Reader's Digest

July• 2018 | 109

street I turn towards the lea

market around the Basilica

of St Michel where standard

French gives way to West Afri-

candialectsandArabic.

This is no longer the pol-

ishedandshinycityofthe

tourist brochures but a typical

lively and colourful southern

French city. Men in djellabas

and women in high heels share

thefootpaths.ButIseeearly

signs of gentriication. Young

professionals are beginning

to make their mark here as I saw

inChartrons.Outsideacornercafé

children play on a small playground

as their young parents enjoy their

lattessomebentovertheirlaptops.

But I am pleased to see that the

Marché des Capucins food market

still offers its splendid mix of North

African herbs tropical fruits and

French specialties and that French

Arabic and African dealers still

peddle everything from second-hand

shoes to antiques in the St Michel lea

market. As I watch two women hag-

gling with an old man over some sec-

ond-hand clothes it strikes me that

this scene could well disappear from

Bordeaux as gentriication intensiies

and real estate prices rise.

That would be a tremendous loss

forthemandforthecity.I’lljusthave

to come back in ten years to check.

heroundshopintheheartoftheCitéduVin

displays wines from around the world

PHOTO: PAUL ROBERT

HITTING THE BOTTLE

The world’s most expensive vodka bottle was found empty

on a Danish construction site after thieves failed to realise

it was the diamond-encrusted container – not its contents

• that was worth nearly $2 million. The bottle of Russo-
  Baltique decorated with three kilograms of gold three
  kilograms of silver and a diamond-encrusted cap was stolen
  from a bar in Copenhagen. The bottle had been a loan from
  a Russian businessman to bar owner Brian Ingberg who has
  1200 diferent vodkabottles in his venue.DAILY MAIL