Rue Esprit des lois

Le port par Jules Phillippe
© Mairie de Bordeaux, photo JM. Arnaud

The former Rue Porte Richelieu, a reference to an earlier gate (actually a grate), in which it ended to the east, was renamed Rue Esprit des Lois during the French Revolution, as a tribute to the famous work by Montesquieu.
The road leads to the former Place du Marché aux Vins, at that time wine was sold in barriques, which later became Place Richelieu and finally Place Jean Jaurès.
The Hôtel Boyer Fonfrède is located on the corner of the square and Cours du Chapeau-Rouge. It was built by the architect Victor Louis between 1774 and 1777 and is well-known thanks to its monumental staircase. It is said that a cavalier and his mount climbed to the 3rd floor, and that Monsieur Boyer-Fonfrère once received a letter simply addressed to "the owner of the most beautiful staircase in Bordeaux".
A famous mansion, the Hôtel de Fumel, is located at the edge of the square. The painter Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun, who stayed there in 1820, wrote:
"On arrival in Bordeaux I found lodging in the most beautiful inn, in the Hôtel Fumel, which, before the Revolution, belonged to the Marquis of that name. This mansion is ideally located, opposite the port that can hold thousands of vessels. The other bank we can see ends in a lovely green hillside that spans several houses here and there, and in the background, a broad mountain on which castles can be seen. I cannot express my ecstasy, my rapture, at seeing this wonderful picture presented right before my eyes when I opened my window: I thought I was having a pleasant dream. So many vessels in the harbour, a thousand boats and small craft coming and going in all directions, while the ships are motionless; the silence that reigns over this immense body of water, everything combines to create an impression of a fairytale...."