“Here, wear this,” says Bruno Oliver, proffering me a large, blue helmet.
I take it with some reluctance.
“Look,” continued Oliver, with the impatience of a talented young chef due at the stove of his restaurant to cook dinner in an hour, “you want to see the city, but it’s rush hour. We’ll never get back if we go by car. It will be easier and much faster if we go on my motorcycle.”
Easy? He doesn’t face the prospect of trying to take notes en route.
So off we go, weaving in and out of the long lines of traffic, squeezing between buses and trucks, and occasionally spurting into the clear.
My objective is to become reoriented to a city I had last visited 25 years ago. During a two-week span at that time, the majority of it spent picking grapes at a Medoc chateau, I was able to tour the surrounding wine regions and prowl through the city.
From my first visit, I realized that many Americans who visit Bordeaux–myself among them–are drawn by the world-famous wines of the region. We rush out to tour the vineyard areas and visit chateaus whose wines we admire. Too often we ignore the city. Yet with a population of more than 200,000, a wealth of historic buildings and museums, and lively contemporary attractions ranging from chic boutiques to minimobs of college students hanging out, it has much to offer.
Though 60 miles from the sea (via the Gironde estuary and the Garonne River), Bordeaux has been a major port since the Middle Ages and politically significant since Eleanore of Aquitaine brought it and much of Southwest France into the English domain with her marriage in 1154 to the man who soon became England’s King Henry II.
It took the better part of three centuries for the French to evict the English. During that time, the conquerors became permanently infatuated with the wine of the region, which they called claret, and English wine writers have been singing the praises of Bordeaux wines ever since.
After a boom period in the mid-18th Century, which saw the construction of some of France’s most beautiful public buildings and many elegant mansions, Bordeaux had a difficult time during the Revolution. More than 20 of its leading politicians, a party known as the Girondins, lost their heads, and things got worse during the Napoleonic years as the English returned to blockade the Gironde estuary.
Between 1815 and 1870, however, the town enjoyed great prosperity. More mansions, public buildings and many of the wine chateaus date from this era. But despite the shipping activity, caused by trade with the New World as well as wine shipments, Bordeaux society historically has looked inward and ignored visitors from abroad or kept them at arm’s length. From the early days, foreign members of the wine trade, most of them Protestant, had to live and work outside the city walls along the Quai de Chartrons. There was no permanent bridge across the Garonne to link Bordeaux to the rest of France until the massive Pont de Pierre (stone bridge) was completed in 1822.
Recently, however, there have been signs of a new attitude.
“Bordeaux has opened its doors,” a pleased wine merchant tells me.
Not only was the city less dour than I remembered (due in part to the recently cleaned facades of public buildings and vivid displays of merchandise in the boutique windows), various chateaus have also copied California’s wineries and begun welcoming tourists, not just visitors with special introductions. A Chamber of Commerce campaign titled “Bordeaux, a Port of Call” has lured more cruise ships to the city.
These efforts added up to a 35 percent increase in tourism during 1994.
One of those tourists, me, was beginning the next best thing to a visual reality tour when last we saw him.
My nervousness eases as I glance down the graceful, tree-lined Allees de Tourny and decide I am better off on the motorcycle than on the giant Ferris wheel that is part of a traveling fair set up on the monumental Quinconces Esplanade. (Here is found a remarkable monument to the Girondins, a tall column between two bronze fountains featuring glorious sculptures of horse-drawn, people-filled chariots.)
On the west side of the esplanade, the Garonne makes a crescent-shaped bend as it passes through the city. This curve allows a picture-postcard panorama of the handsome 18th Century facades that face the river as Chef Oliver wheels northward past a lively floating nightclub called Caesar’s and along the Quai de Chartrons. His objective is a massive, ghostly, waterside fortress made of concrete. It had been built for the Germans’ submarine fleet during World War II. There is no display, no tour and no need for words. We stand in silence for a few moments, then remount.
The quai and the center of the city beyond look even better driving south. We continue along the river through the Place de la Bourse, a stunning example of busy but majestic Louis XV architecture. (It was designed by the king’s personal architect, Gabriel.) Passing through the smaller but equally eye-catching Place du Palais and under the approach ramps to the Pont de Pierre, Oliver swings into the Place St.-Michel, which houses a 14th Century basilica of the same name, its imposing 374-foot-tall bell tower, and–each Saturday and Sunday–a lively flea market.
He now zooms away from the river to the Place de la Victoire, site of the Porte d’Aquitaine when Bordeaux was a walled city, where students from the nearby University of Bordeaux gather like birds drawn to a rocky island. Taking the Cours Pasteur toward city hall, he points out a bar called Le New York.
“Very Bordeaux,” the chef says. “Go for an aperitif and some oysters .”
While the Place Pey-Berland offers views of both the beautiful garden of the Hotel de Ville (city hall) and the handsome Cathedral St.-Andre, the chef is just as eager to show me a rather shabby looking building with a sign reading L’Orchidee Noire.
“It’s another bar,” he says. “The owner of this one won a contest for the `best bartender in France.’ “
No time to find out how good he really is, however. Instead, Oliver convinces himself that despite a ban on car traffic on Rue Ste. Catherine, the city’s premier shopping street, there is no prohibition of motorcycles. The boutique windows provide a lively fashion show, but prices, I’m told, are the equal of those in Paris.
Rue Ste. Catherine flows into Place de la Comedie, the site of architect Victor Louis’ Grand Theater, widely considered one of the most beautiful public buildings in France. A quick cruise up the Allees de Tourny, left into the Cours Clemenceau and left again into the Cours de l’Intendance and back to Place de la Comedie circumscribes the “golden triangle,” Bordeaux’s Gold Coast.
