We got up fairly early so as to try to visit as much as we could. Having walked up into the pedestrian Sainte Catherine street, we stopped at Place de Saint Projet, whose name is said to evoke the bishop Praiectus, a martyr of 674. A cross dating back to 1392 could still be admired, as well as a fountain which substituted the old water wells in 1738.
From there we walked towards the Cathedral of Saint André located in the Place de Pey Berland, whose tower we could see as we walked down Rue du Loup. Because the Cathedral wouldn't open but by eleven we decided to just photograph its exterior. Of the original Romanesque edifice very little remains. Most of the construction is said to be from the 14th and 15th centuries with the Royal Gate dating back to the 13th century.
On one of its sides stood the Hôtel de Ville occupying the former Palais Rohan built in 1772-1784 as the residence of the Archbishop.
From the Hôtel de Ville we continued walking in the direction of the former Fort du Hâ built following the conquest of Bordeaux by Charles VII in 1453. The initial edifice is said to have been demolished in 1865 with the exception of two towers which have been incorporated in the rather exquisite and unique ensemble of l'école Nationale de la Magistrature and le Tribunal de Grande Instance.
(To be continued)
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