Bordeaux, France 4
The market was kinda small, and some vendors were still closed early in the morning. We couldn't find anything special for breakfast, so we just had drinks (I had tea and J had coffee) at the market bar and left.
We stopped by a bakery called Cérès Boulangerie near the market. As I was peering through the front door, a man who had just walked out told me it was the best bakery in the city. That definitely encouraged us!
The small bakery was filled with bread and pastries. I chose a chausson aux pommes and J got a kind of savory pastry, I think.
We found a bench at a large square surrounded by the Basilica of Saint-Michel and its bell tower, and enjoyed the pastries. My chausson aux pommes was delightful! Built between the end of the 14th century and the 16th century, the basilica is considered as a masterpiece of flamboyant Gothic architecture, especially the bell tower, which is higher than that of the Cathedral of St. Andrew.
The exterior was crispy; the interior was moist but slightly less custardy. It was nice, but somehow I didn't find as much vanilla aroma as I expected. I should have also tried their flan - a dessert in which the aroma of vanilla really stands out.
We happened to walk past the Église Notre-Dame de Bordeaux, which we'd seen another day, so this time we decided to go inside. The Louis XIV-era Baroque interior was actually quite simple compared with many baroque interiors we have seen.
We checked out L'Intendant, a wine store near the opera house. The five-story store is designed like a tower with a spiral staircase, neatly displaying over 1,600 labels on the walls - a collection they call 'a library dedicated to Bordeaux wines.' For me, the architecture was more interesting than the wines.
After a good exercise walking up and down the spiral staircase, a savory Vietnamese lunch sounded perfect. There were several Vietnamese restaurants in the city, perhaps because of historical ties between France and Vietnam. We decided on Que Toi, a highly-rated spot right in the city center. I had sautéed shrimps with rice vermicelli, shrimp spring rolls, and a salad. So tasty! J ordered the sautéed beef with jasmine white rice, beef dumplings, pickled carrots, salad, and tomato soup. He didn't realize the meal would be served bento-box style, but it looked really nice.
In the afternoon, we did some window-shopping. The only place we actually bought anything was La Maison Darricau, a family-run, local chocolatier. Their various chocolate looked and smelled wonderful. A gentleman at the store was very friendly and taught us about their company and their craft very well. How could we leave there without some pieces?
We kept walking, passing some landmarks. For example, La Porte de Bourgogne, a Roman-style stone arch built in 1757, which marks the official eastern entrance to the city on the old road leading to Paris.
Another landmark, the Grosse Cloche (Great Bell) was originally a 13th-century city gate, which was rebuilt to the current appearance in the 15th century. It's one of the oldest belfries in France today.
It was time for dessert! We visited Chocolaterie Lalère, a chocolate shop that offers chocolate specialties as well as a chocolate bar. We were seated in their chic and intimate bar room. Their specialty is hot chocolate. I ordered the hot chocolate affogato - their star 'Classic' hot chocolate, which is naturally thick due to its cocoa content, with a hint of homemade praline, poured over vanilla ice cream. It was splendid! A piece of praline was served with the affogato. This was my favorite dessert of the trip. I wish I could have it every afternoon. J chose The Maya' hot chocolate, prepared with Bordeaux linden honey without any milk or cream. I had a little taste of it. It was wonderfully chocolatey.
The chocolate store was located near the Porte Dijeaux, an 18th-century neoclassical western city gate which was built on the historic site of an ancient Roman gate and a former Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter.
Bordeaux was so walkable and beautiful that we happily spent an entire day walking around, rain or shine. I hadn't known that the city has the second largest number of protected historical buildings in France, just behind Paris, until we visited there.
