Bordeaux

I have not been (yet--going in June), but my husband lived there for a year and thinks certainly it's worth a day; I'm excited about seeing Roman ruins, the Place de la Bourse and the cathedral. I saw your other post about wine regions, so it may be worth your while to go to the Cite du Vin. Ste. Emilion is only 40 minutes away if that's more appealing.

You'll see several posts dedicated to Bordeaux here. I spent 10 days in Bordeaux last summer---it was hotter than the hubs of hell---but it was incredibly enjoying. Really some great museums and restaurants.

I spent 5 nights there in October 2021 and enjoyed it. I loved the Museum of the Aquitaine and since I was on a tour for part of the days did not get to spend enough time here. I loved the esplanade along the river and made it a point to walk down to see the statue of Modeste Testas who was a slave captured in Ethiopia who was eventually sent to a plantation in Haiti. Her grandson became president of Haiti.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modeste_Testas

I also did both of the art museums which were nice, uncrowded but skippable if you are not really in to art. St Andrew's Cathedral dates from the late 1100's although there is only one wall of the nave that is still from that era. This was the church where Alienor d'Aquitaine married Louis VII (although he was not yet king) in 1137. I did not get out to the WWII stuff with the submarine pens.

One thing that caught me unaware is that many of the restaurants here were using QR codes for menus. I had not signed up for data and did not know how to scan the QR code so just ordered something off the chalk board. (I'm vegan, it was not). SO...this is a university town with lots of students who have more modern skills than I do, hahaha! Make sure you've got a smartphone and some skills! (And yes, I can do this now!)

Bordeaux had a very tropical feel to me....palms, banana plants and hibiscus are planted along the esplanade by the river.

Been there twice. The cathedral is unique; there is a outdoor covered market around there. We went to the Cite du Vin (wine museum that includes a tasting of your choice). Not a bad way to spend a day. We pretty much walked it but there is a tram by that runs through it terminates at the main train station where you can also get a bus to the airport.

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful replies!!

Bordeaux is a city of beautiful architecture and great food and wine. Its easy to walk around and see its many diverse neighborhoods. We especially enjoyed Les Chartrons were we visited a wine museum. The Dordogne is probably where we've had the best food ever! We stayed in Sarlat-la-Canada. There are beautiful villages and it's a great place to tour many former castles and chateau. We especially enjoyed Josephine Baker's (former American dancer) Chateau.