Le miroir d'eau, Bordeaux

Whoever thought up the Miroir d'eau in Bordeaux is a genius. It's a simple idea: an expanse of flat paving on the quai by the river Garonne with unobtrusive nozzles set into it. Its normal state is to be covered with a thin sheen of water, which is perfectly unruffled, a mirror reflecing the handsome buildings across the road and pedestrians walking across and round it.

About every ten minutes, water starts to ooze up through the nozzles, making a pool maybe an inch deep. Apparently straight-laced bordelais simply take off their shoes and walk through it, tourists snap each other, children play in it, cyclists cycle through it. Then the spray turns to a fine mist which rises to about waist height, stays for a few minutes and then disappears, and the cycle starts again. It's a photographer's dream; we must have been there for about an hour and a half, along with dozens of other photographers. There's always something going on, wonderful reflections to capture, different angles to try. I found it a little bit frustrating that by the time I'd finished fiddling with settings or changing lenses the photo opportunity I'd had in mind had disappeared -- but there was always something else coming along. Great fun.

I've never been to Bordeaux before. It's a beautiful city. Lots of people say "Oh, it looks like Paris!" But actually, Paris looks like Bordeaux. When Napoleon saw Bordeaux, he told Haussman, "That's what I want Paris to look like!" Over the past ten years Bordeaux has been spruced up beyond belief -- buildings have been cleaned, the inevitable ultra-modern tram system built, and almost all of the city centre is pedestrianised -- to the extent that we had lunch sitting on picnic chairs in the street, glasses of rosé in hand.

Another day when I took 150 photos and deleted over 100 of them -- it was more about trying things out. This may not be the best photo, but I liked the ethereal backlit effect.