Bordeaux

Bordeaux, is a relaxed and elegant city, somewhere to stroll along the riverside quays and to peel back many layers of history in the old town: Roman remains, medieval turrets, elegant 18^th century mansions, a wartime submarine base, stunning 21^st century features like the Miroir d’eau.

And it’s a city of wine. Somewhere to tour a vineyard or two, visit a wine shop which stocks several million bottles and linger over a glass or a bottle in any number of pretty squares and side streets. And, of course, it’s the place to visit the stunning Cité du Vin, the world’s largest wine museum.

Our 10 Bordeaux episodes will bring you all the background history and culture you need to really understand the city. In short, here is all the research you’d do yourself if only you had the time!

Bordeaux is our current series and will run throughout 2023. A new episode will come out on the first Thursday of each month.

BORDEAUX : HISTORY & CULTURE

BOrdeaux: links and reading

Two useful websites for tourists
Bordeaux Tourist Office
Visit Bordeaux

2 Guide Books
Lonely Planet Pocket Bordeaux
Bordeaux France by P G Preston

4 History Books
Eleanor of Aquitaine by Sara Cockerill
Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir
Histoire de Bordeaux by Madeleine Lassière (in French)
Petite Histoire de Bordeaux by Marion Philip and Xavier Lacarce (in French)

True Stories and Memoirs
Game of Spies by Paddy Ashdown
The Last of the Cockleshell Heroes by William Sparks
The Billionaire’s Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace

Novels set in Bordeaux
The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick
Dark Summer in Bordeaux by Allan Massie
The Frontenac Mystery by François Mauriac
Thérèse Desqueyroux by François Mauriac