My weekend in Bordeaux - rive droite, the other side of the river

In Bordeaux, everything is about rive gauche, the left side of the river Garonne. That is where you have the old centre, most of the historic monuments and everything else. But I know of at least three reasons to cross the bridge Pont de Pierre and discover the other side, rive droite.

The first one is the Estacade restaurant. You see it from Place de la Bourse, a building set up on stilts above the water. We went there on a beautiful evening and had a very nice dinner indeed. The panoramic windows let you enjoy the view of the rive gauche, the left side, lit up at night. The specialties of the restaurant are fish and seafood. When we arrived the sun was still up, but the buildings across the river had a golden shimmer about them. Gradually it became darker and the buildings stood out beautifully with the artificial lighting.

The second reason to cross the river is a similar restaurant, Le Café du Port. I haven't been there myself, but Emilie said it is good. And the view of the Pont de Pierre is extra!

The third reason to go rive droite is Resto Guinguette Chez Alriq, a different place by the river. Hard to define, but a place where you can eat or have a drink and listen to music. Every night there is a different theme. The furniture is plastic and very kitsch, but the feeling here has something very authentic and good about it... a place where you feel at home. It is only open during spring and summer. When we went there, there was a fantastic concert with two Argentinean girls, Las Hermanas Caronni,  and a bit too chilly to sit outside, but in summer it must be so nice to sit outside next to the river....

My weekend in Bordeaux - Place de la Bourse and the quays

My absolute favourite part of Bordeaux is along the quays. We spent several hours there during our weekend. The beautiful 17th century fronts, the water mirror, the renovated hangars, the gardens... but also the people and the atmosphere. Everybody walking or on rollers or a bike. Picnics in the grass, Sunday dressed children mixed with chic French women in heels and sunglasses, families and old ladies. Lots of terraces along the way. When it's sunny, it is hard to beat. Bordeaux lives along the river Garonne. 

Place de la Bourse

A group of dancers on the Water Mirror in front of Place de la Bourse

The statue Les trois grâces in front of Place de la Bourse. My husband and our friends.

The gardens along the quays.

Shrimps from the Sunday morning market along the quays, Marché des quais

Local sing star

Picnics on the grass

You know that Bordeaux is a commercial harbour I guess. But cruising ships come in here too.

Cafés and restaurants in front of the renovated hangars - more about them when I talk about shopping!

View from the hangars back to the centre.

My weekend in Bordeaux - shopping

For my weekend in Bordeaux I was lucky to bring my friend Armelle. She has a black belt in shopping. Together we made for a dangerous shopping team! Clothes and shoes were our main objectives. Do I need to tell you we succeeded in our mission?

Porte de Dijeaux, this is where the shopping begins after a coffee outside in the sun. We started with the classic shopping area, rue Dijeaux, rue Saint Rémy. My favourites! Then we made the famous rue Sainte Cathérine, the main shopping street and the longest in Europe. About a kilometre I think. Here you find many of the most known brands, but not the small shops.

We also took a stroll along Cours de l'Intendence. It belongs to the famous Golden Triangle, formed by Allées de Tourny, Cours Georges Clémenceau and Cours de l'Intendence. Here you find all the famous brands like Versace, Gucci, Marni, Stella McCartney... Vuitton, Hermès, Saint Laurent...  you get the picture. A lot of fun just looking at the shop windows even if you don't have the money to go inside!

But the best shopping is nowadays found along the quays. It is called Les Hangars or Quai des Marques and consists of a line of harbour warehouse buildings that have been renovated and remade into shops. They sell branded clothes from last year's collection to fabulous prices, but also kitchen equipment, china, shoes and other things. Good to know: it is open on Sundays. Shopping here was so good, Armelle needed some persuasion to stop for lunch... a short break, no more.

If you are interested in art and crafts, the old centre Saint Pierre is a good choice with lots of small shops. Saint Michel is good for antiques and flea market bargains with many small shops held by immigrants, like a bazaar.

