Bordeaux

It's our first time in Bordeaux! We spent three days and two nights eating and drinking our way through the city, and checked out as much as possible on our city pass. Thankfully we got plenty of walking in (somewhere north of 40km/25 mi), because I'm sure the calories were through the roof.

Cité Du Vin

After checking into our hotel, we made our first stop at the food market "Les Halles Bacalan." The market is filled with restaurants serving all kinds of food; whether you want churros, charcuterie, wine, oysters, or rotisserie, there's probably something there that you'll like. As Bordeaux is known for its fresh seafood, we chose the poissonerie "Les Requins Marteaux," where we tried some sea bass ceviche, fried calamari, and a glass of white wine. We considered trying some oysters, but decided to wait until later in the trip!

After lunch, we went across the street and began our tour of the enormous, decanter shaped, Cité du Vin. This museum describes itself as a "unique cultural centre dedicated to the universal, living heritage of wine. It offers a spectacular journey around the world, throughout the ages, and across countless cultures and civilizations." We learned a lot about the history of wine in different regions of the world, the different types of grapes and what wines they produce, and a bit about the wine making process as well. I really enjoyed an exhibit that was several dozen jars filled with items like leather, oranges, coffee, and incense. Each jar has a little tube which you puffed air out of in order to smell the different aromas that are present in wines. We also took a "which wine are you tour," and I am apparently a Gewurtzraminer from Alsace.

To end our tour we headed up to the top floor tasting room "Le Belvédère," which, despite the somewhat dreary day, had a beautiful panoramic view of Bordeaux. They also offer guided tastings and educational classes that sound fun, but we had a nice time just looking out at the city and searching for landmarks. Overall we wound up spending about 2 1/2 hours at the Cité du Vin, and I would recommend visiting if you are interested in learning more about wine and its history (especially if you get the city pass since it's included).

Bassins des Lumières

After the wine tasting, we made our way over to the "Bassin des Lumières," a digital art center located in a former submarine base! The venue claims to be the largest digital art center in the world, and it spans several expansive waterside "stages," as well as a handful of exhibits like "the cube" and informational spaces about the museum and what's currently on display.

The main draw of the museum is the immersive art displays projected onto the walls, floors, and water throughout the venue. This is accomplished via 90 different video projectors placed throughout around the basins (former submarine bays), and the show is accompanied by music played over 80 speakers! The artists on display during our visit were Salvador Dali and Antonio Gaudi (perhaps best known for being the architect of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia), and we had a great time letting ourselves be mesmerized sitting at one of the venue's viewing areas. This was another experience that was part our city pass, and I would definitely recommend it as an accompaniment to the Cité du Vin and the food market in that area of the city. There are also a bunch restaurants and bars in the area if you want to make a night of it, and several trams going back into the city.

No Diet Club

On day two we went on a food tour called the "No Diet Club" (can you guess why)?? We were told to skip breakfast beforehand, and after spending several hours eating our way through various Bordelais specialties, we were stuffed enough that we probably could have skipped dinner that night too (which we pretty much did).

Before starting our tour, we met our guide and tour companions, and were handed a choux pastry called "dune blanche." The dune blanche was so light and airy, I swear I could have easily eaten half a dozen. Our first stop was at the Marché des Capucins, a mixed use open market with restaurants, food vendors, and people selling random home goods (and random junk). Inside the market we sampled a couple different pots of mussels, with differences like lardons, lemons/parsley, and creamy broths, plus some fries.

Next up, we tried escargot (pastries, not snails!) and canelés. Escargot, more commonly called pain aux raisins, are a spiral flaky leavened breakfast pastry filled with custard and traditionally served with, you guessed it, raisins! This bakery served traditional escargot, but we got to also try one made with beets, and another with goat cheese and spinach. Canelés on the other hand are a carmelized crusted, soft and custardy filled pastry that is traditionally flavored with rum and vanilla. These were a nice surprise, and they might have been my favorite of the sweets on the tour.

To round our tour we stopped for some cookies (I went for the speculoos), and a crepe with some whipped creme and lemon, and also made a pit stop for some charcuterie and a glass of wine. Overall it was a great tour, and thank goodness we like to walk because we felt so full afterwards that we could have exploded.

Walking tour

Before heading out on our last day, we took a guided walking tour (also included with the city pass!) of the old town and its monuments. Tour highlights included Place de la Bourse (a symbol of the city since the 18th century, best known for its beautiful, and sadly drained for winter, "miroir d'eau"), Grosse Cloche (one of the oldest belfries in France which at times served as a prison and defensive building), the Pont de Pierre (a nearly 500m long bridge spanning the Garonne which connects the left and right domains of Bordeaux), and some lovely Baccarat crystal work, including several chandeliers. We also made a brief to look at the inside of a beautiful restaurant called La Belle Epoque, which had a gorgeous ceiling. Fun fact, the Pont de Pierre has 17 arches corresponding to the number of letters in Napoleon's name, and white medallions capped on the bricks of either side in his honor.

We had a bit of time before we needed to catch our train, so we our last stop was for a round of delicious (and pretty cheap!) oysters. We really should have gotten some sooner, but certainly something to check out next time we're in town. Side note, this place had the strangest soap delivery method I've ever seen. Bonus picture of our breakfast and coffees at Books & Coffee