We have been in Bordeaux for three months to the day. We have been adventurous inhabitants here with regular wanderings to nearby towns and countries. We have attended French schools, had Easter in Italy, weekends in the Dordogne and Lot valleys, La Rochelle, Paris, the Pyrnees and day trips to St Emillion, Arcachon, Cape Ferrat and lunch in Spain - because we could!
So on a day like this, with the sun shining, the kids at the local school, husband at work and recent visitors gone, I find myself with a relatively quiet agenda. We are off to the Pyrenees tomorrow and so car to be picked up, maps purchased, bags packed, but otherwise my day is my own. I do have a slight guilt that I should be home doing some french studies! But after dropping the kids at school I started wandering and with shops still closed until 10am, it is still very tranquil.
The streets are slowly coming to life with builders arriving at ancient sites being renovated, still clean and joking with their copains and preparing for the day's work. Street sweepers are busying themselves, bread is being delivered, dogs being walked by beautifully adorned women and cafes are quiet with a few sleepy customers. The brilliant sun is starting to creep through to the lanes below and warming the stone buildings. The light is magnificent. I adore the peeling painted shutters, the rusty metal balconies, the wobbly old glass panes. I'm always looking up, up. Whilst there is a feeling of solitude in some of the cobblestone lanes at this time of morning, it is not a feeling of loneliness. This is where people really live. These old buildings almost speak of their inhabitants happiness's, sadness's, pains and elation's. The stories these buildings must hold. My footfalls are the same as those of people hundreds of years ago but the life so different now.
I sit at a tiny cafe in the back streets of Bordeaux enjoying an espresso, the low warm sun on my back with a glimpse of the beautiful St Andre Cathedral. St Andre is topped by a magnificent gold Madonna and child, shining against the blue sky. At the end of the street the trams hush by, laden with an ever increasing number of people heading to work, shopping, wherever.
My mind wanders to our first weeks in Bordeaux which were cold and somewhat bleak, but immediately I felt at home here. A town big enough to provide for our needs but small enough to feel almost village like. On our first weekend we visited a market on the banks of La Gironne which is the large tidal river that passes through Bordeaux and would have been the main reason for Bordeaux to have existed in days gone by. The market, known by locals as the BoBo market (bohemian, bourgeois) sells local products including produce, fish, meats, breads, cheeses and most importantly for Craig, oysters freshly shucked before our eyes and served with some nice Bordelais white wine. Whilst we were getting into the local way of life and partaking these delicacies, the kids downing some crepes, we met a French woman who summed up Bordeaux as being one of the few french towns that had maintained 'le savoir-faire' ...
The old central part where we have been fortunate enough to find an apartment for 5 months is a maze of cobblestone streets, many pedestrianised, with pleasant squares. We have the magnificent St Michel cathedral on our doorstep which we have come to call "our cathedral" because in our first days here we frequently got lost in the laneways and then we would get a glimpse of "our cathedral" and know the way home. It is a 12th century church with "La Fleche" (bell tower) built separately and soars above the surrounding 3 and 4 storey high stone houses. The stained glass windows were replaced in the 70's (I hear you groan) but are magnificent in their color and style - a wonderful surprise! Around the church is the large Place Canteloup, a pleasant drinking spot for Craig and I whilst the girls ride their scooters and catch up with their friends. Place Canteloup also houses a market nearly every day of the week in some form or other. Monday is my favourite. You can get your plumbing supplies, buttons, materials, designer frocks and shoes in amongst a pile of other trash and treasure. I often come home empty handed with some extra photos in my camera and my money still in my pocket - waiting for the elusive bargain .... maybe next week. Wednesday is often trash and treasure but occasionally a fantastic antique market appears and some great bargains are to be had. It is a real treat and I rarely come home with nothing! Some favourite finds are a lovely coat rack, a metal pot stand and I did come home with 8 copper pots one day when I only wanted one! Saturday is a fantastic food market - live chickens, ducks, rabbits put gently on the scale before boxing up to go home for someones dinner. There are freshly made goats cheeses, smallgoods, breads and of course the most delicious fruit and veg you could imagine. More types of asparagus, peaches, lettuce, tomatoes etc, etc, than you could imagine existed. Our eyes are always bigger than our stomachs and we always come home with a feast in the making.
It is not all wonderful though, there is a high unemployment rate, I notice shops and businesses closing at a rapid rate and there are a lot of homeless people and beggars. The beggars do not hassle us for money but their existence awakens us from our ever-so-easy existence. On a much more trifle note there is also a lot of crotte du chien (dog turds). It reminds us of Paris in the past, with Paris now pristine by comparison!
Of course the language is a bit of a problem for me, having never learned French until a few months before we arrived. However, whilst the learning curve is steep, people are generally very helpful and tend to apologise if they don't speak English! There are relatively few tourists here during autumn through to spring, with the British tourists arriving predominantly in the summer. Of course there are always a few diehard travellers and wine buffs who come year round. For us we can not imagine why Bordeaux is not more touristed. So easy to get around. The architecture magnificent, the people helpful and friendly, the markets are many and varied. We can't imagine what more you could ask for in an overseas experience.
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