While reading a few lines from a Sudouest article, I wanted to share some photos of this famous Bordeaux "of yesteryear". Starting with the QUAYS OF BORDEAUX you love so much. First chapter of a Bordeaux none of us really knew...
The quays: was it really better before?
No doubt about it, as these photos suggest, walks along the quays did not have the same tone, the same atmosphere as today.
In the 40s and 50s, cranes and wagons invaded the quays. Impossible to walk around like today. The quays are probably a strong symbol of the city's transformation, a "sleeping" city that wanted to wake up.
This quay redevelopment was necessary to "give back" the quays to the locals.
In the 20s and 30s, gates separated the port's commercial activities from the rest of the city. In the 40s and 50s, commercial activity fully used the open quay access on the Garonne for easy, cheap transport. Cargo ships, containers, huge storage hangars... All that lovely mess only got redeveloped in the 80s!
Bordeaux locals still remember when the quays served as a parking lot!
It had its charm, right?
As I keep telling you, Bordeaux is a beautiful city that has undergone many changes over the last few years. A deep shift in its philosophy, its environment and its population.
But that is another story! Or rather the next chapter... You get it!
