France2023

Started off today back at the visitor's center to book a tour of St. Emillion, the medieval town famous for macarons and, of course, wine! Today is a much nicer day, so we'll do more sightseeing. Unfortunately, with the construction style of the city, with narrow streets and tallish buildings, it doesn't make for the best picture taking. But, we went to a few places that had better viewing options. We took the tram to the centre-ville and took in some of the main attractions. There are still a number of gates left in the city from when it had a fortified wall. The wall is long gone, but we started off with Porte Dijeaux, now just an archway in the middle of a street. It was a close walk to the big open Place, which includes the Mairie, the Pey Berland tower, and the imposing Cathedral Saint-André de Bordeaux. We didn't go up into the tower, but it is an incredible bell tower built in the 1400s and topped with a golden statue of Mary. The cathedral is magnificent both in and out. Not overly ornate, but it is beautiful stonework. We stopped for a pause in the gardens behind the Mairie.
Of course, we window shopped in the huge shopping district, then got a baguette sandwich from a closeby bakery, and had lunch along the river, in the gardens next to the famous Miroir d'Eau. Later on, we ended our sightseeing at the Muséum de Bordeaux, the local natural history museum.En savoir plus