Loyal readers will remember that, in 2012, Invisible Bordeaux reported on one of the most bizarre attractions in the area: the designated waterfront landing pad for unidentified flying objects in Arès, the quiet resort towards the northern tip of the triangle formed by the Bassin d’Arcachon.

I was recently disconcerted to see that the flying saucer which had been positioned there had disappeared, but lately found out that in June of this year a brand new UFO had landed. In part 2 of this feature, I will be meeting the people who conceived and built the new spaceship (and no, they aren't aliens) and finding out what happened to the previous spaceship, but for now let's revisit the story behind the UFO landing pad.

People visiting Bordeaux recently have no doubt found their stay in the city has been made easier and more enjoyable thanks to Le Map, a new free city guide that combines maps with tips, useful information and even a bit of local history.

To find out more about the publication, I arranged to meet Matt Mann, one of Le Map’s creators, for a coffee and chocolatine (that’s a pain au chocolat for non-Bordelais readers). The full story goes something like this:

Rue d’Alzon is a small side-street off Rue Judaïque where one of Bordeaux’s most iconic music and entertainment venues once stood: l’Alhambra. Today, the façade remains but the theatre itself is long gone.

The Alhambra story began in the early 1870s when a tree nursery made way for a permanent circus structure, le Cirque-National, which in turn became a “café-concert” in 1878. Soon after the turn of the century, local architect Tournier conceived a veritable entertainment complex that comprised a 1,500-seater theatre, an 800-capacity “summer casino” and, peculiarly, a rollerskating rink (the city’s 21st-century “roller parks” are therefore nothing new).

Europe's biggest "skating-ring" showcased on an old postcard, source: delcampe.net.

The Alhambra went on to become a multi-purpose unit, putting on concerts, revues and plays, early films ahead of purpose-built cinemas being built in the city (trading as Alhambra Cinéma Gaumont) but also hosting boxing, wrestling, dances, school fêtes, corporate Christmas parties, conferences, debates and political rallies. Its significance as a backdrop to political action peaked from September to December 1914, when it became the temporary wartime home of French members of Parliament who had relocated to Bordeaux: the Alhambra deputized as the country’s Chambre des Députés while the upper house, le Sénat, moved into the Apollo-Théâtre over near Place Gambetta.

1914: The theatre becomes
a parliamentary house.
Source: cahierdarchives.fr

According to a report which featured in L’Intransigeant dated September 19th 1914, MPs had to make do with far less comfort than in their usual environment at Palais-Bourbon; for some time they had to find their way between boxes and crates, and endured the constant noise of carpenters hammering together planks of wood to build a platform which resembled a wine-merchant’s counter, and a stage for the chairman and secretaries to sit on. The writer noted that all this was not especially “engaging”. (“Nos parlementaires sont loin de jouir, à l’Alhambra, du confortable auquel ils sont habitués au Palais-Bourbon […] Il faut circuler au milieu des caisses et des paniers, entendre le bruit des marteaux des ouvriers qui, après avoir installée sur la scène du théâtre une tribune qui ressemble à un comptoir de marchand de vins, montent maintenant une estrade pour y placer le bureau du président et ceux des secrétaires. Tout cela n'est pas très engageant.”)

The Alhambra was also the setting for rallies led by local political figures Jacques Chaban-Delmas, disgraced 1930s and wartime mayor Adrien Marquet (who died just after a meeting held at the Alhambra in 1955) and, in 1969, Georges Pompidou, shortly before he was elected president of France.

The view from the stage during a 1950 Confédération Générale de l'Agriculture congress. Source: Sud Ouest.

Chuck Berry on stage at
the Alhambra, February 9th 1966.
Picture courtesy of the photographer,
Christian Perez.

For many in Bordeaux, the fondest memories of the Alhambra are as the place where they saw variety shows put on by the Tichadel company, a touring unit founded by the Bordelais Pierre Tichadel that combined music, dancers and comedy sketches. Above all, the Alhambra became the go-to venue to witness live performances of some of the true greats of the 20th century: during the period when the venue was managed by one Paul Chevenot, the renowned singer Luis Mariano made his first breakthrough performances here. Artists who graced the Alhambra stage in the 1950s alone include Charles Trénet (1951), Louis Armstrong (1952 and 1955), Yves Montand (1953), Lionel Hampton (1956), Count Basie (1957), Georges Brassens (1956), Jacques Brel (1957), Edith Piaf (1958) and Charles Aznavour (1958). The 1960s were bookended by the inevitable Johnny Hallyday (1961), the chanteuse Barbara (whose 1969 set has become a much sought-after recording) and UK band Pink Floyd (1969), who performed in front of 300 people as part of the Sigma arts festival. When the Roger Waters-less band returned to the city in 1994, 40,000 turned out on the Esplanade des Quinconces...

