By Christopher Tighe

As an English events planner based in Bordeaux I have just started work at one of the most dynamic and forward thinking companies in the region. Groupe Arom are one of the leading events catering groups in SW France and have over 30 years experience delivering first class tailor-made events.

Lacoste

Working with Michelin star chefs and with a state-of-the-art new 1700m² kitchen, office and logistics premises they regularly organise events ranging from intimate luxury cocktail receptions, weddings and business meetings to large scale exhibition/congress spaces and events catering for up to 3000 people.

They have a coverage of the whole of SW France an office in Biarritz and are looking to expand. With that in mind it seems I’m in the right place at the right time.

Bedouin tente event – Biarritz

The future of Bordeaux is looking bright. And I’m not just talking about the new Philippe Stark bike unveiled last week. With the vision and enterprise of Alain Juppé and those in our town hall, the scale and number of future projects for our town is extraordinary. The mairie are talking about Bordeaux becoming the number one city in France for visitors and investment. The new bridge is set to open in a few weeks and we are in a VinExpo year. Bordeaux is set to welcome more overseas visitors in 2013 that at any time in the past.

Palais de la Bourse corporate seminar

But the new bridge is just the tip of the claret coloured iceberg. We have the coming rejuvenation of the Bacalan quarter. The Centre du Vin with the expected 425 000 visitors annually will offer a unique world class visitor experience and spectacular views of the Port de la Lune. The redevelopment of the Bassins a Flot and surrounding areas with the new 5 star hotel should bring considerable investment, new industries, housing, bars and restaurants – a lively nightlife spot to rival parts of London or Barcelona. This is turn will bring new life to the restaurants and bars at the far end of the Quais. The new jetty at the Centre du Vin will give tourists direct access to the chateaux by boat and we could even see the arrival of luxury yachts into the Bassins. To add to the mix are similar large scale projects such as the Mama Shelter hotel being built just behind rue St Catherine (also Philippe Starck), the new €40 million art centre, the reboot of the Gare St Jean and 2 hour TGV service from Paris not to mention the new auditorium, Ginko eco-housing district and tram extensions. We will also have a brand new concert venue into which we could finally book the big acts who usually only make their France stopovers in Paris. All of these and more are set to further establish Bordeaux on the international map and bring in the punters.

Place de la Bourse corporate dinner

 Bordeaux has come a long way in a short space of time. Long term expats talk of the dark and dreary days of the city before the works started 15 years ago. Stories linger of the deserted port with its fences, warehouses and seedy underworld, the dark faded buildings, pollution and above all the inner city traffic gridlock. But those days are over. During the season, the pedestrian boulevards are bustling and the state of the art trams glide silently past. The international tourist draw cards of the Hotel Regent and Grand Opera have become local landmarks and are complemented by trendy wine shops and Bar à Vins such as the l’Intendant, Max and the CIVB to name a few.

The overwhelming majority of overseas visitors come to Bordeaux for the wine and their first stop is the Place de la Comédie. Invariably the second port of call will be the Tourist office to book a château visit out to St Emilion or the Médoc. Expecting to waltz into the château of their choice, welcomed with open arms by the owners, tourists are often surprised that they need to book far ahead for limited châteaux tours. Some châteaux are indeed completely off limits to visitors claiming they have no need to overtly ‘sell’ their wines or let people in to the exclusive Bordeaux wine world. However a select few seem to be seeing the light.

Château Sogeant

Bringing visitors in has to be the best way for the large numbers of chateaux to publicise their wines and gain international attention. Already we have the mighty trailblazer of Lynch Bages with their cosy tourist village and the latest addition of the ‘Crushpad’, a visitor experience that allows you to design and create your own wine from scratch. Add to that other famous examples such as the Smith Haut Lafitte with their Sources de Caudalie luxury Spa resort where guests can have skin treatments and spas in used grape residues.

