Bordeaux - Porte Cailhau, medieval city gate - ata photo
1. The locals are
friendlier towards tourists than in Paris
2. A lot of beautiful
buildings from different epochs mixed together (including many
elegant, triangular, ’flatiron’ type buildings
3. The
pedestrian area known as the Cours du Chapeau Rouge (Courts of the
Red Hat) is very pleasant
4. The dignified interior of le Café
Opéra
5. The trams are super-modern – very chic and elegant
6.
The Miroir d’Eaux, or water mirror, by the banks of the Garonne
7.
The CAPC Musée d’Art (7 Rue Ferrére, in a former factory) with
contemporary art exhibitions, bizarre installations and a café on
the roof. For lovers of the avant-garde only
8. The Quartier des
Capucins (“The Belly of Bordeaux”) with its plentiful eateries,
and most of all for its market, the Marché des Capucins (with fresh
oyster and other delights)
9. The main square illuminated in the evening
10. The beautiful, recently renovated areas on the Quais de Garonne.
1. Dog excrement on
the street (always unpleasant, though the French say it brings good
luck if you step in it with your left foot)
2. The ‘modern’
Mériadeck district, built in the seventies, no longer looks modern,
and is rather soulless
3. The polished paving stones that line the
pavement along parts of the Rue Saint Catherine can become a real
slip hazard during and after rain
4. On Saturday afternoons the
crowds on shopping streets make it difficult to even move
5. The
amputated frames of bicycles chained to railings – never a
reassuring sight
6. A surprising number of people smoking in the
streets
7. A lot of litter
8. Gangs of criminal youths see anyone who is visibly a tourist as an easy victim
9. Capucins and the train station.a bit noisy at night.
