The Invisible Bordeaux spirit is alive and well and is once again to be found on Slowrush's new EP, The Story Starts... ! Indeed, as loyal readers know, lately the musical project Slowrush has taken precedence over the Invisible Bordeaux blog in terms of time and energy. But that's not to say that the two projects don't feed off each other. In fact, three songs from the fifth collection released by our Britpop trio are directly inspired by topics covered on the blog in the past... we give you slow tourism in music!

On this new EP, the musical journey begins with the discovery of the city's “Twin City Gardens”, which are slowly crumbling away in the Barails ecological reserve north of Bordeaux. With its acoustic folk-pop mood, the track is an invitation to "voyage on the spot", providing instant changes of scenery without having to move very fat at all anywhere, as the music video on Youtube demonstrates.

The Britpop-tinged “Degrees of Separation” revisits the career of Brooklyn-born musician and songwriter Mort Shuman, who is buried in Bordeaux-Caudéran, and evokes Slowrush's pride in sharing the story of the man behind "Save The Last Dance", "Viva Las Vegas", "Papa Tango Charly" and so many other classics, as part of the musical revue we occasionally present, namely our side project The Shuman Show!

In just a few verses, “The Story Starts (With a Bass Guitar)” tells the astonishing story of Gilles Bertin, bassist with Bordeaux punk band Camera Silens in the 1980s, before he was involved in a robbery and fled to Portugal and then Spain. After 30 years on the run, Bertin sought to redeem himself and rebuild his identity from scratch, before his death from illness at the age of 58. This track, with its hypnotic bass line, is one of the most hard-hitting and ambitious in Slowrush's repertoire.

The EP closes with a much quieter song that doesn't deal with a Gironde theme, but whose title is nonetheless a nod to France: “Amie Mon Amie”. Largely instrumental, this melancholy number has a special atmosphere, thanks in particular to the presence of the voice of Olivier's wife Elise Rols, who adds an unexpected dimension to the track, whose lyrics are the work of long-time friend John Parker. The accompanying video is based on an American home movie from the 1940s.

The four songs on The Story Starts... were mixed and mastered by Sylvio Arrondo from Klarkson Mixing Studios in the south of Gironde. The cover, not that far removed from the visuals produced by Belle and Sebastian or The Smiths, is a curious 1950s photo taken on the beach at Great Yarmouth in south-east England. Holding the microphone, the very well-dressed evangelical pastor Robert Fairnie is preaching or praying for his young audience!

You can listen to the EP on Slowrush's Bandcamp page or wherever you stream your music by clicking here... or via the player below. Enjoy and be sure to catch our live shows in 2025!

> Read the Sud Ouest article about the EP

> Check out Jugeote's introduction to Slowrush and to The Story Starts...! 

Every so often the hustle and bustle of central Bordeaux can get just a little bit overpowering, wouldn’t you say? When that happens there can surely be nothing more refreshing than taking in the delights of the city’s biggest green wall. We therefore give you Square Vinet… just a stone’s throw away from the perpetually buzzing Rue Sainte-Catherine and Place Camille-Jullian.

The tiny and quiet plane-tree-lined square, which runs between Rue du Cancéra and Rue Vinet, dates from the 1970s following on from the demolition of a row of run-down buildings. The turning point came in 2005 with the addition of its key selling point, namely the unusual – and really quite pretty – 100-metre-long (or 400-square-metre) green wall, as part of a substantial overhaul that cost €540,000. The work proved controversial at the time, but (if contemporary media coverage is to be believed) that was mainly because the old-school swings were replaced by more modern children’s activities! “Beau mais trop intello” (pretty but high-brow), headlined the local newspaper Sud Ouest!

Square Vinet in all its splendour.

But let’s get back to our green wall… then again, what exactly is a green wall? Well, Wikipedia notes that “A green wall is a vertical built structure intentionally covered by vegetation. Green walls include a vertically applied growth medium such as soil, substitute substrate, or hydroculture felt; as well as an integrated hydration and fertigation delivery system. They are also referred to as living walls or vertical gardens, and widely associated with the delivery of many beneficial ecosystem services.”

