux also has a large number of museums, theaters and cinemas located around the city. One museum is even dedicated entirely to wine - the Cité du Vin. It's located in a unique modern building that was designed to look like a large wine decanter. We didn't go to it ourselves because we had the dog with us and we had plenty of other wine activities planned for our trip.
By that I mean, we stopped off as several bars and sampled the wines of the region.
Bordeaux is one of the most important and well known wine regions in the entire world, so no trip would be complete without a wine sampling or two...or 12 for that matter.
Wines of Bordeaux are dark in color and full bodied. They tend to have deep and rich, dark fruit flavors. To be honest though, I actually always find them to be a bit acidic. I think that's because we tend not to buy expensive bottles of wine in our daily lives. We generally stick to the 7-12 euro marked bottles unless it's a special occasion or something. I've been told by several people that Bordeaux's are expensive, which I didn't really understand because you can easily buy a bottle of Bordeaux for 5-9 euros at most stores. But that's also probably why they are acidic to me. It seems that in the case of a Bordeaux, you have to spend over 25 euros to get a good bottle.
Something to note though is that there are other smaller wine regions of France that produce excellent, even superior wines for a lot less money - around the 8-15 euro mark. So more expensive doesn't always mean better quality in my experience.
Along with its many museums, Bordeaux also has one of the longest outdoor shopping streets in Europe. Rue de Sainte-Catherine is 1.2km long and bustling with shops and cafes, and or course people.
Monument aux Girondins
The Girondists monument was erected in 1894 in memory of the Girondins, a political group that were killed in the French Revolution during a series of massacres that has come to be known as The Reign of Terror.
The monument is 54 meters tall and consists of two pools that surround and intricate display of four horses and other figures in movement.
There is actually a very similar monument in Lyon that was originally intended for Bordeaux. It also depicts four horses and I read that each of them represents the four major rivers of France.
There are a lot of Rivers in France but I think the major ones are the Seine, the Loire, the Dordogne and the Garonne.
I like these two ladies talking to each other at the base of the tall column. It's almost as if they are permanently locked in conversation with each other, as if the artist didn't want them to be cut off and alone over the years.
The Water Mirror
The water mirror at Bordeaux is a lot of fun. The novelty of 2cm of water is actually really incredible.
Normally the water is turned off in November because of the cold but it was was holiday when we were there and the weather was nice, so the city happened to turn it on during the day. Many people were gathered there to take pictures. My wife even took a few steps in herself for a shot or two.
I noticed that there are basically two types of people at the mirror: the first are those that gracefully and gentilly step into the water, trying ever so carefully not to disturb its reflective surface for others. The other type are those who get pleasure out of disturbing the mirror effect, who tramp through the center without a care, laughing manically at all of the ruined Instagram photos.
What type of person do you think you'd be?
There was this kid there riding his bike in circles around the surface of the pool. Then out of nowhere and without warning he turned abruptly and headed into the water, shouting over his shoulder to the people on the edge taking pictures:
"Hear me now for I have a message from the water...its says to enjoy the moment for it is fleeting. Just like its reflection, nothing in life is permanent, the only constant is change. This is the lesson of the water."
.... I just stood there blinking.
"Wow kid. That's deep."
Okay, in truth that didn't actually happen. I made that story up. But you didn't actually think that a kid would say that did you?
What really happened was exactly like you would expect in a situation like this. The kid went back and forth a dozen times for probably 10 minutes or so, laughing his head off while his dad watched on the sidelines cheering him on. All of the ladies in their fancy dresses and men with their high end cameras had to wait patiently for the boy to get bored and move on so they could resume taking photos of the reflections. I didn't particularly care but you could tell that a lot of people were annoyed.
City at Night
I'll leave you with a few photos of the city at night, but at this point I'll keep the commentary to a minimum. That's enough reading for one day I'm sure.
It's not as impressive as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, but the Arc in Bordeaux still pretty cool.
A church tower lit up like a Christmas tree.
Pont de Pierre (1822) featured below. I like the lights of the bridge reflecting on the water.
Porte Cailhau is a medeival gatehouse to the old town.
Surprisingly, I prefer the photo of it being blocked by the tram system. I think it's the the blue lighting.
Same gateway from the other side.
