21.08.2003
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红葡萄酒
AQUITAINE
Nantes •> Bordeaux
"Étape ferroviaire obligatoire pour se rendre en terre périgourdine. Nous fîmes escale dans à l'Hotel Bristol fort bien situé en centre ville mais au combien miteux (le pire que je n'ai jamais rencontré !...). Nous visitâmes le Musée des Beaux Arts suivit du Musée des Arts décoratifs (les musées bordelais sont gratuits pour étudiants ^_^). Ce fut une journée culturelle fort agréable. Je visita la ville la nuit, assez animé à certains endroits. Escale bien trop rapide pour en extraire l'âme... peut être y reviendrais-je..."
BORDEAUX
D’abord emporium des Bituriges où transitait l’étain britannique, Burdigala doit
sa première fortune à la création au Ier siècle d’un vignoble atlantique. La
cité gallo-romaine, «petite Rome» cultivée et aristocratique, étendait son
quadrillage de rues et ses monuments sur une vaste étendue urbaine. La
civilisation antique s’y est perpétuée jusqu’aux invasions franques et
normandes, malgré le resserrement de la ville dans le castrum du IIIe siècle.
Le renouveau médiéval au XIIe siècle est encore venu de la terre, par
l’immigration des campagnes vers la ville et par la restauration d’un vignoble
désormais épiscopal, monastique et bientôt bourgeois. C’est entre 1150 et 1227
que le bourg Saint-Éloi s’est développé au sud du castrum . Puis, l’union
politique du duché d’Aquitaine avec le royaume d’Angleterre, qui a duré de 1154
à 1443, a favorisé un grand commerce d’exportation des vins bordelais et gascons
vers les îles Britanniques, et, au début du XIVe siècle, la ville a englobé dans
une troisième enceinte une population d’environ trente mille habitants, chiffre
élevé pour l’époque.
Le troisième temps fort de la prospérité bordelaise a été le XVIIIe siècle.
C’est une fois de plus la viticulture de qualité, notamment en Médoc, qui a
sous-tendu ce «siècle d’or». Cependant, Bordeaux est alors surtout devenu le
grand port du commerce colonial, redistributeur du sucre et du café des Isles.
Avec son aristocratie parlementaire, ses négociants, son élite intellectuelle,
que symbolise Montesquieu, sous l’administration d’intendants éclairés comme
Tourny, la ville a atteint le maximum de sa richesse et s’est donné un urbanisme
et une parure monumentale classiques (place Royale, façade des quais, cours,
allées, Grand-Théâtre) qui subsistent encore malgré la menace que constitue la
circulation.
Plus que le marasme issu de la Révolution et de l’Empire, c’est l’éloignement de
Bordeaux et de son port des grands centres industriels et énergétiques de
l’Europe qui a amorcé son recul au XIXe siècle. Pourtant, sous Napoléon III et
sous la IIIe République, le commerce des vins et le commerce colonial lui ont
donné des regains de prospérité qui se sont traduits par des travaux d’urbanisme
non négligeables (boulevards, percées nouvelles, quais). En 1914, pour pallier
le déclin du port, de premières installations industrielles annonçaient une
volonté de redressement. La ville avait alors 260 000 habitants.
Le Bordeaux d’aujourd’hui reflète, certes, ces étapes de son histoire, mais il
s’insère aussi dans une vaste agglomération dont l’existence a été reconnue et
organisée par la création de la Communauté urbaine de Bordeaux (loi du 31
décembre 1966). Alors que la commune seule de Bordeaux ne comptait, en 1990, que
quelque 210 428 habitants, l’ensemble de l’agglomération atteignait 696 587
habitants.
Le centre urbain est formé par la ville médiévale et la ville classique. Le
tissu d’habitations, de commerces et de services y est très serré. Une vaste
surface de 150 hectares y constitue un secteur sauvegardé. Grâce aux grandes
percées du XVIIIe ou du XIXe siècle (cours, Intendance, allées de Tourny, place
des Quinconces, cours d’Alsace-Lorraine, cours Pasteur), cette ville ancienne ne
souffre que d’une demi-asphyxie.
Autour de ce centre, jusqu’aux boulevards et au-delà, à Saint-Augustin et
Caudéran, s’étend la ville du XIXe siècle: quartiers d’habitations aux longues
rues de maisons basses (échoppes), où l’on commence cependant à élever quelques
grands immeubles.
