France September 2017

OUT AND ABOUT IN CAHORS
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Three bottles
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ICONS UNCOVERED
THE HISTORY OF THE CITROËN 2CV
TRAVEL | FOOD & WINE | CULTURE | HISTORY
September 2017 | Issue 228
ROAD TRIP
Head for the hills in
the Hautes-Pyrénées
TAKE A GOLF SAFARI
along the Atlantic coast
WINE
● Where to stay
● Champagne by train
● Find a wine festival
● Enjoy muscat
Green and
pleasant
Beautiful Jura uncovered
URBAN ESCAPES
EXPLORE THE ART DECO
SPLENDOURS OF PERPIGNAN
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September 2017 | I sue 228
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A windmill looks over vineyards in
Burgundy on a sunny autumn day
BIENVENUE
Time for wine
PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY IMAGES/iSTOCKPHOTO; CHÂTEAU FOMBRAUGE BERNARD MAGREZ
In a game of word association, there is one thing
that pretty much everyone would attach to
the word ‘France’ and that is ‘wine’ (followed
closely, both figuratively and literally, by ‘cheese’).
Wine flows as the lifeblood of the country we all
love, lubricates its culture, celebrates its regional
character and glorifies its gastronomy. For thousands
of years, the land we now know as France has used
grapes to create something so much more than the
sum of its parts and it remains one of the keystones
of the country’s prosperity.
September marks the beginning of the harvest,
and in this issue we celebrate that fact with you.
Kathryn Tomasetti travels through Champagne on
page 44, sensibly making the most of trains instead
TRAVEL | FOOD & WINE | CULTURE | HISTORY
type in your word in one
language and find out the
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OUT AND ABOUT IN CAHORS
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Three bottles
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ROAD TRIP
Head for the hi ls in
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WINE
● Where to stay
● Champagne by train
● Find a wine festival
● Enjoy muscat
ICONS UNCOVERED
THE HISTORY OF THE CITROËN 2CV
TAKE A GOLF SAFARI
along the Atlantic coast
Green and
pleasant
Beautiful Jura uncovered
Dictionary
Bookmark
worth £24.99
See page 50
of driving; Dominic Rippon takes a look at the
history of the muscat grape on page 84; and we
show you some of the best places to celebrate the
grape harvest on page 17. For those seeking a total
immersion experience, we have some of the best
places to stay for wine-lovers on page 68. It’s not
all wine though, there is cheese, too, on page 73!
Sophie Gardner-Roberts explores the largely
undiscovered Jura on page 30; tee-lovers will
enjoy Adam Ruck’s Atlantic golf tour on page 36;
and I have been pottering about in the
Hautes-Pyrénées on a road trip on page 56.
Of course, we have the usual mix of culture,
language, history and food, too, to tempt both palate
and intellect, so dig in and enjoy! À bientôt!
equivalent word in the other.
Looking up those tricky words is
now a quick, simple and intuitive
process with this handy, portable
gadget. The perfect partner
for your next holiday in France.
(Battery included).
ifplc.com
Lara Dunn
Editor
ABOVE: Wine cellars at the Saint-Émilion Grand Cru
estate of Château Fombrauge Bernard Magrez
URBAN ESCAPES COOK A CLASSIC
EXPLORE THE ART DECO
SPLENDOURS OF PERPIGNAN
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www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 3

CONTENTS
September 2017
64
30
● TRAVEL
08 FRANCE AT A GLANCE
Let our stunning images take you on
a virtual journey around l’Hexagone.
17 LES NOUVELLES
All the news and inspiration you need to
inform your next trip to France.
28 ROAD TRIP
Enjoy the Alps in summer with a scenic
drive from the resort of Chamonix.
30 JURA MOUNTAINS
Escape the crowds and experience the
delights of this little-known area.
36 ATLANTIC GOLF
Pack your clubs and test your skills at
the picturesque courses along the coast.
42 HISTORY TRAIL
See how classical music has developed in
France from the time of the monasteries.
WIN
GREAT PRIZES
TO BE WON
TAKE A PHOTO – 14
WRITE A LETTER – 14
FIND SERGETTE
THE SNAIL – 20
DO A CROSSWORD – 99
44 CHAMPAGNE BY RAIL
Let the train take the strain as you
sample the region’s best bubbly.
52 TAKE A STROLL
Explore the medieval buildings and secret
gardens of Cahors on the River Lot.
56 PYRENEAN ADVENTURE
Get back to nature on a journey through
the dramatic Hautes-Pyrénées.
64 PERPIGNAN BREAK
Lap up the French and Catalan influences
in this vibrant Mediterranean city.
68 WHERE TO STAY
Our guide for wine-lovers ranges from
châteaux to cosy apartments.
36
● BON APPÉTIT
74 SAUMUR CELEBRATION
Sample the delicious wines and food of
the Loire Valley town at Festivini.
78 FOOD & WINE
Our guide to classic cookbooks, plus
a recipe and restaurant review.
79 WINES OF THE MONTH
Master of Wine Sally Easton gives us
her pick of the best bottles to buy.
80 MAKE THE PERFECT...
Live like a Niçois and snack on the tasty
chickpea fritters known as panisses.
82 EAT OUT IN AVIGNON
Follow in Napoléon’s footsteps in our
dining guide to the papal city.
84 MOREISH MUSCAT
Enjoy this versatile grape variety at the
heart of southern France’s sweet wines.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY ON P50 AND GET A FREE GIFT! ORDER YOUR CALENDAR ON P62
PHOTOGRAPHS: MICHEL JOLY/BOURGOGNE-FRANCHE-COMTÉ TOURISME; SERVICE PHOTO/VILLE DE PERPIGNAN; BRITTANY FERRIES;
GETTY IMAGES/iSTOCKPHOTO; JOHN KELLERMAN/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; CHÄTEAU DE BERNE, LORGUES;
ZUMA PRESS INC/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; GRAINGER HISTORICAL PICTURE ARCHIVE/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
4 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

44
52
68
30
● LA CULTURE
86 NEWS
Tributes to the politician Simone Veil,
and a ‘soft power’ accolade for France.
88 CITROËN 2CV
Our Icons series begins with the history
of the much-loved ‘farmers’ car’.
90 LAMBERT WILSON
The actor discusses playing the explorer
Jacques-Yves Cousteau in a new film.
92 FILM REVIEW
Pierre de Villiers gives his verdict on the
Cousteau biography The Odyssey.
93 BOOK REVIEWS
Indulge your love of France a little further
with our pick of the best new reads.
93 FIVE MINUTES WITH...
British writer Jennifer Bohnet talks about
her new novel, set on the Riviera.
80
● EVERY MONTH
14 BOÎTE AUX LETTRES
Have your say and share travel tips
to win a great prize.
25 HOLIDAY PLANNER
Organise your next trip with
our guide to travel routes.
94 LANGUAGE
We find the best resources for
brushing up your language skills.
96 LANGUAGE HELP
You won’t be lost for words if you
face problems on the trains.
98 LANGUAGE GAMES
Improve your French with our
selection of fun puzzles and games.
● VIGNETTE
106 CAROL DRINKWATER
Our columnist creates a lunch honouring
the French meal’s Unesco status.
PAGE 10
PAGE 36
PAGE 24
PAGE 68
PAGE 56
PAGE 74
PAGE 84
ON THE COVER
PAGE 42
PAGE 26
PAGE 20
PAGE 52
PAGE 82
PAGE 64
PAGE 44
42
PAGE 30
PAGE 106
PAGE 28
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 5

TRAVEL | FOOD & WINE | CULTURE | HISTORY
September 2017 | Issue 228
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WINE
● Where to stay
● Champagne by train
● Find a wine festival
● Enjoy muscat
OUT AND ABOUT IN CAHORS
WANDER THROUGH THE CAPITAL OF LOT
WIN!
Three bottles
of wine
ROAD TRIP
Head for the hills in
the Hautes-Pyrénées
URBAN ESCAPES
EXPLORE THE ART DECO
SPLENDOURS OF PERPIGNAN
along the Atlantic coast
Green and
pleasant
Beautiful Jura uncovered
COOK A CLASSIC
PERFECT PROVENÇAL PANISSES:
A CÔTE D’AZUR FAVOURITE
ICONS UNCOVERED
THE HISTORY OF THE CITROËN 2CV
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FRANCE MAGAZINE
Adam Ruck
Adam has been exploring France for half a century, as
a tourist, resident (Paris and Poitiers) and contributor
to travel pages and guide books. France on Two Wheels
is his ‘narrative guide’ to six routes for long-distance
leisure cyclists. On page 36, Adam takes a golfing tour
along the French Atlantic coast.
“I thought I knew French food quite well, but a recent gastronomic visit to
Limoges gave me a series of first-time experiences, not all of which I am in
a hurry to repeat, unlike the ham from Tripes & Cie in the covered market
– ça vaut le voyage. Favourite intake? Oysters and a glass of Entre-Deux-
Mers at La Cabane de l’Aiguillon in Arcachon.”
Kathryn Tomasetti
Kathryn formed a teenage crush on the South of
France during an Interail trip in the early 1990s. It was
not until 2005 that she made the permanent move to
an apartment in Nice, which boasts creaking
bookshelves and a diminishing collection of Côtes de
Provence wine. On page 44, Kathryn takes the train
for a tasting tour of Champagne.
“My favourite French food is undoubtedly Nice’s own socca, a kind of
crispy chickpea pancake that is a popular local street food. There is no
tastier snack. It is best enjoyed steaming hot and sprinkled with black
pepper while strolling along the Promenade des Anglais.”
Sophie Gardner-Roberts
Born in France to British parents, Sophie is staff writer
on French Property News, a sister title of FRANCE
Magazine. A childhood spent running around
the Burgundy countryside has cemented a passion
for the great outdoors and tasty French food.
On page 30, she discovers the underrated beauty of
the Jura Mountains. On page 74, she takes you along to the Festivini wine
festival in the Loire Valley.
“My favourite French dish has to be a steaming hot tarte Tatin. I think it was
the first dish my mum taught me to make on my own, but I have never
managed to make it taste as good as she does. It is a simple dessert that
tastes amazing and makes everyone around the table smile as it conjures
up childhood memories for most people.”
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6 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

