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Bordeaux is a port city in the south-west of France, with 925,253 inhabitants in the metropolitan area at the 1999 census. It is the capital of the Aquitaine r gion, as well as the pr fecture (administrative capital) of the Gironde d partement. Its inhabitants ... more »
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Airports Bordeaux is a port city in the south-west of France, with 925,253 inhabitants in the metropolitan area at the 1999 census. It is the capital of the Aquitaine région, as well as the préfecture (administrative capital) of the Gironde département. Its inhabitants are called Bordelais.
Bordeaux wine draws its name from the city around which it has been produced since the 8th century. Thus the city is known as the world's wine capital, hosting the wine industry's biggest event: Vinexpo.
Bordeaux is the centre of much military, space and aeronautics research and construction.
With almost 100,000 students, the city's university is renowned for its research units in crop science, new materials and nanotechnology.
Bordeaux is home to one of Europe's biggest 18th century architectural urban areas, making it a sought-after destination for tourists and cinema production crews. It stands out as one of the first French cities, after Nancy, to have entered an era of urbanism and metropolitan big scale projects, with the team Gabriel father and son, architects for King Louis XV, under the supervision of 2 intendants (Governors), first Mr. Dupre de Saint Maur then the Marquis (Marquess) de Tourny.
Bordeaux is located near the European Atlantic coast, in the south west of France and in the north of the Aquitaine region. The city is built on an arch of the river Garonne, and is thus divided into two parts: the right bank to the East and left bank in the West. Historically, the left bank is the most developed of the three. In Bordeaux, the Garonne River is accessible to the ocean liners.
Tourism is a fast growing industry in Bordeaux. The city and the beautiful Aquitaine region surrounding it hope to attract more and more visitors in the coming years. Bordeaux attracts 3 million visitors each year.
Things to do
* Esplanade des Quinconces * Colonnes des Girondins * Grand Théâtre * Allées de Tourny * Cours de l'Intendance * Place du Chapelet * Pont de Pierre * Cathédrale Saint-André (Exterior: ) * Tour Pey-Berland * Eglise Sainte-Croix (Exterior: ) * Basilique Saint-Michel (Entrance: ) * Palais Rohan (Exterior: ) * Palais Gallien * Porte Cailhau * La Grosse Cloche * Eglise Saint-Eloi * Place de la Bourse * Place du Parlement * Place Saint-Pierre * Rue Sainte-Catherine
Museums
* Musée des Beaux Arts * Musée d'Aquitaine * Musée des Arts Décoratifs * Musée D'Histoire Naturelle * CAPC * Musée National des Doines * French Cruiser Colbert * Vinorama * Musée Goupil * Casa de Goya * Cap Sciences * Centre Jean Moulin
Road
Bordeaux is an important road and motorway junction. The city is connected to Paris with the A10 motorway, with Lyon with the A89, with Toulouse with the A62, and with Spain with the A63. There is a ring motorway called "Rocade" which is often saturated. The project of another ring road is being discussed.
Bordeaux has 4 road bridges that cross the Garonne, the Pont-de-Pierre build in the 1820s and 3 modern bridges built after 1960: the Pont Saint Jean, just south of the Pont de Pierre (both located downtown), the Pont d'Aquitaine, a suspended bridge downstream from downtown, and the Pont François Mitterrand, located upstream of downtown. These 2 bridges are part of the ring road around Bordeaux. There is also a steel railway bridge, built in the 1850s by Gustave Eiffel, and used daily by 100s, including the high speed trains TGVs.
Rail
The main railway station, the Gare St-Jean near the centre of the city, welcomes 4 million passengers a year. It is served by the French national (SNCF) railway's high speed train, the TGV, that allows a trip to Paris in 3 hours, offering connections with major European centres such as Lille, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, Geneva and London. The TGV also serves Toulouse and Irun from Bordeaux. Regular train service is provided to Nantes, Nice, Marseille and Lyon. The Gare St-Jean is the major hub for regional trains (TER) operated by the SNCF to Arcachon, Limoges, Agen, Périgueux, Pau and Bayonne.
Airport
Bordeaux is served by an international airport, Aéroport de Bordeaux Mérignac, located 8km from downtown in the suburban city of Mérignac.
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Bordeaux was founded around 300 BC by a Celtic tribe, the Bituriges Vivisci, who named the town Burdigala. The city fell under Roman rule around 60 BC.
The city was plundered by the troops of Abd er Rahman in 732, after he had defeated Duke Eudes and before he was killed during the Battle of Tours on October 10. It was later plundered by the Vikings.
From the 12th to the 15th century, Bordeaux was part of the English realm, following the marriage of Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine with the French-speaking Count Henri Plantagenet, born in Le Mans, who became, within months of their wedding, King Henry II of England.
The 18th century was its golden age, because of the wine trade with the British Isles and Germany and the trades with the West Indies. Many downtown buildings (about 5,000), including those on the quays are from this period. Victor Hugo found the town so beautiful he once said: " take Versailles, add Antwerp, and you have Bordeaux". Baron Haussmann, a long time prefect of Bordeaux, used Bordeaux' 18th century big scale rebuilding as a model when he was asked by Emperor Napoleon III to transform a then still quasi-medieval Paris into a "modern" capital that would make France proud.
The French government withdrew to the city during the wars of 1870, World War I and World War II.
Bordeaux is the largest wine region in the world with about 117 000 hectares of vineyards, 57 appellations, 9,000 wine-producing châteaux, 13,000 wine growers, 400 traders and sales of 14,5 billion euros annually. With an annual production of over 700 million bottles, Bordeaux produces large quantities of everyday wine as well as very expensive wines.
Because of the wine glut (wine lake), the price squeeze caused by increasingly strong international competition, and vine pull schemes, the number of growers has recently dropped from 14,000 and the area under vine has also decreased significantly.
Both red and white wines are made in Bordeaux. Red Bordeaux is called claret in the United Kingdom.
Red Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes and may be made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and, less commonly in recent years, Carmenere. White Bordeaux is made from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle.
The Bordeaux wine region is divided into subregions including Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Médoc, and Graves. The area's five 'premier cru' (first growth) red wines (four from Médoc and one, Chateau Haut-Brion, from Graves), established by the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 are among the most expensive wines in the world: The first growths are:
* Château Lafite-Rothschild * Château Margaux * Château Latour * Château Haut-Brion * Château Mouton-Rothschild
Sauternes is a subregion of Graves known for its intensely sweet, white, dessert wines such as Chateau d'Yquem.
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Temperature - Yearly Average
Distances are calculated as the crow flies, and are provided as an aid in planning only.
* This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Source wikipedia.