Au-delà s’étale, tant à l’ouest que sur la rive droite de la Garonne, une vaste
banlieue qui donne à l’agglomération les dimensions considérables de 25
kilomètres du nord au sud et de l’ouest à l’est. Le développement de la fonction
résidentielle de cette périphérie a entraîné des constructions spectaculaires de
grands ensembles et de résidences vers l’ouest, à Mérignac, Pessac, Talence,
Gradignan, et la conquête des coteaux de la rive droite à Lormont et Cenon
surtout. Les anciens quartiers Mériadeck et Saint-Christoluy, de part et d’autre
de l’hôtel de ville, ont été réaménagés.
Cette croissance doit être mise en relation avec l’effort pour un renouveau
industriel, poursuivi avec opiniâtreté depuis plusieurs années, tant dans le
domaine aéronautique et spatial (Mérignac, Saint-Médard), que dans
l’électronique et la mécanique (Blanquefort), la chimie et la pétrochimie (Ambès,
Pauillac). On y trouve aussi une industrie du bois et de l’ameublement, et des
activités dans le domaine de l’imprimerie et de la presse. Insertion de zones
industrielles dans le paysage de la banlieue, nouveaux ponts (Saint-Jean, 1965;
Aquitaine, 1967) et équipements routiers accompagnent cette évolution qui
transforme profondément le visage traditionnel de Bordeaux. Le trafic portuaire
était de 9 298 841 tonnes en 1992. En raison de la fermeture des raffineries en
1982, les hydrocarbures ne comptent plus, en 1992, que pour 55 p. 100 dans ce
trafic, contre 70 p. 100 dix ans auparavant. Cette perte n’a pas encore été
compensée par le développement des autres échanges.
Alors que l’industrie employait 23,2 p. 100 des actifs en 1990, le secteur
tertiaire en occupait 75,8 p. 100.
Salut! Raise a toast to this land of wine and roses.
And practise your accent now - you'll be raising your glass a lot in Bordeaux,
home to one of France's seven key wine regions and known for its award-winning
big reds. Most visitors come to the city and its surrounds to tour the chateaux,
imbibe the world-class wines and indulge in the regional cuisine, but Bordeaux
offers much more.
The city is is also known for its excellent museums, vibrant nightlife and popular nearby beaches. Wide avenues, neoclassical architecture and well-tended parks all give the city a certain 18th-century grandeur. An ethnically diverse population and a lively university community of some 60,000 students complete the picture. Whatever your tastes, Bordeaux is sure to sate your appetite.
The city of Bordeaux lies around 100km (62mi) from the Atlantic, at the lowest bridging point on the Garonne River. The city centre sits between place Gambetta and the Garonne, which ranges from 350 (1100ft) to 500m (1600ft) wide and is usually a muddy brown as it flows either towards the sea or inland, depending on the tides. From place Gambetta, place de Tourny is 500m (1600ft) northeast, and the tourist office is 400m (1300ft) to the east.
The train station, Gare St-Jean, is in a seedy area about 3km (nearly 2mi) southeast of the city centre. Cours de la Marne stretches from the train station to place de la Victoire, which is linked to place de la Comédie by rue Ste-Catherine.
Bordeaux' wine-growing region stretches for 1000 sq km (390 sq mi) around the city, and is divided into 57 appellations (unique production areas), with around 500 chateaux, or vineyards. The key areas of attraction are the Médoc, a large wine-growing area which lies northwest of Bordeaux, along the western shore of the Gironde Estuary; and the village and vineyards of St-Émilion, slightly to the east of Bordeaux. The seaside resort of Arcachon is southwest of Bordeaux, located just under the Médoc, on the Bassin d'Arcachon.
city
and port, capital of Gironde département, Aquitaine région, southwestern France.
It lies along the Garonne River 15 miles (24 km) above its junction with the
Dordogne and 60 miles (96 km) from its mouth, in a plain east of the
wine-growing district of Médoc.
The dry soil of Médoc attracted settlement as early as the Bronze Age; and, at
least since Roman times, Bordeaux has been a flourishing town and port, with
connections particularly with Spain and Britain. As Burdigala, it was the chief
town of the Bituriges Vivisci, a Celtic people. Under the Romans it was the
capitalof the province of Aquitania, which extended from the Pyrenees to the
Loire. In the 4th century Burdigala, then the capital of Aquitania Secunda (one
of the three parts into which the emperor Diocletian had divided Aquitania), was
described by the writer Ausonius, a native of the city, as a square, walled town
and one of the great educational centres of Gaul. In the decline of the Roman
Empire, the region around Bordeaux entered a period of political instability
from which it recovered only when the dukes of Aquitaine established themselves
early in the 10th century.
As part of the inheritance of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Bordeaux, along with the
rest of the duchy, became English in 1154 upon the accession of her husband to
the English throne, as Henry II. His 14th-century descendant Edward the Black
Prince, who for 20 years held court at Bordeaux and whose son, Richard (later
King Richard II), was born there, is still honoured in the city. Under the
English, Bordeaux was given unusual freedom: mayors were elected from 1235, and
a thriving trade developed with England's ports. Neighbouring towns such as
Saint-Émilion and Libourne joined a federation under the leadership of Bordeaux.
