Diving Right In

From the giant wine bottles surmounting the baggage carousels at the airport of Bordeaux, it is evident what made this city great. And what is making it great for us from the start is the wonderful people we are staying with. Jean-Marie Fourcheraud, a retired designer-project manager in the city’s historic preservation office, was waiting for us just beyond the glass as we retrieved enough luggage for the traditional “grand tour” of Europe -- though one of our six cases contained a collapsible Bike Friday.

Bordeaux is a city of remarkable beauty and harmony, laid out along the Gironde River -- a merger of the Garonne and the Dordogne -- with buildings limited to about four stories separated by exquisite boulevards, squares and parks, making for great urban views in many directions. A network of sleek modern street cars glide almost silently everywhere you want to go, powered by a third rail slotted into the pavement so no ugly overhead wires spoil the streetscape.


Karen’s walk to school will take her through the Public Gardens and a “high bourgeois” neighborhood with exquisite bakeries, flower shops, small groceries and real estate offices. It appears that no matter how many other things may have changed, the small merchant is still making an acceptable living as a part of the fabric of city life.

We were connected to this family by Allen Shulman, an Atlanta friend who had stayed there twice before while studying at the Alliance Francaise. So while we are paying like poor students for lodging and two meals a day, we are treated like honored guests. Jean-Pierre and Antoinette Fourcheraud drove their Citroen 2CV to Iran and back in the early 70s, and in the meanwhile have travelled adventurously to many parts of the world. The conversation around the dinner table is just to our taste, family members typically having a dictionary in one hand and a laptop in the other, to answer each others’ questions, and ours.

Our first excursion out of the city has been a drive along the rivers to the wine towns of Bourg and Blaye, for a traditional picque-nique along the shore where the locals have set up little fishing shacks for netting the small shrimp and whatever else washes by. Simple enough: a roll of goat cheese, sausage, prosciutto, tomatoes, red wine and the ubiquitous Pineau de Charentes, a mixture of brandy and grape juice that runs to 16 degrees (percentage of alcohol) and is a favorite of the Charentais, such as our hosts. Despite the continuing drizzle Saturday evening, a modest festival brought the locals of our neighborhood into streets lined with antique and "brocante" i.e. curio shops and to taste a cloudy "new wine" starting what looks like a quick transition, rather like palm wine, through a "wine" stage directly into vinegar. But plainly someone's gonna drink it!