The particular charm of Bordeaux has
always fascinated visitors and has
often inspired writers and artists
- native sons and passing guests. The
Latin poet Ausone
glorified the power and beauty of
the city that was his birthplace,
homeland and love, a land where the
skies are gentle and mild.
Michel
de Montaigne,
the mayor-philosopher, was undoubtedly
one of the city's most famous ambassadors.
Traces still remain in the old town
- in rue de la Rousselle, where the
Logis des Eyquem can be found, and rue
Gouvéa, where where he used to
visit his friend, humanist Etienne
de La Boétie.
Another
glory of Bordeaux, Charles
Louis de Montesquieu, sometime wine-grower
and one of the leading thinkers of the
"Century of Light". He cultivated
the refinement and art of living that
are beneficial for mankind: "the
air, the grapes and the wine from the
banks of the Garonne are an excellent
antidote for melancholy".
Above all, these visitors were impressed
by the city's magnificent architecture:
At the beginning of the 18th century,
Saint Simon
judged that it "was one of
the finest things to be admired".
After the end of the major transformations
at the end of the century, other literary
celebrities came to stay in Bordeaux: Stendhal,
for whom the charm was "the spectacle
of all this activity and the ships that
arrive each day from all over the world".
He claimed to "like the people
of Bordeaux and their Epicurean life".
Victor Hugo
showed a different attitude and spirit
in distinguishing the double facet of
Bordeaux - the old and the new: "Everything
about modern Bordeaux is imbued with
grandeur, like Versailles, and everything
about old Bordeaux recounts its history,
like Anvers". Alfred de
Vigny was nostalgic: "You
are right to love this beautiful city
of Bordeaux". Théophile
Gauthier like other visitors, was
impressed by the "Versailles-like"
majesty of the architecture and the
prosperity of the city, which has managed
to conserve the thousand and one facets
of its history.
For others, political circumstances
or romantic adventures were at the origin
of their move to Bordeaux and their
enthusiasm:
During the siege of Paris in 1870, Emile
Zola was a parliamentary correspondent
in Bordeaux:
"Here, at the Café de Bordeaux
and in the street in front of La Comédie,
you would think you were on the Boulevard
des Italiens".
In a novel written in 1859, Jules
Verne devoted some pages to Bordeaux
and its wines. He saw in the art of
tasting, "something of a religious
nature".
It was in "the troubled light of
April in Bordeaux" that novelist
François
Mauriac cultivated his literary
genius. Francis James spent his early
years in Bordeaux, where he wrote his
first poems.
Other members of this group of young
writers were Jacques
Rivière, André Lafon,
Jean Forton, Jean de la Ville de Mirmont,
a generation decimated by the war. Later,
poets, writers and journalists like
Jean Anouilh,
Jean Cayrol, Robert Escarpit, Philippe
Sollers, Michelle Perin, Pierre Veilletet,
Claude Bourgeix, made Bordeaux
a living part of their literature. Camille
Julian the historian, Elie
Faure the expert in the Arts
and, Elisée
Reclus the geographer, all established
the basis for a modern approach in their
respective disciplines.
Bordeaux has also played host to famous
Royal visitors, as well as illustrious
French and foreign heads of state: Eleanor
d'Aquitaine et Henri
II Plantagenet, Louis
XIII and Anne
d'Autriche who were married in
the Cathedral, Marie
de Medicis, Louis
XIV and his court, Napoléon
1er on his return from Spain,
Napoléon
III, Alphonse
XIII d'Espagne, de
Gaulle, Kroutchev,
Elisabeth
II d'Angleterre who, on the occasion
of her official visit on June 12th 1992,
declared: "I am delighted to visit
this French city, which is the very
essence of elegance", and more
recently Jacques
Chirac.
The particular charm of Bordeaux has
always fascinated visitors and has
often inspired writers and artists
- native sons and passing guests.
Above all, these visitors were impressed
by the city's magnificent architecture:
At the beginning of the 18th century,
Saint Simon
judged that it "was one of
the finest things to be admired".