DORDOGNE SUNRISE
Autumn colours envelop the village fleuri of Daglan, in the Céou Valley,
a peaceful area of Dordogne known for its dry-stone buildings
PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY IMAGES/iSTOCKPHOTO

XXXXXXXXXX
DELIGHTFUL DINAN
Traditional Breton houses in Dinan, a pretty walled town beside
the River Rance in the Côtes-d’Armor département
PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY IMAGES/iSTOCKPHOTO
10 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

TROCADÉRO CROSSING
The Eiffel Tower casts a shadow on the River Seine in Paris, with the
Trocadéro Gardens and Palais de Chaillot in the background
PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY IMAGES/iSTOCKPHOTO
GOING UP IN THE WORLD
The spiral staircase at the Eckmühl lighthouse in Finistère leads to
a terrace with views over the Atlantic and the Brittany countryside
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 11
PHOTOGRAPH: DREAMSTIME

SHADES OF NORMANDY
Half-timbered colombage houses line the street in the
Plus Beau Village of Beuvron-en-Auge in Normandy
PHOTOGRAPH: COMITÉ DÉPARTMENTAL DU TOURISME DU CALVADOS
MEDITERRANEAN MOORING
Boats bob gently in the harbour of the small port of Cassis,
on the Provençal coast east of Marseille
12 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com
PHOTOGRAPH: DREAMSTIME

September 2017 | I sue 228
Britain and North America’s
best-se ling magazine about France
£3. 9
READER PHOTO
COMPETITION
The winner of this
month’s competition is
Jody Schraden, from
Kansas, USA, with her
photograph of the
Jardin du Luxembourg
in Paris in September.
Send us your holiday picture
capturing the essence of France –
either to our online reader gallery
or by email – and we’ll publish the
best image in next month’s FRANCE
Magazine. The winner will receive
a one-year subscription to FRANCE
Magazine (RRP £47.88). To enter the
October competition, send your
high-resolution image to editorial@
francemag.com or upload it to
FRANCE Magazine’s
Flickr page, www.
flickr.com/groups/
france_magazine by
15 August. See the
Flickr page for terms
and conditions.
OUT AND ABOUT IN CAHORS
WIN!
WANDER THROUGH THE CAPITAL OF LOT
Three bo tles
of wine
TRAVEL | FOOD & WINE | CULTURE | HISTORY
ROAD TRIP
Head for the hills in
the Hautes-Pyrénées
WINE
● Where to stay
● Champagne by train
● Find a wine festival
● Enjoy muscat
URBAN ESCAPES
EXPLORE THE ART DECO
SPLENDOURS OF PERPIGNAN
TAKE A GOLF SAFARI
along the Atlantic coast
Green and
pleasant
COOK A CLASSIC
ICONS UNCOVERED
PERFECT PROVENÇAL PANISSES:
A CÔTE D’AZUR FAVOURITE
THE HISTORY OF THE CITROËN 2CV
Beautiful Jura uncovered
The writer of this month’s star letter
wins a signed copy of Perry Taylor’s
award-winning book Petites Gasconneries,
which features the artist’s amusing
drawings of life in his adopted rural
French home. To see more of Perry’s
work visit perrytaylor.fr
Share your thoughts, tips
and memories with us!
Send your letter to:
Boîte aux Lettres, FRANCE
Magazine, Cumberland House, Oriel
Road, Cheltenham, Glos, GL50 1BB,
or email: editorial@francemag.com.
Please supply your name and address.
You can find FRANCE Magazine’s
updated index for issues 100-200
on our website via this link: www.
completefrance.com/FMIndex
BOÎTE AUX LETTRES
STAR
LETTER
Lake full of memories
The picture of the lake at
ABOVE: The lake at Le Lauzet-Ubaye
Le Lauzet-Ubaye in Alpes-de-
Haute-Provence (April 2017, issue
223) brought back memories as it
matches almost exactly one I took in
1972 when, at the age of 18, I stayed in
the village for two months working as
an au pair for a Parisian family, looking
after their two small children.
I became friends with another young
woman staying with her family in the
chalet next door and we spent most of
our afternoons down by the lake. We
used to take their little dinghy and
paddle it across to the shaded side. The
people already enjoying the afternoon
shade one afternoon were amused as we
fell in trying to get out of the boat (the
water at the edge was not deep), but then
looked slightly horrified as I started to
take off my wet dress, until they realised
I was already wearing my swimming
costume underneath.
On a more sombre note, I learned
a lot that summer, especially from the
children’s grandmother. I was a little
confused that the children’s mother, who
I had assumed was this lady’s daughter,
called her ‘tatie’ (auntie). Even though
the weather was very warm, I saw the
children’s grandfather wear a shortsleeved
shirt only once, revealing the
concentration camp number tattooed on
his arm.
When the children asked about it,
they were told “when you are older”.
Madame explained to me later that
during the war, her sister had thrown the
children’s mother as a baby into her arms
as she was taken away to a concentration
camp. Madame never saw her sister
again. I was very moved when she said:
“It is difficult to know how to tell the
children without perpetuating the hatred.”
Bernadette Newman
London
PHOTOGRAPHS: JUDY ARMSTRONG; PAUL HUTTON;
CHRISTIAN GUY/HEMIS.FR; GETTY IMAGES/iSTOCKPHOTO
14 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

ABOVE: The ‘seed packet’ wall at Chaumont
Glorious Chaumont
My wife and I have just returned from
a holiday in the Loire Valley and on
arriving home, the August issue of
FRANCE Magazine awaited us. What
a small world it was to see Chaumontsur-Loire
and its gardens across the front
cover. Only a week previously, we had
made our annual visit to the International
Garden Festival, and Naomi Slade’s
brilliant article describes perfectly this
amazing themed show.
She rightly points out that one has
no idea what is around the next corner
or what interesting or madcap ideas one
will find. For many years, we have
referred to the competition gardens as
wacky… interesting and madcap.
Trying to understand the annual
theme has always been a challenge and
this year’s ‘Flower Power’ is no
exception. Naomi captured so well our
most enjoyable half-day visit for 2017.
We await the theme for 2018.
Paul Hutton
Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
WINNERS: FRANCE
CALENDAR 2017
Here are the winners of our FRANCE
Calendar 2017 competition. They identified
the village of Collonges-la-Rouge in the
Corrèze département and win a copy of the
2018 calendar: Richard Pulham,
Southwold, Suffolk; Susan Lilley, Sheffield,
South Yorkshire; Jean Mayton, Ramsgate,
Kent; Wendy Braithwaite, Liss, Hampshire;
Barbara Duncanson, Compton
Chamberlayne, Wiltshire; Dianne K Vitaska,
Houston, Texas, USA; Fiona Newport,
Hungerford, Berkshire; Peter Brussel-
Smith, Port St Lucie, Florida, USA;
Philip Glasson, Hounoux, France;
Emmanuel Diaz, Isleworth,
Middlesex; Christine Claydon,
Benfleet, Essex; David Finch,
Villeverneix, France; Chris
Hardy, Northallerton, North
Yorkshire; Nick Foster, South
Train travel tips
I very much enjoyed ‘Back on track’
(August 2017, issue 227) about the
delights of exploring France by train. We
have done just this for a number of years.
Could I add a couple of tips? Lille is
often an easy Eurostar/TGV interchange
which saves you getting yourself and
cases across Paris. Sending your heavy
luggage on ahead via a service such as
Luggage Mule is great, particularly if you
have seats booked on the upper deck.
TGVs also have quiet carriages – look
for the small cartoon mobile phone
asleep sticker – and the French by and
large observe the restrictions.
We have used the long-established
French Travel Service many times and
can recommend them for straightforward
rail trips in France as well as more
complicated tailor-made journeys.
Paul Harrington
Saltdean, Brighton
…As an inveterate traveller by train in
France, I thank you for the article ‘Back
on Track’. I have another tip – when
travelling from Gare de Lyon in Paris, by
far the most comfortable and pleasant
place to wait is in Hall 3. It is easily
accessible from Halls 1 and 2.
David Sharpe
Cockermouth, Cumbria.
Barrow, Somerset; Simon and Judith Gill,
Wilmington, Kent; Jane Coyle, Holywood,
County Down, NI; Ruth Jones, Maulden,
Bedfordshire; Helen Horn, Glinton,
Cambridgeshire; Mrs M Allery,
Waterlooville, Hampshire; Jean Moore,
Kidderminster, Worcestershire; Vivienne
Upson, Great Totham, Essex; Beverley
Simmons, Horsham, West Sussex;
Mrs Tessa Knight, Middlestown, West
Yorkshire; Sarah Hill, Lea,
Lincolnshire; Dave Fisher,
Coventry, West Midlands.
● The 2018 Calendar is now
available to pre-order – see
pages 62-63.
HAVE YOUR SAY
ABOVE: Lac d’Annecy in Haute-Savoie
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The mountains aren’t just for skiing…
Here’s why you should visit this
summer. See ‘8 Reasons to Visit the
French Mountains this Summer’
completefrance.com
@Sarah Gavin Been to Châtel, Haute-
Savoie, twice in the summer. It’s
spectacular with lots to do. The ski lifts
are open because of the downhill
mountain biking!
@Michele Mann We loved Annecy! The
water was amazing! Even though it was
Tuesday we still had fun shopping.
@Marie Styer My dream water in the
front, mountains in my backyard.
@ Rebecca Lynn Monitz Worth staying
here in August.
Follow us on
Instagram
Peter Stewart has been
gourmet cycling
through Alsace
Sophie Gardner-
Roberts has been
enjoying a tipple at
Lac du Bourget
See more of our
adventures at
@francemagazine
Lara Dunn has been
experiencing the highs
of the Pyrénées at the
Pont d’Espagne
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 15

