If you want antiques, concentrate your search around rue Bouffard, rue des Remparts, and rue Notre-Dame, where you'll find a market area known as Village Notre-Dame (tel. 05-56-52-66-13 or 05-56-79-01-95), housing all sorts of antiques shops. Another destination is the neighborhood around Eglise St-Michel, particularly the passage St-Michel, a narrow alleyway a few steps from the church.
For fashion, go to the couture quarter around place des Grands Hommes as well as the cours Georges-Clemenceau, with its many upscale, trendy, and classic emporiums. For the greatest concentration of shops, head to the rue Ste-Catherine, the longest pedestrian street in France. It has at least 100 boutiques, from the most luxurious to the cheapest. Better-known choices include the ready-to-wear boutique of the hip Bordeaux designer Dourthe Jacqueline, 18 rue Lafaurie-de-Monbadon (tel. 05-56-52-35-78), for creative, not-very-expensive designs. More elegant and esoteric, and definitely worth a look, is La Soierie (Chantal Olivier), 54 cours Georges-Clemenceau (tel. 05-56-51-23-75), which carries a complete line of women's inner and outer garments made mostly of fabric from the silk mills of Lyon.
Despite a fire in 2003 that destroyed some artwork, Galerie Condillac, 24 rue Condillac (tel. 05-56-79-04-31), is one of the classier art houses that specializes in mostly local artists who paint with strong, vibrant colors. For a sugar rush, head over to Cadiot Badie, 26 allées de Tourny (tel. 05-56-44-24-22), where the specialty for many decades has been sinfully flavorful chocolates, chocolate truffles, and pralines.
Buying Wine in Bordeaux -- If you've come to Bordeaux to buy wine, try to choose one that carries personal significance because you've visited the vineyard, or consult the experts at the wine shops. We recommend La Vinothèque, 8 cours du 30-Juillet (tel. 05-56-52-32-05; www.la-vinotheque.com), and Badie, 62 allées de Tourny (tel. 05-56-52-23-72). The best red bordeaux wines come from small houses such as Château Lesparre, Beychac-et-Caillau, 39km (24 miles) north of Bordeaux (tel. 05-57-24-51-23); Château Bel Air, Naujan-et-Postiac, 40km (25 miles) east of Bordeaux (tel. 05-57-74-62-01); and Château les Bouzigues, Saintes Gemmes, 76km (47 miles) south of Bordeaux (tel. 05-56-61-80-77).