Oliver’s restaurant, a charming bistro called Cafe Gourmand, is located within the triangle, so as he changes his leather jacket for a white chef’s tunic, I engage in some vicarious food shopping. It is only a few steps to the site of the covered, open-air Marche des Grands Hommes in which I had enjoyed browsing a quarter of a century ago.
It’s gone! In its place is a circular mall of clothing boutiques built over a subterranean parking garage. Some of the food stalls have been re-created on a brightly lighted basement level, but they are dwarfed by the sterile, if pretty, surroundings.
Nearby, however, French culinary culture continues to hold its head high, and a 15-minute stroll will stimulate the most jaded appetite.
On Rue Montesque is Jean d’Alos, perhaps the best cheese shop in all of France, with cheeses being aged like wine in temperature-controlled basement caves. Directly across the street is Le Chopon Fin, a Michelin one-star restaurant with beguiling turn-of-the-century rococo decor. Taking another spoke of the wheel of streets that converges on Grands Hommes, Rue Michel Montaigne, you can literally follow your nose to E. Sabouret, a comfortable, well-worn pastry shop; cross the street to view the beautifully presented deli items and prepared foods at Alain Margoteau; and step inside Dubernet to admire the fresh and prepared foie gras, wild mushrooms and hanging game birds still wearing their feathers.
I almost break into a trot heading back to Cafe Gourmand for dinner. Chef Oliver says he has turned back the clock by including recipes from his grandmother on the cafe menu. (Grandma is a good cook and a good source. She is the widow of three-star Michelin Guide chef Raymond Oliver.)
My meal begins with an intriguing plate of seven vegetables, each prepared differently, continues with a beautifully dressed salad featuring sauteed chicken gizzards (rich and quite tasty, really), and a main course of fragrant slices of a glazed fresh ham shank with a perfect puree of potatoes. There is an ice-cream-based confection for dessert. Wine? One of the joys of drinking in Bordeaux is to taste uncelebrated but very tasty local wines. I am served a white from the Entre-deux-Mers region and a red from a subdistrict of St. Emilion that are well-matched to the food. The cost? About $30 including tip–a good value.
Filled with a spirit of well-being, as well as food and wine, I walk back to my hotel in a light rain. Turning into the Place du Chapelet, I come upon the brightly lighted courtyard, l’Ancien Cloitre Jacobins, and the facade of a recently cleaned, beautifully restored 18th Century building that, for a time, had been the city’s public library.
France in its glory. If only it had been raining wine.
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Note: In addition to the Cafe Gourmand, good, moderately priced restaurants that offer intriguing Bordeaux wines include La Tupina, Le Clavel St.-Jean, Claret and Joel D. (for oysters).
DETAILS ON BORDEAUX AND ITS ENVIRONS
Getting there: Daily flights via Air Inter from both Paris airports (more from Orly than Charles de Gaulle) take less than an hour. In addition, there are daily flights to Bordeaux from London Gatwick via British Air and Air Inter.
By rail, the high-speed train (TGV) departs from Paris (Gare St. Lazare) for Bordeaux several times a day. The trip takes a little more than three hours.
Accommodations: This is not a great hotel town, though there are a goodly number scattered about the center. Nightly rates begin at $80 or so and go sharply upward. (When calling direct, dial 011-33 and then the number.) The recently restored Hotel de Normandie (7 cours du XXX Julliet; 56-52-16-80) and Hotel de Seze (7 rue de Seze; 56-52-65-54) are centrally located and moderately priced. Hostillerie Chateau Chartrons (81 Cours de St. Louis; 56-43-15-00) offers chic and pricy lodging in the rapidly gentrifying Chartrons warehouse district.
Wine: Wine-lovers visiting Bordeaux will do well to include the Maison du Vin (3 Cours du XXX-Julliet; 56-00-22-66) and the charming Musee des Chartrons (41 rue Borie; 56-44-27-77) on their itinerary.
At the Maison, run by the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (C.I.V.B.), vineyard and touring information, generic wine tastings, and three- and six-day wine appreciation courses are available.
The Musee, dedicated to the merchants who bought, blended and shipped Bordeaux wines around the world, is located in an early 18th Century shipper’s home and warehouse. It contains exhibits on wine storage, barrel-making, bottles and bottling, plus an enchanting collection of antique labels and stencils. Handicapped access to the entire museum would be difficult.
In wine country itself–regions such as the Medoc, Graves, Sauternes, Entre-Deux-Mers, St. Emilion and Pomerol–“the landscape has changed,” a wine merchant told me. “You’ll see new vats, signposts, tasting rooms. But,” he warned, “don’t just show up at a chateau that has caught your fancy. Confer with the personnel at the Maison du Vin or ask the concierge at your hotel to make an appointment.”
Dining: Cafe Gourmand (3 rue Buffon; 56-79-23-85), La Tupina (6 Porte de la Monnaie; 56-91-56-37), Chapon Fin (5 rue Montesquieu; 56-79-10-10) Jean Ramat (7/8 place Jean Jauares; 56-44-12-51), Joel D (13 rue des Piliers de Tutelle, 56-52-68-31), Le Claret (46 rue due Pas Saint Georges, 56-01-79-79), Bistro Clavel (7 rue des Montesquieu; 56-51-28-81).
Information: L’Office de Tourisme, Bordeaux, 12 Cours du XXX Julliet, 33080 Bordeaux (56-44-28-41). Or contact the French Government Tourist Office, 676 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 3360, Chicago, Ill. 60611-2819 (312-751-7800). Or call 900-990-0040; 50 cents per minute.