After the French victory over the English at Castillon in 1453, the city was
united to France; but the burghers of Bordeaux long resisted limitation of their
municipal freedoms, and 120 of them were executed after a salt-tax rebellion in
1548.
The 17th century was a period of disturbance. There were massacres in the Wars
of Religion, and trade withered. In the 18th century Bordeaux again prospered
from the “triangular” trade: slaves from Africa to the West Indies, sugar and
coffee back to Bordeaux, then arms and wines back to Africa. The Marquis de
Tourny, intendant of Guyenne, made the city pleasing with squares and fine
buildings. The Girondist Party of the French Revolution was formed in Bordeaux,
which suffered severely during the Reign of Terror. After suffering from the
English blockade during the Napoleonic Wars, the city in 1814 declared for the
Bourbons, prompting Louis XVIII to give his grandnephew the title of Duke de
Bordeaux.
After the coming of the railways, the great improvements to the port and the
increase in trade with West Africa and South Americaled to increased prosperity.
In 1870, during the Franco-German War, the French government was transferred to
Bordeaux when the Germans approached Tours, and the government was at Bordeaux
when Paris was threatened by the Germans in August 1914, at the outset of World
War I. In June 1940, during World War II, when a German advance became again a
menace to Paris, theFrench government moved first to Tours and later to
Bordeaux. There Premier Paul Reynaud led a minority in the government favouring
“war to the finish.” Among his supporters were Charles de Gaulle and Georges
Mandel. Reynaud sent appeals for immediate help to the United States and Great
Britain. He was overridden by the opposition, however, and resigned on June 16,
two days after the Germans entered Paris. Bordeaux was severely bombed before
its occupation by German troops and, again, by the Allies when it was an
important German air and submarine base. The city was reoccupied, largely by
French forces, in August 1944. Since 1945 Bordeaux has continued to expand, with
many new suburbs being built.
The modern city of Bordeaux is surrounded by a semicircle of boulevards, beyond
which lie the suburbs of Le Bouscat, Caudéran, Mérignac, Talence, and Bègles.
The Garonne River (1,650–2,250 feet [500–690 m] wide), separating the city
proper fromthe suburb of La Bastide, embraces a 5-mile (8-kilometre) crescent of
broad quays, behind which rise tall warehouses, factories, and mansions. Outside
the great city squares are characteristic low, white houses. La Bastide, on the
right bank, is reached by a 19th-century bridge. Some gates of the old city wall
remain, and there are ruins of a Roman amphitheatre. The Grand Théâtre
(1775–80), with its statue-topped colonnade, is one of the finest in France; its
imposing double stairway and cupola were later imitated by the architect Tony
Garnier for the Paris Opéra. Farther down the quay is the Esplanade des
Quinconces, one of the largest squares in Europe; it contains a monument to the
Girondins and huge statues of Montesquieu and Michel de Montaigne (the latter's
tomb is at the university, founded 1441). Bordeaux's ecclesiastical antiquities
include two 15th-century bell towers: the bell tower of Pey-Berland, near
Saint-André's Cathedral, and the Saint-Michel Tower, with a spire of 357 feet
(109 m). A late 20th-century urban development plan called for the renovation of
the city centre and extension of new districts northward arounda large lake and
along the west bank of the Gironde Estuary. An exhibition hall was built, as
well as a large, modern bridge connecting the city with the nearby national
highway (only one bridge formerly existed for foot and automobile traffic across
the Garonne).
The great families of Bordeaux made their fortunes in shipping and trade,
especially of the celebrated wines of Bordeaux. The prosperity of these
wine-growing and wine-trading houses took a great leap at the time of the
English domination. After a critical period during the 15th–17th century,
prosperity returned in the 18th century and has maintained itself ever since,
despite problems of weather and grape parasites, the most critical of which was
the phylloxera infestation of 1869. The modern extent of the vineyards is about
half its former maximum area. The government of France and the local growers
regard control of quality and quantity of these wines as essential to the
preservation of a major export market. The port area has had importance since
the 18th century, but it is increasingly transferring this function to its five
outports (seaward terminals for deep-draft vessels), especially for traffic with
the Antilles, Africa, and the west coast of France. In recent years the major
import in terms of tonnage handled has been petroleum. This trade has favoured
the accumulation of capital but has not fostered the growth of industry,
although efforts have been made. To the traditional food-processing and
furniture industries have been added in recent years petroleum refining,
petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries, and an automobile plant. Pop.
(1990) 210,336.