Open letter to Monocle: a 25/25 Bordeaux bid
Recently returning from a trip to Europe, which included Copenhagen (thanks for the fantastic Nimb reference), Marseille, Cannes/Nice, St. Tropez, Barcelona, Bordeaux and Paris, we packed our Monocle and printed out the 25/25 lists off all that fell in line. We were met with beautiful shores in Cannes/Nice, great public transport & underground parking in Marseille, and the overall in St. Tropez. Then came Barcelona - We could not agree more with your observation that if you are not Catalonian than you are “less than”, but it went further; The Rambla is great for the early 20 into drug and late night hooks-ups but lacking anything for the slightly older after dark. To find a restaurant other than Tapas can, at points, feel like an exercise in futility. Although Barcelona may be a top contender we slightly disagree; if it makes the mark then Bordeaux should for sure have it’s place on the map (in my humble opinion)…. now although my bias runs deep (I fell in love with Bordeaux): from the fine shopping, attractive locals (nice to see an abundance of native locals rather than the megalopolis of no is from there, just passing thru) a clean and silent transportation system that even runs over tracks surrounded in grass along the river stretch, wine arguably unparalleled with the world, strong biking community, a clean and gorgeous downtown, and a night life virtually free of drama and all ages out enjoying it till all hours.