I'd be the second one, ruin the perfect reflection for everyone LOL. 😂
The photo with the "water mirror" looks impressive though!
🤣
Well at least you're honest 😆
It's does make for interesting photos when people walk through it though
We've never been to Paris yet with the wife and kids (I am Parisian), but we went quickly to Bordeaux to go to the mac store, it was the town that looks the closest to Paris, as far as I know. The Hausmann roofs, the bridges, windows.
Great post brother! IF a kid talks to me like this, either he is on mushrooms, or I am haha.
I agree that Bordeaux is a lot like Paris. The buildings really reminded me of the city. I was told that a lot of Parisians moved to Bordeaux in the past few years causing it to boom a bit. With housing being so expensive in Paris people got more bang for their buck in Bordeaux, but that caused Bordeauxs housing market to surge as well. That's not really related to the buildings looking similar but I thought it was interesting.
Lmao 🤣
Hopefully its not the kid who is on them. lol
Those reflections look really great! I would definitely be the person who wouldn't want to ruin other people's pictures, I would practically fly over the surface haha
Hahaha 😆
A jetpack would be perfect for you. You could plop yourself in the middle of the pool without causing so much as a ripple to the surface lol
That's a lot of things you can see while you are in Bordeaux! Love it!
It's a huge plus to see everything remaining interesting both during the day and night. ❤️
Yeah that was the first time I've taken photos at night. I remembered that my camera phone has a night mode and figured I'd give it a try. It takes pretty good pictures if you remain still for an extra few seconds lol. I've been using it quite a bit lately since the days are so short now that it's winter.
Oh really? I could swear they were taken with a camera! What phone are you using, if I may ask?
It's a Galaxy A52 5G. I bought it because it's toted as having a good camera for a low budget phone and I've been quite pleased with it. The reviews said that the one thing it lacks imthough is a really powerful zoom. It can zoom 10x but it gets grainy pretty quick.
I always edit my photos in the standard Google "Photos" app as well though. They are never "raw" images. But then again, camera photos often aren't raw images either.
Oh. That's a great pick! And yeah, losing quality while zooming it's an often problem for most of the phones. Editing the pictures do help a little, but it's important not to make it look unreal. Your photos are quite balanced, so well done for that!
Yeah I agree. I try not use the crazy filters or go nuts with the saturation. I find going minimal tends to get the best results. Some photos just can't be helped also, and it's better to just scrap them hahaha
That's right! 😃
Wow great pictures and stories. I had to go back and read what the kid said cause you said it was deep. It was deep. Nice job. The reflections are cool. I wouldn't want to disturb anyone's pictures. That architecture is awesome!
Thanks! Yeah the reflections were very cool and a lot of fun. The kid was definitely having fun in the water as well lol.
Lol
That water mirror is incredible. I can imagine much fun being had there!
Yeah, it's only an inch of water but it surprisingly cool and fun. It's great when art features are interactive. Its not only a good spot to take photos but also a good spot to do some people watching.
Yeah, I bet. I was showing them to the missus and we loved the one with the kid on the bike. Disruptive as it was it really shows it to start effect just being a thin layer.
Yeah, it's a super thin layer. I liked the kid on the bike as well. He was having a blast in the water, as you could imagine.
Kids can say many profound things, adults rarely take time to listen. So yeah, maybe a kid could have said that in a simpler way.
I would have stepped in the reflection just to have a joyful splash. Lol.
That street looks so crowded oh my 😬
Yes that is true.
The street was extremely crowded in some areas. Probably a great place to get covid really. Luckily we didn't catch it ourselves lol.
Well the french wine can help the immune system because it is oh so expensive lol😅😅
Hahaha 🤣 yeah, true
Wow! Where to start!?? I haven't been to Bordeaux in years, I had actually forgotten how amazing it is. The wine alone is good enough reason for me to go.
What a lucky dog!
You take such powerful shots that show off the beauty and the architecture so well. The fountain is lovely. I will admit that I am so taken by the entire post that I am speechless. Cool kid, BTW! How could you be mad at a kid having fun!! :)
Most excellent! Taking you home!
Yes the wine or the region is very good for sure and the city is quite nice. I'm glad that you were able to experience it in your travels!
Yeah the kid was having a lot of fun. It was nice to see.
