The Gironde, a record-setting land

• The world's largest wine-growing region possessing a guarantee of origin (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée), covering 116,000 hectares.
• The highest sand dune in Europe at 105 metres: it was classed as a major national site in 1978.
• The vastest forest in Europe (shared with the Landes).
• 2 sites classed as "UNESCO World Heritage Sites": Bordeaux and Saint-Émilion, as well as the basilica of Notre-Dame-de-la-fin-des-Terres at Soulac, as part of the Way of St James (Route of Santiago de Compostela).

• The largest estuary in Europe.
• The largest lake in France: Hourtin-Carcans.

The Gironde, land of literature and philosophy

Montaigne (1553-1592) Montaigne is the man associated with a single book, the "Essais". From 1571, until his death in 1592, he ceaselessly reworked, corrected and enriched it. Elected mayor of Bordeaux in 1581 he advocated tolerance in the midst of the French Wars of Religion.

Montesquieu (1689-1755) Born at La Brède, Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu, published two major works, the "Persian Letters", concerning the relativity of customs and "The Spirit of the Laws" which remains a reference with regard to questions connected to democracy.

Élie Faure (1873-1937) French art historian and essayist, he is the author of a history of art which remains a reference today. In the film "Pierrot le fou", Jean-Luc Godard makes Jean-Paul Belmondo read an excerpt from this book.

François Mauriac (1885-1970) Roman Catholic writer and columnist, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1952. His work is very strongly marked both by the society and landscape of the Bordeaux region. Militant journalist and polemicist, he was amongst the first to defend decolonisation in his articles in L'Express from the 1950s onwards.

Jean Anouilh (1910-1987) Writer, he is the author of many works for theatre including "Antigone", inspired by the play by Sophocles. He was also a theatrical director.

Jean Cayrol (1911-2005). Poet, novelist and publisher, he was deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp after his engagement in the French Resistance. This experience gave rise to Poèmes de la nuit et du brouillard ("Poems of Night and Fog"). He was the scriptwriter of the film "Night and Fog", which has made a great impact on the generations since 1955.

Jacques Elul (1912-1994) born at Bordeaux, professor at the Bordeaux University and at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Bordeaux. Sociologist, theologian, jurist, historian, he is considered to be one of the initiators of political ecology. Author of numerous works, one of his master works is "The Technological System", which is an inquiry into the place occupied by technology in our contemporary societies.

The Gironde, land of images and show business

Odilon Redon (1840-1916) Painter, his writings are essential for an understanding of that illustrious period which extends from the Salon des refusés of 1863 to the triumph of Cézanne and the explosion of Fauvism.

Eugène Atget (1857-1927) Photographer, his work often includes subjects considered to be minor such as the petty street trades of Paris, whose gradual disappearance he observed. At the end of his life, he made photographs of parks and shop windows with reflections, which won him renown among the Surrealists.

Max Linder (1883-1925) was a film director and actor whose acting and inventions pioneered film comedy and influenced the creation of Charlie Chaplin's character "The Tramp".

André Lhôte (1885-1962) Painter, born at Bordeaux in 1885, student at the École des Beaux Arts, André Lhote joined the Cubist movement in 1912, and therefore directly participated in its emergence, alongside the great masters Braque and Picasso. Towards the end of his life he also devoted his talents to decoration, in particular with his mural paintings at the Bordeaux faculty of Medicine in 1957.

René Clément (1813-1996) After meeting Jacques Tati in 1934, René Clément devoted himself to filmmaking, the "seventh art". With Tati he directed hidden camera films before becoming a cameraman for the army cinematography department. He directed the film "Forbidden Games" (Jeux Interdits) in 1951, which was an enormous success, as well as "Is Paris Burning?"  in1966.

Jean Eustache (1938-1981). Director of numerous films, he was part of the New Wave (Nouvelle Vague) of French cinema. One of his most famous films is "The Mother and the Whore" which appeared in 1973.

The Gironde, land of science

Elisée Reclus (1830-1905) Renowned traveller, author of "La Nouvelle Géographie Universelle" in 19 volumes, he is one of the greatest French geographers and is considered to be the founder of French political geography. Moreover, as an anarchist he was sentenced to perpetual banishment from France after the Paris Commune, and was later appointed chair of comparative geography at the University of Brussels.

Georges Rayet (1839-1906), Astronomer he was a corresponding member of the Institute (1892), Professor of Astronomy at the Faculté des Sciences of Bordeaux (1876) and Director of the Bordeaux Observatory at Floirac (1892). He was one of the pioneers of astrophysics (the study of the physical composition of stars), which differs from classical astronomy (the study of the positions of stars and celestial mechanics).

Alfred Kastler (1902-1984). Although not originally from Bordeaux, this laureate of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1966, taught at the Lycée Camille Jullian secondary school in Bordeaux from 1929 to 1931, before becoming an assistant lecturer and then a professor at the University of Bordeaux, from 1931 to 1936 and from 1938 to 1941. He defended his doctoral thesis in science in 1936 at Bordeaux, on the fluorescence of mercury vapour.

The Gironde, land of sport

Jules Ladoumègue (1906-1973) (known as "Julot" in France) was a French middle-distance runner, winner of seven world records between 1930 and 1931. Numerous sports stadiums have been named after him. He was 1,500 m Olympic vice-champion in 1928.

The Gironde, land of music

Jacques Thibaud (1880-1953) Violinist, a great performer of Mozart's music, he was a member, along with the cellist Pablo Casals and the pianist Alfred Cortot, of a chamber music piano trio of international renown. The Conservatoire of Bordeaux is named after him.

Marcel Merkes (1920- 2007) Along with Paulette Merval, he was a renowned operetta singer. This couple are considered to be the French stars of operetta in the period from 1947 to 1984.

The Gironde, land of gastronomy

While the wines of Bordeaux are internationally famous, Bordeaux-style lampreys, Canelés pastry delicacies, Pauillac lamb, "grenier médocain" pork andouillettes, Arcachon Bay oysters and gratton de Lormont terrine, not to mention Blayais asparagus, are all part of the local culinary and gastronomic heritage.