Bordeaux

In 2018 SWISS had started a direct route from Zurich to Bordeaux in France. Such routes don’t always stick around, so I try to take advantage of them while they’re still active. It wasn’t exactly peak season either, so the tickets were cheap. I was going through some additional air traffic controller training at the time but had my weekends completely off. An added bonus was the fact that the flight left Zurich early Saturday and another flight returned late on Sunday. This enabled me to be back home in time for simulator sessions on Monday. I even saved money on the hotel, only having to book one night.

SATURDAY, January 12th

Early morning flight with SWISS just past 7 AM, which left the gate in Zurich on time.

Because the pilots decided deicing wasn’t necessary, we jumped the departure queue ahead of several other flights. This meant an early landing in Bordeaux. 

From the airport in Bordeaux I took a bus downtown towards the hotel I was staying at. It was relatively direct and stopped close to the hotel. The room wasn’t yet ready that early in the morning, which wasn’t surprising. I left behind my suitcase and took a small backpack with me for the day. My first stop was actually the nearest tourism office, to buy a Bordeaux City Pass. It’s very good value. The City Pass gives free entrance or discounts to a long range of attractions in the city, plus free use of the city’s public transport system.

The cashier at the tourism office informed me that a large demonstration was scheduled to take place in the city center. It was part of the “yellow vest” movement that had spread throughout France at the time. This meant that some attractions would close. However, the information regarding which attractions closed didn’t seem to be set in stone.

I decided to get on a tram downtown to visit the Saint-André Cathedral and its belfry, the Tour Pey-Berland. According to the tourism office, both would already be closed, but they were in fact open. First I entered the UNESCO Heritage-listed cathedral.

The oldest parts of the structure date all the way back from 1096. Most of the current cathedral was constructed during the 13th and 14th centuries.

The cathedral has a pretty, modest interior complimented by stained-glass windows. There is a very large pipe organ at the western end.

The belfry tower is actually separate from the cathedral building itself. You have to go back outside to enter it. Climbing up the winding staircase isn’t the easiest, as it is somewhat narrow. Whenever someone is coming in the opposite direction, you’d have to turn your body against the wall to make room for anyone to pass. In mid-January, it wasn’t crowded, and in fact I had the platform on the top all to myself. But I can only imagine that there are a lot more visitors in the summer.

Regardless of the crowd, the views from the top certainly make the climb worthwhile. There’s a nice look at most of the old town city center from the tower. You can see essentially all of Bordeaux, at least on a clear day.

After I got back down to the ground, it was just past 11 AM. It was much too early for lunch, but the next spot on the to-do list was a large museum. After that, it could possibly have been too late for lunch. I decided instead to go for a prolonged walk, seeing some squares and monuments nearby.

In the summertime, one of Bordeaux’s top sights is the Miroir d’Eau water display. It is usually not turned on during the winter, but I walked by the square anyways. I continued along the riverfront, turning left to see the Girondins Monument. It is honoring the Girondins group, which played a role in the French Revolution. The political movement was started in Bordeaux.

By now it was close to noon, and I was still near the city center. I figured I’d head for lunch. I checked out the restaurant options recommended in my Lonely Planet guide. Nearby was a spot that was already open. They specialize in healthier salads and sandwiches.

Although the food itself was not typical French, the café was definitely a good lunch option. The place was quite busy, which is always a good indicator that you didn’t pick a bad place to eat. The staff were friendly and spoke English really well, which was an added bonus. 

After lunch, I wanted to go to La Cité du Vin (The City of Wine). It is a museum north of downtown Bordeaux, dedicated to wine. Getting there was not straightforward though. Thanks to the demonstrations in Bordeaux, the same tram I had used just a couple of hours earlier wasn’t running. All of the bus/tram stops within the areas surrounding the demonstrations were not serviced.

This order took effect already a couple of hours before the event itself took place. I walked a bit further north and got on a northbound tram from there instead.

Finally, I arrived at the Cité du Vin. The building itself has even been designed to look like a wine decanter.

The visit can be summarized as a slightly strange, but interesting experience.  The museum building actually has 8 floors, but the exhibition itself is just on the 2nd floor. The exhibition space is vast though.

The museum details the various nuances of different winegrowing areas throughout the world. The presentations use video interviews with winegrowers from abroad.

Also on display is the history of winemaking, explained in great detail. What quickly strikes you about the museum is that it’s a sensory, interactive and occasionally hands-on experience throughout. The different aromas of wine were compared to the various smells of everyday items, for instance. Using pressurized containers, these smells could be activated with the touch of a button, or by squeezing a pump.

The museum also had a bit of history about vineyards in the Bordeaux region. However, it maintained a more broad, worldwide focus throughout the entire exhibit space. Video interviews were used repeatedly, but sometimes they could get quite technical, particularly if wine-tasting isn’t a big interest.

However, it was possible to hear stories of how different wine flavors were tried and tested before they became established. The whole process of producing wine, from selecting grapes and preparing the soil, to bottling the final product, is covered at the museum.

Included in the price of admission was a glass of wine at the museum’s 8th-floor bar at the top of the building. For children, the bar would offer a glass of soda.

I usually don’t drink wine, but whenever I travel, the saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” is something I try to live by. I asked which local red wine the bartender would recommend. It was slightly stronger than I had expected. The views from the top were quite nice, although the museum is relatively far away from the city center. 

My next spot on the to-do list was actually also about wine. It was the so-called Musée du Vin et du Négoce (the Museum of Wine and Trade). It was housed inside a mansion that used to belong to an Irish merchant in the city’s Chartres district. The museum’s exhibit spaces were in the basement, however, with no other parts of the mansion being open to visitors.

