| North of the Grand Théâtre, cours du 30-Juillet leads into the bare, gravelly – and frankly unattractive – expanse of the esplanade des Quinconces, said to be Europe's largest municipal square. At the quayside end are two tall columns, erected in 1829 and topped by allegorical statues of Commerce and Navigation; at the opposite end of the esplanade is the Monument aux Girondins, a glorious fin-de-siècle ensemble of statues and fountains built in honour of the influential local deputies to the 1789 Revolutionary Assembly, later purged by Robespierre as moderates and counter-revolutionaries. During World War II, in a fit of anti-French spite, the occupying Germans made plans to melt the monument down, only to be foiled by the local Resistance, who got there first and, under cover of darkness, dismantled it piece by piece and hid it in a barn in the Médoc for the duration of the war. To the northwest is the beautiful formal park, the Jardin Public (daily April–Oct 7am–8/9pm; Nov–March 7am–6pm; free), containing the city's botanical gardens as well as a small natural history museum (Mon & Wed–Fri 11am–6pm, Sat & Sun 2–6pm; €4, free 1st Sun of month). Behind it, to west and north, lies a quiet, provincial quarter of two-storey stone houses. Concealed among the narrow streets, on rue Dr-Albert-Barraud, is a large chunk of brick and stone masonry, the so-called Palais Gallien, in fact a third-century arena that's all that remains of Burdigala, Aquitaine's Roman capital. Nearby, on place Delerme, the unusual round market hall makes a focus for a stroll through the quarter. To the east of the gardens, closer to the river, the Musée d'Art Contemporain on rue Ferrère (Tues & Thurs–Sun 11am–6pm, Wed 11am–8pm; €4) occupies a converted nineteenth-century warehouse for colonial imports. The vast, arcaded hall provides a magnificent setting for the mostly post-1960 sculpture and installation-based work by artists such as Richard Long, Daniel Buren and Sol LeWitt. Few pieces from the permanent collection are on display at any one time, the main space being filled by temporary exhibitions, so it's hit and miss as to whether you'll like what's on offer. However, there's a superb collection of glossy art books in the library and an elegant café-restaurant on the roof (lunch only). Further out, the Conservatoire International de la Plaisance, in Dock no. 2 off bd Alfred-Daney (Wed–Sun 2–6pm; €4.57), an old German submarine base, with concrete walls and roof up to 9m thick, has been converted into an unusual museum combining pleasure boats and naval history.
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