Portes et Portails (Part 1)

Doors and Gates (Portes et Portails) are important to the French aesthetic and domestic arrangements. They are particularly important in a way that can be a little jarring from an American perspective. Every house in Bordeaux with a front yard or garden is surrounded by a high fence or a concrete wall with a gate. To walk through a French suburb is to feel you have stepped into the land of Tetris: all the properties are of different shapes and sizes but fitted together neatly and compactly, without a stray inch of free space.

Sometimes, the wall and gate are in the classically French wrought-iron style, and sometimes in a more modern industrial or zen style. But it is always there. And for the most part, we are not talking about low walls or picket fences. A Frenchman’s home is his castle - along the lines of “draw up the draw bridge” and plug up all the holes way. Protecting the privacy of one's home is paramount. There is no peeking over the fence of your neighbor's house. This might mean a homeowner doesn’t need to stress as much about mowing the grass for fear of what the neighbors will say, but for this American used to “wide open spaces” and the diversion of judging my neighbors' front gardens during a morning walk - it feels a little miserly.

Above, a representative sample of the walls and gates of a Bordeaux neighborhood. Note particularly the pictures in the middle row showing the extra steps homeowners have taken to ensure privacy. The only other place I had seen these kinds of enhanced privacy guards was at Kensington palace! Also -The last picture at the very bottom shows a free standing gate without a wall - because reasons(?).

There are many ways to approach French culture and French history: you could focus on ideas like solidarité (the foundation of the modern French social system) or the universal and unifying reverence for food and the rituals around sharing it (always at a table, never on the go), or the roots and manifestations of french exceptionalism (the belief that France occupies a unique position in the world and carries a “mission civilisatrice”). But, I think that paying attention to the architecture, specifically the doors, doorways, walls, and gates, can tell us something as well.

So, for the last few weeks, I have been paying more attention. My walks take a little bit longer - as I stop to snap a picture of a particularly vibrant red door or a unique door knocker. I am beginning to notice patterns - like the unexpected prevalence of the hand of Fatima door knockers - that lead to questions and learning more about the city and its history. I even got a very excellent book (Bordeaux, Histoires de Portes -which I can’t recommend highly enough) to assist me in this quest. While this goal of exploring what the doors and gates say about French history, culture, and priorities is important (and really, I’m going to do that) - let’s be honest: mostly, I just want to share some really pretty pictures of doors.

So, for today at least, let’s not complicate things. I will save the insightful lectures and “did you know” for another day - I will leave you with a sampling of interesting doors and door-related things from Bordeaux.