There were a lot of other Brittany possibilities but since it was off off season visits to the islands or other beaches were not really in the cards. With rain up ahead, we chose to skip Nantes (birthplace of Jules Verne), forego the pottery of Quimper (where would we put it), and sadly did not see the competitive church closes, https://francetoday.com/travel/brittanys-spectacular-parish-closes/ , because those would take forever to reach by bus even if we could work out the timing. Despite some initial whining, we decided to go to Bordeaux.
We have seen a lot of promotions and social media encouraging visits to “second cities” to reduce the tourist concentration in major cities. We agree, not just to avoid the dense spots but because we like “second” and “third” cities, they often provide the most full-bodied taste of a country, best embodying the local terroir.
Bordeaux has all the standard European city color; the grand train station, memorable cathedral, rich riverside promenade to stretch our legs , and the longest pedestrian shopping lane in Europe (Rue Sainte-Catherine). Opulent boulevards poured onto classic city “places” (squares) which were a heady balance of complexity- vintage city gates remnants from the old city walls, subtle gardens woody with bouquets of autumn flowers, sparkling fountains, brilliant museums, massive memorials and elegant buildings (but why is there always a ferris wheel?).
Bordeaux is not just mature Europe, it is also nouveau, having a steely structured, vertical lift bridge, the tallest in Europe (Pont Jaques Chalban-Delmas) that hungover the River Garrone at the far end of town and a unique wine museum, Cité du Vin, although we abstained. There was also a bit of funk; spaceship, vibrant graffiti and bold public art.
It really felt that we were back in Europe when we passed our first stolpesteine, unfortunately a constant companion through-out Europe, here are pics of all that we have seen so far with Bordeaux’s added https://chosenfugue.xyz/2019/01/07/they-do-make-you-stumble/
We stayed between the train station and downtown in a building that was a blend of tourist and student residence, we never quite figured out what blend but despite it being a bit austere it was sweet enough that we did not mind a day inside to keep dry when the wind and rain were a bit too robust for even us, nominal Pacific Northwesterners. Our only regret with our housing was when we were leaving, and checking the cigar-box sized fridge, we noticed that we had missed that a previous resident had left a carton of frozen Mars ice cream bars in the freezer. At 6 am with a train to catch, an existential moment. We chose to punt.
Bordeaux, felt like maybe the San Diego of France, multi-layered, pleasant but not distinct, like a table wine. Perhaps, though, our review will not be on-the-nose because we are a hard pair to rate this city as we did not even have one glass of wine.
Chosen Fugue 