The Beauty of Bordeaux

The beauty of Bordeaux was evident. Classicist buildings of medium height, magnificent facades, a manageable tangle of streets and grand boulevards, Gothic churches and squares adorned with picturesque outdoor dining.

During my walking tour, which I joined on Monday, it was told that Bordeaux served as a blueprint for the transformation of Paris at the beginning of the 19th century. Our guide Ani led us on a city stroll through the Middle Ages. The Hundred Years' War ended the 300-year rule of the English in Aquitaine. Then followed the early modern period, when the Girondists (from the banks of the Gironde) initiated the French Revolution and were themselves executed five years later by the Jacobins.

Over the last millennium, the city amassed tremendous wealth, mainly due to its port. During the height of the Crusades and Christian piety, it was the starting point for pilgrimages to the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela. Then England quenched its thirst for red wine from there.
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Excursion: During the city tour, I learned why wine bottles hold exactly 0.75 liters. Six bottles per case yield 4.5 liters, which equals an English gallon. Good to know!
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With the reconquest of the region by France, trade with England was banned. In its place, new businesses emerged around 1700. Bordeaux profited largely from the transatlantic triangular trade and thus from the mass shipping of enslaved Africans to the plantations of the New World.

Grand buildings and facade decorations come from this era. The context between old splendor and human cruelty is rarely addressed. Like most colonial powers, the grande nation also has a tense relationship with its own history.

Today, the BoBos dominate the cityscape in the bars and cafés. BoBo stands for Bohemian Bourgeois. This French neologism describes young city-dwellers with an alternative lifestyle who also have the necessary capital for wine bars and city apartments. Hipsters with money!

As a bystander to this scene, I find myself on my last evening at the Quai Richelieu by the Garonne river. Behind me lies the Place de la Bourse, the commercial center of the city from the 18th century, and before me stands the landmark of the city, the old stone bridge, in the moonlight.