If you are unlucky enough to be there on a rainy day, there is plenty of covered shopping! First of all Galéries Lafayette, a high end department store with several floors - actually a must even if it's not raining! You can also try the department stores Marché des Grands Hommes or Centre Commercial Mériadeck.  In Saint Michel you find Passage Saint Michel, like a big covered flea market with antiques and bric-a-brac.

There are also commercial centres by the rocade, the bypass road that makes a circle around Bordeaux. Not so much fun, but practical. I know the ones in Mérignac, Bègles, le Lac but I am sure there are others.

My weekend in Bordeaux - walking around the centre

Last year we spent a marvellous weekend in Bordeaux with another couple of friends. Beginning of May, sunny and warm. We had left the children with their grandparents and were free as the wind to enjoy the big city! We had such a good time...

The old centre of Bordeaux is really small, so you can do a lot of things just walking around or taking the tramway. It is filled with beautiful architecture, squares with terraces... a mix of majestic avenues and small paved streets. I had refused to take my comfy sneakers, I wanted to be chic like the French women! But we spent so much time just walking around that by the end of the weekend my feet were in agony! Next time I bring the sneakers and change for going out in the evening!

Just one of all those beautiful details... a lamp ...

... or impressive architecture. Here Porte d'Aquitaine at Place de la Victoire 

Place de la Victoire, always animated with lots of students, bars and cafés

La Grosse Cloche Saint Eloi, the big bell. 

 

Detail from the Saint André Cathedral. On the right, before cleaning, on the left, after cleaning!

The square below the Saint André Cathedral

Camillan Julian Square, a favourite place. Always full of people. 

 

Cosy street at night time

I am preparing other posts to tell you all about this weekend. Check under the Bordeaux label!

A weekend with Emilie in Bordeaux

When I meet Emilie for the first time, she works at the tourist office in Bordeaux, organising wine excursions in the Bordeaux wine district. Her father is Swedish and her mother is French, so she speaks perfect Swedish and French. She looks at me with a big smile. I love Bordeaux, she says. It's such an exciting city that gets more animated for every day, with lots of winding streets to walk around, open spaces with terraces and a rich cultural life.

I ask her about a perfect weekend in Bordeaux. If I have a whole day to do whatever I please, she answers, I start with a morning jog along the quays of the Garonne River in the centre. Early in the morning, before anybody else is up. You have such an incredible view over the water along the quays that I never grow tired of. You can stay for a coffee at any of the cafés along the road and then return again at night and admire the lit up monuments and the bridge Pont de Pierre that glimmers like a jewel at night.

On a Sunday I would continue to my favourite market, the Marché des quais. Lots of people, but still cosy. That's where I will have some oysters with a glass of white wine and maybe pirogues from the Argentinean stand. And if it's Saturday, I will go to the Marché Royal instead.

My favourite place for lunch is Café des Arts, an authentic place where the inhabitants themselves go. There is a terrace, good service and especially the meat dishes are good. Or, maybe go for some oysters at the Chez Brunet restaurant.

Photo Wikipedia

The Saint Michel area is known for its small shops with spices, little vintage shops and other interesting shops with things you have never seen... They have a flea market almost every day. On a sunny day you'll have a fantastic view from the church tower Saint Michel. Another place with a great view is the bell tower Pey Berland next to the Saint André cathedral.

Photo Nathan Bergeron Flickr

In the evening you can go to the area around Place de la Victoire if you are young at heart - it's a hangout for students. Lots of animation, lots of bars and many cafés open until 2 AM. I personally prefer Villa Tourny, a trendy place that boils on Thursdays, their day for singles. Another favourite area is Saint Pierre, with different kind of bars, both hip and cosy. If I can mention a last address, it will be the wine bar Le petit bois, where you order wine by the glass.

Emilie gave me some more advice, but I kept them for myself so I could try them out personally - check out for my next post about my weekend in Bordeaux! Thank you, Emilie! If you read this, I hope you don’t miss Bordeaux too much now that you live in snowy Stockholm!

