Bordeaux 4: Walking Tour

Monday 10th February 2020.

We took an organised Bordeaux walking tour, which helped us to get our bearings.  There was a young Hungarian couple, two young men from Quebec, a young Chinese Australian girl, Tracey, from Melbourne, and us.  Spot a trend here?  The Italian guide, Monica, was also young, and was very enthusiastic and competent.  We had a good time.

There are three main features in this picture: the Monument aux Girondins, a distinguished French monsieur crossing the road, and Stuart.  Can you tell which is which?

The Girondists were originally part of France’s Legislative Assembly, becoming one of the most militant groups which supported the French Revolution as it began. 

However, in October 1793, the Girondists were executed under the orders of one of the leaders of the Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre, after they began opposing the movement.

Monument aux Girondins was built in the early 20th century as a memorial to the Girondists, now considered to be political martyrs. Depicting the Statue of Liberty standing atop a 43 metre pillar and flanked by two pools containing spectacular statues, Monument aux Girondins is a striking memorial to the Reign of Terror (Thanks Wikipedia).

Not having access to a helicopter to take a photo show the scale of this area, I have borrowed this picture.  You can see the Monument aux Girondins towards the left hand end, flanked by the two semicircular pools.  (The pools did not have water in them when we were there, as in winter the water can freeze and mess up the pipes.)

The big open area, the Place des Quinconces, is one of the largest city squares in Europe.  It was laid out in 1820 on the site of Château Trompette and was intended to prevent rebellion against the city.

Trees were planted in quincunxes - hence the name of the square - in 1818.  Not knowing what a quincunx actually is, I looked it up, and found some fascinating trivia:

• A quincunx is an arrangement of five objects with four at the corners of a square or rectangle and the fifth at its centre, used for the five on a dice or playing card, and in planting trees.
• The quincunx was originally a coin issued by the Roman Republic c. 211–200 BC, whose value was five twelfths (quinque and uncia) of an as, the Roman standard bronze coin. On the Roman quincunx coins, the value was sometimes indicated by a pattern of five dots or pellets.
• The quincunx as a tattoo is known as the five dots tattoo.  It has been variously interpreted as:  fertility symbol, a reminder of sayings on how to treat women or police, or time spent in prison (with the outer four dots representing the prison walls and the inner dot representing the prisoner). 
• Thomas Edison, whose many inventions included an electric pen, which later became the basis of a tattooing machine created by Samuel O'Reilly, had this pattern tattooed on his forearm.

When we were here, the trees were completely bare, as it is winter.  We checked it out later, and the trees really are planted in this quincunx pattern.

Maison Gobineau is Bordeaux's own version of the "Flatiron Building" which houses the Bordeaux Wine Multidisciplinary Council, as well as their wine bar, a local institution since 1788.

L'Entrecote is a famous Bordeaux restaurant.  They have a set menu - a walnut salad followed by rare steak.  They don't take bookings so people come and queue outside, and there is always a queue.  Stuart (who doesn't like rare steak) admires the queue.

Intercontinental Hotel and a Frenchman's nose.

The Intercontinental Hotel has UNESCO Heritage architecture and a Gordon Ramsay restaurant.  We came here later - not to the Gordon Ramsay restaurant - but to the Orangerie Bar, for a memorable lunch.

Notre Dame is the most Baroque and Romanesque-style church in Bordeaux.

In the 1990s, the main arteries of Bordeaux were clogged by traffic,  abandoned warehouses choked the riverfront,and the limestone facades of the old city were black from pollution.  In 1995, Mayor Alain Juppé started a massive regeneration program to open up the riverfront, pedestrianise the city centre, clean up the architecture and install a hi-tech tram system. It has paid dividends – in 2007, half of the city was UNESCO-listed, making it the largest urban heritage site in the world.  

Above is a rare example of a building which has not been cleaned, next to one which has.  Today, the Vieille Ville (Old City) where we are staying, is absolutely beautiful.