The Cathédrale Saint-André
The Cathédrale Saint-André is the ecclesiastical centre of Bordeaux — a Gothic nave begun in the 11th century and enlarged repeatedly until the 15th, its most extraordinary feature the detached Tour Pey-Berland, a Gothic bell tower built separately from the main structure to prevent the vibrations of the bells from damaging the fabric. The tower is climbable; the view from the top over the 18th- century grid of the city to the Garonne is among the best in Bordeaux. The Hôtel de Ville directly beside the cathedral, in the former Archbishop's Palace, is free to enter on guided visits.
Place de la Bourse and the Miroir d'Eau
The Place de la Bourse, built between 1730 and 1775, is the great set-piece of Bordeaux's 18th-century transformation — a semicircular ensemble of classical façades facing the Garonne, designed by the royal architect Jacques Gabriel as a statement of the city's commercial ambitions. The Miroir d'Eau in front of it — a shallow reflecting pool covering 3,450 square metres, the largest in the world — alternates between a perfect mirror for the building behind it and a misting cloud that children and adults both walk into without reservation. Come at sunrise when the pool reflects the façade without interruption.
Restaurants in the Old Quarter
Saint-Pierre contains some of Bordeaux's best-established restaurants. Le Chapon Fin at the Rue Montesquieu is one of the great historic restaurants of France — opened in 1825, its extraordinary Rococo grotto dining room was recently restored; the cooking is classical French with the sort of wine list that requires a separate afternoon. The Brasserie Bordelaise on Rue Saint-Rémi is the more democratic choice: a zinc-counter brasserie serving entrecôte bordelaise with shallot and bone-marrow sauce at prices that are ambitious rather than stratospheric.
Walking Saint-Pierre
The best way to understand Saint-Pierre is on foot, on a morning when the markets on the Quai des Chartrons are open and the light is coming in low off the Garonne. The Marché des Capucins, open from Tuesday through Sunday, is the city's main food market — cheese, charcuterie, and the extraordinary cèpes and girolles mushrooms in season. The Rue Sainte-Catherine, the longest pedestrian shopping street in France, is useful rather than beautiful; the side streets running off it towards the cathedral contain the independent bookshops, design studios, and wine merchants that the main street has displaced.
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