Poster promoting the 1969
appearance of les Pink Floyd
and their "light shaw".
Source: capc-bordeaux.fr

After years under private ownership (most notably that of local businessman Éric Bocké), the Alhambra was acquired by the city in 1970, but within a decade – in spite of renovation work – the venue had become a precarious structure that was prone to flooding and considered to be a fire hazard. In 1978 the “casino d’été” annex was demolished and the main hall was not set to last much longer. It closed permanently in 1984, mayor Chaban-Delmas citing those safety issues as the main factor, although the decision was also triggered by the 1981 completion of the Patinoire, a skating rink in the revamped Mériadeck quarter, which Chaban-Delmas now regarded as the primary venue for A-list artists passing through the city.

In 1987, the building was sold on to property developers. The theatre was demolished although the listed façade was retained by the Bordeaux architects Brochet/Lajus/Pueyo who designed the apartment complex which now stands where the Alhambra once was. 

This France 3 report ran in 1982 shortly ahead of the Alhambra closing for good:

> Find it on the Invisible Bordeaux map: L'Alhambra, rue d'Alzon, Bordeaux

> Ce dossier est également disponible en français!

> Local music authority Philippe Serra shares his memories of the Alhambra in this sister piece.

Further reading:

> Les salles de spectacles bordelaises (Assopourquoipas33.over-blog.com)

> Ainsi sombra l'Alhambra, haut lieu du spectacle (Sud Ouest)

> Parlementaires à Bordeaux - septembre 1914

> La vie culturelle à Bordeaux 1945-1975

It is impossible to rewrite history but we can perpetually revise our understanding and interpretation of what happened in the past. A notable example of this can be found on a plaque in Mérignac that marks the area where Beaudésert internment camp was once located.

Invisible Bordeaux published a full investigation into the WW2 camp back in 2013. Initially set up as a detention centre for “undesirable foreigners” in 1940, it evolved into a camp for political prisoners. It went on to hold other communities such as Jews, Spanish Republicans, members of the Résistance, black market traffickers and prostitutes, along with individuals who refused to comply with the Nazis’ forced labour policy (STO: Service du travail obligatoire). For many who were held there, it was a penultimate stop before being sent to concentration camps or ahead of execution at the nearby Camp de Souge.

Reader Nathan Turner, a former Bordeaux resident, recently got in touch with me about a building that he used to ride past on his bicycle when he lived in the city. By linking through to Google Streetview evidence, it was easy to see that Nathan had a point; the house definitely deserved a visit!

I headed over to the unusual “hôtel particulier”, which is located on a corner at the junction between Rues Cotrel and Jean Soula, in the neighbourhood that lies between Saint-Seurin basilica and the boulevards. Technically it is number 1, Rue Cotrel, the street named after Raphaël Cotrel, the gentleman who owned the surrounding land until it was split into individual plots and sold on.

The eventful month of May 1968 will forever be regarded as a turning point in the recent history of France. The focal point throughout the troubled period was Paris but the unrest quickly spread throughout France. In Bordeaux the agitation culminated on the night of Saturday May 25th with a series of street battles that formed the city’s own “nuit des barricades”.

With the generous help of Sud Ouest journalist Marjorie Michel, who enabled me to view the newspaper’s coverage of that momentous night, I sought to reconstruct events as they unfolded and returned to the city’s hotspots and riot scenes… only to find them much quieter these days!

When, back in the 1960s, Simon & Garfunkel sang the line “Hello lamp post, what'cha knowing?”, little did they realise that come 2016 they might even get a response from the lamp post itself. For that is precisely the system that has been rolled out in Bordeaux for this year’s “Semaine Digitale” festivities, and which will be extended throughout April and into early May.

The system is called, appropriately enough, “Hello Lamp Post” and provides a means of interacting with all kinds of street furniture around the city including trams, monuments and bollards. Getting started is simple: pick an item of street furniture with a serial code on it, send a message in this format “Hello object #code” to 0644606055 (or “Salut” if you prefer communicating in French), and then see where the conversation with the inanimate object takes you. 

Creator Ben Barker in Bordeaux.

