Bordeaux: the water mirror, the Cité du Vin and châteaux among the vines

The eighteenth-century Place de la Bourse opens onto the Garonne with an elegant façade of classical palaces. In front is the Miroir d'Eau, the world's largest reflecting pool: a thin sheet of water on granite that mirrors the buildings and, every so often, turns into mist.

It's the most photographed spot in Bordeaux, and the most fun too. Children and adults run barefoot across the water, and at sunset and at night the reflection of the illuminated palaces is spectacular.

The quays along the Garonne have been turned into a promenade several kilometres long, with gardens, cycle paths and terraces. Walking to the Pont de Pierre, built on Napoleon's orders, is one of the city's best strolls.

Bordeaux is known as the «Port of the Moon» because of the crescent-shaped bend the river makes by the centre, and its historic ensemble is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Pale stone streets, wide squares and uniform façades give it a rare elegance.

The Gothic Saint-André Cathedral stands beside the Pey-Berland Tower, from which you see the whole city after a few hundred steps. The Grand Théâtre, with monumental columns, and the Grosse Cloche, an old medieval gate with an enormous bell, are other must-sees.

Rue Sainte-Catherine is one of the longest pedestrian shopping streets in Europe. Around it, the Saint-Pierre and Saint-Michel districts have squares with terraces, markets and lively bars.

The Cité du Vin, opened in 2016, is a museum dedicated to wine worldwide, in a curved, shining building that recalls a decanter or wine swirling in a glass. The visit is interactive, with aromas, stories and wine cultures from several continents.

At the top, the ticket includes a glass of wine on the viewpoint, overlooking the river and the city. It's a very pleasant way to end the visit and start the conversation about what to taste next.

Between the centre and the Cité du Vin lies the Chartrons, the old wine merchants' quarter, with warehouses converted into antique shops, cafés and wine shops. On Sunday mornings there's a market by the river.

Around Bordeaux there are dozens of wine appellations and thousands of châteaux, as wine estates are called here, many with buildings that look like palaces. The two great banks are the left, with the Médoc and its Cabernet Sauvignon reds, and the right, with Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, dominated by Merlot.

Saint-Émilion, about 40 minutes away, is a medieval village and UNESCO World Heritage Site, with steep stone streets, cellars dug into the rock and a monolithic church carved inside a hill. It's probably the most beautiful trip from Bordeaux.

In the Médoc, the château road passes estates with legendary names. To visit and taste calmly without having to drive afterwards, a private tour with a driver is by far the best option. And spare a thought for Sauternes, the region's sweet wine.

Bordeaux's sweet is the canelé, a small fluted cake caramelised outside and soft inside, with rum and vanilla. Try them warm at a traditional pastry shop and understand why locals eat them at any hour.

Oysters from the Arcachon Bay, an hour away, arrive fresh at the markets and restaurants, and the Marché des Capucins is the ideal place to eat them at the counter with a glass of dry white. Entrecôte à la bordelaise, with a red wine and shallot sauce, is the classic meat dish.

If you have time, Arcachon and the Dune du Pilat, Europe's tallest sand dune at over a hundred metres high, are about an hour away. Climbing the dune at sunset, with the ocean on one side and the forest on the other, is unforgettable.