Bordeaux Attractions

The Christmas market begins every year in late November when wooden stalls are set up. The stalls feature a plethora of goods from over 100 merchants, with many great Christmas gift ideas. Displays include sweets, gourmet food, decorations, jewelry, crafts and toys. Each year a different country sets up the nativity display.

The Colbert Cruiser is a floating museum that began its life as one of France's biggest warships. The cruiser was built in 1953 and served until 1990 during the Gulf War. Visitors can tour the 75 rooms including the kitchen, engine room, Captain's footbridge and the Admiral's flat to better understand life for the 600 sailors.

In Bordeaux, on the banks of the Garonne, is the Place de la Bourse, built between 1730 and 1755 by members of the Gabriel family of architects. The square is flanked by two pavilion-like buildings, the Bourse (Stock Exchange) and the Musée des Douanes (Customs Museum: history of the port of Bordeaux, with ship models and nautical instruments, etc. In the center of the square is the Fountain of the Three Graces.

The 486m/530yd long Pont de Pierre (1813-1821) spans the Garonne with its 17 arches. At its west end is the 18th C Porte de Bourgogne or Porte des Salinières. Still farther west is the Grosse Cloche, a gate tower of the 13th and 15th centuries.

Rue Ste-Catherine is the busiest shopping street in Bordeaux. It continues as the town's oldest thoroughfare, originally a major road during Roman times. There is a mix of shops and architecture to be enjoyed at the heart of the city!

In Bordeaux, north of the theater is the Esplanade des Quinconces, the largest square in Europe (12 hectares/30 acres), laid out in 1818-1828. In the square are a monument to the Girondists (1895) and statues of Montaigne and Montesquieu. To the northwest is the Jardin Public, with the Botanical Garden and Natural History Museum.

Annual festivals in Bordeaux include Music Weeks in May, and a Historical pageant in August.

The Museum of Aquitaine in Bordeaux vividly illustrates the history of the city and the region from prehistoric times to the present day.

The museum was originally opened in 1783 to display gemstones. In 1862, the museum took its current name and became a depository of local history, archaeology and ethnography. There are 4 levels in the Museum of Aquitaine with permanent and temporary exhibitions.

The Museum of Decorative Art, in the Hôtel de Lalande (by Etienne Laclotte, 1779), displays furniture, ceramics, glass, jewellery, everyday objects and luxury articles from the 16th to the 18th century.

The Musée des Beaux-Arts, in the Jardin de la Mairie (behind the Town Hall) in Bordeaux, has a collection ranging in date from the 15th to the 20th C, including pictures by Titian, Perugino, Veronese, Van Dyck, Brueghel, Rubens, La Tour, Delacroix, Renoir, Corot, Kokoschka, Rouault, Vlaminck, Bissière and Masson and sculpture by Rodin, Barye and Zadkine. The adjoining Galerie des Beaux-Arts puts on exhibitions of contemporary art.

In Bordeaux, on the far side of Rue Fondaudège is the only relic of ancient Burdigala, the "Palais Gallien", the entrance to an amphitheater of the A.D. third C which could accommodate 15,000 spectators.

The hub of the city's life is the busy Place de la Comédie, on the site of the Roman forum. In this square is the Grand Théatre, one of the finest theaters in France, built by Victor Louis in 1773-1780. It has a colonnaded front with 12 Corinthian columns topped by a balustraded gallery bearing 12 statues of Muses and goddesses. The main house, the staircases, foyers and smaller halls are splendidly decorated.

In Bordeaux, to the south of Pont Pierre is the Gothic church of St-Michel (14th-16th C), with a free-standing belfry (1472-1492) 109m/358ft high, from the top of which there are fine views of the city. The Center Jean-Moulin is a small museum telling the story of the Resistance movement in Bordeaux during World War II.

Stade nautique de Pessac has several municipal swimming pool. There is a large indoor pool for more serious swimmers, a small indoor pool for children with a bridge that goes overhead, and an outdoor pool with a wave machine. Visitors can visit the Turkish baths or the sauna, or sunbathe on the grass.

Beside the St Andre Cathedral is a richly decorated free-standing tower, the Tour Pey Berland, built by the archbishop of that name in the 15th century. On the top of the tower (extensive views) is a 19th century statue of Notre-Dame d'Aquitaine.

Castle of the Dukes of Epernon was built between 1598 to 1620 and was also used as a women's detention center. The castle features painted paneling, carved fireplaces, large tapestries adorned with historical scenes, and multicolored marble and glazed tiles. The exterior is surrounded by Euille, protected by a wide moat and thick walls decorated with statues.

Built upon two islands cast out on a lake-sized moat, Château de La Brède maintains strong similarity to England's Leeds Castle of Kent county. The most famed of its owners is the author Montesquieu, who lived here during the 18th C. Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède and of Montesquieu, more commonly known as Montesquieu, was born in the castle on January 18 1689.

Visitors can tour the English-style gardens or the 150 hectares of forest.

In the heart of the Entre-Deux-Mers region, the ruins of Abbaye de la Sauve-Majeure are visually interesting. The abbey was founded in 1079 by Saint-Gérard de Corbie in the forest of "Sylva Major" from which comes its name. The Abbey prospered because it was on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostella in Spain. The abbey was destroyed as a result of the French revolution.

The Grotte de Pair-non-Pair is located above the Dordogne river before it joins the Gironde. It was discovered in 1881 by François Daleau, who also found deposits of an 80,000-year-old Neanderthal man, and an 18,000-year-old Cro-Magnon man.

This cave also has some of the oldest cave drawings in the world, including those of horses, ibexes, deer and mammoth.