The system was developed by the UK agency Pan Studio, and creator Ben Barker was in Bordeaux to introduce local journalists and bloggers to the joys of conversing with street furniture. He explained that “it’s a fun feature that can transform a city into an environment where people can play. The street furniture was already there, the serial numbers too, we haven’t added anything.” But by tapping into those little features, people are able to access a new, smart, playable dimension to the city which didn’t previously exist.

After first being rolled out in Bordeaux twin city Bristol in 2013, Hello Lamp Post has also been deployed in cities like Austin and Singapore. Ben says that “it’s been well-received everywhere, which is particularly rewarding for what is essentially an interactive urban experiment, a large-scale art installation. It is amusing to see how much people open up and confide in the objects. Usage also varies according to the surrounding culture. In Singapore, where people seem especially attached to inanimate objects, people often end up having recurring conversations with street furniture, talking to the same lamp post every day!”

Trying out the system I had a couple of short conversations with lamp posts and responded to questions about my useless talents, my ideal pet and what Bordeaux people do better than anyone else. The system magically cross-referenced with other people’s responses and weaved it all into an exchange. It was amusing although it did also soon feel like I was glued to my telephone screen rather than taking in the surrounding view and admiring the lamp-posts themselves.

But there is definitely a neat idea in there. Wouldn’t it be great if street furniture really did have tales to tell about the things that happened in the vicinity, or could share stories passed on by people who have experienced something unusual nearby, whether trivial or life-defining? That sort of interaction with our environment could actually be the future of visiting cities and recording the history of our urban environments, as experienced by the people themselves, whether they live there or are just passing through. Hello Lamp Post might just be a first step in that direction.

Video introduction to the concept:

Click here if video doesn't display properly on your device.

> Further information: www.hellolamppost.co.uk

This unusual bronze statue can be found on the raised terrace that runs along the southern flank of the Jardin Public in central Bordeaux. It depicts the artist Carle Vernet, but who was Vernet and what was his connection with the city?

Carle Vernet was born Antoine Charles Horace Vernet on August 14th 1758 in Bordeaux. He was the son of the renowned painter Joseph Vernet (1714-1789) who had been commissioned by King Louis XV to deliver a series of pictures of France's seaports (*see footnote). This resulted in a number of extended stays in coastal cities around the country. And so it was that the Vernet clan momentarily set up shop in Bordeaux, residing for two years at what is now number 22, Cours du Chapeau-Rouge.

A few months ago I published an item featuring photographs of old postcards manually overlaid on the same environments today. I had a lot of fun producing those shots, and one of the pictures even came top in a competition to celebrate the Jetée Thiers pier in Arcachon.

After picking up another batch of postcards at a collectors' fair, I headed out once again with my camera in one hand and a new set of old pictures in the other. Here are the end-products!

Perched high above the city, in the hilly right-bank suburb of Floirac, is the Observatory of Bordeaux, one of the most significant scientific sites in the area, and one for which a new chapter will open later in 2016.

The observatory was founded in 1878 by the Bordeaux-born astronomer Georges Rayet (whose name was to be given to his joint discovery, so-called Wolf-Rayet stars) and has, over the years, become a renowned establishment initially excelling in the fields of celestial mechanics (calculation of the motion and trajectory of celestial objects) and astrometry (measurement of the positions and movements of celestial objects). From the 1970s onwards, the observatory’s focus extended to include studies in radio waves and research into the Earth’s atmosphere.

When I recently compiled the names of independent hairdressing salons in and around Bordeaux, I asked readers to vote for the salon which would welcome me for my next hairdressing appointment.  

Le Haillan’s Infini’tif cruised to victory, and so that is where I headed, packaging myself as the prize in my own competition. Things couldn’t have worked out more sweetly: Infini’tif offers a particularly warm welcome in a pleasant setting (including massage chairs), and the team are clearly highly-skilled craftspeople. Before my hair wax had even begun to set, I took some time out with the salon’s director, the most excellent Jérôme, and put a few questions to him.

Once again, Invisible Bordeaux has made its way to Le Bouscat. This time we are headed for the leafy Parc de la Chêneraie to explore its centrepiece, a mysterious 18th-century mansion known as the Castel d’Andorte.

For many centuries the surrounding area had comprised of farmland and vineyards and regularly changed hands: it was the property of the chapitre of Bordeaux’s Saint-Seurin basilica for a number of years, then the legal counsel Arnaud de Ferron in the 16th century, followed by Étienne Duval, a knight who was also the Seigneur of Castets-en-Dorthe. In the 18th century Duval sold the land onto one Abbé (abbot) Laborde, a dean within the Saint-Seurin chapter.

