Napoleon's gift
Louvre pictures dispersed in 1801 founded the collection.
Michel BUZE — CC BY-SA 3.0 · GFreihalter — CC BY-SA 3.0 · GFreihalter — CC BY-SA 3.0 · GFreihalter — CC BY-SA 3.0
Bordeaux's Fine Arts museum is among France's oldest provincial museums — founded by Napoleon in 1801 when the Louvre's surplus treasures were shared among the great cities — and lives in two quiet wings embracing the garden of the city hall, Bordeaux's own Palais Rohan. The collection is a concentrated stroll through five centuries: Titian, Van Dyck and Rubens among the Italians and Flemish; Delacroix, of whom Bordeaux keeps a major work; through to Matisse, Picasso and Renoir — plus the strange dreams of Bordeaux's own Symbolist, Odilon Redon. A museum without crowds or queues, sized for one comfortable hour — the kind that reminds you why France's provincial museums were a stroke of genius.
Louvre pictures dispersed in 1801 founded the collection.
The Symbolist's strange dreams from the city's own son.
Titian to Picasso without queues or crush.
20 Cours d'Albret, 33000 Bordeaux
Fort du Hâ TowersTwo round stone towers are all that remains of the **Château du Hâ**, the fortre2 minutes walk3.7
Museum of Decorative Arts and DesignBordeaux's Decorative Arts Museum (known as the madd) occupies a noble eighteent2 minutes walk4.3
Bordeaux Cathedral (Saint-André)Bordeaux's cathedral witnessed two marriages that changed Europe: here Eleanor o3 minutes walk4.7
Pey-Berland TowerThe Pey-Berland is Bordeaux cathedral's bell tower — standing alone metres away 4 minutes walk4.6
Porte DijeauxAn elegant stone arch standing at the edge of **Place Gambetta** in central Bord5 minutes walk4.3That is precisely its role: Bordeaux is façades and quays, and when rain falls or heat presses you need your beautiful indoor hour — found here, alongside the decorative arts museum and the submarine base. A reserve treasure for the odd day out.
Delacroix's Lion Hunt — colour and violence in a big canvas cities fought to hold — and the Redon dreams. The Dutch-Flemish room surprises with its quality.
The city-hall garden lies between it and the cathedral — cross it from one to the other — with the main shopping street five minutes off. It sits at the heart of everything, largely unnoticed.