Le Bordelais

The city of Bordeaux is the commercial and cultural center of Guyenne, a large province in southwest France crossed by the Dordogne River in the north and the Garonne in the south. The two rivers come together at Bordeaux and so in a sense do the truffles from Périgueux to the north and the early vegetables from Montauban to the south. The wines on which the international fame of Bordeaux rests come from all its neighboring areas. Montaigne, who was for a while mayor of Bordeaux, was said to have had trouble with his digestion when he traveled far away from his native region.