Lepplas In Bourdeax

Here's the official second posting of that day - from the Leppla family day in Bordeaux, broken into two posts.

Part I:
Idris educated us about Bordeaux’s history on the drive there. Interesting to learn that Paris requires building owners to pay for the exterior cleaning of their buildings once each twenty years, while Bordeaux has no such policy. This explains, in part, why Paris is such a gleaming beauty, while Bordeaux has much more visible grit. Bordeaux is undergoing some deferred maintenance, and has many beautiful buildings standing next to others that are awaiting their turn for cosmetic improvements.
We arrived in Bordeaux around lunch time and received an orientation from Idris along with recommendations on things we should do and see that day. After a delicious lunch of sandwiches in a courtyard, Idris went to a meeting and we set out to explore.
Two out of three girls enjoyed a carousel ride on a beautiful double-decker mery go round. Following Idris’ recommendations, we caught a completely touristy “train” ride that drove us all over the city and described many points of historic interest. There is no way we could have seen all that we did had we attempted to navigate the city on our own. It is one thing to hear that Bordeaux is an “ancient” city, and another to look at buildings and ruins that pre-date Christ. Henceforth, we have decided to embrace touristy things.
Photos show a tiny sampling of Bordeaux’s remarkable architecture.
Photos: Bordeaux 1-4