If you're following closely, you will already know that throughout the lockdown period, over on Instagram and Twitter, Invisible Bordeaux has been publishing random photos taken over the years in and around the city, and sometimes beyond. Some have already featured on the blog, others have just been sitting on my hard drive. There's no major underlying theme, they're just photos that possibly deserved to be dusted down and put out there! The first ten can still be viewed by clicking here, and on this page you can views numbers 11 to 20, starting above with a neat row of V3/VCub bikes docked, awaiting their next customers, on rue des Trois-Conils in central Bordeaux.
Not far from there, here are two line B trams meeting in central Bordeaux, as seen from Tour Pey Berland. And some people out and about! Ah, the good old days...
Staying in central Bordeaux, here we are deep inside l'hôtel de Ragueneau on rue du Loup in central Bordeaux when it was still home to the city's archives department. Presumably that amazing wisteria outside is in full bloom right now!
Here are the doors to one of my favourite music venues, the Krakatoa in Mérignac. A big up to all artists and everybody involved in live entertainment who are so heavily affected by the current situation... Coincidentally, over on local music and culture website Le Type there is a fascinating interview with the Krakatoa team about life during the lockdown – recommended reading that you'll find here: letype.fr/2020/04/07/la-vie-du-krakatoa-en-confinement-racontee-par-son-equipe/
Out among the vineyards along the banks of the Gironde estuary, this is the view over the Médoc village of Lamarque, as seen from the “dôme panoramique” perched at the top of the steeple of the 19th-century Saint-Seurin church, which featured on the blog some time ago.
This bronze bust is in the grounds of the botanic gardens of Bordeaux and depicts Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist who is regarded as the father of modern taxonomy and one of the initiators of modern ecology. The piece was unveiled in 2007 and was created by the talented and renowned Bordeaux-born artist Lucie Geffré. Click here to read the exclusive Invisible Bordeaux interview with her talking about the story behind the Linnaeus bust!
This is Gare de Ravezies, which until a few years was the Bordeaux terminus of trains coming in from the Médoc peninsula (now replaced by a train<>tram connection in Blanquefort). Part of the former railway line has recently been converted into a scenic walking/cycle path that runs from Bordeaux through Bruges to Le Bouscat.
The old and the new. Detail from the médiathèque in Mérignac, an architectural project delivered in 2007 which retained the exterior of what used to be the town's hôtel de ville, combining it with modern glass and steel features. Definitely one of the most unusual and interesting buildings in the area.
And we finish off this random series with a picture taken during a memorable flight along the Atlantic coast and down the Gironde estuary (full set available here). It shows la Pointe de Grave (part of le Verdon-sur-Mer), the northern tip of the Médoc peninsula, the northernmost point of the Gironde département, and the spot where the Gironde estuary meets the Atlantic. The tiny white spot top right is the legendary Phare de Cordouan lighthouse.
> First selection of random archive photos available here!
> Ce dossier est également disponible en français !