(Bordeaux has been listed as a World Heritage Site by Unesco since 2007. Photo: AFP)
“After Alain Juppé was elected mayor of Bordeaux in 2006, he implemented an urban project that has brought about profound changes.
“There was the tram with underground cables which allowed us to modify all the open spaces in the city, pushing out cars, and giving more room for bicycles and pedestrians to walk, and cafes with terraces,” he said.
“Before people would say Bordeaux is a ‘sleeping beauty’, a sad or dark city, it’s a city where you get bored but now they say “it’s a city that’s alive, where you can walk peacefully and there are beautiful things.”
- Bordeaux is the sixth biggest city in France, with an inner city population of around 250,000.
- The locals are known as Bordelais and Bordelaises
- The part of the city known as “Le Port de La Lune” is a Unesco World Heritage site.
- The region is the wine capital of the world, bringing in around €14.5 billion each year.
Bordeaux's economy is in fairly good health compared to the rest of the country. It was ranked as the fourth most “dynamic” city in France for jobs in a 2013 table that saw Nantes finish on top and Toulouse in second place.
Figures for 2010 also showed the average household income in Bordeaux was greater than the national average, and when it comes to property, well no wonder so many Parisians fancy moving to Bordeaux where the average price per square-metre was just over €3,000 compared to just under €8,000 in the French capital.
(The Château Doisy Daëne vineyard in Barsac, near Bordeaux. Photo: AFP)
(The “Water mirror” is one of Bordeaux's most popular sites. Photo: Bérenger Zyla/Flickr)
(Bordeaux is just kilometres from the Cap Ferret beach. Photo: SuperCarRoadTrip/Flickr)
I have become a member of the Local and find the articles and information very interesting.My biggest complaint is that you ONLY speak to English people. There are many American ex pats living in France but your bias towards English expressions, comparing everything to England etc etc is a real turn -off. You are not very global for the English speaking community of which there are several countries included.