Day 16 – La Brède & Bordeaux Day Trip – Wayne & Sharon's Travel Blog

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

July 4, 2019 – Its the Fourth of July and we wondered what would be the most AMERICAN things we could do within driving distance today? After some research, we decided to north into France and visit La Brède for a little history tour. As long as were were going that far, we might as well go on to Bordeaux to have a look and pick up some more wine. It is a long shot that we can go wine tasting there, as you need appointments and we will be short on time after our history tour, so we are gonna wing it a bit and we will see. It is a 3-4-hour drive each way.

It’s not a problem crossing the border into France. In fact, if we hadn’t seen the very small sign that simply said “Francia” we would have never known. They are all part of the EU so the borders are open. The landscape is much like the northern part of Spain, green and lush with small villages along the way.

Our first stop was in a little town along the way to find a boulangerie and patisserie (bakery & pastry shop)…YUM!!! Decisions, decisions…For lunch Wayne picked a delicious stinky cheese sandwich but Sharon was less adventurous with a turkey sandwich (boring!!!). We also got a couple of waters, a chocolate and maple eclair and some beignets. Beignet is the French term for a pastry made from deep-fried choux pastry and they are amazing. Its all Sharon could talk about once we entered France. We ate on the road and they were so tasty!

Next, we stopped at our primary objective, the Château de La Brède. The Château is a feudal castle in the municipality of La Brède in the department of Gironde, France. The castle was built in the Gothic style starting in 1306, on the site of an earlier castle. It is surrounded by a water-filled moat and an English garden, in the center of a Bordelaise vineyard. Despite modifications over the centuries, it has kept its character as a fortress.

Our interest in the Château de La Brède on the 4th of July is because it was the family home of the philosopher, Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu who is sometimes referred to as the neglected “godfather” of the United States Constitution.

Montesquieu was born, lived and wrote the majority of his works here. He was a French judge, man of letters and a political philosopher. However, he is most famous for his treatise on political theory titled “The Spirit of Laws” which he published anonymously in 1748 due to heavy censorship in France. In this treatise, Montesquieu boldly set forth the theory of Separation of Powers. There were no perfect men and so there could never be a perfect government, he said. The thing to do was to strike a balance between the right of people to be left alone and the necessity of government to maintain order. The ideas contained in “The Spirit of Laws” had an enormous influence in both Britain and the American Colonies, most notably the Founding Fathers of the United States.

The Founding Fathers, most especially James Madison, drew upon Montesquieu’s theory of the separation of powers when drafting the Constitution. Its is said that many of the drafters of the Constitution knew long passages of “The Spirit of Laws” by heart. Montesquieu argued that the best way to secure liberty and prevent a government from becoming corrupted was to divide the powers of government among different actors who would check each other. For example, Montesquieu warned that “Were the executive power not to have a right of restraining the encroachments of the legislative body, the latter would become despotic; for as it might arrogate to itself what authority it pleased, it would soon destroy all the other powers.” Madison and the Founding Fathers took heed of Montesquieu’s warning by establishing an independent executive (the President), legislative (the Congress), and judiciary (the Supreme Court) in the federal Constitution. Madison masterfully protected the separation of powers by establishing a thorough system of checks and balances as well. And so for contributing significantly to the foundational ideals leading to our United States Constitution, we salute Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu this 4th of July!

But it doesn’t stop there….as an added 4th of July Salute, we thank the grandson of Montesquieu, also named Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu, for his distinguished service in the French Army’s participation in the American Revolution under the direction of George Washington. The grandson would go on to correspond with Washington for many years after America gained its independence. So that’s why we found it fitting to tour Château de La Brède this beautiful day.

While there, we were able tour much of the castle, see Montesquieu’s living quarters, but more importantly, we saw his library where he wrote “The Spirit of Laws”, as well as, an original printing. We were told up front that the tour would be in French, oh well, but our tour guide gave us pamphlets in English to read along. To our surprise, she then tried her very best to give an English version of each part of the tour after the French version. She could not have been nicer and worked really hard to find the English words. It was almost like a game of charades with French and English word clues in a heavy French accent and hand gestures to get through the tour. A lot of time the conversation ended with a laugh and both of us indicating we understood about 80% of what each other was trying to say and were good to move on. Sharon’s 2 years of high school French was not help to us… It was very kind of her and something we both enjoyed very much.

After our patriotic duties were completed, we continued on up the road and into Bordeaux. When we arrived in the city proper we parked underground and headed out into the city center. Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in southwestern France. It’s known for its Gothic style Cathedral Saint-André and, of course, Bordeaux wine. Bordeaux wine has been grown and produced here since the 8^th century and it is home to the world’s main wine fair, Vinexpo. The vine was introduced to the Bordeaux region by the Romans, probably in the mid-first century, to provide wine for local consumption, and wine production has been continuous in the region since.