One of Invisible Bordeaux's favourite places in the city is the remarkable Parc Floral, which was the subject of a full feature many months ago (now also available in French).

I recently returned there with three young men, Minister FIFA, Lukesterray and Mystery Hoodie Boy, and together we toured the park's twin city gardens. Please make sure your passport is handy and follow us as we magically travel to Peru, Canada, Morocco, Israel, Spain, Germany and elsewhere!

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

Don't ask me why but I've always been strangely fascinated by the names of independent hairdressers in France. The puns are sometimes clever, often painful and invariably memorable. And what is it about the overuse of apostrophes? 

I thought it might be interesting to compile the best names spotted in and around Bordeaux, so here is the evidence as gathered with the help of readers who submitted suggestions and photos via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Now, if you find yourself cringeing as you scroll down the page, do remember that names like these have to be cherished as one day we may wake up and notice that all hairdressing salons have magically become franchise branches of Frank Provost, Jean-Louis David and Tchip. So let's enjoy them while they last..

All the subjects covered by the website over the past twelve months have once again been a delight to compile and research. But here are five subjects which proved particularly interesting when peeling the layers away. Click on the titles or associated pictures to read the items!

Again, the time has come to finish off the calendar year with a couple of items that look back on some of the features that ran on Invisible Bordeaux over the past twelve months. This first set compiles the five most-read articles. Click on the titles or associated pictures to read the full items!

In this, the latest of an occasional series of guest posts, fellow Brit and Bordeaux Expats midfield lynchpin Chris Tighe gets under the skin of the Saint-Michel district and some of its street names.

The Saint-Michel neighbourhood is on the verge of a triumphant rebirth, the next in the long list of rejuvenation programs in Bordeaux's city centre. The Saint-Michel renovation project was initiated in 2007 and the ambitious programme is finally starting to see the light of day. What does it all involve?

According to the Préfet de la région d'Aquitaine's direction régionale de l'environnement de l'aménagement et du logement (DREAL), the plan aims to:

During the conference I gave a few months ago at the Musée d’Aquitaine, I touched upon the story of Toussaint-Yves Catros, the “cultivateur de pépinières” (tree nursery agriculturist) whose legacy is still very much present today. Catros has already been given a full feature on the blog but, in short, he played a pivotal role in planting the pine trees that secure the Atlantic coast sand dunes, initiated the culture of artichokes in Macau and founded the seed production and distribution company Catros-Gérand which still today operates out of a facility in Carbon-Blanc.

In the audience that day was the most excellent Yves Baillot d’Estivaux (local authority on all things automobile-related), who put me in touch with Mesdames Elisabeth Desplats and Edith Moreau, two sisters who also happen to be descendants of Catros (their family tree can be traced back to Anne-Jeanne, the sister of Toussaint-Yves, the latter remained a life-long bachelor). They welcomed me to their homes in Carbon-Blanc and allowed me to peruse files and files of archive documents, with a view to reconstructing the history of the arboretum created by Catros in Le Haillan.

Let’s travel back to 1797. In the slipstream of the French Revolution, this former director of the royal tree nurseries has to explore new career opportunities! He founds his own establishment near Place Saint-Martial in Bordeaux and purchases 262 acres (106 hectares) of marshland in Le Haillan, known as Domaine de Nouville, in order to create his own arboretum. He dreams up a whole network of ditches for irrigation purposes and sets to work on cultivating 40 to 50 acres of the land. Drawing on ties with numerous learned societies, he obtains various rare species which he successfully acclimatizes.

The location of the arboretum towards the south of Le Haillan. Through extensive research, Xavier Daurel (who we will meet further down the page) managed to reconstruct the lay-out as it was at the time of Catros. I have attempted to approximately reproduce his work above, layering it onto Google Earth data. Bamboo can still be found today in the section labelled "bamboo"!

Within a few years the land has changed beyond recognition. The heathland and nettles have been replaced by tree varieties from Virginia, Canada and Carolina, countless types of magnolia, hortensia, rhododendrons, pine trees, you name it… The place is regarded as a veritable Garden of Eden by observers including the Natural History professor J.-F. Laterrade when reporting on a 1818 tour of the site, as published in the “Bulletin polymathique du Museum d’instruction publique de Bordeaux”.

