Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Bordeaux, City of Art and History


Grand Theatre of Bordeux

a neo-classical opera/theatre built in 1780 is just right in front of our hotel
Bordeaux has got many historical monuments and have been listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. I couldn't believe it that Bordeaux has got roughly 362 historical monuments.

O.O!!!!!
apparently the other city that out-rivaled Bordeaux is Paris....
in terms of historical monuments...but I guess Bordeaux is also so much better from the aspects of Wine tourism hohohoohohoho, quality of life, food, people and environment.

I really do enjoyed doing picnic by the Garonne river, under the warm spring sun, among the green green grass...chomping on my fresh produce bought fr the market. Will blog about it soon ok? :)))



This was our hotel - Grand Hotel de Bordeaux and Spa
pic taken from the Grand Theatre

Flatmate Amy booked us here under her corporate rate. Thank you!!!! Otherwise it's gonna cost a huge grand big bomb :P


I like this hotel for its location...right smack in the middle of everything...
but most of all the view of Grand Theatre


Monkey concentrating on the view.....hahahahaha
yeah I know I was born with this face....when I'm concentrating, it looked so stressful :P
hahahahahahaha

We lurve to sit here right in front of the hotel.....doing nothing.....except ppl watch....hehehehehehe....the weather was too lovely to stay indoor


Fried Scampis with grilled artichoke and lentils, served with spring shoots of asparagus

There's a Michelin starred restaurant in the hotel but I guessed we were just being a bitch for not booking it. Sometimes when a gem is so close to u, u tend not to appreciate it. Well, JS has confirmed that we are coming back again so there will always be another time :)))))


Monkey had a simple sous vide free range egg with ham and white asparagus.
I had so much of white asparagus from my stay in Switzerland and France, think they are flowing outta my ears....hahahahahaa

it was supposed to be a chill and relax evening, preferably with simple light food...and great wines but we ended up eating....failed....

This brasserie - Le Bordeaux run by the same hotel is really good. I guess Bordeaux is so modernised now that everyone can speaks english. Good english too.


Mille Feuile :))

Brasserie Le Bordeaux serves only wholesome traditional french cuisines. Be sure to find lots of yummy goodness on its menu, most of them South West French style dishes.

the entire place was designed to evoke a sense of "belle epoque" translated to "Beautiful Era" back in the 19th century's great brasseries in France.

Oh well I lurve this property so no complaints and we will definitely come back here for everything. The people, service, food, view, wine list....:))))))))))


We continued to sit there and watch the evening past, with silhouette creating shadows on the plaza.
Musicians continued to roam the area with their enchanted singing and sounds that made me wanna be here everyday.....

ooh dream on Monkey....but hey dreams do come true u know?
so yes..I will continue to dream and dream really hard that it will come true.


Soon the streetlights bathed the area
the sky has got such beautiful colors

we closed our eyes and dreamed so hard we forgot we needed to rush to a place
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Soon JS signed the bill and pulled Monkey's hands and dashed down to the river by the Grand Theatre. How could the theatre be so beautiful even on its back lane?? It has got bushes and gardens and frenchie lamp post with benches beneath it.

JS: "We are late!!! We kenot miss it!!!!"

Monkey was still dreaming.....as she ran down the alley...think I was quite tipsy then :P



in less than 3 minutes, we arrived by the bank of Garonne River
oh yes we were rushing for some kinda view....JS alwiz knows where to get the best view and sunset.

Tipsy Monkey said that's a beautiful bridge...she wanted a pic with it....but JS was quite reluctant bcoz he said I was wasting his time as he was bz setting up his camera for something even more magnificent.

-_-"
but he obliged...I know...he's the sweetest.

that's a really important bridge - Pont de Pierre
Built under the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte during the first French Empire...it has got 17 arches depicting each letter of his name....*oh he's a narcissist I tell u*

I was still rubbing my eyes when ppl told me all parts of the A380 were transported using this same river under this same bridge to Toulouse for final assembly. WAT?
it's so small!!! how did they transport it? Look at the lil stone arches there!!! how can parts of A380 passed through????

and my dearie readers, guess wat? Monkey and JS had the privilege to see the huge ass super duper jumbo T-Rex dunno how many foot WING of an A380 being transported during our picnic by the river. I will also blog about this soon hehehehehe :))))))


So this was wat JS rushed here for....Place de la Bourse
originally built between 1730 and 1775 just to celebrate an equestrian statue in the middle. Yeah it was a symbol of wealth.....to show that they are god damn rich to build something this beautiful for a statue....hahahaha which was later destroyed during the French Revolution.

oh well, many things were destroyed during the revolution....pretty sad huh.

JS waited for the perfect sunset to capture this

Place de la Bourse faces this Water Mirror the largest in the world
Ok I promise that I will blog in details about this water mirror OK? I lurve it so much that we are here almost every single day. Different time of the day, we get different views.

but I wasn't as fanatic as JS who wakes up at 5.30am to come here to fight for the best spot for the best pic. Yeah he thought he was the earliest but someone else was more Kiasu *and that someone wasn't fr Singapore* who took the best spot with his tripod to the horror of JS.

Sorry lar...I think next time u need to be there much earlier. Anyway at any time of the day, I see people with tripod setting up here to capture the perfect pic with patience.


I thought our trip to Bordeaux was just a check list to do, I mean being a wine enthusiast this place is the beginning...so a trip would suffice...but I was wrong. Looks like we are coming back :))))

JS, let's plan ahead. Looking at my calendar I may need to quit my job :))))))

2 comments:

Chasing Food Dreams said...

the photos took my breathe away.... awesome photos JS!!!

js said...

Txs food dreams :) more pictures coming .....