Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - Wandering in Bordeaux

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to Get Sleepy, where we listen, we relax and we get sleepy. As always, I'm your host, Thomas, and I'm so grateful to have you here. Tonight, Elizabeth will be guiding you through the cobblestone streets and tree-lined squares of the historic city centre of Bordeaux in southern France. This is the first instalment in a two-part tour through this ancient and beautiful city. The tour will continue in our next episode on Wednesday night this week. But they're both able to stand alone too, so don't feel like you need to stay awake and hear this one in full to be able to enjoy the next. And you can always pick up where you left off

Starting point is 00:01:02 tomorrow night. Before we begin, I'd like to say a big thank you to our wonderful friends at Helix Sleep. As one of our most long-term sponsors, I'm always mentioning Helix to anyone asking for mattress recommendations, and I do so with confidence because I've heard from a number of you wonderful listeners that have purchased a Helix mattress, and your feedback is consistently full of positivity and gratitude. So if you want the best sleep possible, you have to check out helix sleep.com slash get sleepy. The Helix lineup includes 14 unique mattresses and their online sleep quiz makes it easy to find the ideal one for you. And Helix knows there's no better way

Starting point is 00:01:54 to test out a new mattress than by sleeping on it in your own home. That's why they offer a 100 night to risk free trial, where you can try out your new Helix mattress. If you decide it's not the best fit, you're welcome to return it for a full refund. Helix is offering up to $200 off all mattress orders and two free pillows for our listeners. Go to helix sleep.com slash get sleepy. That's hlix sleep.com slash get sleepy. That's hlix sleep.com slash get sleepy with helix better sleep starts now. So let's enjoy a moment now to ease into the peace and comfort of bed. I want you to know that whatever you're feeling right now,

Starting point is 00:02:52 you are not alone. Of course, I sincerely hope that you're feeling content, at ease and restful. But if you're not, that's okay. Just remember that this time right here is for you to be true and authentic to yourself. Allow yourself to feel. Allow yourself to reflect if it feels right to do so. And as you go through that process, also allow yourself to release. Release anything that is uncomfortable, letting a gradual lightness We all try our best to be strong and to project our best selves to the world around us. But it's also important to let our guard down once in a while. To acknowledge anything that might be weighing on us, and to release any tension, it could

Starting point is 00:04:27 be causing us to hold. Now is 100% your time, to feel our tears with exactly who you are and how you're feeling. And I want you to know that you can rest and recharge comfortable in the knowledge that you are not alone. So now, as you let go of tension and discomfort, just let your eyes fall closed and picture yourself and a comfortable seat of a gently gliding tram. You're gazing out the window towards people milling along the picturesque riverfront of one of the loveliest cities you've had the good fortune to visit. This is where our story begins. It's a gorgeous day in the city of Bordeaux in southwestern France. You're sitting in a padded scene, riding comfortably on a sleek, modern tram. The tram is gliding alongside a river that sparkles in the sun.

Starting point is 00:06:42 You know that many of your fellow riders are headed to work or school, but you are on your way to something different, a voyage of discovery of swords. You're headed to take a sightseeing tour through the oldest portion of this historic river port town. With curiosity, you allow your gaze to sweep across the vibrant scene outside the window next to you. Your eyes roam over the people, strolling a wide path along the riverbank on your left. Then you turn to contemplate the elegant, all-city buildings to your right.

Starting point is 00:07:40 As you watch, the tram pulls smoothly to a stop. You stand up and move towards the exit. The doors open and you step off onto the pavement. As you do so, you feel that you're turning away from the present As you do so, you feel that you are turning away from the present towards the past. Specifically, you are turning towards the gate to the old city centre and its remnants of the Middle Ages. You are looking towards a break in the stately buildings that line the riverfront. In the gap, set a little farther back, looms a building that reminds you of an unusually

Starting point is 00:08:38 narrow fairy tale castle. Castle. A solid-looking stone edifice rises out topped by several round spires and something like a bell tower that soars above the skyline. A building like this might not be the first thing that comes to mind when modern visitors think of the word gate. But this beautiful structure is in fact a medieval gate house. In the middle of the building isn't opening wide enough for a car to pass through, if that were allowed or a chariot, but people are only allowed through on foot these days. This is Port Coyote. This old gatehouse was once set into heavy walls that ringed the city in the Middle Ages. The walls are long gone, taken down centuries ago to open up the town, but the gatehouse remains. Behind you, another tram stops, discharges a hand for the passengers and then slides off along the tracks. You turn to watch it go, the grand buildings behind you are reflected in its card, streamlined