Reception room of Château Sogeant – wedding

More and more properties are seeing the potential for opening their doors for corporate events,
training courses, seminars and international weddings. Already mentioned are the pioneering Smith Haut Lafitte but there are others such as Château Siaurac, Cos d’Estournil, Le Thil, Mirambeau, Sogeant and Agassac which have large open spaces ideal for summer weddings and corporate teambuilding. Others have already invested in or are in the process of building specific venue spaces which could accommodate seminars, corporate training and other larger indoor events. In the Medoc we have Château Dauzac amongst others. Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion is just behind the Stade Chaban Delmas and are currently working with Starck (again) to overhaul their cellars and create a new visitor center. Another is Château la Dominique near St Emilion with its project for a 250m² tasting room and 450m² panoramic reception terrace and a total redevelopment of their Chais wine production areas. The eyes seem firmly set on the future.

Lacoste chefs at work

Enter Vinexpo. This biannual fair is one of the main players in the events circuit in France up with the likes of Cannes and Roland Garros. Hundreds of exhibitors with be present from all over the world representing not only the main wine growing areas, but international spirits groups and even governmental tourist boards selling their regions. With all these visitors comes a huge potential for events hospitality during the fair. Fortunately there are also a huge number of options available for anyone wishing to entertain their clients and business partners.

Areas to hold events ranging from corporate seminars to training courses to office parties are growing all the time. The Faïencerie is a unique venue space hidden away at the end of the Quais opposite the Cap Sciences building. Originally a transit hall for passengers on ships heading to the Americas this huge atmospheric building is reminiscent of something in Camden. Equally next to the Base Sous Marine – itself used to host exhibitions and concerts is the Ecole du Cirque, a large circus tent space perfect for an office bash or wedding reception. Nearer the Parc des Expositions is the Carré du Lac, a restaurant owned by Group AROM and with an venue space capable of holding large seminars and a marquee space in the garden. Alongside these are venues both inside the city of Bordeaux and out in the vineyards. Romantic châteaux with their beautifully crafted grounds give companies the perfect opportunity to make an impression on guests. The catering and hostess service for the stands also provided by Group Arom and Lacoste Traiteur is another way to blow away the competition and really stand out at Vinexpo.

Wedding space in a vineyard

The CAPC (contemporary art museum) is celebrating its 40th anniversary next week, a chance to look back at the remarkable evolution of a city once a busy port, then a desterted relic, now firmly back as the world capital of wine, UNESCO tourist gem, European cultural capital and soon to be leader in the world of international events. The phoenix has risen… 

Christopher Tighe, 36, originally from London has been happily settled in Bordeaux with his French wife since 2011. With a wealth of experience planning and managing top end events for the McLaren F1 events team he has worked on high profile projects such as the Monaco GP, Nelson Mandela’s 90th and the odd charity gala or two at Buckingham Palace. Brought here by the promise of long summers, surfing the Atlantic waves, skiing the winters and consuming copious amounts of fine food and wine it has been a dream move away from the 70 hour weeks he was accustomed to working events in London. His wife Lisa has recently started a Montessori school in Chartrons by the tram stop Camille Godard called L’Envol des Papillions and they are going from strength to strength. Thrilled to be in Bordeaux at the most exciting time in the history of the city they happily welcome any enquiries about Corporate events, Wedding planning or Montessori schooling. Bring on 2013!!!!!

Links of interest:
http://www.lacoste-traiteur.com/
http://www.groupe-arom.com/
https://www.decanterchina.com/en/index.html?article=352

The post Bordeaux, A City On A Mission appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

It’s a little known fact that (outside the Anglo-Saxon world) Bordeaux has the highest number of expat style pubs per capita in the World.

With around 30 establishments brandishing themselves as English or Irish style pubs in a city of 245,000 people, there are 7350 people for every pub – which ironically is the exact number of punters who hit the bar at closing time in my local back home.