The Square Vinet green wall was initiated as part of a city-wide strategy regarding the planting of trees and vegetation led by landscape gardener Michel Desvignes. The actual conception of the wall was, according to the city’s website, “the fruit of the scientific research and artistic talent of the botanist Patrick Blanc” (the man who also designed the green wall to be spotted at Paris’s Musée des Arts Premiers Quai Branly), all of which was no doubt enthusiastically rolled out by Bordeaux’s team of gardeners.

Some of the very green greenery to be spotted. 

The wall comprises a wide variety of plants whose “textures and colours are well-adapted to the fun environment of a children’s playground”. And yes, the square is still home to a small number of features (a small slide and unidentified things on springs) designed to keep the neighbourhood’s younger citizens occupied! What more could one ask for?

But even for child-free visitors the small square makes for a refreshing discovery, and the contrast between the Vinet green wall (Elie Vinet, by the way, was an eminent 16th-century Bordelais professor, historian and writer) and the limestone of the surrounding buildings is striking.

Wall to wall contrast.

Meanwhile, it might be noted that the Vinet green wall is not alone in the city, another can be enjoyed in the Mériadeck quarter, along the sides of the council meeting room of the Bordeaux Métropole building. Here, the added bonus is the surrounding fishpond and abstract bronze sculpture produced by François Cante-Pacos (and yes, there are even some lovely goldfish to be spotted!). 

The hanging gardens of Bordeaux Métropole's salle du conseil. Check out the goldfish (bottom right)! 

There have also been less successful green wall ventures in Bordeaux, notably on Cours de la Martinique where a residential building sported short-lived greenery that ran across the balconies of each apartment, once again to the designs of Patrick Blanc. Upkeep and maintenance proved difficult, and the water drainage system was ineffective; during cold spells this resulted in frost-related damage to the balconies and dangerously icy pavements at ground level. In 2012, just five years after being installed, the Cours de la Martinique’s hanging gardens were therefore already making headlines for all the wrong reasons in Sud Ouest. A few years on, the building’s balconies are now ominously smooth and free of plants!   

> Find them on the Invisible Bordeaux map: Square Vinet and Bordeaux Métropole building and green wall, Bordeaux.
> Ce dossier est également disponible en français. 
> Big thanks to Mathias Cisnal (author of Mériadeck - Parcours en ville) for his useful clarifications regarding the Mériadeck green wall! 

I’m no longer sure how this occurred, but I somehow came across a 2019 social media post announcing the installation of some new and highly unusual public bookcases (or "boîtes à livres") in various locations around the pleasant town of Eysines, as handily detailed on a map available on the municipality’s website. What makes most of the Eysines bookcases unusual is that rather than simply being angular wooden structures, each unique design reflects the surrounding area and was lovingly hand-crafted by members of the municipal technical teams. Needless to say, this clearly demanded a low-key Sunday morning cycling roadtrip!  

Of course, the basic premise of public bookcases is straightforward: come along, browse a little, ideally deposit a book and, in return, take one home with you. For the purposes of this project I adapted that rule to my roadtrip format, initially contributing a book to the Eysines collection, and then at each bookcase selecting one that I would leave at my next stop, forming a bit of a input/output book chain. To begin the process, the book I dropped off at the first public bookcase was the very Invisible Bordeaux-friendly Grandir à Bordeaux dans les Années 1940 et 1950 by Véronique Cardinal. What publication would I be taking home ten stops along the line?

My first public bookcase was in the shape of a vintage "Eysines Bourg" tram, positioned here just slightly ahead of the neighbouring tram line D "Eysines Centre" stop entering into service. The bookcase was in good condition and offered a fair selection of books. This was also my first experience of the accomplished handiwork of Eysines’ municipal staff: I realized the hinges of the doors contained a strong spring mechanism so that when released the doors would automatically close upon themselves. Neat and clever. I swapped my Véronique Cardinal book for some classic literature that would take me back to my university years: Balzac’s Le Père Goriot. 

Stop number two was in the leafy Bois du Derby, the name of which may or may not be a reference to the nearby horse-racing track. In the shape of a colourful tree, the bookcase comprises two little houses to store books, one at adult height and the other at child height.

 

The latter was ominously empty… and the springy doors were no more. For some reason this triggered my inner politician and Le Père Goriot was replaced by Anna Cabana’s Un Fantasme Nommé Juppé.

