Why a Booktrail?
1940 – 1945: It’s a cold winter in Bordeaux and war is everywhere
Cold Winter in Bordeaux
What you need to know before your trail
The war is entering an even more dangerous phase – The Germans are on the Eastern Front and the Americans are landing in North Africa.
Meanwhile, in Bordeaux, Superintendent Lannes – himself an object of suspicion, with one son in Vichy and another with de Gaulle’s Free French – investigates the murder of a woman. It is thought to be a crime of passion but in these dangerous times nothing is certain and the dead woman is thought to have been engaged in activities which have attracted the attention of the Vichy Secret Service, the Germans, and even the Resistance.
Lannes is certainly headed into dangerous territory. In every sense of the word
Travel Guide
Bordeaux – Death in Bordeaux
The dead woman teaches piano and her life seems as calm on the surface as the quiet tunes she plays would suggest. However like the piano itself, what you can’t see on the surface is working hard underneath and uncover – all the machinations of music and war in this case.
Close to Rue Voltaire where the bar selling cognac is located, Madame Peniel’s apartment has high ceilings and is furnished in the style of the belle Epoque. There is charm to this city in the nearby bookshop in Rue des Remparts.
Esplanade Charles de Gaulle is the square named after the symbol of the French resistance. Place Gambetta is famous for its cafes as in this novel.
On the streets nearby however you can see the other side of the city – with the street walkers and those living in the humidity of the underbelly. This is a city of hidden facades and darkening shadows. This is the Bordeaux of German occupation. The Free French and the Vichy region side by side.
Free French and the Vichy government of the time. The cultural elements are interesting too. Brandy or cognac at any time of the day, chain smoking and the importance of stopping for lunch
Streetview Maps
A) Bordeaux - Bar Jack
B) Bordeaux - Rue des Remparts
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: Cold Winter in Bordeaux
Author/Guide: Allan Massie Destination: Bordeaux Departure Time: 1940 – 1945
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