Blissful Bordeaux Sunday

Sunday morning and the fog hung heavy over Ribérac.  Not a very inspiring start to the day but the forecast bode well.  Lesley and I were off to Bordeaux for the day and in particular the Quais des Chartrons. Our route South West from Ribérac took us through the bastide town of Saint Aulaye then on to La Roche Chalais, Libourne and finally to Bordeaux itself. 

 

The Bordelais relax on the Quais des Chartrons on Sundays

If we visit Bordeaux we often make use of the tram system and last Sunday was no exception. Installed about five years ago it is highly efficient, clean and puntual and seemingly admired by everybody.  I'm not sure if it is Alain Juppé we can thank for for this particular piece of Bordelais innovation, but whoever, it is a system that works well and surely is a blueprint for all cities of the future.  What it has done is free up large areas of the city from clogging up with traffic thereby making Bordeaux an enjoyable place to cycle, jog, rollerblade or simply stroll.  Bordeaux is no longer a city given over to the car and the freshly cleaned facades its beautifully preserved 18c waterfront overlooking the mighty Garonne river are a testament to this.

 

Stylishly dressed, young parents take the family Sunday stroll seriously

Park your car at the P&R (Parc et Relais) at La Buttinière on the outskirts of the city, hand a couple of euros to the kiosk attendant and hop on a tram.  It will take you right into the heart of the city. On a Sunday the best place to alight is the Quinconces.  Here you will find yourself close to the Quais des Chartrons and right at the very centre of Baron Haussmann inspired architecture which stretches away to the Atlanctic in the west and eastwards towards Bergerac. 

 

A mooring bollard, Bordelais style, one wonders which ships have moored here

The river Garonne was the very lifeblood of Bordeaux.  Walk up and down the quayside and you will see preserved bollards lining the river wall, each one numbered.  It is not hard to cast your mind back 100 years or so and imagine lines of boats and ships creaking on their mooring lines as the tide ebbed and flowed whilst the hubbub of a busy port continued alongside.  In the 18c wine, especially red, was shipped out along the river and naturally enough one of Bordeaux biggest export markets was London where upper class Regency folk awaited a delivery of their favourite tipple.  United Kingdom residents who now reside in the Aquitaine still do their utmost to keep this claret tradition alive.  I was chatting to my caviste the other day and he said that it was his British clients rather than their French counterparts who were now best informed in matters of wine. 

For those that don't know, the Quais des Chartrons is the place to be seen on a Sunday.  The weather was a very springlike16 degrees and the Bordelais were making the most of this early spring day. People crowded the quayside, promenading up and down with all their accoutrements, dogs on leads, dogs carried in arms and even some with Burberry neckerchiefs; they all adopt the Bordeaux style.  

 

Burberry bulldog

 

Baron Haussmann architecture curves along the river

Well-behaved children accompany beautifully coiffed parents in this modern day version of Vanity Fair.  The young and not so young sped past on all kinds of wheeled transport, boots with wheels, rollerblades, mini scooters, cycles and BMX bikes.  What I particularly like about this type of scene in France is the casual acceptance of everybody doing their own thing regardless of age, gender, colour etc.  People were enjoying themselves.  Families and couples were crowding the oyster sellers and small mobile eateries, sharing wine, oysters and catching up on the week's events, be it the polemic or the family;  no aggression, no yobbery, no excessive drinking.  Just people sharing a beautiful setting together.  

Young mums and dads profit from the quayside foodstalls

For the active there are three skateparks catering for all ages and levels.  A pleasant place to loiter for ten minutes or so to watch these young street warriors carrying out their 360's, 190's, loops and goodness knows what else.  It's all very impressive and it's clear much enjoyment is had.  For the less active the market provides most things one could wish for, so, if you find yourself at a loose end on a bright spring Sunday morning you could do a lot worse than a trip to the Quais des Chartrons to simply observe or join in with the Bordelais at play.