Bordeaux neighborhoods: Bastide
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We have been to Bordeaux a few times and despite what everyone says about it, we really like it. We have friends who live there so we get the real tour and they have a 20 something year old daughter who can also tell us the good trendy places and neighborhoods to go. So forget about it being bourgeois, all about wine, snobby, and whatever other bad things you have heard. We will tell you about a few neighborhoods we were in that we enjoyed.
Bastide. It is on the right side of the Garonne River. The main downtown part of Bordeaux is on the left side. The small pedestrian streets, Rue St Catherine, the 4.5 kilometers of 18th century townhomes overlooking the Garonne, they are all on the left side. This right bank neighborhood is the closest you can get to those neighborhoods without being in them. The best thing about Bastide is the view, you get to see the Pont St Pierre and all the 18th century buildings like the photo here. You can walk across the bridge to get there in 5 minutes, you can take the beautiful tram way and in one stop be there. There is also a bike lane. It is really a perfect location. 
What is in the neighborhood? It is a neighborhood in transition. There is a lot of building and renovating so you have older buildings interspersed with newer contemporary ones. There is an entire complex of new contemporary buildings built nearly on the banks of the Garonne. This is located across the street from a large botanical garden. Across the street the other way is an old train station that has been converted into a movie theater with 20 screens.
As you cross the Pont St Pierre into Bastide you arrive at the Place Stalingrad. There are restaurants and cafe’s that line this square. The tramway comes across the bridge and it’s first stop is here. Then it continues down the main street Avenue Thiers. All along this street are bars, restaurants, cafe’s, stores, nightclubs, etc. If you live in this neighborhood you don’t need to go into the other part of town if you don’t want to. You have everything you need right here too. It seems like it is a slightly smaller and quieter neighborhood that still offers everything someone living in a city would want.
For the readers who speak French here is a short article about Bordeaux Bastide.
well, I don’t know everyone and I’m not hearing them on the negative Bordeaux comments. Bordeaux has always been one of my favorite cities, it has a great fresh energy … and seems to continuously transform itself. Sometimes right while you are sitting there! Last visit I was sat in front of a café, enjoying my espresso … and observed said café go from quiet little neighborhood stand to bustline party spot! As I watched, double the tables were brought out … a handsome couple in a tiny truck arrived with their payload of fresh oysters, hearty brown bread and a pile of lemons. Snapped out a table and small sign. Before you knew it, crowds descended, corks popped and a bunch of terrific looking patrons mingled, sipping Sancerre and slurping oysters. Music descended from speakers and there we were … in the midst of a diverse mix of folks enjoying an after-five evening of merriment.
Great fun!
Well it seems in France everyone says the people in Bordeaux are very bourgeois and I have heard it from a wide variety of people. It’s funny because then if you ask them when the last time they visited they often say 15 years ago or worse, never. We have friends who live there and say the changes over the last 10 years are nothing short of remarkable. It is also very clean, Toulouse could learn a few things from Bordeaux in that department.