Bordeaux has seen some momentous and epic dates in her 2000 year history…

1154 – The city becomes part of England under the control of Henry II after his  marriage to ‘medieval rebel’ Eleanor of Aquitaine

1203 – Bordeaux’s merchants and citizens are exempted from the Grande Coutume export tax by King John. Bordeaux gains a monopoly on wine exports giving birth to the world wine industry.

1453 – The Battle of Castillon – Bordeaux is taken back by the French – the local citizens send numerous envoys to the Royal English court begging them to come back. A pro-English rebellion against Charles VII is brutally crushed and over 2000 Bordelais leave for England.

17th–20thC – Bordeaux continues to be flooded with British wine merchants – in 1756 over 30 are present on the quais with hundreds more staff (numerous chateaux are founded by the British in the Medoc after the marshes are drained by the Dutch (Cantenac-Brown, Clarke, Dillon, Kirwan, Léoville-Barton, Lynch-Bages, MacCarthy, Palmer etc.)

1989 – The Golden Apple, the first English pub in Bordeaux opens in Chartrons

2014 – The Houses of Parliament/HMS Victory/Market Tavern organize the first ever modern delivery and sale of English draught beer in Bordeaux in partnership with the Sweeney Todd’s

2015 – Pub Crawl Bordeaux, the city’s first official pub crawl is launched…

So there you have it, a nice list to get you started on your pub crawl in Bordeaux!

The post Pub Crawl Bordeaux – the city’s first pub-athon..!!! appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

The boucle vert covers the entire city and has an impressive 241km of pristine cycle tracks.

To get the full low down on cycling within Bordeaux, as well as a range of other bike-related services, head over to MAMMA (la maison métropolitaine des mobilités alternatives) on 69 cours Pasteur near place Victoire.

However if you’re looking to get out of the city for the remainder of the decent weather, there are several next-level cycle routes in the Bordeaux region.

Here are the main ones…

The Canal des 2 Mers

The Bordeaux-Lacanau cycle path

The Vélodyssée

The Scandibérique

The Roger Lapébie cycle path

Photo from Tim Pike at Invisible Bordeaux

Our day out

We hired our well-kept bikes and were soon on our magical mystery tour up the railway! We set off to La Sauve and the old rail track wove through a forest before coming to a viewpoint of the stunning medieval abbey. There we turned off and headed into the village to have a look and grab some much needed refreshments.

Back to the rail track, just after La Sauve station (which includes a future train museum and restoration project), the route takes you through the highlight of the path – a 200m long rail tunnel! We turned back at this point, but the track carries on another 30km or so to Sauveterre.

Beer – One of the Bordeaux region’s longest-standing brewers is based here at the Brasserie St Leon. They have regular concerts along with the village guinguette booze ups at the station every Saturday night during the summer. Oh, and there’s a massive local beer festival in Créon every June..   

The post CYCLE TRACKS NEAR BORDEAUX appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

The project, titled the ‘Rue Bordelaise’ is touted as the new flagship project of the new Euratlantique quarter near Gare Saint Jean. The pedestrian footbridge will be be 300 m long and 20 m wide. It will link the area around Bordeaux’s principal train station and the right bank of the river Garonne.

Designed by architect Edouard François, the footpath will take inspiration from Bordeaux’s longest thoroughfare, rue Saint Catherine. The new development will comprise 88,000 m² of housing, offices, hotels, shops, restaurants / bars / disco, leisure and local services.

This project aligns itself with the current development projects associated to Euratlantique Bordeaux. This notably includes the Cité Numérique, the Bordeaux Métropole Arena and MECA.

The start of construction work is planned for 2020 and previewed to terminate in 2023.

The post LARGE PEDESTRIAN PROJECT TO BE DEVELOPED NEAR THE GARE SAINT JEAN appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

Written by Melissa Rindell

“A friend of the owner wanted to retire and was looking for someone to take over her association, teaching children English,” Elisabeth says.