The third boîte à livres was a little more difficult to track down, situated within the confines of a residential set of buildings (Résidence les Cottages), by the side of a children’s play area and a small-scale football pitch. 

 

Despite a hand-written notice requesting some communal goodwill, this bookcase was clearly in need of some tender loving care… and was conspicuously empty save for a weather-beaten children’s picture book. I opted to leave things as they were. 

Then it was on to Place Florale which, on a Sunday morning, is a hive of activity because… it’s market day! Hurrah! So I was met with crowds of people stocking up on various foodstuffs at what is known as Marché de Migron, with the smell of roast chicken in the air and all soundtracked by an amplified busker singing old Bob Dylan tunes in approximate English. The Place Florale public bookcase is a delightful beast (although it too is short of its protective doors), in the shape of an old Citroën utility van. Is this a reference to a specific Citroën van or does it simply hint at the market sellers who set up their stalls here every weekend? 

 

Certainly, the day I was there, there were obvious parallels with the camper van parked alongside selling tomato plants! Stopping here also served as my first chance to see a remarkable new piece of public art, a bronze sculpture by Ibai Hernandorena depicting three disabled local youths. The piece entitled "Jéremy, Germain et Olivier" and which you can read about by clicking here, possibly deserves its own Invisible Bordeaux article! I set off, now with John Gray’s Mars et Vénus Sous la Couette safely lodged in my bag. 

I was now heading to le Bois Gramond, which is a pleasant area of greenery tucked in among residential streets and flanked to the north-west by the Rocade ringroad. From what I could make out during my short stay, the park is a bit of a joggers’ and dog-walkers’ paradise. It also features arguably the most ambitious of Eysines’ public bookcases: a walk-in hut with well-stocked bookshelves on all sides and an invitation to enjoy the setting at all times of year, with each side of the hut recalling one of the four seasons.

 

Porthole windows on the outside world complete the picture. It really is most excellent. I swapped my sex therapy self-help book for Denis Guedj’s Le Théorème du Perroquet, simply because I liked the title and the cover.

Next up was a zebra-themed bookcase which, like its les Cottages counterpart, was a touch more difficult to find, hidden away in amongst the packed car parks of the Grand Louis residential complex. Once again I chose to travel back in time to my student years, opting for Sartre’s Huis Clos.   

 

There were barely 400 or 500 metres to cover before reaching the next public bookcase, simply described on the map as being "à côté des écoles". It was actually fairly easy to locate. Its design was possibly not the most exciting but it did come with its own unexpected bonus: an unobstructed view of local baseball team les Raiders in competitive action.  

 

After being momentarily taken down to the ballgame I concentrated on my next item of reading material: Sept Années Perdues by George Bellairs.

I was now headed to "la Maison Guy Queyroi", which appears to be some kind of modern multi-purpose building with meeting rooms for local associations and the like. Its public bookcase, which is to be found outdoors but sheltered from the elements, is very much a conventional design, but what it lacks in originality it more than makes up for in terms of supply. This is clearly a hotspot of lending/borrowing and it was quite literally overflowing with books to choose from. I opted for some user-friendly espionage with a saucy cover: Serge Laforest’s À Bout de Patience.

 

Moving on, I could very easily have completely missed the entrance to my next destination, the Parc du Limancet. Cycling past the first time, the metal gate appeared not just closed but locked. It was only doubling back that I noticed there happily was a legitimate way of creeping around the gate and into this pleasant woodland area. Once in I was afraid it might be difficult to locate the bookcase but I soon spotted it, alongside a large barn. It didn’t need a character from a Serge Laforest spy novel to spot the similarity between the two, the bookcase is basically a tiny version of its functional neighbour!

 

The books on display were a little disappointing, I eventually chose to go for a solidly-reliable, crowd-pleasing steamy tale from the Harlequin "Série Tentation" collection of books: Lee Magner’s Vos Désirs Sont des Ordres.       

My final stop was now in sight, by the children’s play area in the wide open spaces of the Domaine du Pinsan… which has already made an appearance on the blog in one of my occasional articles about air disasters. There’s very much a child-friendly feel about the colourful design of this tenth bookcase, which features big, expressive eyes (bizarrely topped off by eyelashes that are actually positioned above the character’s eyebrows), and two sets of sharp teeth framing the two shelves of books. The bookcase seems angry, or hungry, or possibly both.  