Thanks for the nice comment 😀
I have only ever passed the periphery of Bordeaux on the way to somewhere but never really stopped to take in the city. I remember the various vineyards we passed seen from the car window.
Your story made me stop and think if I have ever met a kid in real life who spilled words of wisdom. Hmmm...nope, I guess not.
I couldn't agree more- "more expensive doesn't always mean better quality in my experience." We once encountered a really cheap bottle of wine from Lidl and when family members tried it one day, they asked which "cave" it was from. 😁
The area around Bordeaux is really nice. There are vineyards all over the place. We especially liked Saint Emilion. That was our favorite spot in the region.
I think that kids definitely have their own sort of wisdom at times, maybe not quite as abstract and philosophical as my made up story but they definitely make you think and reflect on things in different ways at times. In this case though it was just a story that popped into my head that I thought was funny lol 😆
That's funny. I don't doubt it though. There are vineyards all over the country that produce great wine and a lot of the time they are both excellent and super cheap to buy.
Saint Emilion rings a bell. Can't remember where I have tried it. Will definitely keep an eye out for a bottle.
Speaking of kids, their lack of filter (which is a great thing) reveals many things.
I actually meant the town of Saint Emilion was our favorite but that that statement actually does apply to their wines as well. The vineyards around the town produce the best wines I have tried in France so far. The only issue is that they were quite expensive. The caves and wine stores in town were so fancy that we were too intimidated to go into most of them ahaha. We did go to a vineyard though.
Very true about the kids 😆
I can imagine intimidating caves and wine stores.
Got it, the name of the wine had a Chateau, one of the vineyards I suppose from Saint Emilion. Next time, (quite difficult to find really good but affordable French wines in the Philippines) I will pay more attention to the full experience of drinking it. Haha we get too engrossed talking and noticing an empty glass.
I think talking and socialializing is the most important part of wine drinking 😁
I sometimes wonder, if we had better architects earlier - at one side we say we are advancing but look at those old towers - they stand strong for so many years and we see buildings less than 100 years collapsing. What camera do you use ?
Yeah it's true in a lot of cases. Sometimes I think it comes down to money. Construction jobs are so competitive that everyone tries to cut costs and build in the cheapest way possible. The materials have changed a lot over time.
Wooow, I was delighted with the place and with your photos. It is one of the places I would like to visit for its culture and architecture 😍 excellent post 😊.
It's definitely worth the visit if you're able to. It's a nice city and there is quite a bit to do there.
Impressive! I really enjoyed this walkthrough of Bordeaux. I'm glad you managed to make such a beautiful place even more beautiful, everything you've shown here I love and makes me want to be there in a less crowded season. I probably won't get there but the wish remains, thanks to you. Thank you!
Thanks I'm glad that you enjoyed the post. Yeah I know what you mean, there are so many amazing places to visit in the world and it's not possible to see them all for any number of reasons. At least we can all enjoy different places around the world vicariously through others here on Hive. 👍
What a nice little vingette to have the kid say that for the story as he splashes through the water! The photos are stunning and make me want to go to France (it's on the bucket list).
France is an awesome travel destination. You won't be dissapointed
Wow! Those are amazing pictures! Looks like you had an amazing trip to Boreaux.
So far I haven't been there, but seeing it through your images, it really arouse my interest in visiting the city!
And I am thankful for you sharing your talent of taking good pictures! Keep up the good work!
Cheers, @andy-plays
Thanks for the nice comment. The city has quite a bit to offer as a destination. It's worth a visit for sure.
Cheers 🍻
something very beautiful and amazing when the water is reminiscent of that reflection,,
very good photography shots 👍🤟
Thanks for the nice words 🙂
👍
Wonderfull post
Thanks!
I Spent more minutes staring at the reflection of the water than the words itself 😄😄 cos it sooo beautiful
Reading is too much work anyway. Its better to just looks at the photos :)
Bordeaux is impressive both day and night,
Amazing photos.
Cheers.
Yeah it's a nice city
Great photographs. You make me wanna go there. Hope I could, in the future.
I hope you get a chance to 😁
woww... beautiful night view
I'm guessing that you are referring to the reflection on the water mirror - yeah it's pretty cool.
Amazing photos ❤️❤️
Thank you 😊
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Yes to the photography and visual story telling. Lovely city post.
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Photography yang hebat dan sangat keren