For the Liddiards it was perfect. Simon is English and Elisabeth, a native of the Bordeaux area, was looking to return to the workforce after taking time off to bring up her children. They agreed immediately and have been involved with The New School Association ever since, Simon, as President, and Elisabeth, as a teacher.

The Liddiards met in England through an ERASMUS program at the University of Humberside. After graduation, they spent six years living in London, where they started their careers. Elisabeth worked in marketing for fashion sportswear companies and Simon in advertising. A job opportunity for Simon brought them to Paris in 2000.

“I loved living in England,” Elisabeth says, “It was easy to find a job, make money, find a place to live. And I liked the work culture. It was more relaxed, more genuine, more straight to the point. But I was really happy to come back to France. I always thought I would start my career in England and return to France for family and I really enjoyed coming back to the French way of living, the quality of products, especially food-wise. People are still cooking here. They’re still buying fresh products. In England, everything is pre-packed.”

After 14 years in Paris, Simon started contemplating changing professions.

“It was a fun, creative environment but hard work with long hours, and very stressful, ” Simon says of his time in the advertising industry, “And after 20 years, you’re not going to do a great deal that’s new. I kept hearing stories about people who had changed occupations and were enjoying new experiences and we were at a window of opportunity with the age of our children that we could move geographically without changing their education.”

Simon’s interest in wine tourism and the proximity of Elisabeth’s friends and family made Bordeaux a natural choice. Simon took a year of sabbatical and got his Masters degree in tourism and hotel management. He went on to work with the Bordeaux Tourist Office to create a jogging route and Urban Wine Trail. Inspired by a tasting room in Santa Barbara, the Urban Wine Trail allows people to experience the wines of Bordeaux without ever leaving the city, through an organised wine-bar crawl.

Passionate about real estate, the Liddiards also started investing in Bordeaux properties. One of the properties they invested in is a building on rue St. James, which they co-own with friends from business school. Un Chateau en Ville is housed in the commercial space. Un Chateau en Ville features all the wines of Chateau Lestrille and is a boutique, tasting room, and restaurant. Today, Simon works at the vineyard in Saint-Germain-du-Puch, where he oversees the boutique, tour program and event space.

Like many ex-pats, Simon has his fingers in a lot of pies and his love for real estate, lead to a position as an estate agent for Leggett Immobilier. Leggett is a British real estate company founded in the Dordogne 20 years ago, who initially specialised in clarifying the muddy water of French real estate for foreign buyers.

“Leggett is a family run business that advises clients on property rather than straight selling. I liked their approach as well as the strong focus on teamwork amongst the 500+ agents in France. The Bordeaux area is extremely interesting to work because it is not homogeneous, making it appealing to a number of different types of buyer. It also helps that it is dynamic and a real melting pot of French people from different regions as well as a high number of expats and foreigners,” Simon says.

Elisabeth’s efforts are more focused. She works full-time at The New School, which offers English classes for children 3-17, in Le Bouscat.

“It’s a great pleasure to wake up every morning and look forward to going to work. I love working with children and really feel I’ve found my true vocation. Feeding young ones and teenagers with English is very satisfying!” Elisabeth says.

In addition to classes during the school year, The New School offers educational holidays in North Devon, through a partnership with Country Cousins.

“Parents kept asking me for recommendations on exchange programs, so I started doing some research,” Elisabeth says. “Country Cousins is family-run and has a history of over 65 years, so I sent Simon to check it out.”

Simon has fond memories of a language exchange he did in La Rochelle when he was 14 and 15 and was eager to make that experience available to the next generation.

“I talked to a lot of French parents who had negative experiences with UK exchanges, so it was important to us to find one that had the quality we were looking for. Country Cousins is akin to what I experienced when I was young. It’s well organised and the activities range from surfing to theatre to sports. At that age, it’s important to make it enjoyable, because that makes kids want to go back and then it becomes their choice to learn.”