He refers to “the Pistacia lentiscus and Clematis flammula whose perfume combines with those of so many other exotic species, while the flowers and buds of magnificent species such as magnolia blossom overhead; it’s like being in an enchanted forest or, at the very least, feels like being in another hemisphere, if the enjoyable concert performed by our indigenous birds didn’t shatter that illusion whilst simultaneously embellishing it”. And the sense of exoticism doesn’t stop there: “Crossing a small Chinese bridge, we entered part of the land given over to beekeeping. It was impossible to tire of admiring so much beauty, so many different landscapes and so many species in a single place, and such beautiful culture on land which was once so ungrateful.” 

The arboretum today (colour scheme: Autumn), including a magnificent Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas fir, Oregon pine or Douglas spruce).

Bamboo, which was first introduced into Europe in the early years of the 19th century, continues to develop in the section were it grew some 200 years ago!

Catros dies in 1836 and the property is handed down to his nephew Charles, who in turn passes away in 1844 in Chile where he has developed a successful trade selling trees cultivated in Le Haillan. His widow goes on to sell the domain to one Dr Levieux but, in 1865, the latter’s heirs cut down all the more valuable trees to sell the timber, leaving only those which had little commercial interest. Now in tatters, the domain is acquired in 1872 by a Monsieur Jaille, a tree-lover and member of the Société Dendrologique de France. He seeks not only to restore and preserve the little that remained of Catros’s work, but to add to it by introducing new species. Greenhouses are built to cultivate the more fragile species and to shelter plants in need of protection.

By 1910 things have come full circle, as described by H. Bacon de Lavergne and R. Hicket in a piece published by the Bulletin de la Société de Dendrologie, detailing the species they’d viewed on site and highlighting the renewed botanical value of the place. It isn’t to last. The land repeatedly changes hands and the Second World War proves to be another watershed moment for the arboretum: trees are culled and the area is bombed by the Allies in June 1944 (their target being the Germans who occupied the neigbouring airport). This time recovery will prove especially difficult.

Part of the Herakles perimeter fence.

In 1963, the property becomes industrial land when taken over by Sud Aviation (subsequently transferred to Thomson-CSF, later trading under the names Sextant then Thales Avionics) and by Société d'Etudes de la Propulsion par Réaction (SEPR, now trading under the ArianeGroup banner). The upkeep of greenery is handed over to a well-informed forester called Mr Dubrana, who later recounts that he stood on a tree stump and had an unobstructed 360° view as vegetation reached no higher than his chest. But over the ensuing years, the land comes back to life. Working in close conjunction with teams from the botanic gardens of Bordeaux, a full inventory is conducted to identify surviving rare species and measures are implemented to safeguard the area (signage and labelling, new ditches were dug, pathways were cleared). Above all, no industrial buildings go up within the perimeter of the old arboretum.

Elisabeth Desplats and Edith Moreau.

Further initiatives to preserve the arboretum take shape in the 1980s, under the leadership of the late Xavier Daurel, one of Catros’s descendants (and the father of Elisabeth and Edith), director of Catros-Gérand and president of the Gironde Société d’Horticulture. He develops links with the Le Haillan town council and representatives of the industry players, to revive awareness of the need to preserve the area. A three-year renewable agreement is signed by SEP, the horticultural society and the Le Haillan mairie, aimed at providing a framework to manage, maintain and access the arboretum. The agreement is not signed by Thomson-CSF but the message is very much received by all parties: the arboretum would be untouched.

And that remains the situation today. The variety of species on site is nothing like as spectacular as might be hoped, given the setbacks over the years: only the most robust and vigorous species have survived, and even then only when they have been able to reseed and regrow without human intervention. However, inventories in recent years have identified 40-or-so notable species on Herakles territory and around 30 Thales-side (where the arboretum went on to form the backdrop for a sports course used by employees).

In the heart of the Thales-side arboretum:
above, a stop on the fitness course and, below, a disused, overgrown football pitch.

It is unclear what the future holds. End 2016 Thales relocated from their Le Haillan facility (where they were latterly tenants) to a new site a few hundred metres away in Mérignac. The destiny of that part of le Domaine Catros is therefore dependent on what becomes of the adjacent site. Come 2019 work was in progress on demolishing the Thales buildings with a new business park set to take its place. Reports suggested not only that the arboretum would remain untouched, but also that the local intended to make it accessible to the general public. To be continued/updated!

> Find it on the Invisible Bordeaux map: Toussaint-Yves Catros's Le Haillan arboretum, rue Toussaint-Catros, Le Haillan. 

> Big thanks to Elisabeth Desplats and Edith Moreau for letting me dig through their family archives, and to Yves Baillot d’Estivaux for putting us in touch! 

> Cet article est également disponible en français !