3 Perfect Days in Bordeaux!

One of my new favorite cities... Bordeaux was a beautiful destination to do a bit of city-wandering, playground-visiting, and good-food-eating. If I could go back and rent a car, and explore a bit more outside the city, I could have easily filled up a week.

Day 1: 

We stayed a bit outside the city at the Mercure Le Lac, since we were tag-alongs to a scientific conference, but right on the tram line - 20 minutes straight to the best place in town, the Miroir d'Eau. On a sunny day, nothing beats people-watching with an ice cream here, or if you have kids, letting them splash and run around. We spent hours here, every day. When the kids got tired, we wandered around the city and let them chill. 

We got ice cream here and wandered over to window shop at Rue Ste Catherine.. then called it an early night to head back up to the hotel. 


Day 2: 

We wandered about the Basilica of St Michael and I browsed the flea market for some gorgeous antiques and knickknacks. It was en route to the Marche des Capucins, which was a great stop for picking up playground snacks. Although a bit smaller than I'd expected, there was a nice selection of fruit, dried fruit & nuts, and other goodies.

The afternoon was spent exploring the Jardin Public. One of the best playgrounds I've been to was here, including a gorgeous carousel that the kids absolutely loved. When the kids were worn out, we headed back up - I would have loved to wander the narrow city roads and find a nice place to eat if I'd had time. 

Day 3: 
Back to the Miroir d'eau for some sun and water in the morning, we had lunch at Grand Bar Castan along the river. We thought it'd be a tourist trap, but we had already used their bathroom twice... so we thought we'd give it a go. The food was decent, prices reasonable, and the service friendly.


Without a car, we missed out on the dunes at Archachon and the wineries of St. Emilion, but it's a good reason to go back. We took our time this trip, exploring slowly and taking lots of breaks. The city pace really allows that - one of the things I love about France.


You may also like learning about a few days' getaway to Strasbourg and the Alsace region, also in France!