Country Cousins offers immersion programs ranging from 1-3 weeks for children as young as 8, during Spring and Summer vacation and a June program for “élèves de 2nde.” The New School is also offering an Acting in English Intensive from June 17 to July 5 in Le Bouscat for élèves de 2nde.

“It’s funny but if we hadn’t bought our house we might have a very different story to tell,” Simon says, “Elisabeth thinks she would still have ended up teaching English and I would still have envisaged real estate at some point, with or without wine! Life is sometimes helped along by chance encounters, the key thing is to embrace them.”

About the author: 
Melissa Rindell moved to Bordeaux from New York, where she worked as an actor, playwright and director. Before that she was a sports journalist for the Associated Press and did public relations for the Sydney Blues of the Australian Baseball League, Boston Red Sox, United States Olympic Committee and International Management Group. Melissa has been living in Bordeaux since 2015.

The post LUCKY VENTURE – ELISABETH & SIMON LIDDIARD appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

So, strap on your over sized Guinness Top hat and get on board with the Bordeaux Expat’s pub crawl! We’ve listed a few of our favourite pubs, and set out the best laid route for your to follow so that’s it’s as easy as following the Green Brick Road….

Molly Malone’s

83 Quai des Chartrons, 33300 Bordeaux

This is a locals favourite and you’re always assured of a true Paddy’s day experience. The pub will see Gerry Burton from Cork providing some typical Irish music to keep the party going.

Cambridge Arms

27 Rue Rode, 33000 Bordeaux

Set yourself up for a fine selection of beer and whiskeys. Grab a bite to eat and catch a bit of the Six Nations!

The Dog & Duck

5 quai Louis XVIII 33000 Bordeaux, France

Keep the party going and walk off the fish and chips you just ate. Head along to the Dog & Duck and shift into a higher gear with a couple of their cocktails!

The Black Velvet Bar

9 Rue du Chai des Farines, 33000 Bordeaux

A true Irish pub in the heart of the old town of Bordeaux. The locals and regulars of the Black Velvet know that Paddy’s day here is an important event. Dubbed as ‘Belfast in Bordeaux’, the patron, Barry, is a welcoming chap and his team are always up for a craic.

Sweeney Todd’s

2 Cours d’Alsace-et-Lorraine, 33000 Bordeaux

Our favourite fish bowl pub, where you can always be assured of great atmosphere! Lance and his team are keen as mustard for Sunday, with Happy Hour (16h-19h) Pints going for €4.50, Cocktails €6!

The post ST PATRICK’S DAY – BORDEAUX PUB CRAWL appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

Serendipity is a concept store that mixes the universe of deco, gifts, stationery, plants and delicatessen products. The creator of Serendipity, Claire, opened the doors to this great little hide away in March 2017. The aim remains the same, to provide locals and tourists a chance to unexpectedly discover various local made products along with original international items.

Sensitive to the environment, Claire wanted the store to be as eco-responsible as possible: There are decorative items, furniture, lighting, craft pieces, useful gadgets, elegant stationery, cosmetics and smart candles.

Among the brands selected by Claire, we find among others: the Manufacture de Soda (Bordeaux company of sparkling natural drinks), The Pieds de Biche (decorative objects in raw materials), Miwitipee (carved wooden objects and originals made in Toulouse) , Louse Emoi and le Moly … and many other organic, eco-responsible articles.

Claire also offers workshops on various themes such as macrame, candles, origami, the art of kokedama (vegetable balls), creative moments and exchanges, and even parent-child workshops (on reservation).

Serendipity, a cabinet of conviviality which allows us to discover original and evolutionary selections, and a philosophy of a positive and harmonious life.

Serendipity, 26 rue Buhan 33000 Bordeaux.

Open Tuesday to Saturday from 11h to 19h30

Also online at serendipityshop.fr. To follow on Instagram and Facebook

The post SERENDIPITY – A CONCEPT STORE MADE IN BORDEAUX appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.