Bordeaux, briefly the capital of France during World War I, is today the capital of the Aquitaine region, with a city population of approximately 250,000 inhabitants, rising to 1.1 million in the wider Bordeaux metropolitan area. The city is situated to the south-west of the country, on the Garonne river, which leads out to the coast and the Bay of Biscay. The curvature of the river lends the city the name “Port of the Moon”. Bordeaux has long been a centre for trade and at the end of the 18th Century was France’s main port and acted as the hub between French colonies and the rest of Europe. Increased trade led to the city going through an intense period of construction and development.

The city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, linked to its importance as a port and wine region but in particular for the examples of classical and neo-classical architecture from the 18th Century onward, with the Grand Theatre of Bordeaux a good example. Although the history is important,