 

Once again, the choice of books available wasn’t brilliant but in the ended I opted for Michel Déon’s Un Taxi Mauve, a 1973 novel set in Ireland which was later turned into a movie directed by Yves Boisset. This is the book I would be taking home!

The Eysines public bookcase roadtrip was now over, but what a rollercoaster ride it had been (well, admittedly, we’re talking quite a gentle, low-speed, low-thrills literary rollercoaster here). But mission accomplished, or what? Some of the bookcase designs really are fantastic: the tram- and van-shaped bookcases absolutely have to be seen, and the four seasons reading hut in the Bois Gramond is a genuine delight. Meanwhile, others could certainly do with a bit of a makeover (Résidence les Cottages, we’re looking at you!). And, of course, an itinerary like this is also about the other things you get to see en route: taking in a Sunday-morning market, viewing the remarkable Ibai Hernandorena sculpture on Place Florale, watching some real, live baseball, and then discovering the little-known Parc du Limancet… these are all things that came about simply because I was out hunting for some handmade bookcases.

Therefore, to the good people of Eysines (and beyond), do head out and make the most of these unusual sights, and hats off to the municipal teams who designed and manufactured the public bookcases, they really are unique and quite brilliant. Bravo!

 

> Click to view the map detailing all the locations on the official Eysines website!

> Le récit de cette aventure haletante est également disponible en français !

To the north of Bordeaux, close to where the Aubiers high-rise estate was built in the 1970s, three features on the landscape show how much the city has evolved and continues to evolve, as well as demonstrating how some temporary solutions prove to be far more durable than initially expected. This is the tale of a bridge, some wasteland, and a flyover, i.e. the three areas highlighted above as they appeared at the time when the aerial photo was taken: 1984.
 

The bridge

The bridge in question is Pont de Cracovie (Krakow). This bridge was completed in 1967 to cater for a sudden influx of traffic entering Bordeaux from the north, as a result of the brand new Pont d’Aquitaine making it possible to cross the Garonne from Lormont, carrying road traffic arriving from the A10 motorway onto the first sections of the Rocade ring-road. 

While it made sense to open up a new way of accessing Bordeaux, there was an obstacle to overcome: a freight railway line which provided a means of connecting the docklands area of the city with Saint-Jean railway station to the south. A no-frills road bridge was therefore delivered to get from one side to the other: a big hand please for Pont de Cracovie.

Cracovie tram stop can now be found where the bridge once stood.

Anyway, a bridge is all very well, but while it was synonymous with access for some, it became regarded as a physical barrier for others. For the first residents of the Aubiers estate, the bridge added to the sense of isolation ahead of further developments taking shape. They were physically cut off from the rest of the city, with just a single bus line providing any form of connection. Miss that last bus home, and there was no alternative other than to walk, head under the bridge, clamber across the railway line, and venture through a dangerous and inhospitable environment. 

The bridge was eventually demolished in 2006 to make way for the new tram network, which was installed at ground level, with the use of the freight railway line having ceased in the interim period. Aptly, the resulting tram stop has also been given the name ‘Cracovie’. The bridge coming down was a revelation to some. In a video which looks over the history of the Aubiers estate, one witness compared the bridge to “a frontier. As soon as it came down, as if by chance, we noticed Bruges was just next door, along with the Grand Parc estate… It’s strange, the bridge caused problems… it left its mark on us.”

The bridge being demolished in 2006. Source of this picture and the one of the bridge further up the page: Bordeaux Ma Ville on Dailymotion.

These aerial shots (to be found on the IGN Remonter Le Temps website) date from 1961, 1965, 1976 and 2012. Cracovie bridge can be seen in the 1965 picture, but was not yet in service. The Aubiers estate is visible in the 1970s shot. By the 2012 picture, the bridge had made way for the tram network. See also the video compilation of these and further photos at the end of the article!

The wasteland

What was also keeping the Aubiers residents trapped were the extensive railway sidings that stretched alongside their buildings. The aerial photos above suggest that the rails were removed for good sometime around 2010, but nothing immediately took their place on this land which officially comprises two plots; one of which belongs to Bordeaux Métropole, the other being under the ownership of Bordeaux Port Authority. 

