Frenchyphil's Bordeaux blog

Being a big fan of Rick Stein I did a search for and found this cool article about the famous La Tupina restaurant on www.london-eating.co.uk . It is a mouth watering read.

http://www.london-eating.co.uk/newsletter/2005/october/tupina.asp

If anyone has not seen Rick's French Odyssey two disc dvd and loves French things I highly recommend it. I have often watched the whole series back to back and feel like I have been on a fantastic culinary holiday.

Rick Stein's French Odyssey : Complete BBC Series

What a fantastic series!  When it was first broadcast on BBC 2 in 2005 I was suitably impressed being a Francohile and fan of Rick. However, after getting the DVD I am totally hooked. Rick Stein is a very engaging man. He liberally peppers his enthusiasms for French dishes and style with humour and anecdotes about the fascinating people he encounters during the course of his slow journey from Bordeaux to Marseilles onboard the two canal barges;  "Rosa" and the "Anjodi". On this journey his dog Chalky was left behind in the uk on advice of the vet.

In his quest to get to Marseilles, he reminds us that it was Brittany which gave him so much inspiration during the early days of his seafood restaurant at Padstow, Cornwall. En route to the South West Rick also indulges in some very non-British food; for example eels in Breton cider, at a packed Les Routiers truck stop. This experience really shows the differing attitudes that the French have for food ie: in a similar transport cafe in the UK  the fare might well consist of sausage, baked beans and egg, beans on toast or just....beans! Ok, maybe chips with beans and brown sauce. Another stop finds him enjoying a superb steak in a railway cafe  at Agen's train station wherein he tells of some mouth watering fare on offer, at very reasonable prices.

The authentic recipes shown include Vichyssoise, Pissaladiere, Bouillabaise, Cassoulet and Tarte Tatin. A visit to the Victor Hugo market in Toulouse finds Rick salivating over some local hams and the famous Toulouse sausage - to be cooked in duck fat, of course.

Onward they travel down the Canal lateral a la Garonne in the Rosa. The canal runs all the way from Bordeaux to Toulouse alongside the river Garonne. Then they changed to the Canal du Midi and travelled down to Marseille in the Anjodi. Rick comments on the tranquil pace of travelling like this and that it is a very interesting way to visit the French towns without all the mess of the outskirts that one normally experiences by road travel.

So, if you want to escape to virtual France for a few hours then pop this DVD in the player and relax with a bottle of good red Bordeaux by your side, some olives in a bowl, press the play button, sink into the chair and imagine you are aboard the canal barge Rosa with Rick and his chums. Sorry Chalky, no dogs allowed in this trip. We'll bring you back some sausage!

Bordeaux and the UK city of Bristol are officially twinned and more details can be found here.

Bordeaux has a renowned philharmonic orchestra and there are several annual festivals. Various of its historic buildings are well worth visiting, like the classically styled Grand Théâtre on the Place de la Comédie, which served as a model for the Opéra in Paris, and the majestic Cathédrale St-André, which can compete with Notre-Dame.

Old Postcard of the Grand Theatre

FNAC is a chain of stores throughout France and heaven for any enthusiasts of French Music and original language dvds like myself. When I first discovered the store four years ago I was agog at the huge selection of comic books or BDs on sale there; browsed mostly by adults. I have shopped there ever since and been able to build up a nice selection of contemporary French music cds at very reasonable prices.

FNAC music and media store Bordeaux

Street level in Bordeaux

There are three tram lines running through and out of Bordeaux and a great way of seeing the city and some of its envirions. They are cheap and safe to use and a cool of way of immersing yourself into ordinary Bordeaux life.

Link to website covering history and routes in English. http://www.trams-in-france.net/reload.htm?bordeaux.htm

Photos:

Interior cabin fo tram crossing the bridge.

Tram lines.

Tram in central Bordeaux.

http://www.bordeaux-tourisme.com/uk/decouvrir/unesco.html

Bordeaux

An excellent site for any visit to Bordeaux and a great way to be prepared for the cultural events that are a mainstay of Bordeaux life. The picture is from the main railway station, Gare St Jean. With a little French I found that the helpful staff here helped me get around the region very easily to destinations like St Emilion and Bergerac amongst others.

I would say that this former church is the best cinema in Bordeaux and one of the most unique in France. This place is bolt hole for me on each return to Bordeaux, not only for the films but the ambiance and the food and a chance ot relax in its cooling honey coloured interior. The service is quick and the food simple but the assiettes often containing an element of chargrilled meats such as steak or chicken. There are also some dishes for the vegetarian and each dish comes with a free bottle of water. Whilst outside may be baking hot the interior is a haven of cool and the selection of films are constantly changing including English language films and current French films as well as art films present and past.

Official website in French only. http://www.cinemas-utopia.org/bordeaux/

My blog will be full of links to sites that are of interest to any Francophiles out there. I have a particular interest in the city of Bordeaux having been there three times in the past and having fallen in love with this charming city in the South West of France.

Some say that its three universities and 60,000 students make it the largest campus in Europe. It has a vibrant night life, theatres, concerts and bustling cafes. Broad avenues and spacious squares, like the Place de la Bourse and the imposing Esplanades des Quinconces, dominate the city and give it international cachet.

Fountains

Bordeaux is the capital of Gironde department. Built on the banks of the Garonne where the river widens into the Gironde, Bordeaux was already an important center at the time of the Gauls. In those days it was called Burdigala, still the name of one of the most fashionable hotels in the city.

In Roman times it was the capital of the province of Aquitainia Secunda. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it was briefly occupied by the Arabs. In the twelfth century, following the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry Plantagenet, the later duchy of Aquitaine passed into English hands, only finally returning to France in 1452.