Meandering With Murphy

Tuesday, April 30th and we had a big day planned. We had tickets for a wine cave tour in Saint-Emilion for 2:30. It sounded like so much fun. However it was not meant to be.

I tried powering it on and off several times. I looked on my phone and found instructions on what to do. I tried but it did not work. Finally I looked up where the closest Apple Store was located and it was in Bordeaux. I couldn’t quite figure out how to make an appointment (everything was in French) so I went downstairs and consulted with Megan and Julien. They looked up the information and discovered the next appoint was on Thursday, the day before we were leaving. They found a store just outside Bordeaux in Begles. I had a 10:30 appointment. The other piece of bad news was that the next day was May 1st, a national holiday in France and nothing would be open. So we had to go today.

Julien helped set up our GPS and off we went. We arrived early, a good thing, because this very nice young man told us he could not look at the computer until Friday. UGH!!!! I told him we were leaving on Friday so he called the Bordeaux store and they said we could come in. Now we had to drive into Bordeaux. Just the thing we had tried to avoid. Because we had been there before we had some idea where to go. Driving in Bordeaux was trying! Fortunately, we just had to drive on the outer edge. We were not sure where to park but fortunately, a sign for a parking garage appeared. We drove down five levels until we found a spot.

On the street we discovered the store was only about a half a mile away so off we went. By now it was 11:30 and we were worried we were going to run into lunch. Kevin, another nice young man, looked at it and said he would try a couple of things and then if it worked, we’d be on our way. But if not, it might be up to three hours before it would be ready.

Luck was not on our side and he had to keep the computer. He said he would text when it was done. So, we decided to go to lunch. Another disaster in the making. We picked a cafe on the street. Bad decision! Scott ordered the plat du jour (salad and Croque-Monsieur) and I ordered a goat cheese salad. Our waitstaff’s English was not very good. Scott ordered vin blanc. She came with vin rouge!!!!! UGH. Scott was clear it was blanc so am not sure what the issue was. She finally brought the right wine. Scott’s lunch was huge but mine was good.

Scott ordered another glass of vin blanc and once again she brought vin rouge. Now this was ridiculous! He ordered a tarte tatin for dessert. It was soggy and just awful. Nothing like Julien’s. By now it was 1:45 and I got a text that my computer was ready. I walked over and tried out my computer and it worked. Phew! Thank goodness.

Unfortunately, it was now 2 pm and there was no way we could make it to Saint-Emilion for our tour. Very disappointing. We took our time and walked back to the car. We saw a huge cruise ship that had a lot of security. It was called Overseas Adventure Travel Clio. I looked it up and they only take 8 to 16 passengers and the cost was about $8,000/person! A little over our budget.

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Here is a little information about Place de la Bourse, the Fountain and the Reflecting Pool

Place de la Bourse is part of the Port of the Moon, Bordeaux, which has been listed by UNESCO as World Heritage since 2007. The royal square is a fine example of the outstanding urban ensemble that was built in the 18th century, during the reign of King Louis XV. The spectacular setting of Place de la Bourse on the edge of the Garonne River shows a monumental succession of identical buildings that form a continuous and balanced building curtain.

King Louis XV wanted a royal square to be laid out in Bordeaux to celebrate himself as the true symbol of France. He commissioned it from intendant Boucher and entrusted the royal architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel with its construction. The Stock Exchange Hall to the north, the Farms Hall to the south, a central building to the West and the Garonne River to the South, frames its rectanglular shape. It showed Boucher’s will to open Bordeaux onto the river, to display a welcoming and prestigious image to the travellers from other cities and countries. A part of the city wall was dismantled in order to create a square that is meant to be a symbol of Bordeaux’s prosperity. La Place de la Bourse is reminiscent of other royal squares built under the reign of King Louis XV in the 18th century: Place Stanislas in Nancy, and Place de la Concorde and Place Vendôme in Paris. They share a neoclassical style that dominated the second half of the 18th century. Inspired by the excavation of Pompeii and Herculanum ancient cities, the neoclassical architecture uses Greco-Roman elements. This architectural style benefitted Louis XV, who used it to symbolize his political power in an urban context.

