Apparently, cruise planners know all the events along the route. Because we got to the 

Bordeaux

 Wine Festival for a reason, didn't we?

The action began right at the staircase of our ship. Tickets are sold in this tent. You don't have to pay if you just walk along the promenade among the drinking people, but if you want to take part in that - you have to pay 18 Euros (price in 2012).
For this price, you get a red bag on a strap with a branded glass and a book with 13 coupons for wine tasting at any of the tents of the huge exhibition.

The waterfront is beautifully decorated according to the theme.

You can get this much wine for one coupon from the ticket book.

If you just walk around the exhibition and decide to try the wine, you are welcome to do so! Winemakers are happy.

Some wineries sent their delegations to the exhibition. For example, here we can see the flags of appellation Entre-Deux-Mers, this appellation's wines are only white (as you can see that from the color of the flag). The volume of sales is 12 million bottles a year.

Then you can see the winemakers from the Grave region. The name of the appellation comes from the gravel brought by the 

river Garonne 

that covers the ground in this region (it is located in close proximity to Bordeaux).

These lace caps are worn by Bretonian grandmothers.

Of course, it was noisy and festively here. Concerts, contests, laughter and joy.

Here, near the waterfront of the Garonne, there is an unusual fountain called "

The Water Mirror

".

It is the world's largest water mirror  (3450 m2), it works by the following cycle: 3 minutes - filling up, 15 minutes - mirror effect, 5 minutes - draining, 3 minutes - fog effect. The fountain is located across the Place de la Bourse, water mirror rotates incredible effects: 0.8 inches (2 centimeters) of standing water on the tiles of granite and fog, reaching 6.5 feet (2 meters) in height.
Water is stored in a reservoir with a volume of 800 m3. It is risen to the surface by pumps, then it fills hundreds of tiny canals located under the tile, and finally, extends over the entire surface through the joints between the tiles.
After the time set by a computer ends, the system allows the water to go down into the reservoir where it returns to the original temperature. Then the fog effect works: 900 injectors situated in the middle of each plate generate fog and blocking the mirror effect.
Just take a look!

We left Bordeaux at five o'clock in the morning, some tourists were outside the whole night. They even saw fantastic fireworks above the river...