Bordeaux : between heaven and earth

« There she is ! Run, everyone ! She's coming ! She's coming ! A great shudder of expectation was felt from all around and in a clamour of scattered stones and towers, the houses spill down to the river banks. "Line up on the quays ! She has to make a silky curve when she gets here. And the town presses forward, outskirts and all... the entire city is here, like an attentive soul »

This is how the poet Louis Gendreau greeted « Queen Garonne » the river, entering her « bonny city of Bordeaux », as she flowed in carrying ships from far away lands with their goods for the markets, fairs and warehouses.