It's been another interesting twelve months feeding the beast that is Invisible Bordeaux, with highlights including some memorable evenings performing The Shuman Show (the first instance of a blog item being turned into a full-on live extravaganza), and a bizarre afternoon spent monitoring the progress of my "Welcome Arthur 2016 remake" video as it rose to number 13 in the Youtube France trending chart, courtesy mainly of a nice plug on the Sud Ouest website. But to sign off for this year, we give you this traditional festive season rundown of 2016's most popular articles. Have you read them all? Click on the titles or associated pictures to check them out!
Number 5: All change in 2016 for the Observatory of Bordeaux on the Floirac hilltopsThe resident astrophysics research unit has since moved out, but much of the legacy equipment remains on site at what was the Observatory of Bordeaux, the various components of which I was able to examine during the final open day to be held there. 
Number 4: Could this be the coolest house in Bordeaux? A reader told me about an unusual hôtel particulier in the city's Saint-Seurin district. Heading over there, it was obvious that the house deserved not only its own article, but also the enviable unofficial "Bordeaux's coolest house" accolade. Unless you can think of one that is even cooler...
Number 3: May 1968, the barricades and the night Bordeaux became a battlefield With the valuable support of archivists at Sud Ouest, I ploughed through old newspaper cuttings with a view to reconstructing one of the most raucous nights in the city's recent history, during the tumultuous month of May 1968. The most pleasing end-product of the exercise was when Sud Ouest themselves reported on the research in a new newspaper article looking back on the events that took place 48 years ago. Things had come full circle.
Number 2: L’Alhambra: the iconic Bordeaux venue which hosted some of the most iconic artists of the 20th century The story of the Alhambra brought back a lot of memories for a lot of people in Bordeaux and beyond, all of whom seemed to cherish the concert hall and the eclectic range of shows it put on. This piece also led to a collaboration with local music authority Philippe Serra, who selflessly shared tales of events he had attended there in a sister article.
Number 1: The hair-raising names of hairdressing salons in and around BordeauxThis was a job that somebody had to do, so I took it on: to collect the good, the not-so-good and the sometimes astounding names of hairdressing salons in and around Bordeaux. Beware, the piece contains lots of "hair" and "tifs". And, despite that (or perhaps it's the reason why!), this was the year's most-read Invisible Bordeaux item.And now, roll on 2017!
