A short visit to Bordeaux

I’d forgotten how beautiful Bordeaux is.

We were there today, for the annual winter sales. Cliona had read about the boutique shops at the Quai des Marques, five huge hangars on the left bank of the Garonne, near the magnificent Pont Jacques Chaban Delmas.

As Cliona prefers shopping to eating, and I am the reverse, I left her there and walked across the Quai des Chartrons and then down the Quai de Bacalan.

I saw many lunch spots but stopped at a place called Bar Voltigeur. Outside sat a solitary smoker. The air was freezing, but the sky was blue. The river sparkled in the sun.

Inside, I took a small table at the back and was served by a young man in jeans and a check shirt. He had longish hair, scrunched and tied at the back. He had a full ginger beard … and a smile on his face.

The bar was austere, with little atmosphere. The lunch crowd was returning to work or lectures and this left just a few men, dining alone.

On the wall above me, a sign explained the origin of the word “Voltigeur”.

It said, “In 1809, a voltigeur was a soldier in Napoleon’s army. In 1932, the name was given to a French cigar, in memory of the soldiers of the republic.”

When my waiter brought my meal, he said, “There you go.”

I had a bowl of mashed potato with a Toulouse sausage sitting in it. There was a small wicker basket of bread. I drank a beer.

For dessert, I had a lovely slice of chocolate tart with a side serve of whipped cream.

Red rugby flags adorned the bar, over which wine glasses hung and caught the light. The barman/owner calculated my bill and my English speaking red-bearded waiter said goodbye and smiled again.

Outside, I looked up and admired the three-storey bourgeois apartments overlooking the river.

This architecture spoke of a rich and vibrant past, once busy docks bustling with Bordeaux’s wine trade.

Apparently, the Chartrons suffered a commercial decline after WW2, but has now enjoyed a renaissance. Indeed it appears the whole of Bordeaux has enjoyed a renaissance. It is a beautiful city. Now I remember.