All the subjects covered by the website over the past twelve months have once again been a delight to compile and research. But here are five subjects which proved particularly interesting when peeling the layers away. Click on the titles or associated pictures to read the items!
Following the Eau Bourde from its source to the GaronneThis joint cycling expedition with Bordeaux2066’s Vincent Bart provided a wide variety of moods and landscapes with a single constant throughout: the Eau Bourde, a stream that flows from Cestas to Bègles. As well as the inevitable travelogue, a Youtube video of the adventure is available and features trains, fruit-sellers and attempts to communicate with people stuck in holiday traffic.
The exotic Grands Bains des Chartrons: now Bordeaux’s prettiest car parkThis is a classic Invisible Bordeaux subject: take a building with an unusual façade and try to find out what the full story is. When I was there, I was even able to sneak into the car park, and seeing the structure on the inside added a new and unexpected layer to the tale...
Quai de Brazza by night: inside Sud Ouest’s print centreI regard myself as a loyal reader of local daily Sud Ouest, so a guided tour of the facility where the newspaper is physically produced every night was a fairly big deal in my little world. The visit was a fascinating experience and I was only too pleased to share it with the Invisible Bordeaux readership.
Winegate: the scandal which shook Bordeaux in 1973The story seems to have been brushed under the carpet, but in the early 1970s the reputation of the Bordeaux wine industry lay in ruins. At the heart of the scandal were thousands of mislabelled bottles of wine, and the resulting investigation also uncovered many other illicit practices. Now that the Bordeaux wine sector has fully recovered, the time felt right to unearth the story… and piecing together the details proved a tall order!
Domaine Catros and the arboretum which refuses to lie downA chance encounter enabled Invisible Bordeaux to study a number of archive documents with a view to reconstructing the history of the arboretum founded by former royal gardener Toussaint-Yves Catros in Le Haillan at the end of the 18th century. Again, compiling the relevant information was difficult but I’m happy to be able to recount this hitherto-untold story.
