City Info
France | Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department. Its inhabitants are called Bordelais. The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, with a population of 1,200,000 inhabitants, is the fifth largest metropolitan area in France. The city is among the world's major wine industry centres. Bordeaux wine draws its name from the famous wine that has been produced in the region since the 8th century. The historic part of the city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble" of the 18th century.

Between 30,000 and 200,000 years ago the area of Bordeaux was inhabited by the Neanderthal Man, whose remains have been found at a famous cave known as Pair-non-Pair, near Bourg sur Gironde, just north of Bordeaux. In historical times, around 300 BC it was the settlement of a Celtic tribe, the Bituriges Vivisci, who named the town Burdigala, probably of Aquitainian origin. The city fell under Roman rule around 60 BC, its importance lying in the commerce of Tin and Lead towards Rome. In the late sixth century, the city reemerged as the seat of a county and an archdiocese within the Merovingian kingdom of the Franks. From the 12th to the 15th century, Bordeaux regained importance as part of the English realm, following the marriage of Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine with the French-speaking Count Henri Plantagenet, born in Le Mans, who became, within months of their wedding, King Henry II of England. The 18th century was the golden age of Bordeaux. Many downtown buildings (about 5,000), including those on the quays, are from this period. Victor Hugo found the town so beautiful he once said: "take Versailles, add Antwerp, and you have Bordeaux". Baron Haussmann, a long-time prefect of Bordeaux, used Bordeaux's 18th century big-scale rebuilding as a model when he was asked by Emperor Napoleon III to transform a then still quasi-medieval Paris into a "modern" capital that would make France proud.

Bordeaux has about 117,000 hectares of vineyards, 57 appellations, 9,000 wine-producing châteaux, 13,000 grape growers, 400 traders and sales of 14.5 billion euros annually. With an annual production of over 700 million bottles, Bordeaux produces large quantities of everyday wine as well as some of the most expensive wines in the world. Included among the latter are the area's five 'premier cru' (first growth) red wines (four from Médoc and one, Chateau Haut-Brion, from Graves), established by the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. Both red and white wines are made in Bordeaux. Red wines are generally made from a blend of grapes, and may be made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and, less commonly in recent years, Carmenere. White Bordeaux is made from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle.

In 2009 the "Road of the lasers", a major project of regional planning for the optical and lasers industries, will be born. Therefore, the area of Bordeaux will shelter the most important concentration of optical and laser experts in Europe. 20 000 people work for the aeronautic industry in Bordeaux. There is also much tourism in the great city of Bordeaux centered around the city's wine making. The port lies on the Atlantic Ocean and the Gironde estuary. Almost 9 million tons of goods arrive and leave each year. The Port is a nice area to sit and relax and is a good place to tour if ever visiting.

As you can see there is a wide variety of industries where you could gain experience through an internship in Bordeaux.