LES NOUVELLES
Inspiring your next trip to France
Pick of the bunch
Join in these grape harvest festivities and enjoy
French traditions that go back centuries
PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY IMAGES/iSTOCKPHOTO
IROULÉGUY, Pyrénées-
Atlantiques
In the foothills of the Pyrénées, the village
of Irouléguy has its own small appellation
that makes spicy reds and fresh, aromatic
rosés, which can be sampled at the Fête
du Vignoble on 9-10 September.
Tel: (Fr) 5 59 37 93 70
saintjeanpieddeport-paysbasque
-tourisme.com
NOÉ-LES-MALLETS, Aube
If you would like to take part in a wine
harvest, the Veuve Doussot champagne
estate in Noé-les-Mallets south-east of
Troyes has the answer. The owners have
created a vendange package which, for
€40pp, allows enthusiasts to spend half
the morning picking grapes (pictured),
followed by a tour of the cuverie, lunch
with the estate’s team of grape pickers
and a champagne tasting. The offer is
available on 23 and 30 September.
Tel: (Fr) 3 25 29 60 61
www.champagneveuvedoussot.com
MARCILLAC, Aveyron
The village of Marcillac, north of Rodez,
is one of the smallest appellations in
France, with just 215 hectares of vines.
The spicy, aromatic reds are celebrated at
the wine festival on 1 October, when
visitors can get involved by donning
traditional costumes and joining a grape
stomp before the wine-tasting. Other
highlights include a flea market, concerts
and a traditional meal.
Tel: (Fr) 5 65 72 85 00
tourisme-conques.fr
MONTMARTRE, Paris
The city of Paris has one surviving
vineyard, Clos Montmartre (pictured
above). It is at the heart of the Fête des
Vendanges de Montmartre, which was
launched in 1934 and now attracts
around 400,000 visitors. The festival,
from 11-15 October, features parades,
tastings and concerts in the streets behind
the Basilique de Sacré-Coeur.
Tel: (Fr) 1 53 41 18 18
fetedesvendangesdemontmartre.com
JOIGNY, Yonne
The historic town of Joigny, in the north
of the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region,
is holding a wine festival on 15 October.
Head for the marché couvert on the
banks of the River Yonne, where wine
producers are joined by stallholders
selling local specialities including
snails and Époisses, a semi-soft cow’s
milk cheese.
Tel: (Fr) 3 86 62 11 05
joigny-tourisme.com ➳
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 17

LEFT: A giant puppet at the
festival in Charleville-Mézières;
BELOW: The Tour de la Chaîne and
Tour Saint-Nicolas at the harbour
in La Rochelle; BELOW LEFT: Stalls
at the Grande Braderie in Lille
BOOK
NOW...
PHOTOGRAPHS: PHILIPPE MANGEN CC BY SA 3.0; OT LILLE/M.DUFOUR; DREAMSTIME; CC BY-SA 3.0
What to do in...
September
MOVIE MANIA
The resort of Deauville in
Normandy gets its annual
sprinkling of Hollywood
stardust for the 43rd
American Film Festival from
1-10 September. More than
100 films, from blockbusters
to documentaries and TV
shorts, are shown round the
clock in three venues: the
International Centre, the
Lucien Barrière Casino and
the Le Morny Cinema. In
addition to the screenings,
American-themed events are
held in the Festival Village.
A day pass costs €35.
Tel: (Fr) 2 31 14 14 14
festival-deauville.com
BARGAIN HUNT
Find a bargain or two at the
Grande Braderie de Lille
on the weekend of 2-3
September. More than two
million visitors descend on
the capital of the Hauts-de-
Franc region to browse 100
kilometres of stalls run by
10,000 traders, with antiques
and second-hand books
among the range of items for
sale. The market’s layout has
been redesigned this year to
provide more space for
vendors and visitors.
Tel: (Fr) 8 99 49 01 75
braderie-de-lille.fr
PUPPET POWER
Puppets take centre stage as
the town of Charleville-
Mézières in the Grand-Est
region holds its biennial
Festival Mondial des
Théâtres de Marionettes
from 16-24 September.
The event highlights the
important part puppetry
plays in many of the world’s
cultures, with around 250
troupes of puppeteers –
glove, string and shadow
–– performing in theatres
and on the streets.
Tel: (Fr) 3 24 59 94 94
festival-marionnette.com
COASTAL JAZZ
The Atlantic port of La
Rochelle is the setting for the
20th Jazz entre les Deux
Tours from 30 September to
7 October. The festival,
which this year includes
a homage to American
saxophonist John Coltrane,
welcomes around 100
national and international
musicians, representing all
major trends in jazz.
Concerts, a number of which
are free, take place in
a dozen venues, and other
highlights include
educational workshops and
photographic exhibitions.
Tel: (Fr) 5 46 27 11 19
jazzentrelesdeuxtours.fr
CANAL LUXURY
The Canal du Midi is a Unesco World
Heritage site and you can cruise it
in style on board the luxurious
hotel barge Clair de Lune, which
accommodates up to six
passengers. Looked after by a crew
of four, guests on the six-night
cruise enjoy first-class food and
drink, and visit historical locations
including Minerve, with its
12th-century Cathar fort; the
Roman town of Narbonne; and the
walled city of Carcassonne. Prices
start from €4,350pp, and include all
meals, drinks and excursions, and
return-trip transfers by minibus.
Tel: (Fr) 6 86 27 81 66
hotelbargeclairdelune.com
MOUNTAIN CYCLING
Explore the French Alps on two
wheels during a long weekend
based in Morzine in Haute-Savoie.
Cycle rides include the classic Tour
de France climb of Col de Joux
Plane and a long endurance test on
the Col de la Colombière. Rides end
with a dramatic descent back to
Morzine, where evenings are spent
unwinding at a cycle-friendly lodge.
The holiday from Much Better
Adventures is suitable for
intermediate and experienced
cyclists. Prices start from £199pp
including three nights’ half board
and transfers to and from
Geneva airport.
Tel: 0200 333 1176
muchbetteradventures.com
18 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

LES NOUVELLES
SOMME TOUR
Gain new insights into World War I
during a five-day ‘Battlefields of
the Somme’ coach tour. The trip,
led by an expert guide, will take
you to key locations such as Vimy
Ridge and the Thiepval Memorial as
well as the Somme 1916 Museum in
Albert and the Historial de la
Grande Guerre in Péronne. Prices
start from £314pp based on
a departure on 29 April 2018, and
include four nights’ half-board
accommodation at a hotel in
Valenciennes, coach travel and
three excursions.
Tel: 0344 824 6351
shearings.com
CATHAR WALK
Follow the footsteps of the Cathar
heretics on a self-guided holiday in
south-west France from Walks
Worldwide. During the eight-day
trip, you will pass through charming
villages, explore unspoilt
mountains and valleys, and
visit clifftop castles
associated with the
Cathars, such as
Peyrepertuse
(pictured). You can
also sample the
Mediterraneaninfluenced
cuisine
and robust wines. Two
itineraries are available or
they can be combined. Prices
start from £802pp based on two
sharing (£1,549 for 15 days) and
include half-board accommodation
in hotels and guesthouses.
Tel: 01962 302 085
walksworldwide.com
DID YOU KNOW?
France’s oldest public
museum, the Musée
des Beaux-Arts et
d’Archéologie,
opened in Besançon
in 1694.
Family fun in
the mountains
From donkey rides to bobsleighing, the French Alps have
a choice of summer activities that all ages will enjoy
HIRE A DONKEY
In the resort of Les Contamines-Montjoie,
families can keep little ones entertained by
hiking with donkeys. Either hire a donkey for
a few hours for a self-guided trek or let
a professional guide lead you on a half-day or
day trip. Resorts such as Val-d’Isère and
Les Arcs organise guided walks to working
donkey farms.
Tel: (Fr) 4 50 47 01 58
lescontamines.com
Tel: (Fr) 4 79 06 06 60
valdinet.com
TRAVEL IN THE TREES
Young daredevils will be in their element at
the Accro’Park des Gaillands tree-climbing
adventure centre in Chamonix, where children
can choose a circuit to suit their height and
abilities, and a new 600-metre-long zip wire
has stunning views of Mont Blanc.
Tel: (Fr) 4 50 78 26 49
cham-aventure.com
TRY CANI-RANDO
The summer version of
dog-sledding is great fun
for children, who wear
a harness attached to the
dogs while being towed
along different hiking tracks.
In Aussois, thrill-seekers aged
seven and above can book
a half-day outing, while in La Plagne,
children as young as six can enjoy a day of
cani-rando with their parents.
Tel: (Fr) 4 79 20 30 80
aussois.com
Tel: (Fr) 4 79 09 02 01
la-plagne.com
GO BOBSLEIGHING
The bobsleigh is not just a winter activity, as
you will find out in the resort of La Clusaz,
where visitors zoom down an 800-metrelong
track on either single or
double bobsleighs.
Tel: (Fr) 4 50 32 65 00
laclusaz.com
SPOT A MARMOT
Families can take a leisurely walk and see
local wildlife in the mountains around the
resort of Flaine north-west of Chamonix.
Tour group Flaine Mountain organises
three-hour hikes for grown-ups and children
aged over six, and knows just where to look
for marmots.
Tel: (Fr) 4 50 90 80 01
flaine.com
For more information, visit savoie-montblanc.com
PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY IMAGES/iSTOCKPHOTO; ARDILLIERJULIEN CC BY-SA 3.0; SAVOIE MONT BLANC TOURISME;
OT HAUTE MAURIENNE VANOISE; SMB-AGENCEZOOM-BOMPARD
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 19