Starting point is 00:10:30 windows for a moment before blaring as the tram picks up speed. Feeling like you're walking into a bike on the era, you move away from the streetcar stop and towards the castle like gate ready to walk through. This old riverfront city has been continually inhabited newly inhabited since at least the Stone Age. Its located deep in what's now the southwest of France, but it wasn't always part of that country. In the time of ancient Rome, the Romans controlled the town town and it served as a commercial outpost of the Roman Empire. In those times it was known as Bautigula. Later in the Middle Ages, the city was part of an independent region ruled by chukes and duchesses. In the twelfth century, a young duchess named Eleanor of Aquit king and her lands briefly became part of France.

Starting point is 00:12:11 After 15 years though, the royal couple split, Eleanor promptly got remarried this time to the heir to the English throne. This made Bordeaux a possession of the King of England, and so it remained for three centuries before finally becoming French once and for all in the late Middle Ages. This history is on your mind as you step into the momentary shadow of the passage through the gatehouse. Here, in its great archway, seems like you can almost The thick walls block out the sun. The old stone seems to seem coolness from its depth, as impenetrable to the sun's rays as it warns more steth enemy weapons. And then the moment passes, you stab one small out into the bright sun at this time on the

Starting point is 00:13:40 medieval side of the gate. It is here that you ought to meet your guide. All you know about him is his name, John Mark. You look round, blinking slightly, even though you are only in that archway from a moment, you spot a man of indeterminate age, holding a sign with your name handwritten on it, and careful letters. You move towards him and he greets you warmly. Welcome to the middle ages he says, for the hint of a smile, and just struck tell the tale of his city. You learn that the gate house dates to the 1490s. It was built to celebrate a military victory in Italy by the French King. Soon after Bordeaux had finally come under control of the French monarchy. As Jean-Marc weaves the tale, you warm to his enthusiasm for this land and its history. You find yourself listening

Starting point is 00:15:30 as much to the tone and victories, the rise and fall of different factions and powers that be. And through it all remained the city itself, sometimes altered, sometimes damaged, and it was always left standing after the rest fell from power or passed from grace. John Mark asks then if you'd like to go up inside the gate house and you agree. He shows you to a little entrance within the arch and motions for you to enter, telling you it's best enjoyed on your own. You accept his advice and mount the staircase by yourself.

Starting point is 00:16:48 They take you on to the first floor of the building where you enter small museum. Apart from the attendant at the counter who greets you in the slightly hushed tones of a librarian or perhaps a nun who are the only one here. Your footsteps echoed slightly as you walk across the floor to view the few exhibits. You learn about the regional stone quarries and stone working that gave rise to the city's buildings over the centuries described for you with such feeling. Then, turning, you make your way to another set of stabs which will lead you to the top of the tower. You climb slowly, a bit in awe at being within these ancient walls, a reverence made sharper and more poignant by your near and loneliness in this fortress. And you realize that your guide knew what he was doing when he encouraged you to explore this

Starting point is 00:18:26 monument by yourself. You trail your fingers along the wall, you feel like you're snatching a fleeting touch of a long lost past. Yet at the same time, its touch feels so very solidly real that you catch your breath. A great sense of connection to the grand sway of human history floods into you and you breathe in deeply the mildly musty scent of the tower around you. You close your eyes and breathe out again slowly, images of the ages swirling through your mind. And then you begin to climb again, another stab and you've reached the top, a largely bare garret, a simple and unfinished room beneath the roof. Here you can gaze out at the city and the river below.

Starting point is 00:20:07 You look out the window at the waters of the river flowing along, flowing just as they flowed hundreds of years ago when this gatehouse was first film. You wonder what life was like for the guards who once looked upon this same view from this same space so long ago. Below you and slightly off to the side, Bordos' oldest and most famous bridge spans the waters. Called the Pont de Pierre, all the bridge of stone, it was built under the Emperor Napoleon. Up until then, people who wanted to get to the other side of the river had to cross by bone. It's an elegant, all-stone bridge, supported by picturesque arches. It's a far cry from the super-modern suspension bridge that crosses the river on the other

