As the tram glides along the riverside, it stops for a moment by the "mirror", the flat pool of water on the broad quayside. Sometimes fountain jets are turned on and children dash between them. With these switched off, the water perfectly reflects the beautiful semicircular Place de la Bourse, designed in the 1730s by the royal architect, Jacques-Ange Gabriel. I can't help thinking the city is, quite rightly, admiring itself.
Long considered to be France's sleeping beauty, Bordeaux has gone through an astonishing renaissance in the past couple of decades. It has cleaned up its vast swaths of 18th-century architecture, landscaped the riverbanks along the Garonne and gained a Unesco world heritage listing, which has helped the Bordelais, as well as visitors, to rediscover the city.
When I first came here 20 years ago, the riverside was littered with old warehouses of dark, grimy stone. Now the area has been transformed into a long promenade with gardens, benches and quirky metal lamp-posts. But it's more than just a cleanup; the quays have become a focus of Bordeaux life, part of a new frivolity that seems to have infused the city. It's a place for promenading and rollerblading, of children's playgrounds, basketball and pelote courts, or for shopping at the organic food market on Thursdays and the discount outlets of Quai des Marques.
The sleek, modern tramway has pulled together Bordeaux's diverse districts, from the student area around the romanesque Église Sainte-Croix, near the station, to the elegant opera house on Place de la Comédie, in the centre. As it crosses over the historic Pont de Pierre, it has even helped the revival of the long-neglected Bastide district across the river, with its unusual botanical garden and cinema in a converted train station. At the northern end of the quays, an unlikely bit of history crops up at the Base sous-marine, where, amid the sound of lapping water, the massive, echoing concrete of a second world war German submarine dock is now an atmospheric art gallery.
Wine continues to infuse the city – and not just in wine shops and wine bars. The pretty Château Labottière, dating from 1783, has become the Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez (institut-bernard-magrez.com). Founded by the owner of the Château Pape Clément vineyards as a cultural venue, it now houses exhibitions of modern and contemporary art.
Touring the vineyards
There is nothing like visiting the vineyards and seeing the different landscapes to appreciate the French notion of terroir, and what makes each Bordeaux appellation different: the gravels of Graves and Médoc; the rolling clay-limestone hills around St-Emilion.
Although the notoriously stuffy grand chateaux, which traditionally traded exclusively with the négociants (wholesale merchants), have become more open, organised wine tours still help you to get into worthwhile ones and meet the people behind the wines.
I go with Bordovino (bordovino.com) – one of several wine tours you can take from Bordeaux tourist office – which takes you to St-Emilion and the Médoc, in the company of Juliette. She deftly switches between French and English for our multinational group of eight — the maximum number, which keeps the mood friendly and informal.
Each tour includes one small producer and one grander one. At Château de Gaby Canon-Fronsac, we have a brief assemblage lesson, tasting merlot and cabernet varieties, and trying them in different proportions before tasting the estate's own blend. Then it is on to Château Soutard grand cru, with its stunning modern wine cellars and literally cavernous oval tasting room, carved out in the rock beneath, before finishing off with a stroll around the ancient village of St-Emilion. Going a step further is B-Winemaker (b-winemaker.com), where an estate visit is followed by a hands-on blending workshop, in which you come up with your own blend, personalised label and a bottle to take home.
If you want to extend your stay, think about staying in a vineyard. Les Sources de Caudalie (sources-caudalie.com) is a romantic, lakeside hotel set amid the Pessac-Léognan vineyards of Château Smith Haut Lafitte, with an excellent restaurant and luxurious vinotherapy spa (a theraputic skin treatment that uses wine and grapes). Le Relais de Franc Mayne (relaisfrancmayne.com) has nine quirky rooms at a St-Emilion wine chateau, while Château Cordeillan-Bages (cordeillanbages.com), at Pauillac, is a beautiful, creamy stoned Relais & Châteaux hotel, with its own small vineyard (alongside illustrious parent Château Lynch-Bages), a gourmet restaurant and classes at Cercle Lynch-Bages wine school.
Whether you want to indulge in one of Bordeaux oldest art forms, winemaking, or simply soak up the atmosphere of a city revitalised, you will be glad you have woken up to France's sleeping beauty.
