Bordeaux celebrates 50 years with L.A. as sister city

Although some sister city matches are made in heaven — Cannes, France, and Beverly Hills, for instance — others appear less so, and many are just plain eccentric. What to make of the fact that Bordeaux, deep down near France’s Atlantic coast, was the fourth of Los Angeles’ 25 sister cities? What does huge, sprawling, postmodern L.A. (population 4 million — or more like 12 million if you count the greater L.A. area) have to do with compact, historic Bordeaux (population 700,000) with its great wines and 18th century architecture? No matter the epic mismatch; this year marks the 50th anniversary of L.A.’s and Bordeaux’s sisterhood. To celebrate that bond, the French city has a number of L.A.-centric exhibitions and events. Among them:

“Chicano Dream,” a retrospective of 40 years of art by Gronk, Harry Gamboa, Patssi Valdez and other Mexican American artists, from the collection of Cheech Marin. Through Oct. 26 at the Musée d’Aquitaine, 20 Cours Pasteur; www.musee-aquitaine-bordeaux.fr/en.

“Road Trip: Photography of the American West” highlights more than 70 images from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art that explore myths of the West from the late 19th to the early 21st century. Aug. 24-Nov. 16 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, 20 Cours d’Albret; bit.ly/VJnfAY.

The Bordeaux International Independent Film Festival will honor Hollywood free spirits Dennis Hopper, William Friedkin, Brian DePalma, Quentin Tarantino and others. Oct. 7-12, fifib.com/en.

“Cars and Bodies,” an exhibition by three artists from Bordeaux, features a fantasized look at mobility in Los Angeles and the everyday life of Angelenos. Oct. 16-31 at the Arrêt Sur l’Image Galerie, 45 Cours du Médoc; arretsurlimage.com.