A New Adventure in France

Since Brexit, the rules as to what country designation we have to show on vehicle number plates when travelling in Europe have changed and you now have to display UK rather than GB on your number plates or on a separate sticker. We have been asked several times what nationality we are as UK seems to be less well recognised and some people have even asked if we are Ukrainian!

We had always planned to spend 4 or 5 weeks in the Lot as we love the area, so made our way back to the river towards the campsites we have booked. For the last 6 years I have been involved with a French adult exchange group based just south of Bordeaux and we alternate each year with visits to the host families in France (Cestas) or the UK (Tunbridge Wells area). The exchange visits have been going for 30 years now, with some of the original members still involved, but had been cancelled for the last two years. We were delighted that the exchange was able to take place again this year, with France being the hosting country, and I decided to join from France, taking the train from Cahors to Bordeaux. My journey proved to be hassle-free compared to most other participants joining from the UK, as everyone travelling by air had their (different) outgoing flights cancelled at some stage and two people weren’t able to get there at all.

The French had a full and interesting programme planned as always, so it’s physically tiring as well as mentally tiring because you’re speaking French the whole time for 5 days. The Sunday is free for time ‘en famille’ and my lovely hosts, Marie-France and François, took me to the old port area of Bordeaux which has been, and is still being, redeveloped over the past few years. In 2016 the Cité du Vin, a museum and exhibition area dedicated to wine and with a very striking architecture was opened and has been a huge success. The old harbour quays and warehouses that link this area to the main city have also been transformed and now include shops, restaurants, offices and apartments.

I’ve been taken to the Cité du Vin previously but this year we visited the adjacent Bassins des Lumières, a former submarine base that has been transformed into an exhibition area, more recently for immersive digital art exhibitions. The history of the submarine pens or U-Boot bunkers at Bordeaux is as interesting as the exhibitions. After occupation by the Germans in 1940 Bordeaux became a strategic base for the Germans with access to the Atlantic Ocean and its location far away from Britain. With shipyards in Brest, Lorient, Saint-Nazareth and La Rochelle at full capacity, construction of the submarine pens at Bordeaux started in September 1941. During the 22 months of its existence the base housed 43 submarines and following each mission the submarines returned to the base for refit. The bunker was abandoned in August 1944 with the liberation of Bordeaux following 2 days later.

They’ve previously shown Gustav Klimt and Impressionist exhibitions and the current exhibition was dedicated to art about Venice. The architecture of the submarine pens is brutalist concrete so outside it’s not very attractive but the internal architecture with the adjoining pens, walkways and water for reflections is an amazing backdrop for the exhibition, together with musical accompaniment, and we were very happy to watch it twice through in different parts of the building, and also a separate exhibition by the Spanish artist Joaquin Sorolla. Photos really don’t do it any justice – the exhibition is on until January 2023 and I would thoroughly recommend it.

Joe arrived on the Sunday evening for the farewell event and to pick me up and we’ll be spending the next couple of weeks relaxing in the Lot.