Pont de Pierre

The Pont de Pierre is the oldest bridge in Bordeaux, and it spans the Garonne in a line of seventeen arches that has become one of the defining views of the city. It was built between 1819 and 1822, after a long delay. Napoleon I had ordered a bridge across the Garonne in the early nineteenth century to improve the movement of troops toward Spain, but the work was held up by the shortage of money and the fall of the Empire, and it was completed under the restored monarchy. The designers were the engineer Claude Deschamps and the structural expert Jean-Baptiste Basilide Billaudel, and the bridge opened in May 1822. Local tradition says that the seventeen arches were chosen because the name Napoleon Bonaparte has seventeen letters.

Despite its name, the bridge is built mainly of brick, with a facing of stone. It is about 487 metres long, and its piers rest on foundations in the river bed, which was a challenge for the builders because the Garonne here is a tidal river, with a tidal range of about six metres and a strong current, and a soft bed. Until the 1960s it was the only bridge connecting the city centre with the right bank, and it carried all the traffic, which was heavy. Today a modern tramway crosses it, and cars have been limited, so it is more comfortable for walkers and cyclists, with a pedestrian walkway on each side.

The walk across is rewarding. From the left bank, near the Place de la Bourse and the Miroir d'eau, the bridge crosses to the district of La Bastide, a former industrial area that has been regenerated, with parks, gardens and housing. The views from the walkway look up and down the river, with the long curve of the quays and the stone façades of the eighteenth-century city on one side, the spires of the Basilique Saint-Michel and the Cathédrale Saint-André in the distance and, to the north, the modern lifting bridge, the Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas, which opened in 2013. The river is wide and brown with silt, and it carries boats, from river cruisers to cargo vessels. From the right bank, the promenade along the water offers the best view of the whole façade of the historic city, the view that earned Bordeaux a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the port of the moon, so called after the crescent shape of the river.

The bridge is free and open at all times. The best light for photographs is at dusk, when the lamps come on and the buildings are reflected in the river. Plan around half an hour for the crossing, longer if you explore the right bank.

Other places to see include the Musée d'Aquitaine, the Grand Théâtre, the Place de la Bourse, the Cité du Vin, the Capucins market and the Cours de l'Intendance. The bridge suits walkers, cyclists and photographers.