National treasures
During the Journées du Patrimoine on
16-17 September, hundreds of buildings open
for free. Here is our pick of places to visit
CHÂTEAU DE
VAUX-LE-VICOMTE,
Seine-et-Marne
Described as a more tranquil
alternative to the palace
of Versailles, this 17th-century
château lies 55 kilometres
south-east of Paris. The theme
of 2017’s heritage days is
youth, so children have the
chance to dress up in period
costume and apply make-up
of the 1600s for free, to make
their experience all the more
authentic.
Tel: (Fr) 1 64 14 41 90
vaux-le-vicomte.com
HÔTEL DE
MATIGNON, Paris
This 18th-century mansion on
Rue de Varenne has been the
official residence of the French
prime minister since 1935. It is
normally off limits to the
public, but will be open all
day on 16 and 17 September
for visitors to admire the
famously lavish interiors.
Tel: (Fr) 1 42 75 80 00
gouvernement.fr
CHÂTEAU DE
L’ENGARRAN,
Hérault
This mansion is one of several
folies that were built in and
around Montpellier as a way
of showing off the 18thcentury
bourgeoisie’s new
wealth and status. The house
itself is usually closed to the
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: The Château
de l’Engarran; The Hôtel de Matignon;
The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte
public, but will open on 16-17
September for guided visits,
and theatrical performances
by a local touring company.
Tel: (Fr) 4 67 47 00 02
chateau-engarran.com
CENTRE
NATIONAL DU
COSTUME DE
SCÈNE, Allier
Situated in Moulins, the first
museum dedicated to theatre
costumes and sets includes
a collection of 10,000 outfits
from the stage, ballet and
opera. Visitors to the former
cavalry barracks will get
a free guided tour on the
heritage days.
Tel: (Fr) 4 70 20 76 20
cncs.fr
For more information, visit
journeesdupatrimoine.culture.fr
LARA
LOVES...
‘I’m Dreaming I Am in France’ Sign,
by Abigail Bryans Designs, £17.50
This whimsical wooden sign, painted
in a distressed vintage-effect cream
and green, can either share your
love of France visually with others,
or would make an excellent gift for
a fellow Francophile. It can be
personalised with a choice of any
other country, but why would you?
notonthehighstreet.com
Les aventures de Sergette
Our intrepid gastropod Sergette is
out and about in France. Her
adventures this month see her
head for a famous waterway in
south-west.
WIN!
Our resident snail is
en vacances – do you
know where she is?
If you know the canal that Sergette is visiting (it is a Unesco World Heritage site), send the
answer, plus your name and address, to editorial@francemag.com or write us a postcard
(address on page 6) and you could win a case of three French wines (worth a total of £37.97)
courtesy of Naked Wines (nakedwines.com). Deadline for entries is 30 August 2017.
The winner of the July competition is Annabel Frazier, from Nottingham, who correctly
identified the city of Poitiers in the Vienne département.
PHOTOGRAPHS: HERVE LECLAIR/ASPHERIES.COM; 2015; CC BY SA 3.0; JEAN-CHARLES CASLOT
20 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

VILLAS IN HARDELOT
This September visit the famous landmarks
in Boulogne-Sur-Mer and the surrounding area
CRYPT IN
BOULOGNE-SUR-MER
VILLAS IN WIMEREUX
HARDELOT CASTLE
IN CONDETTE
BOULOGNE-SUR-MER
CASTLE
Full programme available on our website or facebook
www.visitboulogne.com
For further information contact the tourist office
T: +0033 (0)3 21 10 88 10
E: accueil.boulogne@tourisme-boulonnais.fr

22 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

PARIS MUSEUM CELEBRATES
70 YEARS OF DIOR FASHION
LES NOUVELLES
The Musée des Arts
Décoratifs in Paris is
celebrating the 70th
anniversary of the Dior
fashion house with a lavish
exhibition. Christian Dior:
Couturier du Rêve is the
first Parisian retrospective
dedicated to the father of
haute couture in 30 years.
Visitors are taken on
a chronological journey of
discovery, starting with the
story of Dior’s life, before
exploring his greatest
sources of inspiration,
which included painting
and sculpture.
The retrospective also
considers the contributions
from other couturiers,
including Yves Saint
Laurent, Marc Bohan and
Gianfranco Ferré, who
have helped to define the
house’s identity in the
years since Dior’s death
in 1957.
Taking centre stage are
more than 300 gowns
produced from 1947 to the
present day, including
Dior’s first creation, the
thin-waisted, fully pleated
‘satan red’ dress which
brought him instant
fame and ushered
in a new, post-war ideal
of femininity.
Other items on display
include fashion
photographs, sketches,
advertising documents,
hats, jewellery, bags
and shoes.
The exhibition, which
covers 3,000 square
metres, continues until
7 January 2018.
lesartsdecoratifs.fr
Read all
about it...
Discover the River Loire on two
wheels, from its source in the
Massif Central to the Atlantic
Ocean, with The Loire Valley
Cycle Route (Cicerone, £16.95).
The book divides the
1,052-kilometre-long route
into 26 stages and includes
information on places to visit as
well as a French glossary.
DID YOU KNOW?
The city of Bordeaux was
ruled by the English from
1152 – when Eleanor of
Aquitaine married the
future Henry II of
England – until 1453.
PHOTOGRAPHS: MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS, PARIS
Contributor
INSIDER TIP ON FRANCE
Always greet a French
person politely before
asking a question.
‘Bonjour’ is an easy word
and can make such
a difference to a reply.
Judy Armstrong
Appleton-le-Moors,
North Yorkshire
SUR LE WEB
Our guide to websites that can help
you broaden your knowledge of France
Wine enthusiasts looking to book a holiday in
one of France’s wine regions will find a lot
of useful information by clicking on to
winetravelguides.com/Guides/France,
an authority on French wine.
The website contains 48 detailed guides
– many compiled by leading wine writers –
covering 12 major wine regions of France.
Each guide highlights the appellations, grape
varieties and type of soil found in that
particular area. You get information on local
producers, showing whether visits to
a vineyard are by appointment only and
if wine tours are available in English.
Among other features, winetravelguides.
com/Guides/France provides suggested
itineraries for anyone looking to organise
their own wine-focused trip, as well as places
to stay and eat, and details of tourist
attractions to visit away from the vineyards.
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 23

