Pizza Pepperoni on Rue St Remi (the end closest to Rue Ste Catherine)
It has occurred to me that I haven’t posted a whole lot about Bordeaux despite having lived here for most of the year. I remember at the beginning of the year I wrote something to the effect of “Oh I don’t know what I think of this place; it seems cute and quaint but I am not sure how it compares to Sydney, blah blah blah”. I was basically trying to suss out whether or not it was somewhere I would be able to live permanently, or at least for a long period of time (say, 3+ years). Any time I visit any city, it’s something I always have at the back of my mind: how livable is this city? Would I be able to do my job (effectively) from here? Will I be missing out on anything or am I giving up something important to be here? I haven’t been able to answer these questions about a lot of cities. I’m still undecided about Paris, even though I love the place. I’m not sure what I think of London, either. Edinburgh seems livable, I think. Lyon is great, although I’d need to spend more than a weekend there to see what it’s really like. As for Bordeaux…
The fountain at Place de la Bourse. A few weeks ago they dyed the water that the statues were pissing pink to support breast cancer awareness. I made a bunch of jokes about urinary tract infections and everyone got very uncomfortable.
I don’t think I could live in Bordeaux. It’s a beautiful city – one of the most beautiful I’ve seen during all my travels – and I’ve met some lovely people here, but for someone who actually wants a career outside of working in a pub, running a shop, or working with wine, there is nothing here for me aside from delicious food and architectural eye-candy. Bordeaux is simply too small; everyone knows everyone else, you can’t walk down the street without bumping into someone, all the foreigners know each other’s business, and there’s a certain laziness to the lifestyle here that bores me. It’s fine as an exchange city – I’ve enjoyed my time here as a student! It was a refreshing change when I first arrived here from Sydney, but I’ve come to realise that I like working and making progress with my journalism a lot more than I enjoy not working and making progress with my drinking.
Place du Parlement, a square full of restaurants and cafés
I do realise how boring this makes me sound – that I’d rather be working than drinking, that I prefer a fast pace and editorial deadlines to… doing nothing. I know the point of this year was to not work and just be a silly student, and I did that, but it got boring after a few months. Right now I can’t wait to get back into a big, multicultural city where there are actual career opportunities, Japanese restaurants that know the difference between sushi and maki, and where I can wear shorts without strangers calling me a salope (slut/whore). Actually, that’s one thing that really annoys me about Bordeaux. It is noticeably more conservative than Paris, or any other city I’ve been to this year. During the summer, I could walk down the street in Paris in shorts or a skirt and be left alone (except on one occasion when I was walking down some stairs from Montmartre and a 13-year old said “belle jambes” [nice legs] to me), but in Bordeaux, wearing anything above the knee solicits crude and sexist remarks from strangers. It’s kind of awful. And when the Bordelais get drunk, sometimes they also get racist. I’ve had people call out “LA CHINE! LA CHINE!” at me, and I’ve been told that my “eyes don’t look Australian”, and thus I must not actually be Australian.
Now that I think of it, Bordeaux annoys me a lot. I never had to deal with any kind of racism in Australia, and we’re supposedly a massive island of racist bogans. I’ve had people from all over the place express curiosity about my ethnic background, but until I came to Bordeaux no one had ever suggested I wasn’t Australian because of my eyes. I’ve never had to deal with so much sexism, either. The attitude towards women that some of the men here have is absolutely appalling. And what’s the deal with half the supermarkets here not knowing what ginger is? And why does the bakery near my house close for two hours during lunch time? It’s a fucking bakery – they sell food. During lunch time people buy food. It’s like a restaurant closing during dinner time so that the staff can eat dinner. On top of that, Bordeaux’s La Poste has lost a whole lot of expensive packages sent to me from Australia, one containing a bunch of Nintendo DS games. And why is beer more expensive here than in Paris? And why do the trams break down every week?! SWEET JESUS GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, BORDEAUX.
Upstairs at "Karl's"
Needless to say this year has been one of extremes. While I can honestly say it has been my best year yet, I’ve also been at some of my lowest points. Friendship dynamics changed, my relationships with people changed, and I spent a lot of time being anxious about everything. All those things have been kind of awful. But I’ve loved the independence I’ve had and the opportunity to travel everywhere and experience new things, and I cannot get over how awesome it has been to be able to go to Paris so many times and even live there during the summer.
Ultimately, I am both grateful and glad that I had the opportunity to live in Bordeaux for my year of exchange. I definitely want to return to France and spend more time in the bigger cities, especially Paris and Lyon. I’ve changed the name of one of my savings accounts to “Return To France”. But I am equally as grateful and glad that in six days I’ll be in a different French city (Nantes) and, after that, home.