Starting point is 00:21:28 side of town. You admire its beauty and remember hearing it has the same number of arches as there are letters in Napoleon's full name, Napoleon Bonaparte. You count them 1, 2, 3, 4, all the way up to 17. Yes, it's true, you smile to yourself. You contemplate how very lucky you are to be here now witnessing such loveliness and you slowly begin to make your way down again. You breathe in the ever so vaguely, dust-centred air of the old stairway with great appreciation. Then you imagine today light once more, stepping slowly out the door of this charmed structure and back into

Starting point is 00:22:49 the sunshine. You allow its warm rays to bring you you again in the energy of the city that swirls around you. Jean-Marc is there waiting for you. He pours in some moment as if waiting for you to calm all the way back to the present. Then he begins to share more about this piece of history that you just climbed. A niche over the gate house entrance contains a statue of the French king, whose triumph it commemorates, he tells you. His dreamy tone reflects his deep love of this town and its past. You don't pay attention to the king's name, instead, referring to focus on the ways your mark seems to bring him to life through his stories.

Starting point is 00:24:15 There are competing theories about how the port Kyo got its name. Your guide goes on to say. It may have been named for one or more members of a rich, local family, several of whom served as mayors of the city during the Middle Ages. On the other hand, Ka-Yo means a small stone or pebble in the old and near forgotten local dialect, Gascon. You ponder this a moment as your eyes roam again over the castle like gate. The first explanation may well be the correct one you suppose, but you prefer the other. The gate of the pebble, looming over the bridge of stone. The names would certainly be fitting for these monuments, humed from timeless rock.

Starting point is 00:25:34 Shalmark is speaking again, low and soft, yet somehow perfectly audible over the murmur of activity in this bustling town centre. Now he's telling you about the plaza that opens up on this side of the gate and you slowly turn to face it. You see a lovely open area paved with flat interlocking stone tiles. The tiles are of the same warm hue as the gate behind you, and as the beautiful buildings that rise along the plaza, these graceful buildings feature arched doors and windows and they're adorned by picturesque balconies with Italian Balistrains. Bright green, leafy trees cast apple shade over portions of the plaza. A series of gleaming silver discs at a modern touch that strangely doesn't feel the least out of planes. These discs appear to be some kind of art installation clearly added in recent times. You hear a childish laugh bubble up as a wholesome from one of these discs to the next, and the next, and the next.

Starting point is 00:27:35 This is the Place du Palais, Jean-Marc tells you, the Palais Square. the palace square. For centuries the majestic residents of the juke of Aquitaine stood here. The name of that former palace catches your fancy when he mentions it. It was called the Ombria Palace. John Mark says this could translate to the palace of the shaded way, or perhaps just the shaded palace. He says it's believed to have been named for the large trees that want stood nearby. The name seems to drag this once palace out of the murky past and make it real in your imagination. It stood here at one time where you stand now.

Starting point is 00:28:50 The sun shone, bright and hot above it as it shines on you now. While the leaves of the trees cast their cooling shade. You can almost picture a young Eleanor of Aquitaine dressed in a trailing gown, wandering dream in that shade before her wedding. Your guide explains that you'll now be visiting a part of the city that is closest to how it might have been in Eleoness time. The streets and narrower are more winding and they are paved with cobblestones. are more winding and they are paved with cobblestones, some of them would hardly be wide enough to allow a car to pass. The names of the streets too evoke their distant origins. Many are named for the professions that were practiced along them at a time when crafts

Starting point is 00:30:07 people and merchants tended to cluster in their own distrages and passages. Take the charmingly named Street of the Three Candle makers, for example. Another case in point is the Street of the Silversmiths, which Shawmark leads you down now. It is a longer narrow street lined with little storefronts and cafes. You pass a tea house where attempting a Roma of sweet tea and fresh bread warped sound. But for now, you continue on. There will be time for a freshman later. Some of the buildings have big archways with large roll-down doors in them. You assume these must cover car garages or delivery base now, which you can imagine carriages driving through them

Starting point is 00:31:28 longer ago. These doors are painted bright, teal, deep, green, or royal blue, adding a colorful touch to the facades of the stone buildings. And now, you turn off this stream into a narrow passageway to one side. The passage is so slender that you don't even think you could call it a street. It's ground slants on both sides towards its center to drain away rain or other water. This alleyway transports your mind to a time when cars weren't even dreamed of. A time when ordinary people flitted on foot between the residences and shops of the old city.