Quick guide to...
Pau
TRAVEL
NEWS
That name doesn’t
ring a bell. Where is
it exactly?
Capital of the historical
Pays Béarn province, Pau
lies at the foot of the
western Pyrénées.
However, the town has
more of a Riviera
ambience, with its
promenades, grand villas
and parks, which catered
for wealthy British and
American visitors who
came for the winter
climate during the
belle époque.
What can I see and do?
Begin your visit in the
historic centre, which sits
on a cliff edge above the
River Gave de Pau. For
stunning views of the
mountains, stroll along
the palm-lined Boulevard
des Pyrénées (pictured),
the town’s answer to the
Promenade des Anglais
in Nice.
At the western end of
the boulevard stands the
majestic, 12th-century
Château de Pau,
birthplace of King Henry
IV of France and Navarre.
It now houses a national
museum containing
tapestries, period
furnishings and artworks.
For further glimpses
of Pau, head off the main
boulevard into the maze
of narrow, well-kept
streets, where shops sell
traditional Pyrenean
gifts and delicacies.
On the edge of the
historic centre is the
Musée des Beaux-Arts,
which has an extensive
collection of 15th to 20th
century artworks,
including numerous
pieces from local artists.
A ten-minute walk brings
you to the Musée
Bernadotte, the
birthplace of Jean-
Baptiste Jules
Bernadotte, who became
Marshal of France, and
King of Sweden in 1818.
Any good places to eat
and drink?
Yes! For classic, fuss-free
French cuisine, don’t
miss La Brasserie Royale
in Place Royale (mains
from €17, tel: (Fr) 5 59 27
72 12). It is popular with
locals for its steak-frites,
not to mention magret de
canard and the Pyrenean
meat, bean and
vegetable soup garbure.
For cuisine in
a modern setting, try
Le Poulet à Trois Pattes
(menus from €18,
lepouleta3pattes.fr).
The restaurant has
a Scandinavian-style,
minimalist interior and
puts a slight spin on
French dishes with
favourites including tuna
belly, endive fondue and
hazelnut-infused cream
and grilled foie gras.
If fine dining whets
your appetite, head to
Au Fin Gourmet (menus
from €28, restaurantaufingourmet.com).
Popular dishes include
roasted monkfish in
a cumin sauce,
lobster ravioli and
scallop velouté.
Where should I stay?
Book into the Best
Western Hôtel
Continental (doubles
from £90, bestwesternpaucentre.com),
in the
heart of Pau. The 75
rooms are individually
decorated and come with
free Wi-Fi and LCD TVs.
Get me there!
Tarbes-Lourdes-
Pyrénées airport is 55km
south-east of Pau.
Ryanair operates regular
services to London
Stansted.
For more information,
visit pau-pyrenees.com
TGV TRAINS REBRANDED
France’s premium high-speed TGV train
service is being renamed inOui from the end
of this summer. State rail operator SNCF
has decided to act in the face of growing
competition from low-cost flights, new
coach services and long-distance
car-sharing. The name also links the
service with SNCF’s low-cost equivalent,
Ouigo. Bosses hope the rebrand will help
to attract 15 million new high-speed
passengers by 2020. sncf.fr
CHEAP FLIGHTS BOOST
Air France is on course to launch a low-cost
subsidiary this winter, aimed at millennial
travellers. The airline is seeking to compete
with easyJet and Ryanair, among others,
providing routes to countries such as Italy,
Spain and Turkey. The working title is ‘Boost’,
but Air France will unveil the permanent name
by the end of the summer. airfrance.com
LADURÉE AT AIRPORT
Macarons specialist Ladurée has opened
one of its trademark ‘carrosse’ (carriageshaped)
counters in the departures lounge
of London City Airport. As well as luxurious
macarons, travellers will be able to buy jams,
candles, tote bags and gift boxes. laduree.fr
PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY IMAGES/iSTOCKPHOTO; SNCF; MICHAL OSMENDA CC BY-SA 2.0
24 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

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Jet2
(Apr - Oct)
Monarch
easyJet
(Apr - Oct)
Flybe
(May - Sept)
British Airways
(Charter only with Corsican Places)
FERRIES
Brittany Ferries
Tel:
Tel:
0330
0330
159
159
7000
7000
www.brittany
brittanyferries.co.uk
ferries.co.uk
Condor Ferries
Condor Ferries
Tel:
Tel:
0845
0345 609
609
1024
1024
www.condorferries.co.uk
DFDS Seaways
Tel: 0871 574 7235
www.dfdsseaways.co.uk
Irish Ferries
Tel: (ROI) 818 300 400
www.irishferries.com
P&O Ferries
Tel: 0871 0800664 130 2121 0030
www.poferries.com
Stena Line
Tel: (ROI) 1 204 907 7777 5555
www.stenaline.ie
RAIL
Eurostar
Tel: 03448 0343 218 1186186
444
www.eurostar.com
Eurotunnel
Tel: 0844 335 3535
www.eurotunnel.com
Voyages-sncf.com
Tel: 0844 848 5848
www.voyages-sncf.com
AIRLINES
Aer Lingus
Tel: 0333 0871 718 0042020
5000
www.aerlingus.com
Air France
Tel: 0207 0871 663 6603777
0337
www.airfrance.co.uk
Aurigny Air Services
Tel: 01481 822 886
www.aurigny.com
Blue Islands
Tel: 0845 01234620 589 2122 200
www.blue blueislands.com
islands.com
bmi regional
bmi Tel: 0330 regional 333 7998
Tel: bmiregional.com
0330 333 7998
www.bmi
British Airways
regional.com
Tel: 0844 493 0787
British britishairways.com Airways
Tel: CityJet 0844 493 0787
www.british Tel: 0203 481 1259
airways.com
cityjet.com5
CityJet easyJet
Tel: 0330 0871 405 365 2020 5000
easyjet.com
www.cityjet.com
Flybe easyJet
Tel: 0330 0371 700 3652000
5000
flybe.com www.easyjet.com
Jet2 Flybe
Tel: 0371 0333700 3002000
0404
jet2.com www.flybe.com
Lyddair Jet2
Tel: 01797 0800 408 322 207 1350
lyddair.com www.jet2.com
Monarch Lyddair
Tel: 01797 0333 777 3224756
207
monarch.co.uk
www.lyddair.com
Norwegian Monarch
Tel: 0330 0871 940 828 5040 0854
norwegian.com
www.monarch.co.uk
Ryanair Norwegian
Tel: 0843 378 0888
Tel:
www.norwegian.com
0871 246 0000
ryanair.com
Ryanair
Swiss Tel: 0871 Int. 246 Air0000
www.ryanair.com
Tel: 0345 601 0956
Swiss Int. Air
swiss.com Tel: 0845 601 0956
www.swiss.com
Titan Airways
Tel:
Titan
01279
Airways
680 616
Tel: 01279 680 616
titan-airways.co.uk
www.titanairways.co.uk
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 25

PA R I S
TH E
PAG E
TH E
PAG E
PA R I S
3COOL CAFÉS
TO DISCOVER
Give your Paris coffee stop a lift by
tracking down these local favourites
HONOR, 8th
ARRONDISSEMENT
This outdoor, kiosk-style coffee shop is
tucked away in a cobblestoned
courtyard near the Élysée Palace and
just off the fashionable Rue du
Faubourg Saint-Honoré – hence its
name. The contemporary design
features black and white wooden seats
and a matching serving counter. Pull up
a bar stool or sit in a small raised area
at the back.
Honor serves freshly roasted coffee
and works with the Coutume café, one
of the leaders of the coffee-making
revolution in Paris. There is also
a selection of sweet treats including
chocolate brownie triangles, lemon and
poppy seed muffins and, my favourite,
the tangy tarte au citron.
Peter Stewart
54 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
Tel: (Fr) 7 82 52 93 63
honor-cafe.com
LE PAVILLON DES
CANAUX, 19th
The area of north-east Paris around the
Bassin de la Villette is a lively cultural
hub, and this café certainly stands out
from the crowd. The owners, Sinny and
Ooko, took over an old two-storey house,
covering the exterior walls with street art
to provide a vibrant, artistic edge.
Inside they have made use of all
the rooms to create a ‘coffice’ –
a combination of home comforts and
an office where customers can work
over a coffee. The main living room area
has plush armchairs, mismatched
furniture, an assortment of plants and
even a birdcage.
On the drinks front, you can choose
from richly blended coffees, teas, freshly
squeezed juices and cocktails. Food
highlights include home-made salads,
cakes, scones and muffins. PS
39 Quai de la Loire
Tel: (Fr) 1 73 71 82 90
www.pavillondescanaux.com
LE CAFÉ DES CHATS, 11th
Sip a café crème with a purring feline on
your lap at this ‘cat café’ not far from
Place de la Bastille. Customers are
nonchalantly welcomed in as if it were
a regular café; the golden rules are that
you must not feed the cats or disturb any
which are asleep.
Laminated cards give details of the
dozen felines’ names, ages and
provenance, and an enormous scratching
post wedged between the floor
and the ceiling is the main stage for
visitors’ entertainment.
Turn up any time between noon and
10.30pm (closed Mondays) and sample
the menu of light meals, weekend
brunches and home-made gâteaux.
Rachel Johnston
9 Rue Sedaine
Tel: (Fr) 9 73 53 35 81
lecafedeschats.fr
PHOTOGRAPHS: HONOR; MÉLANIE VASSELIN; RACHEL JOHNSTON
26 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