In recent years, the land gradually became a migrant shantytown made up of makeshift accommodation hand-crafted by Romanian and Bulgarian Roms. By early 2021, it is though that up to 400 people were living on site, and over time tension mounted between the shantytown’s inhabitants and their Aubiers neighbours. Reports suggest that this was mainly due to music and noise at all hours, but also the smoke and odours caused by the plastic coating being burnt off wiring to recover copper.

Late in 2021, the shantytown was cleared for good although subsequent to a series of fires resulting from conflicts between migrants and locals. At the time of writing, the amount of debris that remains is incredible: cars and vans that have been gutted, caravans, shopping trolleys, random items of furniture, etc. But there are also official signs of what is coming next (pictured above), which is said to be two office blocks and a car park. The new premises will reportedly be home to the Gironde Social Security offices and a circus arts school. 

The flyover

Towards the eastern tip of the soon-to-be-former wasteland is a sight that has never, ever featured on a list of things to see in Bordeaux, and yet its resilience certainly deserves to be rewarded with a few paragraphs on the Invisible Bordeaux blog. We give you l’Autopont de Latule or, if you prefer, the Latule flyover. 

This too was a by-product of Bordeaux’s development to the north, and the early-1970s need to facilitate the movement of automobile traffic between central Bordeaux, its “boulevards”, and the Rocade, or indeed the nascent Bordeaux-Lac business, exhibition and hotel complexes. At this strategic point where a number of thoroughfares meet, this then-futuristic flyover was installed in 1973 (it opened on Saturday November 10th 1973 according to Frederick Llorens's excellent 'L'automobile à Bordeaux')… which means it is now coming up to 50 years of age!

The single-lane metallic structure is 254 metres long, 3.5 metres wide, and is made up of 13 sections which vary in length between 12 and 30 metres. As it was initially designed to be used for a short period, by putting in so much overtime it also has to undergo regular maintenance work – which keeps the flyover in the news given that closures result in substantial tailbacks (and affect the travel plans of the passengers of the 13,000 cars who use the flyover each day). It was also fully overhauled in 1984 and 1996.

But possibly the most remarkable thing is simply that the flyover is still in position and doing its job. There has been talk of the junction being turned into a massive roundabout, or else of automobile traffic being entirely diverted to free up the space, which would then be handed over to pedestrians and cyclists. But it’s still there, looking slightly out of place, like it should be in some vast American metropolis, a remnant of a bygone but not-so-distant era when urban infrastructure choices were fully focused on cars. Given the current climate and the essential shift to alternative means of urban transport, will we still be talking about the Latule flyover 50 years from now?  

And now, enjoy a timelapse video showing how much the area has evolved between 1924 and the present day! 

Click here if video does not display properly on your device.

 

> Find them on the Invisible Bordeaux map: site of former Pont de Cracovie, Cracovie wasteland, Latule flyover.

> Ce dossier est également disponible en français ! 

Changes are afoot over on the French-language Invisible Bordeaux podcast which will hitherto be known as... Invisible Bordeaux Music! From now on, the podcast will exclusively be focusing on the Bordeaux music scene. Whether established artists, up-and-coming stars, underground combos, record labels, associations, concert halls, record stores - all will feature in some form or other over the coming months!

The first episode of the new-generation podcast features Richard Berthou, a key figure in the Bordeaux Rock association and lead planner of the Musical Écran music documentary festival, whose 10th edition runs from November 5 to 15, 2024 in Bordeaux at Théâtre Molière, Cinéma Mégarama, Avants-Postes and Cour Mably, and in Bègles at La Lanterne cinema.

Together we discuss the festival's format and 2024 line-up, including the presence of renowned director Mark Kidel, and what to expect from documentaries on Blur, Tricky, and Robert Wyatt, not forgetting Googoosh, the Hard-Ons and Ravi Shankar... and the final flourish promised by Talking Heads' legendary Stop Making Sense.

We also look back at the highlights of previous editions, before looking ahead to what happens next...

You can listen to the podcast below or else over on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Podbean and RadioPublic! Don't forget to subscribe so that you don't miss future episodes! 

Click here if the player does not display properly.

> Full festival programme and tickets on ⁠bordeauxrock.com⁠