Bordeaux wine growing area has about 287,000 acres of vineyards, 10,000 wine-producing estates (châteaux) and 13,000 grape growers. With an annual production of approximately 960 million bottles, the Bordeaux area produces large quantities of everyday wine as well as some of the most expensive wines in the world.

After Paris, Bordeaux has the highest number of preserved historical buildings of any city in France. We walked a great deal while we were there and saw many of these historical buildings, including the Cathedral. The Cathedral Saint-André was built in the Romanesque style and consecrated in 1086 by Pope Urban II. You could say it was some of the first “Urban Planning” in the city. (Sorry…Wayne added that because he thought that line was hilariously funny at 1:30 in the morning.) In the 12th century most Romanesque churches and buildings gave way to the Gothic style and many were rebuilt. Only 1 original wall (the nave) in the Romanesque style remains. Much of the current cathedral was built in the 14th-15^th century.

We saw the Place de la Bourse which is a large plaza and one of the city’s most recognizable sights. It was built from 1730 to 1775 along the Garonne River. There is a giant fountain and a vast reflecting pool. It was the warmest day yet (high 90’s) and there were a lot of people splashing in the water.

We also saw the La Grosse Cloche, or The Big Bell, which was built in the 15th century. La Grosse Cloche with its twin conical roofs, is the old belfry for Bordeaux’ town hall. It is one of only a handful of fragments remaining from the city’s medieval period and is built on the remnants of the 13th-century Porte Saint-Éloy, a former gate in the old ramparts. This gate once had a small prison for juvenile offenders, and they were kept behind a door ten centimeters thick. You can get a good look at the bell from the below; this dates to 1775 and weighs a hefty 7,750 tons. Grosse Cloche is silent for most of the year, except for big public celebrations.

Porte Cailhau dates to 1495, and was constructed to celebrate King Charles VIII’s win against the League of Venice at the Battle of Fornovo. So, it had the dual purpose of being a triumphal arch as well as a city defense. There’s a white statue of the king in one of the niches, as well as a notice telling you to beware of walking through the threshold, as Charles VIII died at 27 after walking under one by accident.

Esplanade Des Quinconces is one of the largest city squares in Europe. It was laid out in 1820 on the site of Château Trompette and was intended to prevent rebellion against the city. Today, it is the major transportation hub for the area.

Lastly, we saw the Girondins Monument. The grand monument dedicated to the Girondin political faction was erected between 1895 and 1902. Standing in the Esplanade des Quinconces, this 19th century grand column rises an impressive 50 metres into the sky and is topped with a bronze statue of Liberty breaking her chains. It has a large base surrounded by fountains and masses of bronze horses. This beautiful monument commemorates the Girondists who were originally a political party within the first National Convention from 1791 to 1795 of the new French Republic. Most of the Girondists were from Bordeaux. The National Assembly founded the First Republic, suspended the powers of Louis XVI and decided on the first freely held elections. However, as power was ceded to the violent Jacobins, the constitutional changes of the French Revolution led to the Reign of Terror, during which the more moderate Girondins faced execution along with thousands of others, often via the guillotine. The Fontaine des Girondins (Girondist Fountain) with its many bronze statues is an integral part of the monument and has an interesting history. In 1942, the Nazis occupied Bordeaux and took them out, apparently to melt them into cannons. For some reason, that never happened and they were found intact in the city of Angers after the Liberation. While they were returned to Bordeaux in 1944, they stayed partially abandoned nearby, and it’s only in 1968 that they were finally restored and re-installed to their original location and glory.

When we saw all the sights that we were planning to see, we headed back to the car. It was really hot in the high 90’s so we stopped for a beer, which was soooo good. There was a large store in the mall that was kind of like a Super Wal-Mart or a giant Target. They had groceries too. Wayne needed to get an electric razor to trim his hair and beard (he had brought one from home, but when he tried to use it the first time, he plugged it in without an 220 volt adapter, and it blew up. He was cranky, and I believe, said a string of profanity that I cannot repeat here.) We have been looking for a new one for the past couple of weeks, but were unable to find a store that carried them. Lastly, we also bought a bunch of Bordeaux wine.

On our way home from France we were hungry, so to celebrate the 4^th of July we did the most American thing we knew in terms of dinner and stopped at McDonald’s for cheeseburgers! That is pretty American, right???? We should have had a hot apple pie too… oh well, next time!

When we arrived home, we blogged a bit, had a bottle of our Bordeaux and hit the hay. It was another incredible day.