RoadTRIP
This relatively short summer circuit
from the Alpine resort of Chamonix
takes in two countries, Europe’s highest
mountain and a medieval cité
Tunnel du Mont-Blanc
Megève
Conflans
AUVERGNE-RHÔNE-ALPES
Chamonix
Bourg-Saint-
Maurice
Col du
Petit
Saint
Bernard
DAY ONE
CHAMONIX TO BOURG-SAINT-MAURICE
116 KILOMETRES
From Chamonix, head west on the
N205/A40 in the direction of Sallanches,
trying to focus on the winding road
ahead rather than the spectacular icefalls
tumbling down from the Mont Blanc
massif on your left. You can get up closer
by taking the cable car from the centre
of Chamonix to the top of the Aiguille
du Midi; the spire-like peak tops out
at almost 4,000 metres and there are
amazing views from the summit.
Not long after crossing a particularly
dizzying road bridge, turn off on to the
D902, which negotiates the narrow
fin-de-siècle main street of Saint-Gervaisles-Bains
before taking you to the D909/
D1212 through the ski resort of Megève.
The town has an attractive mix of
rustic-chic chalets, upmarket hotels and
designer boutiques. Stop to wander the
pedestrianised centre and its cobbled
medieval streets, perhaps grabbing coffee
or lunch at Flocons Village bistro (menus
from €23, 74 Rue Saint-François,
ABOVE: Place de l’Église in the centre of the Alpine resort of Megève
floconsdesel.com), which is popular with
locals and pretty good value.
Continue south through the evernarrowing
Gorges de l’Arly; the road
snakes between forested rock walls,
with the white waters of the river
tumbling down on your left-hand side,
and the occasional turn-off that leads up
into smaller ski resorts of the Beaufort
and Aravis ranges such as Les Saisies
and La Giettaz.
You emerge from the gorge at the
blue-collar town of Ugine and its
zirconium plant. Continue to Albertville,
which hosted the 1992 Winter Olympics.
As you enter the town, look to your left
to see the medieval cité of Conflans
perched above the River Arly.
To get there, drive on to the N90 in
the direction of Moûtiers and then come
off almost immediately, following signs
for Conflans; pay attention as you will be
retracing the route for the onward
journey. Park beneath the fortified walls
and walk up through the tight streets and
alleys into the old square where there are
several places to enjoy a drink, such as
L’Authentic (17 Place de Conflans,
tel: (Fr) 4 79 37 71 29), which also offers
a fine selection of crêpes.
Make time for a short stroll to the
viewpoint over the confluence of the Arly
and Isère rivers, where you can instantly
see why Conflans was sited here, for its
magnificent defensive position.
Retrace your route to the N90, from
where it is only about 40 minutes to your
destination, Bourg-Saint-Maurice. Along
the way you will pass below the ski
resorts of La Plagne and Les Arcs on
your right, and almost certainly see the
sky dotted with paragliders floating
gently down to the valley floor.
In Bourg-Saint-Maurice, the basic but
comfortable Hôtel Relais de la Vanoise
makes a good overnight stop and has
the advantage of being on your route
(B&B from €60, 253 Avenue du Stade,
tel: (Fr) 4 79 07 11 34). Alternatively,
the shady Camping Huttopia
(campervans from around €26, Route
des Arcs, europe.huttopia.com) is just
a five-minute walk from the town centre.
Le Tonneau bar and brasserie,
opposite the bus station, has a large
outside dining area and a buzzing
atmosphere (menus from €18, 2 Avenue
du Stade, tel: (Fr) 4 79 07 51 60).
DAY TWO
BOURG-SAINT-MAURICE TO CHAMONIX
(VIA MONT BLANC TUNNEL)
83 KILOMETRES
If you are in Bourg on a Saturday, visit
the weekly market in the town centre.
Otherwise, after breakfast, head down
the Avenue du Stade in the direction of
Séez and the Col du Petit Saint Bernard.
The drive up to the col on the D1090
is beautiful, with views across the
Haute-Tarentaise opening up on each
hairpin; it is worth pulling over to enjoy
PHOTOGRAPHS: CARMEN KONOPKA/DESTINATIONFRANCE; SAVOIE MONT BLANC/MACHET; SAVOIE MONT BLANC/LANSARD
28 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

EASY ITINERARY
ABOVE: Mont Pourri reflected in Lac du Retour
near La Rosière; RIGHT: The cité of Conflans
the panorama of the glacier-draped
massif of Mont Pourri which stands
proud above the ski resorts of Les Arcs
and Tignes.
You will be sharing the road with
hordes of cyclists and motorcyclists, for
whom the col is a major draw. While the
temptation may be to stop for coffee in
the ski resort of La Rosière at 1,800
metres, it is probably better to carry on
up to the Italian border. You can take
a coffee and cake break at the historic
Hospice du Petit Saint Bernard (bureaumontagne-haute-tarentaise.fr/hospice-dupetit-saint-bernard)
or wait until you are
in Italy and stop at the bustling Bar du
Lac (tel: (It) 0165 843 209) on what is
now the Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo.
There is evidence of human
settlements on the col dating from the
Iron Age, and it is believed to be the
place where the Carthaginian general
Hannibal and his elephants crossed
the Alps in 218 BC on their way
to confront the Roman republic.
The views are sensational; you are at an
altitude of 2,188 metres, and the Mont
Blanc massif looms over you to the
north. The D1090 has turned into the
SS26 and heads down the steep and
winding ribbon of tarmac through the
ski resort of La Thuile to eventually pick
up the A5/E25 autostrada.
The route follows the Aosta Valley
past the resort of Courmayeur and then
goes beneath Mont Blanc via the
11-kilometre-long tunnel (€44.20), before
emerging in France on the edge of your
starting point, Chamonix.
Alf Alderson
GETTING THERE: Chamonix is
an 8hr drive from the northern ports;
The train journey from Paris to
Chamonix via Saint-Gervais-les-Bains
takes from 5hr 40min (tel: 0844 848
5848, voyages-sncf.com); Geneva Airport
is about a 1hr 40min drive.
TOURIST INFORMATION: Savoie
Mont Blanc tourist board, savoie-montblanc.com
Enjoy this article? Tell us where you
would like your road trip to be and
we’ll plan it in a future edition.
Email editorial@francemag.com
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 29

The hidden gems of
JURA
Love the mountains in summer, but want to
escape the crowds? Look east to find outdoor
escapism at its best, says Sophie Gardner-Roberts
When thinking of French
mountain ranges, you
may conjure up images of
the towering summits and
mysterious valleys of the Alps, the jagged
peaks of the Pyrénées or the ancient
volcanic domes of the Massif Central.
Less familiar are the Jura Mountains,
a natural eastern border between France
and Switzerland. Here lies a fascinating
mountain range, a sort of offshoot of
the Alps, with lower summits but
breathtaking landscapes. The land is
dotted with blue lakes, small villages and
historical forts. Peaks rise dramatically,
creating bucolic valleys, while the earth is
carved from within by cave networks. It
is home to cattle-farming folk who have
preserved a heritage of agriculture and
artisanal production in the high pastures.
You will find ever-changing scenery
that brings a surprise at every turn of the
twisting mountain roads. You will cross
the paths of cyclists, walkers and bikers,
and perhaps the occasional herd of cows.
You will eat your way through hearty
cuisine and traditionally made cheeses,
whose recipes remain a well-kept secret.
You may even discover the truth behind
the legendary absinthe spirit.
These were just some of my
experiences on a packed tour of the
Montagnes du Jura, where I was charmed
by the natural beauty of the area and the
treasures it held, hidden from the
well-trodden path of summer tourism in
the French mountains.
The Jura Mountains are a defined
holiday area that covers the Haut-Jura
regional park and three départements:
Doubs and Jura in Bourgogne-Franche-
Comté and Ain in Auvergne-Rhône-
Alpes. It is a natural playground for
active travellers who love to hike, cycle,
swim, paddle or climb.
As the Jura range is relatively modest
in height, climbing and other rock
activities such as via ferrata are very
PHOTOGRAPH: MICHEL JOLY/BOURGOGNE-FRANCHE-COMTÉ TOURISME
30 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

JURA
The Plus Beau Village of Baume-les-Messieurs
popular, combining the adrenalin rush
of the mountains at a lower altitude.
One such via ferrata scrambling route
is located on the southern edge of
the regional park, right by the border
with Switzerland.
Thrilling ascent
Just outside Bellegarde-sur-Valserine
perches Fort l’Écluse, an old fortified
bastion overlooking the River Rhône.
I was peering up at it, pleasantly taking
in the scenery, when Étienne, our guide
from Rock’n Jump Adventure, pointed at
the upper fort some 200 metres above
and said: “That’s where we’re going.”
“Sure we are,” my brother and I laughed,
thinking it was a joke. It was not. Trying
to ignore the jolt of fear in our stomachs,
we began the ascent in the sweltering
heat, Étienne leading the way.
Little metal footholds were bolted into
the cliff, providing firm grips and steps
for our hands and feet as we climbed at
a steady pace. Suddenly, Étienne stopped
and hooked his safety line on to one of
the rigid staples sticking out of the rock
and sat comfortably into his harness.
“Enjoy the view!” he grinned. Doing
the same, we turned away from the cliff
to take in the jaw-dropping panorama.
The Rhône glinted pale blue down below,
while forest-covered mountains rose on
either side of us. It was spectacular. We
carried on, gaining confidence with every
step, stopping occasionally to drink water
and enjoy the views. It was a physically
tiring yet thrilling ascent. We reached the
base of the upper fort relatively quickly,
feeling hot and bothered, but happy and
giddy from excitement.
Those who are not keen on vertical
ascents will find plenty of gentler
activities. I enjoyed a pleasant walk
through the wooded landscapes of the
Pertes de la Valserine in Bellegarde.
A path follows the River Valserine before
the waters pour into impressive canyons ➳
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 31

