DISCOVER BORDEAUX

Bordeaux is a port city in the southwest of France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department.

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Bordeaux is known to be the world's wine industry capital, and it is considered Europe's main military space and aeronautics research and construction complex. Bordeaux wine draws its name from the city around which it has been produced since the 8th century.

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 also the first city in France to have created, in the 1980s, an architecture exhibition and research centre, Arc en reve, still the most prestigious in France besides Paris IFA.

Bordeaux offers a large number of cinemas, theatres and is the home of the National Opera of Bordeaux. There are many music venues of varying capacity. The city also offers several festivals throughout the year.


WINE IN BORDEAUX

Bordeaux has about 117,000 hectares of vineyards, 57 appellations, 9,000 wine-producing chateaux, 13,000 grape growers, 400 traders and sales of 14.5 billion euros annually. With an annual production of over 700 million bottles, Bordeaux produces large quantities of everyday wine as well as some of the most expensive wines in the world.

Included among the latter are the area's five 'premier cru' (first growth) red wines (four from Medoc and one, Chateau Haut-Brion, from Graves), established by the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855: The first growths are:

• Chateau Lafite-Rothschild
• Chateau Margaux
• Chateau Latour
• Chateau Haut-Brion
• Chateau Mouton-Rothschild*

*In 1855 Mouton-Rothschild was ranked a Second Growth. In 1973 it was elevated to First Growth status.

Both red and white wines are made in Bordeaux. Red Bordeaux is called claret in the United Kingdom. Red wines are generally made from a blend of grapes, and may be made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and, less commonly in recent years, Carmenere. White Bordeaux is made from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle. Sauternes is a subregion of Graves known for its intensely sweet, white, dessert wines such as Chateau d'Yquem.


MAIN SIGHTS OF BORDEAUX

Bordeaux is classified "City of Art and History". The city has been inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List as "an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble".

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, after Nancy, 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 2 intendants (Governors), first Mr. Dupre de Saint Maur then the Marquis (Marquess) de Tourny.

Main buildings include:

• Esplanade des Quinconces
• Colonnes des Girondins
• Grand Theâtre
• Allees de Tourny
• Cours de l'Intendance
• Place du Chapelet
• Pont de Pierre
• Saint-Andre 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-15th centuries.
• Tour Pey Berland (1440-1450), a massive, quadrangular tower annexed to the cathedral.
• Sainte-Croix Church (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-early 12th centuries. The façade is in Romanesque style.
• The Gothic basilica of Saint-Michel, constructed in the late 14th-15th centuries.
• 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.
• Palais Rohan
• Palais Gallien, the remains of a late 2nd-century Roman amphitheatre
• Porte Cailhau
• La Grosse Cloche (15th century) is the second remaining gate of the Medieval walls. It was the belfry of the old Town Hall. It consists of two 40m-high circular towers and a central bell tower housing a bell weighing 7,800&kg. The watch is from 1759.
• Eglise Saint-Eloi
• 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
• Rue Sainte-Catherine

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


SHOPPING IN BORDEAUX

Bordeaux boasts numerous options for shopping. In the heart of Bordeaux is Rue Sainte-Catherine. This pedestrian only shopping street is 1.2 kilometers of shops, restaurants and cafes; it is also the longest shopping street in Europe. Rue Sainte-Catherine starts at Place de la Victoire and ends at Place de la Comedie by the opera house. The shops become progressively more upscale as one moves towards Place de la Comedie and the nearby Cours de l'Intendance is where one finds the more exclusive shops and boutiques.


BORDEAUX TRANSPORT

Bordeaux is easily accessible from Paris by France's high-speed train, the TGV. Furthermore, as of summer 2008 a 'discotheque' night train will run this route. Bordeaux has an airport Aeroport de Bordeaux-Anglet-Bayonne its about 4 kilometers away from the city in the inland. Its very near at N10 road towards Anglet, it is joined airport with Anglet and Bayonne. It has flights to destinations across France as well as Europe.

BORDEAUX TOURS, TRAVEL & ACTIVITIES

BORDEAUX HOTELS & ACCOMMODATION