Fall in love with Bordeaux: Guided tours with Yona Mitrani-Mazor

Important announcement: Yona no longer lives in Bordeaux and therefore no longer gives tours there.

As some of you know, in the distant past I made the mistake of guiding tours in Paris. I did so sporadically, but I slowly learned what makes a guide an excellent one and even wrote about it in an article.  Guided Tour of Paris: 5 Things I Learned from a Trip to the City of Lights with FriendsIn September 2019, I had the opportunity to visit Bordeaux and travel with Yona Mitrani-Mazor, the owner of the site. Fall in love with Bordeaux And there is no doubt that this is a guide of the highest standard.

From France to Israel and back

But before we continue and tell you about the trip I took with Yona, let me tell you a little about her because her life story is certainly interesting. Yona (in the same vein as the bird's name) was born in France in the city of Grasse and in her teens decided to immigrate to Israel. After serving in the army, Yona met her future husband and practiced alternative medicine, but 21 years later, she and her husband decided to move to France for a while.

After a few years in Provence, Yona received an offer to work on the production of the program “On the Napkin,” and she followed it to Bordeaux. The first result was this episode:

The second, and somewhat less expected, result was that Yona simply fell in love with Bordeaux and decided, together with her partner, to move there. After endless wanderings through the magical streets of Bordeaux Yona decided to share her love and knowledge she gained about the wine city and launch two types of tours, one historical/cultural and the other culinary. Since my parents and I are big fans of French history We decided to take the historical tour and were not disappointed.

The tour with a dove in Bordeaux

We met Yona near the Bordeaux tourist office and from there we went to the Girondins Monument (Monument aux Girondins). As a history and symbolism lover, such a monument with its many different statues is a real “delicacies”. Yona showed great knowledge as she explained the meaning of each and every statue in this super impressive monument. I immediately understood that we were dealing with someone serious who definitely knows her stuff, so when it comes to the knowledge section, Yona got a round 10 from me.

From there we continued to other parts of Bordeaux and Yona continued to impress me with her historical and architectural knowledge (including things I didn't know myself and was very happy to learn). Take for example the Mascarones, those stone heads found above the various doors and windows. Yona told me their secrets and the interesting history of those heads that I had often encountered during my wanderings in Paris.

Yona not only helped us find the best cannelloni in Bordeaux but also brought us to a wonderful patisserie called Patisserie S. The question immediately arose as to why the names of the most worthwhile culinary places in Bordeaux consist of one hundred and one. Have they run out of budget for normal names? However, from the moment we tasted their cakes, the answer came: who cares when the cakes are so delicious!

And so we continued to walk through the ancient alleys of Bordeaux, and during the tour I discovered another quality in Yona that makes her an excellent guide: caring. As mentioned, we traveled with both of my parents, who had already turned 70 a few years ago, and Yona did everything to adjust the trip to their pace. She didn't rush ahead quickly, and every now and then she looked for a place where we could stop and sit. So it's no wonder that not only did I love the tour, but my parents also simply fell in love with Yona.

And so, after more than three hours that passed quickly, the trip ended. The pleasure was perfect, and therefore I can highly recommend the guided tours that can be found on the website. Fall in love with Bordeaux.

Looking for what else to do in Bordeaux?

I highly recommend you visit the page. Attractions and tours in Bordeaux and the surrounding area And find information there about the Bordeaux attractions card, winery tours around Bordeaux, and more.

Looking for a recommended hotel or vacation apartment in Bordeaux?

I have carefully selected for you a series of excellent hotels in Bordeaux in a variety of budgets (from modest hotels to luxury hotels). You can find them on the page Accommodation in Bordeaux.