that have been shaped by erosion.
It makes a perfect picnic spot and is
a great place to slow down and enjoy
the surrounding nature.
The summer heat was intense, so, later
in the trip, I was relieved to stop in
Saint-Point-Lac, a charming commune on
the banks of Lac Saint-Point, France’s
third-largest natural lake. After a lengthy
swim, I watched people pass by the small
beach in kayaks and canoes, while sails
from boats further out flashed white.
The lake reflected the vivid blue of the
sky, edged by dark forests. Hotels and
villages clustered on the banks but all
was quiet, except for the soft splashes of
water from swimmers and paddles.
Spectacular setting
The area’s beauty is not limited to nature.
The Plus Beau Village of Baume-les-
Messieurs is nestled deep in a lush valley
and encased by the spectacular Cirque de
Baume; its abbey and quaint houses are
as charming as can be.
The abbey was founded in the 9th
century and it was from here that, in 910,
Bernon set out to become the first Abbot
of Cluny. The next 1,000 years saw
the abbey swing between decline and
regeneration, with its peak being reached
in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The architecture reflects the different
periods and features a beautiful medieval
sculpted doorway.
I happened to be there on
a legislative election day and the
village square was busy, but
overall, the village appears
frozen in time, with old stone
houses, lined with brightly
coloured roses, in quiet
cobbled streets.
Another testimony to times
past is the Château de Joux,
perched precariously on
a high cliff overlooking the village of La
Cluse-et-Mijoux. The drive up winding
roads is worthwhile for the panoramic
views. The fort itself is bare inside,
although it has an interesting history as
a state prison, with famous inmates
including revolutionary leader Count
Mirabeau and Toussaint L’Ouverture,
who led a slave revolt in Haiti.
I revelled in exploring the outdoors,
but also had the chance to discover the
region’s underground treasures. The caves
of Baume-les-Messieurs are tucked away
in a reculée, a geological term designating
a narrow but deep valley that ends
in a natural cul-de-sac.
Access to the caves is by a metal
staircase hugging the cliff, as the entrance
is not level with the ground. The guided
tour lasts about an hour and takes
visitors through a network of galleries
emerging into large, cavernous ‘rooms’.
Some sections are very low and narrow,
so you have to bend over to complete
the visit, although our young guide,
Pierre, was very accommodating
with all the visitors.
The cave was discovered in 1610 and
explored properly from 1893-1895 by
Alfred Martel, considered the founder of
modern speleology. It boasts impressive
formations and a jittery resident bat
population, but the simplicity of the
installations – metal steps and clever
lighting – allowed us to take in fully
the grandeur of the caves and its ancient
fault lines.
In a different style, the Grottes du
Cerdon, in Ain, are perhaps more
DID YOU KNOW?
You can recognise a good
Comté by a colour-coded
band, stuck on to the crust:
brown means it scored
12-13/20, green 15-20/20.
impressive as they contain spectacular
stalagmite and stalactite formations,
including a ‘cascade’ which looks as if
the running water had frozen instantly.
Visitors can take a guided tour, or go it
alone with the help of a waterproof
booklet inviting stops at certain points to
read the explanations. The visitors’ centre
has plenty of amenities and holds
educational workshops where children
learn about archaeology, pottery and
even archery.
Cheese galore
Once you have burned all those calories
climbing mountains, diving in lakes and
exploring the underworld, you will be
pleased to know that the local cuisine
consists mainly of delicious cheeses.
The region’s claim to fame, Comté,
has a fascinating background. The first
records of production date from the
Middle Ages, when farmers pooled
resources, particularly milk, to have
enough food for the winter. The amount
of milk they collected enabled them to
32 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

JURA
ABOVE: The River Valserine in full flow near Bellegarde; LEFT, FROM TOP: The Château de Joux; Sophie nears the end of her via ferrata climb
PHOTOGRAPHS: SOPHIE GARDNER-ROBERTS; ROCK’N JUMP ADVENTURE
make large wheels of cheese. Comté is
still produced in the same collaborative
way, using milk from several farms to
make each wheel; you need 400 litres to
make a 35-40-kilogram Comté cheese.
Perhaps the best place to understand
the process is Fort Saint-Antoine.
The 19th-century building lies partially
underground (beneath six to eight metres
of earth) and was barely used for its
intended military purpose. Marcel Petite,
a successful Comté producer from nearby
Pontarlier, recognised the fort’s potential
– with its constant temperature of around
8°C and 80-90 per cent humidity – as the
ideal place to age his cheeses, and took
over the premises in 1966. Today,
100,000 wheels of Comté age slowly in
every nook and cranny.
You get to taste one of Marcel Petite’s
most popular cheeses, a creamy
12-month-old Comté, during the guided
visit. The highlight is the large Cour
d’Honneur, which shelters
thousands of Comté wheels,
all neatly aligned on
wooden shelves. A strong
smell of ammonia,
secreted naturally by
the aging cheeses,
catches you by surprise
but you get used to it.
DID YOU KNOW?
Bleu de Gex was the
favourite cheese of the
Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V (1500-1558).
Employees, we are told, think it makes
them rather euphoric.
The Jura Mountains are home to
several cheese AOCs: Comté (since
1958), Mont d’Or, Morbier and the
less-well-known Bleu de Gex. The latter
is a creamy blue cheese which is only
made in four appellations. One of them,
La Fromagerie de l’Abbaye in Chézery, is
open to the public. Thanks to a raised
platform with glass walls, visitors can
watch the cheese makers at work. Milk
comes from Montbéliarde cows, which
graze high up in the mountains, eating
flowers that give the cheese a peppery
taste. It is aged for a minimum of three
weeks and holes are poked through
the top to let the air reach the centre
and allow fermentation.
It was strangely mesmerising to watch
the workers plop the lumps of milk into
buckets and place plastic letters on the
soft cheese so that GEX is engraved in the
crust once the cheese has aged enough.
One of the more mysterious
products of the Jura mountains
is absinthe, the once-illicit,
highly alcoholic ‘green fairy’
notorious for pushing artists
to madness. The spirit was
invented in Switzerland but
mass-produced in Pontarlier
in the 19th century because of high Swiss
taxes. The drink became hugely popular
from around 1830 after French troops,
having used absinthe to purify water in
the colonies, returned home and
introduced it to the public.
By 1900, the golden age of cabarets,
French can-can and artists’ parties,
Pontarlier had 25 distilleries and 111
bistros serving the aperitif. Consumption
was so high that people were falling ill,
even becoming blind. At the outbreak of
World War I, the wine industry and
political lobbies fought to get rid of the
drink. In March 1915, absinthe was
banned in France and the myth grew up
about the spirit’s lethal qualities.
Another age started, that of illegal
absinthe production and clandestine
consumption. Producers in Switzerland
made absinthe, under names such as ‘lait
de vache’ or ‘lait de tigre’, until 2005 when
the ban was lifted. The French had to
MORE
ONLINE
More ideas for walking holidays in France
www.completefrance.com/travel/walkingin-france
➳
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 33

wait until 2011 for absinthe to be
legalised, but the drink retains some of its
mystique and sense of danger.
Today, absinthe is celebrated as part
of the local heritage and a symbol of
Franco-Swiss collaboration. The Route
de l’Absinthe crosses the border from
Pontarlier to the Val-de-Travers, the heart
of absinthe country. The Distillerie Les
Fils d’Émile Pernot, the most important
producer in the early 1900s, still stands
today in La Cluse-et-Mijoux. You can
visit the distillery for free and buy some
of its iconic bottles; the family-run
business has revived the art-deco labels,
producing some beautiful designs from
the golden age of absinthe.
Tasting the local produce is as much
an exploration of the Jura Mountains as
ABOVE: Classic absinthe labels at the Distillerie Les Fils d’Émile Pernot in Pontarlier
climbing the peaks or wandering around
the villages. If, like me, you do not ski
but love the mountains, you will find
happiness in the forests, lakes and valleys.
I share my experiences with some
hesitation, as although I would love you
to discover this underrated area of France,
part of me also hopes to preserve its
authenticity by keeping its right to remain
one of l’Hexagone’s best-kept secrets.
Francofile
Enjoy the outdoor life in the Jura Mountains
GETTING THERE
By rail: Sophie travelled
with Voyages-SNCF. The
journey from London to
Pontarlier via Paris and then
on to Frasne takes about
8hr (tel: 0844 848 5848,
voyages-sncf.com). Car hire
is available from Pontarlier
with Europcar (europcar.
co.uk). See page 25 for
other travel information.
WHERE TO STAY
Sophie stayed at:
L’Ecrin du Lac
2 Route de Malpas
25160 Saint-Point-Lac
Tel: (Fr) 3 81 69 67 47
l-ecrin-du-lac.fr
Comfortable family-run B&B
housed in a renovated
farmhouse 350 metres from
Lac Saint-Point and its
small beach. Doubles
from €80.
La Maison d’Ambronay
46 Grande Rue
01500 Ambronay
Tel: (Fr) 7 82 32 90 79
lamaisondambronay.fr
Owner Nathalie Schlienger
has transformed the
village school into
a boutique B&B where
each room has its own
atmosphere and decor,
reminding guests of their
school days. Rooms from
€90, breakfast included.
WHERE TO EAT
Sophie dined at:
La Mainaz
Route du Col de la Faucille
Le Creux de La Mainaz
01170 Gex
Tel: (Fr) 4 50 41 31 10
la-mainaz.com
Beautiful four-star hotel
with two restaurants at an
altitude of 1,250 metres,
with breathtaking views of
Lac Léman (Lake Geneva),
and Mont Blanc on the
horizon. Young chef Mathieu
Sagardoytho oversees both
the gastronomic restaurant
La Table de la Mainaz (mains
from €48) and the more
laid-back Brasserie Le
Panorama (mains from €23).
The food is exquisite and
the service very friendly.
Auberge de l’Abbaye
47 Place des Anciens
Combattants
01500 Ambronay
Tel: (Fr) 4 74 46 42 54
aubergedelabbayeambronay.com
One-Michelin-star
restaurant where chef Ivan
Lavaux serves refined
dishes using local and
seasonal produce (fish and
vegetables, but not meat).
There is no à la carte; the
friendly and unpretentious
staff explain the no-choice
menu at the table.
WHERE TO VISIT
Fort l’Écluse via ferrata
Route de Genève, Longeray
01200 Léaz
If you have you own gear
(harness, snap hooks, straps
and helmets) and are
experienced at climbing,
ABOVE: Comté cheeses maturing at Fort Saint-Antoine
you can take the route
on your own, as it is open
to anyone. If you choose
a guided via ferrata, Rock’n
Jump Adventure provides
the climbing gear. Prices
from €40.
Tel: (Fr) 6 77 89 00 04
rockn-jump-adventure.com
Fort Saint-Antoine
Cave d’affinage
Marcel Petite
Fort de Saint-Antoine
25370 Saint-Antoine
Tel: (Fr) 3 81 49 14 34
comte-petite.com
TOURIST INFORMATION: Montagnes du Jura, tel: (Fr) 3 81 25 54 55, montagnes-dujura.fr/en;
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté tourisme, tel: (Fr) 3 81 25 0800,
en.bourgognefranchecomte.com; Ain tourisme, ain-tourisme.com; Jura tourisme, tel: (Fr)
3 84 87 08 88, jura-tourism.com; Doubs tourisme, tel: (Fr) 3 81 21 29 99, doubs.travel
Grottes de Baume-les-
Messieurs
39210 Baume-les-Messieurs
Tel: (Fr) 3 84 48 23 02
baumelesmessieurs.fr
Adults €8.50, 6-12s €5.
Grottes du Cerdon
Parc de loisirs
préhistoriques
01450 Labalme
Tel: (Fr) 4 74 37 36 79
grotte-cerdon.com
Adults from €9.50,
4-12s €6.50.
Distillerie Les Fils
d’Émile Pernot
18-20 Le Frambourg
25300 La Cluse-et-Mijoux
Tel: (Fr) 3 81 39 04 28
fr.emilepernot.fr
PHOTOGRAPHS: SOPHIE GARDNER-ROBERTS
34 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

