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Sightseeing Overview
Most of the city’s monuments are within easy walking distance, and the tourist office is a good starting point. Nearby the fine Esplanade des Quinconces overlooks the Garonne, and the superb wine merchants’ residences in the rejuvenated Chartrons Quarter have been converted into  trendy shops and museums, including the Musée d’Art Contemporain.

South along the Garonne is the beautiful Grand Théâtre, the elegant Palais de la Bourse and the Hôtel des Douanes (Custom House). On and around the rue des Trois Conils are the 11th-century Cathédrale St-André, the majestic Hôtel de Ville and the Musée des Beaux Arts. The superb collection at the Musée de l’Aquitaine is one of the highlights of the city.

Tourist Information
Office de Tourisme de Bordeaux
12 cours du 30 Juillet
Tel: (05) 5600 6600.
Website: www.bordeaux-tourisme.com

The main tourist office organizes city tours and guided tours of the vineyards. They have a good-value package ‘Bordeaux Découverte’ offering two nights’ accommodation, a guided tour of the city and the vineyards with wine tasting and one pass giving admission to the city’s principal monuments. The Comité Régional du Tourisme, 23 parvis des Chartrons (tel: (05) 5601 7000; website: www.tourisme-aquitaine.fr), deals with the Aquitaine region. The Bordeaux Wine Council (website: www.vins-bordeaux.fr) provides information about local wines and vineyards.

Key Attractions:

Quartier des Chartrons
Fabulously rich European wine merchants built sumptuous residences in this quarter. The area declined after the French Revolution, but was recently spruced up and is now home to swanky shops, trendy bars and restaurants and the Museum of Contemporary Art (see below).

Musée d’Art Contemporain (CAPC)
This museum of contemporary art is housed in a monumental colonial warehouse, and has an excellent collection of arte povera (Italian for ‘poor art’), experimental art of the late 1960s, and good temporary shows.

7 rue Ferrère
Tel: (05) 5600 8150.

Cathédrale St-André
One of three Bordeaux churches listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, the gothic cathedral, built during the 13th and 15th centuries, was on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. The top of the lofty bell tower commands superb views over the city.

Place Pey-Berland

Musée d’Aquitaine
This superb museum has a rich collection of archaeological, historical and ethnographic artifacts illustrating Bordeaux’s history from prehistoric times to the present. The highlight is a magnificent bronze statue of Hercules, which once stood at the entrance to the port.

20 cours Pasteur
Tel: (05) 5601 5100.

Musée des Beaux Arts
One wing of the sumptuous baroque Palais Rohan, now the City Hall, is dedicated to an impressive collection of 16th-20th century paintings, including masterworks by Perugino, Titian, Rubens, Brueghel, Matisse, Renoir, Delacroix, Seurat, Bonnard, and Kokoschka.

Jardin de la Mairie 20, cours d’Albret
Tel: (05) 5610 2056.

Further Distractions:

Esplanade des Quinconces
One of Europe’s largest squares, this vast open space has the Monument des Girondins (a memorial to the Girondin deputies guillotined at the behest of Robespierre and other leaders of the French Revolution) along one side, and two tall ships’ columns on the riverside. The heart of Vieux Bordeaux runs between here and the Cathédrale St-André.

Les Jardins Botaniques
The old Jardin Botanique (cours de Verdun) is part of Bordeaux’s first ever park, the Jardin Public. It is a classic French garden with a lake, arranged flowerbeds and 3,000 different plant species. On the other side of the river is the new Jardin Botanique (quai de Queyries), which is very French too, but contemporary, with water gardens, a grass meadow and chalk hillocks that recreate the various habitats of Aquitaine.

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France Attraction Guides:
Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile Arenes d'Arles (Roman Amphitheater in Arles) Bayeux Tapestry (Tapisserie de Bayeux) Cave of Lascaux (Grotte de Lascaux) Chartres Cathedral (Cathedrale de Chartres) Chenonceau Castle (Chateau de Chenonceau) Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie Claude Monet's House and Water Garden (Maison de Claude Monet et Le Jardin d'eau) D-Day Beaches (Plages du Debarquement de la Bataille de Normandie) Disneyland Resort Paris Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel) Louvre (Musee du Louvre) Mont Saint-Michel Abbey (Abbaye du Mont Saint-Michel)	Musee d'Orsay (Orsay Museum) Palace of Versailles (Chateau de Versailles) Parc Asterix Paris Notre-Dame Cathedral (Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris) Pere Lachaise Cemetery (Cimitiere du Pere Lachaise) Planete Futuroscope Popes' Palace (Palais des Papes) Regional Nature Park of the Volcanoes of Auvergne (Parc Naturel Regional des Volcans d'Auvergne) Rocamadour Sacre Coeur Basilica, Montmartre (Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Montmartre) St Benezet Bridge (Pont St-Benezet) The Walled Town of Carcassonne (Cite de Carcassonne)