Monday, September 19
Today we followed the UNESCO Heritage tour around Bordeaux, and even though we had seen some of the sights before we hadn't realised their importance or history. We set off through a classy part of town we hadn't covered before and finally reached the Girondist monument. This fountain and column were built to remember the men from this area who went to the National Assembly in 1879 at the time of the French Revolution and were subsequently killed on suspicion of not supporting the new Republic!
We love the architecture of the 18-19th Century in France, and Bordeaux has some great examples. The Gobineau House in a "flat iron" building is a great example, and was set on 2 lovely wide intersecting streets, just near the Grand Theatre. As we had got another late start we thought we'd have an early lunch in this area before moving on - we love French food!
After lunch we headed for Parliament Square, which was originally the Royal marketplace, but now has a fancy fountain in it. Nearby was St. Peter's church and the Cailhau Gate, which was a former defensive gate from the late 15th Century, but now looks like a mini fairytale castle!
We strolled on and finally came to the Gross Cloche, or Big Bell. We had heard it chiming on the hour and it has a beautiful note, as well as being an impressive structure to hold the big bell. This also was originally a fortified gate and later used as a prison.
On our way home we wanted to go to the Museum of DecorativeArts and Design, but found out it only opens on weekends so we had missed our chance. Still we had washing to do back at the apartment so we did that instead - what an exciting way to spend some time!
Today we followed the UNESCO Heritage tour around Bordeaux, and even though we had seen some of the sights before we hadn't realised their importance or history. We set off through a classy part of town we hadn't covered before and finally reached the Girondist monument. This fountain and column were built to remember the men from this area who went to the National Assembly in 1879 at the time of the French Revolution and were subsequently killed on suspicion of not supporting the new Republic!
We love the architecture of the 18-19th Century in France, and Bordeaux has some great examples. The Gobineau House in a "flat iron" building is a great example, and was set on 2 lovely wide intersecting streets, just near the Grand Theatre. As we had got another late start we thought we'd have an early lunch in this area before moving on - we love French food!
After lunch we headed for Parliament Square, which was originally the Royal marketplace, but now has a fancy fountain in it. Nearby was St. Peter's church and the Cailhau Gate, which was a former defensive gate from the late 15th Century, but now looks like a mini fairytale castle!
We strolled on and finally came to the Gross Cloche, or Big Bell. We had heard it chiming on the hour and it has a beautiful note, as well as being an impressive structure to hold the big bell. This also was originally a fortified gate and later used as a prison.
On our way home we wanted to go to the Museum of DecorativeArts and Design, but found out it only opens on weekends so we had missed our chance. Still we had washing to do back at the apartment so we did that instead - what an exciting way to spend some time!
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