The small museum exhibit was presented in a much more traditional fashion. Unlike the Cité du Vin’s global focus, this museum is centered more around the wine exported from Bordeaux and France.

A theme that repeated itself was the different classifications of the region’s wines. France has used a unique, but strict classification system for hundreds of years.

An overview of the major vineyard estates in the Gironde region surrounding Bordeaux.

Not only does this the classification system protect trademarks, but it also assures some quality control for the consumers. I’m sure you’ve already heard that you can only call it a bottle of champagne if it comes from the Champagne region of northeastern France. However, the French “appellation d’origine contrôlée” (AOC) is a lot more strict than that.

The labels used for wine products are earned based on the sort of grapes being used, the type of soil it was grown in, and the exact vineyard which produced the wine. Just in the Bordeaux region alone, there are over 40 different brands of wine being produced.

The visit at the Musée du Vin et du Négoce included a long presentation explaining the AOC characteristics and the nuances of various Bordeaux wines. Fortunately, I was by myself for this part. This meant I got to try several different flavors for the subsequent wine-tasting.

My last sightseeing stop would have been the Jardin Public. However, this public park in central Bordeaux was closed. Instead, I returned to the hotel to check-in to my room and relax until it was time for dinner.

For dinner I went to a creperie, ordering a filled galette for the main course. As is the norm for locals, I chose a sweeter crepe for the dessert.

After I was done eating I went to a nearby bar area to sample the city’s nightlife. 

SUNDAY, January 13th

Slept in a bit, but not longer than still being able to catch breakfast at the hotel. Afterward, I contemplated exactly what to do, as my flight was scheduled to depart late. I had a few sightseeing stops in mind for Bordeaux, but not enough for a full day. I wanted to do a day-trip. Ultimately I decided on going to the Dune du Pilat.

I checked out of the hotel, where I had only booked one night. I left my bag behind at the reception. Then I took a tram to the train station in Bordeaux.

From here I got on a regional train to the coastal town of Arcachon. Although the Dune du Pilat sees several visitors, it’s in a slightly remote location, so public transport is limited. I would have had to wait over an hour for a bus from Arcachon to the dune. I didn’t want to lose that much time, so I got an Uber instead. 

The Dune du Pilat is the largest sand dune in Europe, situated on the Atlantic coast. It’s 2.7km (1.7mi) long, and grows inland about 1.5m (5ft) each year too. It’s an impressive sight yet also slightly underwhelming. The Dune du Pilat is literally just one large pile of sand.

That being said, it is surprisingly strenuous to walk up to the top. Your feet keep sliding on the slopes of the sand dune.

The highest point of the dune is approximately 115m(377ft) above the sea level. Unfortunately, it was quite windy too, which made it less enjoyable.

In order to get back from the dune to Arcachon, I was once again faced with the issue of the lack of public transportation. My plan was actually to have lunch nearby too.

I walked to the northern end of the sand dune and into a beach town bordering the Dune du Pilat. I was hoping to find either an open restaurant or at least a passing taxi that could get me to Arcachon. After wandering for a while I found neither and ordered an Uber. It had to drive there from a city much further away. The wait was about 20 minutes, but it was the best option anyway.

Upon returning to Bordeaux, I had a quick takeaway sandwich for lunch at the train station. It helped me make up for the time I had lost.

Next up was the Musée d’Aquitaine, the main history museum in Bordeaux. I spent the next 1.5 hours exploring the vast collection. The exhibits begin with archaeology, with some golden jewelry and coins standing out among older stone tools and pottery.

The museum has a large Roman mosaic that’s mostly intact.

There are also several well-preserved statues from the Roman settlement that preceded modern Bordeaux. Pictured below is a statue of Jupiter from the 1st century AD.

Late-medieval Bordeaux saw both an English influence as well as that of French rulers. A 14th-century sculpture using English lions on the coat of arms of Bordeaux is one example of this.

Also found inside the Musée d’Aquitaine is the cenotaph of Michel de Montaigne, who passed away in 1592. He was a significant philosopher of the French Renaissance movement.

Bordeaux’s significance as a trade port for France is certainly also highlighted at the museum. Some of the exhibited items included ship models and old navigational maps.

Unfortunately, Bordeaux’s status as an overseas trade port also meant that ships from Bordeaux took part in the slave trade. This fact is also acknowledged by the museum.

The museum’s exhibits end with several rooms displaying a random mix of artifacts and cultural items from indigenous people in French overseas colonies.

Next up I made a stop at the Museum of Fine Arts for about half-an-hour. Paintings aren’t really my thing, but thanks to the Bordeaux City Pass, I had free entrance anyway.

There were some depictions of Bordeaux in the 18th and 19th centuries that definitely made it worthwhile nonetheless.

Among other paintings in the galleries, there were several 19th-century paintings showing more ordinary scenes from life in Bordeaux.

All the attractions in Bordeaux seemed to close at 6 PM, with a policy of last entrance 30 mins prior. As it was already close to 5:30, I gave up on trying to enter another place. Instead, I returned to the hotel to pick up my bag. Then I walked over to a nearby bus stop to catch an airport-bound bus.

I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. At the check-in desk I was informed that the flight was delayed by 30 minutes. This, in addition to the fact I got to the airport earlier than planned, provided plenty of time for dinner. I was disappointed to find that there was just one café past security. All it served were sandwiches, muffins, and cake. Bordeaux is a small airport, sure, but I had expected much better food options for a French airport.

My SWISS flight back home to Zurich left with the “scheduled” 30 minutes delay. We landed about 15 minutes late.