Cauterets, skiing in the Pyrenees

Skiing in the French Alps were my first experiences with Latin culture - especially with the Latin queuing habits. All the Swedes standing practically still as all the Italians and French deftly passed them….

Now I want to pass on my love for skiing to my children and being only two hours from the Pyrenees ski stations, I wanted to go even though my husband was away. A ski week alone with two children = kamikaze mission? We went to lovely Cauterets, just outside the Aquitaine border, in the Midi Pyrenees region. I had some doubts on the first day when we arrived in the rain and the station was closed due to the storm Xynthia arriving. The storm passed us and only damaged one of the lifts, but nearby ski stations had to close entirely.

The next day was sunny and perfect, but I was sweating just getting our equipment from the rental shop, taking us all up to the station in the cabin lift and getting the skis on my children... We had picnic in the sun and then I took them to ski classes. That gave me two magnificent hours on my own surrounded by these majestic mountains. Pure happiness. When I went to pick up the children, they were both smiling and rambling over their words to describe what they had been doing. After trying out the hotel pool and Jacuzzi and the play area, we had dinner at the hotel. I fell asleep at the same time as my children, exhausted but happy.

We then had the routine settled. Calm morning, buy bread to make sandwiches and picnic up at the station. After the ski classes, a snack and then head for the pool and the play area. In the evening there were animations at the hotel. Introduction to circus, Wii tennis tournament and question games... what the French call 'ringard' but really lots of fun!

Skiing is the best vacation all categories in my opinion - outdoor activity in a beautiful setting and lots of well needed food!

We stayed in Cauterets, a very nice mountain village, at the Odalys Balneo Aladin Residence, a very family oriented hotel. The ski slopes are at 2400 metres, so it is a snow sure option. Very nearby you find Donjon des Aigles, a view point to study eagles, falcons, vultures and other high mountain birds in their natural environment. It is open from April to September, so we couldn’t’t go there this time.

Cap Ferret, wild and beautiful

If you move on a line westward from Bordeaux until you reach the Atlantic, you have pretty much reached Cap Ferret. It forms the end of an arm that creates a beautiful and oyster rich bay called Bassin d'Arcachon. This arm is very narrow, so only a few meters separate the beaches on the inside of the arm, protected from the sea, and the wild beaches on the Atlantic side.

Cap Ferret has become something of a trendy place for French stars and other VIPs, but it has so far managed to keep much of the initial wildness that makes it such a special place.

Photo Wikipedia

If you feel like exercising, try walking up the 258 steps in the lighthouse and enjoy a spectacular view over the bay at the height of 52 meters.

Map Wikipedia

On the map you see the different fishing villages. You don't really see them if you stay in the car and follow the road. The best option to get a good look is to take a trip by boat.

Photo Wikipedia

Photo Wikipedia

Once, after a very hot day, we went there with some friends and found a small restaurant close to the water. The air was warm, the children playing and we thoroughly enjoyed a meal with oysters and other seafood. We lingered for a long time over half empty wine glasses as the sun went down.

Photo Wikipedia

Armagnac V - Restaurant Jardin de Violette

We had lunch at the farm restaurant Ferme Auberge du Jardin de Violette in Lencouacq. It took us into the pine forest to a peaceful farm in the middle of nothing. Violette lets her biological garden supply her restaurant in vegetables and bio chicken. Other meat comes from local producers. The menu is set every day in function of what she has harvested in the morning... and she grows 40-50 different kinds of vegetables, many of them a bit forgotten, so chances are you will try something new!

We had a fantastic meal with vegetable soup, chicken, onion and leek pâté, duck magret filled with vegetables and an apple and kiwi cake. She has been here for thirty years now and is well known in the region. A quietly passionate woman! I would love to come there again in summer and go and have a walk in her garden, have coffee out on the terrace... I know that in summer she makes the most amazing salads with salads you have never seen before, even with eatable flowers!