Inaugurated in 1749, the Royal Square had an equestrian statue of Louis XV but it was destroyed during the Revolution and was replaced by a Liberty tree. The square was renamed Place de la Liberté. During the Napoleonic Empire, it became Place Impériale, but returned to its original name after the restoration of Monarchy. It was given its current name after the 1848 Revolution: Place de la Bourse (Stock Exchange Square). From 1869, the Three Graces fountain has been in the middle of the square. It represents Aglae (Splendour), Euphrosyne (Mirth) and Thalia (Good Cheer), Zeus’s daughters. It was designed by Louis Visconti and cast by Gumery and Jouandot.

The former Stock Exchange Hall is now Bordeaux’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry. La Place de la Bourse is a fine example of French classical architecture. On the façade mascarons of these buildings you can observe Neptune opening the city’s commerce; Mercury favouring this commerce; Minerva protecting the arts; the allegory of Time discovering Truth; the Garonne-Dordogne junction; and African women’s faces in reference to the slave trade that brought wealth to Bordeaux. The square clock is decorated with paintings and tapestries woven in the Gobelin factory.

The beauty of Place de la Bourse becomes dreamlike when it is reflected in “le miroir d’eau”, the reflecting pool. This 130 meter long and 42 meter wide set of granite slabs is the largest reflecting pool in the world. Conceived by the landscape architect Michel Corajoud, and developed by the fountain expert J. M. Llorca, it was, with “le jardin des lumières” (the garden of lights) and the skate park, one of the main elements of Bordeaux‘s quayside recent redevelopment.

“Le miroir d’eau” works according to a specific cycle. When the slabs are are almost dry, it looks like a huge slate. A few minutes later, the fountain mecanism produces plumes of mist, creating a thick fog turning the quay in a fairyland. When the fog disappears, the 3 450 square metres of granite are covered with 2 centimeters of a cristal clear water, becoming a slightly undulating twin of “Place de la Bourse”. According to J. M. Llorca, the water mirror was inspired by the regular flooding of Saint Mark’s Square in Venice. This spectacular foundtain has some noteworthy technical features: the sides of the slate are slightly more hollow than its center in order to avoid waves. the water that does not evaporate is collected and processed by an impressive device buried under the slabs, to ensure hygiene and economy. the mecanism is shut down during winter, to avoid the damage caused by the frost. .

Since its inauguration in 2006, the water mirror has been completely adopted by the inhabitants of Bordeaux. Children love to splash about in it and their elders and parents enjoy meeting around “le miroir d’eau” to appreciate the cool oasis that it provides during the hot months and the delightful sight that it offers almost all year long. It also gives tourists one more reason to linger by the quayside and to enjoy Bordeaux’ aesthetic focal point : “la Place de la Bourse”.

We left Bordeaux but not without some drama. I thought I left my small back pack in the parking garage so Scott pulled over and it was in the trunk but he smashed his fingers in the door!! It hurt like HELL! The we missed our exit and had to back track through the town again. Would we every get out of Bordeaux??

On our way back to Auros we decided to go to Bazas and have a glass of wine and walk around the town. Great decision. We both love Bazas. It was so relaxing and it is a beautiful little town.

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Hotel Drouilhet de Sigalas

On this site was a renaissance building with some remarkable vestages which are included in the current house edifice dating to the XIX century.  Pierre Drouilhet de Sigalas lived here and was the mayor of Bazas from 1814 to 1830. The hotel is an expression of the troubadour style in vogue in the time romantic style.

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On our way back to Auros we finally saw a pilgrim marker for the Camino de Santiago Compostela.

We decided that we needed to have a nice evening so we made reservations at L’Ecluse 52. It was one of our most favorite restaurants. L’Ecluse is on the Canal Lateral a la Garrone dating from the mid-19th Century. It connects Toulouse to Castets-en-Dorthe. Castets en Dorthe is very near where we were eating. It connects to the Garonne a short ways from the restaurant. The remainder of the route to Bordeaux uses the river Garonne. It is is a continuation of the Canal du Midi which connects the Mediterranean with Toulouse. Together the Canal du Midi and the Garonne form the Canal des Deux Mers (two seas canal) which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

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Now we were ready for dinner and we found a bottle of our favorite wine Catherine-Lucas from Chateau La Peyrere where we had a wine tasting and dinner.

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