Getting to Know Bordeaux

Bordeaux is so very French!    The city center is about 1.5 miles from our apartment, about a 40-minute walk, and I can’t say it enough, it’s so very French!   There is so much to see, stupendous monuments and fountains, bell towers, ancient city gates, the largest reflecting pool in the world where kids love to splash, and cathedrals that rival Notre Dame in beauty.   And we’ve only seen a few things so far.   And it’s all so French!

Now our neighborhood, I have not quite figured it out yet.  It’s almost 100% residential with townhouses built in the early 1900s.  The houses are built next to each other and exterior walls are shared with the next house and both houses and streets look very much like one another.   It is not a particularly attractive area but it is very convenient.  The Red Line tram is nearby and takes us to the city center in just a matter of minutes.   From there we can go anywhere by tram, bus, train or water taxi.  A choice of supermarkets is close at hand as well. 

Our townhouse has been modernized with beautiful wooden floors, a pretty well-equipped kitchen, and a hot tub and garden in the back.  But it’s the strangest house I’ve seen.  The owners told us its design is very typical.  I’ll add here that the owners are very nice and greeted us with wine and hors d’oeuvres while we got to know each other upon our arrival.  He is a professor of metallurgy and she’s a psychologist.  I thought it a bit strange when they showed us the collection of cooking gear and spices in the kitchen.  I thought . . . my, this house is well-stocked. That’s because they live in this house when they are not living in one of their two other homes, one in the Pyrenees and one on a lake.  Ok . . . we were not expecting that.  At least all the baths and closets contained no personal items.

The townhouse occupies three floors.  The entry is street-level.  Walk upstairs, five or six steps to get to the middle floor where the living room and dining area are with a connecting powder room with vanity and toilet.  A wall-size window and glass door overlooks the hot tub and a pretty garden.  Two bedrooms are up 14 steps from the living room.   That’s where the one air conditioner is located, thank goodness as it is very hot here right now.  At east we can sleep. There are two “bathrooms” upstairs on either end of the landing.  One is a “bath” with a vanity and tub/shower.  No toilet; you can’t pee there.  On the other end of thelalding and nearest to our bedroom, thank goodness, is the other “bathroom” with a toilet but no vanity or tub; you can pee but you can’t wash hands or shower there.  I looked it up; yes, bathroom facilities like these are typical in France.

Now get this, from the living room there are ten stone steps to the downstairs.  There is the kitchen!    It consumes the whole area.  You cook there and can eat there at the bar, or else take plates upstairs to the dining room.  Carry full plates via ten stone steps?   I think not!  No lounging room down there either–just room to cook plus laundry and storage room and office. Yes, there is a “bathroom” on that floor as well but it is equipped only with a toilet. Wash hands at the kitchen sink. There is another big window and door with steps leading up to the garden.

I am not saying the house is not nice or uncomfortable; it is very nice and very comfortable but . . . it’s just a bit different from what we are accustomed to seeing.  We’ve encountered a vast array of housing types in our travels but this place is one of the most unusual . . . maybe second only to what I called the Hobbit House in Sydney, Australia or the Bachelor’s House in Paris.  We will no doubt grow accustomed to living here and we will probably be sad when we leave this home in a month.