Bordeaux Old Town

Bordeaux is called the Port of the Moon for the crescent bend of the Garonne it sits on, and the eighteenth-century intendants rebuilt the waterfront as a continuous facade of pale limestone, which is why the UNESCO listing of 2007 covers about eighteen hundred hectares, one of the largest urban inscriptions in the world. Facing the Place de la Bourse, the Miroir d'Eau, laid in 2006, is a granite slab flooded to two centimetres that reflects the facade, then drains and produces mist; it is the largest reflecting pool of its kind. The Grand Theatre of 1780 and the Saint-Andre cathedral complete the centre.

What you actually see

• The Miroir d'Eau - a shallow granite pool reflecting the Place de la Bourse.
• The stone crescent - a continuous eighteenth-century river facade.
• The Grand Theatre - a colonnaded 1780 opera house.
• The Chartrons quarter - the old wine merchants' district north of the centre.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the Miroir d'Eau runs roughly spring to autumn and is drained in winter and for maintenance. The wine festival falls in June on alternate years.

Honest expectations

The Miroir d'Eau is off for part of the year and during repairs, which disappoints many visitors. The centre is large and the sights are spread. Summer heat on the stone is heavy.

Nearby

The Cite du Vin lies north along the river; Saint-Emilion is east.