The French Dispatches - Part Cinq

In Part 4 of the blogs about France, we'd just arrived in Bordeaux via high-speed train and checked into our gigantic room at the Chateau Pape Clement winery and vineyard. 

Chris enjoying a canele in downtown Bordeaux

After we settled in to our room, we changed into warmer clothes (the temperature was just a bit higher in Bordeaux than Paris - it's further to the south, but it is very close to the coast), strolled the half mile to our local bus stop, and hopped aboard the #4 into downtown Bordeaux.  The chateau was in the Bordeaux region, but it was about a 20 minute car ride west of the city center, in the neighboring town of Pessac.  This took slightly longer by bus, but it gave us a good opportunity to sightsee and learn the area as we rode along.

The bus dropped us in the middle of the action, close to a pedestrian/tram shopping thoroughfare, the Cr de l'Intendance.  Things were hopping, it being a Saturday evening near the end of the winter sale season (called "Les Soldes"), and we enjoyed wandering along with the crowds, gazing in windows as we went.  We stopped at Canales Baillardran, a local chain of bakeries producing pastries specific to this area of country.  As you might already know, Bordeaux is a massive wine-producing region, and back in the day, egg whites were often used in the wine-making process (as a preservative?  I don't really know).  That left a lot of sad little egg yolks just sitting around without a purpose, and an enterprising baker decided to put them to good use making these custardy pastries.  Caneles are delicious, and we should know - we put some serious time and effort into sampling them during our three days in the region.

We also made a stop at the pop-up rooftop wine bar in the Intercontinental Hotel for aperitivo hour, enjoying a delicious snack of wine and cheese.

I had my first real glass of champagne!

We also took the opportunity of being atop the hotel to grab some shots of the surrounding area:

Looking toward the historic center of the city

Looking toward the Garonne River - like Paris, Bordeaux has a left and right bank.

Actually, the city of Bordeaux has a left and right bank, and so does the region of Bordeaux.

Confused yet?

The grand theatre/opera house next door

With some time to go until dinner, we wandered a bit more, down to the banks of the river.  Strolling through the Place de la Bourse, we gawked at the lovely architecture; this building used to be a royal palace, and it was built by the same architect who designed the Palace of Versailles outside of Paris.

This shot is a panoramic - click it to make it bigger

The fountain of The Three Graces

Crossing the boulevard along the quay, we stomped through the Miroir d'Eau (this translates into "the Water Mirror"), the biggest reflecting pool in the world.  When it's in use, it's absolutely incredible, as this Google Images search can attest.  Unfortunately, when we visited, the Miroir was dry - c'est la vie!

Chris in the dry Miroir

Even dry, it was a hotspot for the local youths

Dinner was just up the quay, so we strolled along the river, trying to stay warm while we were sightseeing and taking pictures.

Looking to our right

Looking to our left, around the curve of the river

The pillars marking the start to the Place des Quinconces -

this is one of the largest city squares in Europe,

and it contains a ton of interesting sculptures and monuments

We made it to our dinner destination, Symbiose, just a bit early, but they had a space for us and welcomed us in.  Symbiose featured a menu of all sorts of really interesting things, and our waiter did an excellent job walking us through their options and putting together an incredible meal.  Starting with a cold octopus salad and a roasted cauliflower dish, we proceeded to entrees of duck hearts and sweetbreads - a bunch of things that may sound a bit strange or off-putting, but it was all insanely good.  This easily ranked as one of our best meals of the entire trip, if not the absolutely top.  No pictures of the food, but here's some of our drinks and the decor:

The space you see in the right of the shot was a tiny fake wall -

you couldn't see the main seating area from the front of the restaurant

Many of the seating options were made of found/upcycled objects,

like this antique sewing machine base with a slab topper

Obligatory fancy drink picture!

Completely full and remarkably happy about it, we wandered back to catch the #4 bus and returned to the chateau.  On the way in, we had a chance to see it all light up at night, which was fun!

The moon from behind the clouds over a row of Bordeaux houses

Waiting for the bus outside the Jardin Public - the huge local garden

Home!

Letting ourselves in through the impressive gates

Chez nous (well, for the next three days, anyway)!

Before totally sacking out, we enjoyed some of the macarons we'd brought on the train from Paris - they were all good, but the rose one was...very rosey.  

Cute little macarons in a row

The view from bed

Tomorrow, it was time to start wine tasting!

Au revoir!

Amy

PS - Steps today were down a bit, given the decent amount of time we logged in Ubers and on the train.  However, we still hit 12,740, good for just over 6 miles!

PPS - What are these hooligans up to?

Zoe, don't lick the wall!