Bordeaux Old Town

Bordeaux (French pronunciation: [bɔʁˈdo]; Gascon: Bordèu; Basque: Bordele) is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.

The small municipality (commune) of Bordeaux proper has a population of 239,399 (January 2011).

The city's nicknames are "La perle d'Aquitaine" (The Pearl of Aquitaine), and "La Belle Endormie" (Sleeping Beauty) in reference to the old center which had black walls due to pollution. Nowadays, this is not the case. In fact, a part of the city, Le Port de La Lune, was almost completely renovated.

Bordeaux is the world's major wine industry capital. It is home to the world's main wine fair, Vinexpo while the wine economy in the metro area takes in 14.5 billion euros each year. Bordeaux wine has been produced in the region since the 8th century. 

Main sights

Bordeaux is classified "City of Art and History". The city is home to 362 monuments historiques with some buildings dating back to Roman times. The historic part of the city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble" of the 18th century.

Bordeaux is home to one of Europe's biggest 18th-century architectural urban areas, making it a sought-after destination for tourists and cinema production crews. It stands out as one of the first French cities to have entered an era of urbanism and metropolitan big scale projects, with the team Gabriel father and son, architects for King Louis XV, under the supervision of two intendants (Governors), first Nicolas-François Dupré de Saint-Maur then the Marquis (Marquess) de Tourny.

Buildings

Main sights include:

• ⊙ Esplanade des Quinconces , the largest square in Europe.
• Monument aux Girondins
• ⊙ Grand Théâtre , a large neoclassical theater built in the 18th century.
• Allées de Tourny
• Cours de l'Intendance
• Place du Chapelet
• ⊙ Place de la Bourse (1730–1775), designed by the Royal architect Jacques Ange Gabriel as landscape for an equestrian statue of Louis XV.
• ⊙Place du Parlement
• Place Saint-Pierre
• ⊙ Pont de pierre
• ⊙ Saint-André Cathedral , consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1096. Of the Original Romanesque edifice only a wall in the nave remain. The Royal Gate is from the early 13th century, while the rest of the construction is mostly from the 14th and 15th centuries.
• Tour Pey-Berland (1440–1450), a massive, quadrangular gothic tower annexed to the cathedral.
• ⊙ Église Sainte-Croix (Church of the Holy Cross). It lies on the site of a 7th-century abbey destroyed by the Saracens. Rebuilt under the Carolingians, it was again destroyed by the Normans in 845 and 864. It is annexed to a Benedictine abbey founded in the 7th century, and was built in the late 11th and early 12th centuries. The façade is in Romanesque style
• ⊙ The gothic Basilica of Saint Michael , constructed between the end of the 14th century and the 16th century.
• Basilica of Saint-Seurin, the most ancient church in Bordeaux. It was built in the early 6th century on the site of a palaeochristian necropolis. It has an 11th-century portico, while the apse and transept are from the following century. The 13th-century nave has chapels from the 11th and the 14th centuries. The ancient crypt houses sepulchres of the Merovingian family.
• ⊙Église Saint-Pierre, gothic church
• Église Saint-Éloi, gothic church
• ⊙Église Saint-Bruno, baroque church decorated with frescoes
• Église Notre-Dame, baroque church
• Église Saint-Paul-Saint-François-Xavier, baroque church
• ⊙Palais Rohan (Exterior:)
• ⊙Palais Gallien, the remains of a late 2nd-century Roman amphitheatre
• ⊙Porte Cailhau, a medieval gate of the old city walls.
• ⊙La Grosse Cloche (15th century), the second remaining gate of the Medieval walls. It was the belfry of the old Town Hall. It consists of two 40 m-high circular towers and a central bell tower housing a bell weighing 7,800 kilograms (17,200 lb). The watch is from 1759.
• Rue Sainte-Catherine , the longest Pedestrian street of France
• The BETASOM submarine base

Saint-André Cathedral, Saint-Michel Basilica and Saint-Seurin Basilica are part of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.

Sleep

Inside the range of 4 km:

• ⊙   Chambres dʹhôtes LʹInvitation Au Voyage, 40 rue Paul Louis Lande, Bordeaux, PC VI - IX

  "... I confirm that you can park your bikes safely .inside our house, in the patio, on the ground floor."

• ⊙   Chambre dʹhôtes Bordeaux à cœur, 53 rue Villedieu, Bordeaux, PC V
• ⊙   Chambre dʹhôte la Maison Issac, 15 rue Lafaurie de Monbadon, Bordeaux, PC VI

  Closed courtyard.

• ⊙   Le Jardin de Sequoïa, 87 rue Saint-Genès, Bordeaux, PC V - VII
• ⊙   Chambres dʹhôtes La Maison Bleue Bordeaux, 70 rue de Ségur, Bordeaux, PC VI

  Closed courtyard.

• ⊙   Chambres dʹhôtes La Maison Bastide, 8 Cours le Rouzic, Bordeaux, PC IV - VII

  "... garage which is private and securely locked."

• ⊙   Chambres dʹhôtes La Maison Cachée, 20 Avenue Jeanne dʹArc, Bordeaux, PC V - IX
• ⊙   Chambres à BordʹO, 6 rue Cazenave, Bordeaux, PC VI

  "... I can actually safely store your bikes in my personal garage."

• ⊙   Chambre dʹhôtes Ma Cabane, 67 rue de Macau, Bordeaux, PC V - VI

  Lockable room.

• ⊙   Chambres dʹhôtes Clos des Boulevards, 369 Boulevard Jean Jacques Bosc, Bordeaux, PC V - VI

  Lockable room, closed courtyard.

• ⊙   Chambre dʹhôtes B&B Bordeaux Mondésir, 8 rue de Béarn, Mérignac, PC V

  Closed courtyard, lockable room.

Useful

Inside the range of 4 km:

• ⊙   Office de Tourisme Bordeaux centre-ville, 12 cours du XXX juillet, Bordeaux
• ⊙   Office de Tourisme Bordeaux Gare Saint-Jean, Rue Charles Domercq, Bordeaux
• ⊙   Gare de Bordeaux Saint-Jean, Rue Charles Domercq, Bordeaux