Une Touriste

L'Eglise Saint-Pierre

I can't help it. I'm very much a typical American tourist, with my camera in hand, eyes always to the sky, hanging around all of the spots I can find in my guide book. But in a place like Bordeaux, I'll be shameless about it. There is so much to see here, and all of it is dripping with history, as the city was built in the 18th Century as a port city to the rest of Europe, and because the English and Germans depended upon Bordeaux to consistently produce the best wine in the world,it's remained relatively untouched by warandthe like. Therefore, everything is old, everythingis beautiful, everything has an incredible story - it's almost too perfect to be true.

On my first full day in Bordeaux, my host mother took Grace, Hannah, and I to La Basse Sous Marine (normally a military base), which is currently hosting an exhibit called "6 Milliards D'Autres" (6 Billion Others). The exhibit featured many large metal shipping boxes that had been turned into screening rooms (shown below) for videos of people from around the world speaking on different subjects. The questions they were asked, though, were designed to be challenging, thought provoking, and require the participants to give something of themselves when answering. The video pictured

below asked people to describe their first memory, and to define happiness. As maybe you

would expect, the disparity in responses between those living in the Developed World versus those who are not was astounding. One woman, from Los Angeles, described happiness as having a full understanding of herself, while a woman from Kenya responded "happiness is having water. If I have water, I am happy". I cannot blame the American woman for defining happiness around the self - as I would agree with such a definition -but I also can't deny how priviliged it sounds to get to say such a thing. We take for granted our access to the necessities and to material objects - no one I know in the Western World would define happiness as buying a new shirt or fancy telephone - but there are those in our world for whom such things would make them extremely happy. Maybe happiness is what we're searching for, what we want but don't always have... certainly we appreciate those things in life more. Perhaps not having so many "things" to occupy her time allows the Kenyan woman to know herself. Maybe she doesn't need to define happiness in spiritual terms because she is already in posession of a spiritual knowledge, and therefore, thinks of those things she needs but doesn't often have.

I know, I know. The above really doesn't have to do with France, or my time within France. But I wanted to share what I'm experiencing... but now it's your turn. You don't have to write, discuss, or even speak any of your answers, but think about some of those important questions that 6 Milliards D'autres are also experiencing, though they may be a world away. Think about: What is your greatest fear? What is happiness? Do you think you have a better life than your parents? What makes you cry? What is your experience with war (on a large or small scale) What is your favorite song (sing it)? What were your childhood dreams? Listening to others speak on these subjects and thinking about my own responses has grounded me in where I am and what I'm doing. I hope that they can do the same for you, wherever you may be.

Ok. Back to Bordeaux. Later on that day, some Vassar-Wesleyan students met up for a late lunch and to discover a little bit more of Bordeaux. It being really hot, and us being really lazy, we stayed pretty much in the downtown area, although a park we wanted to sit in featured some homeless men taking a bath in

one of the fountains (even the homeless stay clean in Europe!), so we took a little ally and ran into some 3rd Century ruins. No big deal or anything. As it turns out, Bordeaux Aquitaine was once a part of the Roman Empire, and built an ampitheatre called Le Palais Gallien, part of which is still standing today. It's those little things that you stumble upon that make an already great day even brighter. To be right next to a structure over 1000 years old...

We've also had the chance to take more formal tours as well. While I'm normally opposed to exploring cities in an organized way (I hate following people around and being told what to look at), the tour guides I've had are extremely knowledgable, and there is a lot of history to be knowedgable about. Something I found interesting was that Bordeaux was founded as a port town, because the conditions were exactly right for making wine (built on the river, 40 km from the ocean, perfect climate). Because the wine in Bordeaux was and is the most desirable in all of Europe, England and Germany never attacked it (though there have been some brutal wars between the countries with much destruction), because they were afraid of disrupting the

wine flow. Thus, all of the monuments and buildings remain in their original 18th century

beauty. My favorite, I think, was La Fontaine des Girondins, symbolizing all that is needed to make a city work. Each of the statues in the fountain represent something different: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,Republic, Education, and Military surrounded by Security (The half mermaid/half horse statues). All of these "good" symbols spray water on and eject the bad, represented by statues of a man with a mask (The Liar), A man hiding his face (Ignorance), and a man reaching out (Vices), all of which are things that any good society cannot have if they wish to function. How powerful it must be to share a history with your neighbors, to understand the meaning behind your city's philosophy, and an agreement between one another to use the symbols to create a better life...

What I love most about Bordeaux, though, is the mix between old and new. There are ancient buildings on busy streets with silent trams and a beautiful miroir d'eau (mirror of water, which is just about an inch of water that covers a large portion of the road that runs next to the river, which also happens to be right in front of the two government buildings. It is said to promote reflection on what their country is doing - politicians are forced to see themselves in the mirror). There is no feeling of an antiquated city dwelling in it's own history - the people are

very modern, and there are painted cows everywhere! Really. The city held a contest a few years ago to promote public art, and now you can find wildly decorated cows all over the city (a lot like the painted horses of Portland). To the right is one I found on stilts. They're also majorly bike friendly, I've seen many roller bladers (who are apparently very "cool" in Europe), and they are very concerned with making their city handicap accessible. Belowis a picture of a scale model of one section of Bordeaux, which was made specifically as a map for the blind, with braille to mark street names. So cool!

I hope that some of you find some of the stuff I'm seeing interesting. It's certainly been quite the ride so far. I feel very much as though I'm doing this trip for myself, for many reasons. At some points, though, I feel almost uncomfortable with how priviliged I must be to be in a place like this. I get to gallavant around Europe for almost five months with little supervision, little to do except have fun, see beautiful things, and soak up as much of it as I can. Although I'm still, in the back of my mind, concerned that I'm going on a semester-long vacation, I have to remind myself that once in a while, doing things for the sake of self-improvement and yes, fun, is okay. Maybe I won't change the world this semester. I'm alright with that.

Much to tell in later posts! Stay tuned!