Starting point is 00:32:38 You drift down the alley, turning and turning again until you're heading for an opening upper hand. Your guide explains that you'll now be visiting a medieval church, named for Saint Peter. You follow him out into a beautiful square. Here, the outdoor tables and chairs of a cafe face the church opposite. The chairs are all lined up neatly to face outwards as they are at so many sidewalk cafes in this part of the world. The seats are arranged only on one side of each table, all looking upon the square, ready for people watching. the square, ready for people watching. And indeed, a number of cafe goers sit there now in front of them.

Starting point is 00:34:06 One man is enjoying an extravagantly unfolded newspaper and a quest on. A curl of steam drifts up from a margum front of him. You slowly walk around the charge admiring its ornate exterior. Colorful stained glass windows catch the late morning sun shining on them. Sean Mark tells you that this church dates back to the later mid-lages, but a sanctuary dedicated to St. Peter was on the side much earlier as long ago as the 6 sixth century. As you come around the side of the church, you notice a shop displaying a colorful jumble of a was in its window, a junk shop you'd call it, and one of the best of its kind by the look of it. You glance at your guide who nods, indicating he'll wait while you have a look around inside. You know that after this, Jean-Marc will steer you to the perfect place for lunch before you say goodbye to one another.

Starting point is 00:35:47 It will not be goodbye for long, however. You'll see you're intriguing guide again another day when you continue your explorations together. But first, the fascinations of the little store away. You step through the doorway into the slight coolness of the shop. There, you pause for your eyes to adjust. The interior is comparatively dim, at least after the bright sunlight that flooded the square behind you. As your vision adapts to the artificial artificial light, your first impression is one of abundance, a profusion of textures, colors and patterns around you. Skunks and penins from popular European football teams mingle with costume jewelry, tarnished silverware, and a pile of brass buttons.

Starting point is 00:37:14 Antique knives and some kind of saber are displayed within a glass case on the wall. And boxes overflow with vintage comic books, yellowed with age. Even the fragrances are varied and plentiful. The dry scent of stationary emerges out of a box of black and white postcards from long ago. A faint hint of ancient tobacco wafts up nearby. Comes from a heap of pipes that vife a space with shaving brushes and tiny bottles in a minute chair alcove. A dignified, rather musty smell hangs around a still shiny, far coat, which is thick and soft underneath your fingers as you brush them against it.

Starting point is 00:38:36 And you catch a trace of lavender as you lean in to examine an intricately embroidered sashay pillow. The pillow is small and decorated with curly cues and minuscule flowers of lilac thread. You allow your hands to drift into the box of postcards, and you separate them gently, one by one, marvelling at the head of the final paper they're printed on. You stop at an image of this very square. St. Peter's Church stands solidly in its middle portrayed in black and white. Time has caused the black ink to fade into brown and the white of the heavy paper to turn yellow and the white of the heavy paper to turn yellow and then beige. It occurs to you that these formerly opposite colours are growing closer with age. After many years, both are now approaching a comfortable spectrum of earthy tones. You look at the year printed in all script in the corner, 1860.

Starting point is 00:40:19 Despite the lack of colour, the square in the image looks much as it does now. The main difference is that the people, traipsing across it, sport long scars and top hats. Smoke, curls above the heads of the patrons at the cafe tables, the heads of the patrons at the cafe tables that look quite like those you observe outside. You raise your head feeling far away as you so calm all the sensations of this This papulist spawn. You let the murmur of voices and the swish of customers in and out of the narrow doorway wash over you. The various aromas, mingle and flow in and out of your consciousness. It can almost feel the promise of discovery and awaiting treasures that surrounds you. You breathe easily, gently as you tune into your senses. You let in every element of your experience, welcoming it, cherishing it. You treasure this place and this time, your guide and this shop. A living,

Starting point is 00:42:16 breathing people surrounding you and those who came before. the stories, the past and the future, but above all the warm and welcome present right here in Bordeaux. Buddha. ... I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. you you ... ... ... ... I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing.

Starting point is 00:45:50 I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. I'm going to do a little bit of the same thing. ... I'm going to do a little bit of the work. I'm going to do a little bit of the work. I'm going to do a little bit of the work.

Starting point is 00:46:26 I'm going to do a little bit of the work. I'm going to do a little bit of the work. I'm going to do a little bit of the work. I'm going to do a little bit of the work. I'm going to do a little bit of the work. I'm going to do a little bit of the work. I'm going to do a little bit of the work. I'm going to do a little bit of the work.

Starting point is 00:46:42 I'm going to do a little bit of the work. I'm going to do a little bit of the work. I'm going to do a little bit of the work. you ... ... you you you

Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - Wandering in Bordeaux

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