Day 5

4 Ocober 2022

Back in Bordeaux and a day planned out and about.

First up though, a visit to an Artisan Boulangerie for fresh croissant and ficelle (small baguette) for brekky. Nothing could be better than fresh ficelle, lashings of butter and vegemite…..if only we had vegemite !

After brekky we plotted our course via tram and bus to Bassins de Lumieres. These are the disused submarine repair yards built by the Germans, with forced labor, in about 1942. They literally blew up the land to create craters that were shaped into pens for the subs, and were then filled with cement. They created a channel to the river and then flooded the lot. The roof is 7 metres thick, and although bombed by the Allies, they survived with little damage.

Today they remain filled with water, but have been turned into the Lumieres, being projections that reflect off both the walls, floor and water. It is hard to capture the majesty of this on film. The theme of what we saw was Venice and the painters that had captured the life of Venice through the ages. The music was also a huge part of the experience. I do have some video for those at all interested, but there is no substitute for being there.

We then ventured over the Musse de Vin on the banks of the Gironde River. A strange looking building that to us looked like a snail or slug. Apparently, it is supposed to represent a decanter. We were hoping that the Musee would give us an insight to the Bordeaux wine region, but alas, it was far more generic and, if the truth be known, a bit basic.

We did accept our free glass of wine on the 8^th floor, which had great views down the river, so it wasn’t a completely lost cause.

Back home, we chilled out for a bit and then made ready to go out to dinner. On our food tour the other day we asked our guide for a suggestion for perhaps a Michelin restaurant to try. She gave ius a couple of names, at which point one of the others on the tour (a Bordeaux local) gave us a recommendation for a new and upcoming restaurant that she was sure would soon obtain a Michelin star. So, we decided to go for it.

The trip out was by bus (I’m such a public transport convert). The building was very unpretentious, as was the neighborhood. It had the ambience of a local restaurant, but the décor gave a hint of what was to come. The Maitre’d  had great English, and he was also the wine waiter. The chef’s wife/owner was a waitress, but little English. In the kitchen were the owner/chef and 2 supports. The food was amazing. It was a degustation menu of 7 courses and I had the matching wines, which somehow got shared with my dinning partner. It was a great night out, totally unexpected, one of those magic holiday moments.