Bordeaux is so beautiful and accessible that it was named a World Heritage Site as "an inhabited historic city, an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble, created in the age of the Enlightenment, whose values continued up to the first half of the 20th century, with more protected buildings than any other French city except Paris."

What that meant to me is that I was walking through a vibrant modern city that still uses one of the oldest urban planning designs still in existence, at least in Europe. One site explains, "In the 18th century Bordeaux was a medieval town with a tangle of filthy narrow lanes surrounded by swamp – the current city plan is largely the vision of three representatives of Louis XV who oversaw the city’s first great transformation... a well-planned city of wide boulevards, harmonious streets, magnificent buildings, gardens and busy quays. Despite local opposition they got their way, razing parts of the city to the ground to create tree-lined promenades, flanked by elegant buildings, and the majority of the city’s most emblematic buildings date back to this time. All of which makes Bordeaux a wonderful city to walk around, taking in the beauty of its architecture, from the grand buildings to the single-storey workers’ homes, its elegant squares and lovely parks."

Here's my final dump of France photos before hiking the camino - I hope it conveys just how much I loved Bordeaux and why I would love to return for a month instead of a night.