Day 153 : Bordeaux & Cité du Vin

Rain has somewhat cleared... At least for now. Yay! There's still some heavy clouds in the sky, so there is still a possibility that it might rain later in the day, but weather forecast has also indicated that there will be less rain today, though potentially a heavy gust in the afternoon. 

So the plan is to head into the La Cité du Vin at some point today, to escape some of the potentially unpleasant weather later today.

But for now, I seized the day and make the best of the good weather, and took a walk along the waterfront.

Came across Marthe Adélaïde Modeste Testas statue in front of Bourse Maritime building, an Ethiopian woman who was enslaved, purchased by Bordeaux merchants and subsequently freed after living on three continents.

One of her descendants is a former president of Haiti, François Denys Légitime. The statue is a tribute to all that had been enslaved.

It was starting to get dark and so I turned around and headed for La Cité du Vin. The weather was still holding quite well as I was near the area and so I decided to take a walk around the submarine pen and have lunch before entering the museum.

The gritty building in the back is a submarine base. Dating from 1941-43, the base is one of five built by the Germans on the Atlantic coast for U-boats during the Second World War.

This venue has been converted into a digital art space and is now known as Bassins Lumières.

There's also a Spaceship in the water. It’s an artwork by British artist Suzanne Treister, who was very struck by the sunken WWII ships in the Garonne River. 

I found a lunch spot on a boat with a good view of the Quay - Bistro Regent has a set lunch offering and I opted for the steak, which was uniquely served with a candlelight on the bottom of the plate, and served with a huge bowl of fries and a separate bowl of salad. It's been a while since I last had a steak!

Time to head to La Cité du Vin, a wine Musuem. Even the building is designed to the shape of a decanter.

There are a total of 8 floors, but the main exhibit is only on 1 floor (level 2)

I was given an audio guide and you basically move around the exhibits and listen to the different information that is shared on a headset.

This section had different people from different wine making countries speaking about the different wine production processes.

The coloured display below the person changes as he talks to provide the relevant visuals.

The most fun section (in my opinion) is this area, where there are different smells in each jar, and you can smell them and try to guess what smell they are.

Definitely a good way to test if you had lost your sense of smell due to covid! 😂

I spent about 3 hours at the museum, and that is with me skipping a few sections, because I got bored listening to the audio guide.

But for those who want to listen to everything, one could easily spend more than a day.

The design of the museum is nice though. Very thematic throughout.

The visit ends with a glass of wine on level 8 of the building, which is included in the price of the ticket.

There are about 15 different wines to choose from - Red, white, rose, sparkling, which could be from France, Italy, Spain, Croatia or somewhere else!

This was my selection.

The view from the top is somewhat blocked, and there was no access to the outdoor section either. Possibly a good idea for today, as it's extremely windy outside while I was up there.

I could see the trees outside being blown quite strongly and feel the vibrations as I touch the window panels.

The museum closes at 6.30pm, and I stayed almost close to the closing time before making my way back to the city centre.

It's a lot nicer in the city without the rain!

Some of the new places I got to see today included La Grosse Cloche.

Isn't this pretty? It's one of two 15th century medieval entrances into the city.

Here's the other one Porte Cailhau.

Place de la Victoire, a pretty place with cafes, restaurants, and bars.

In the middle of the square is a marble column made by the Czech sculptor Ivan Theimer—the first monument built to recognize viticulture in Bordeaux.

I made my way back towards Place de la Bourse to capture it with the reflection in the water in the evening light. And shortly after the rain started again.

Time to head back!