France
The Monolithic Church' s 223ft spire towers over Saint-Emilion' s iconic vineyards
Cheers to Bordeaux N
EANDERTHALS roamed its riverbanks, the Celts named it, the Gauls planted its vines and the Romans founded the first
town here in AD60. Bordeaux, close to the Atlantic coast at the confluence of the Gironde, Garonne and Dordogne rivers, has been a magnet for millennia. The city' s glo- rious pastÐ from the 300-year English rule in 1154± 1453 to the 19th century, when Napoleon ordered the construction of a bridge over the Garonne to join the city' s left bank to the rightÐ outshone more recent times. But now Bordeaux, which is only three hours by TGV train from Paris, has bounced back into the spotlight. Alain Juppé, France's minister of state
for foreign and European affairs, who is also the city' s mayor, has given this former Sleeping Beauty the kiss of life with a monu- mental programme of new investment and
66 Country Life International, Summer 2011
The capital of Aquitaine has enjoyed an extraordinary renaissance in the past few years, and this is driving the market for country properties around it, as Jean Bond Rafferty discovers
development. Bordeaux' s crescent-shaped 74-acre waterfront has been redesigned as a landscaped riverbank promenade with a reflecting miroir d' eau and a range of sports facilities, the city' s ravishing legacy of 18th-century architecture has been spruced up and streets pedestrianised. ` I used to live in southern California,
which many people regard as the ultimate place to be, but I prefer Bordeaux,' says Michael Baynes of Maxwell-Storrie-Baynes (MSB), a Christie' s International Realty affiliate in St Emilion. ` Like California, it' s close to the ocean and the mountains, but, here, there' s a terrific mixture of beautiful weather through the seasons with glorious countryside where you don' t need the sprin- kler on to keep plants alive.' And, he adds,
` it' s close to a fantastic, sophisticated city' whose renaissance he credits with putting the region on the map.
FOR SALE €1.98m
Entre Deux Mers Set in the charming region of Haut Entre Deux Mers,
this 17th-century château has 12 bedrooms, nine bathrooms, gardens à la française, tennis courts, a pool and a small vine- yard. Through Emile Garcin (00 33 6 81 07 39 54;
www.emilegarcin.fr)
Mr Baynes reports an increasing interest
in local property ` from Russians across the board to Norwegians, Belgians, Americans, Canadians, Italians, Virgin Islanders and the English, who have a longstanding fas- cination with Aquitaine' . Citing the recent €900,000 sale of a four-
bedroomed country house, whose nine- hectare (22-acre) grounds included lakes and a wood with ceps mushrooms, he says that, generally, ` Bordeaux is undervalued when you compare it to other major cities' .
www.countrylife.co.uk/international
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4 Corners Images; istockphoto
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