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www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 35

Like all true religions, golf has its
holy places. The faithful arrive
at St Andrews from all corners
of the world, and line up for
expensive humiliation at Pinehurst and
Pebble Beach. Those of us who love to
swing a club in France are drawn to the
sunshine and sand of Nouvelle-
Aquitaine, where southern heat tempered
by an Atlantic breeze promise perfect
conditions for a seaside game.
Shadowing the well-trodden
pilgrimage road to the Pyrénées and
Santiago de Compostela, my journey
through France will be punctuated by
bogeys and birdie opportunities, followed
by a cruise on the ferry back from Spain
after the last putt has been missed.
Where to start? Every Channel port
has top-notch golf on its doorstep.
My landfall is Saint-Malo, where the
overnight ferry docks beneath the walls
of the fortress city at 8am on a brilliant
June day. From here it is an easy hour’s
drive along the coast to Pléneuf-Val-André,
the pick of Brittany’s crop of courses.
In a new car that offers every comfort
short of a massage, I arrive at the golf
club with no excuses, for once, instead of
staggering to the tee with joints creaking
like a rusty door hinge.
To complete the hole
with the first ball
that you hit off
the tee is a cause
for rejoicing
Rhythm is an important element of
course design, and Pléneuf starts quietly
with a generous par five – unless you
visit on a competition day, as I did, and
they welcome you with instructions to
begin at the tenth.
This is like starting Verdi’s Requiem
at the Dies Irae. Down the left, a hedge
marks the course boundary. A bank of
dense prickly scrub, more maquis than
rough, intrudes from the right. The green
is out of sight and the fairway narrows
to a ribbon precisely where you would
like your ball to be, for a view of the
flag. Never mind par: to complete this
hole with the first ball that you hit off
the tee is cause for rejoicing.
In happy contrast, one of the most
inspiring moments in French golf comes
The tenth green at Pléneuf-Val-André enjoys
a spectacular position overlooking the Channel
next: a pulpit tee on a spur high above
the beach looks down on a beckoning
sward of flat and hazard-free fairway
behind the sweep of the sands. Unwind,
and launch a shell through the gap
between a lone pine and the picturesque
ruin of an old farmhouse.
So the round goes on, measuring its
doses of menace and generosity. After the
usual ragoût of shots and too many putts,
it is time to head south on the region’s
toll-free autoroutes, cross the River Loire
at Nantes and follow the Vendée coast
as far as Saint-Jean-de-Monts, a familyfriendly
beach resort with a golf course
of great character, created and designed
30 years ago by local enthusiasts.
Not for them, the quiet start. The first
hole curls from left to right around the
only lake on the course. It is one of those
risk-reward moments that call for a deep
breath, commitment – or a splash and
three off the tee. Same story for the
approach to the green, only with
a shorter club in hand, depending on
how brave and successful you were with
the tee shot. Use an old ball would be
my course management advice.
The course then plunges into an oak
forest for half a dozen tight holes before
emerging into rolling dunes for as fair
a stretch of links golf as a Scotsman
could wish for, with salt on the breeze
and a pretty view of the Île d’Yeu.
PHOTOGRAPH: BRITTANY FERRIES
36 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

ATLANTIC GOLF
Long drive on
the golf coast
From the Channel to the Spanish border,
Adam Ruck finds many opportunities to test
his skills on France’s picturesque courses
Next stop, Bordeaux wine country,
where Saint-Émilion has been the talk of
French golf for almost a decade, although
Le Golf Club Grand Saint-Émilionnais, to
give the talking point its full title, was
a long time coming and did not fully
open until 2015.
The venture is a family affair,
conceived and managed by the Mourgue
d’Algue clan, pillars one and all of the
nation’s sporting noblesse d’épée. Their
patriarch Gaëtan has devoted his life to
promoting French golf via new courses,
prestigious championships and the
much-lamented Peugeot Golf Guide, which
did for travelling golfers what Michelin
does for gourmets and sightseers.
The new club is a former hunting
estate below the village of Gardegan-et-
Tourtirac: centennial oak woods
surrounded by Côtes de Castillon
vineyards. “The site appealed to us
because it’s undulating enough for
a varied and interesting round, but not
mountain golf,” says Gaëtan’s daughter
Kristel, a past winner on the LPGA tour.
The ground drains well, and suits
fast-rolling fescue grass.
These attributes were enough to
persuade the hottest name in golf course
design, Tom Doak, to cross the Atlantic
and make this patch his first course in
continental Europe.
Doak’s style is summarised as
minimalist, based on the idea that golf
should sit comfortably in the landscape
without distorting it. Subtle adjustments
to the river that runs through the property
have created a network of streams to
complicate our game and feed two lakes
for sustainable irrigation, and a couple of
good short holes. There are only 35
bunkers and Doak has left gaps for
a ‘bump and run’ approach to the green.
Despite the forest setting, there is no
sense of confinement. “Tom believes golf
should be fun for everyone,” says Kristel.
For a friendly finish, the 18th is wide
open with a punchbowl green that helps
the ball toward the hole. Which is not to
say the course is easy: some parts of
➳
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 37

the fairway and green are more
advantageous than others. “It’s about
strategy, and thinking two shots ahead,”
she adds.
Gaps in the screen of trees give us
views of surrounding features – a glimpse
of the philosopher Montaigne’s tower
from one hole, Gardegan’s church from
another. Do these touches add anything
to our game? Arguably not, but they are
the artist’s signature and a reminder to
look beyond the course, and beyond golf.
Montaigne’s tower might be worth
a visit. Saint-Émilion – a 20-minute drive
to the west – definitely is, for the
wine-tasting and the village itself, one
of Nouvelle-Aquitaine’s finest.
Project Saint-Émilion is a work in
progress – the shell of an old manor
beside the first tee will be a stylish
clubhouse one day – but the things that
matter are in place. The course is rolling
well and wonderfully empty, if my
experience is typical.
The family has also found a good chef,
who plays an early round, cooks lunch in
his spikes and mans the pans for the
evening service at his Michelin-rated
bistro on the River Dordogne at Branne.
Although no longer in the best of
health, Gaëtan Mourgue d’Algue still
enjoys his golf and speaks through his
daughter. “My father has always said
that France needs more golf resorts,”
Kristel tells me.
As it happens, an excellent one lies on
the other side of Bordeaux, an hour away
unless you try it in rush hour. Golf du
Médoc is a 36-hole spa hotel complex
between the immense Landes pine forest
and the Grand Cru Médoc vineyards of
Margaux, Mouton Rothschild and Latour.
The landscape is flat, the hotel
ABOVE: The clubhouse and first hole at Saint-Jean-de-Monts; BELOW: The 18th green at Grand
Saint-Émilionnais: RIGHT: Driving off at the sixth hole at Saint-Émilion
low-rise, and there are no views beyond
the course. Nothing intrudes to prick the
golf bubble. Les Châteaux, Médoc’s
trophy course, is a heathland masterpiece
by Bill Coore, another leading light of
new-school American design whose
works are collectables as sought-after as
Tom Doak’s. Les Vignes, the supporting
act, is a bit more forgiving, which is
not a bad thing.
Médoc and Grand Saint-Émilionnais
have teamed up to offer a ‘Signature Golf
Pass’ valid for golf on all three courses
during a week, with or without
accommodation. I can’t think of a more
tempting formula for a short break
combining golf and wine tourism.
And so to Biarritz, queen of Basque
coastal resorts. Ninety years have passed
since the legendary Tom Simpson
received a brief to make the finest golf
course in the world for the future
Edward VIII and friends, and laid out
Chiberta beside the sea at Anglet,
between Biarritz and Bayonne.
The bucket-list option would be to
stay in the sumptuous Hôtel du Palais
overlooking the Grande Plage and its
surfers; hone the short game on its
practice green and do the rounds of
Biarritz’s eight courses.
For more affordable comfort, I put up
PHOTOGRAPHS: BRITTANY FERRIES; BORDEAUX TOURISME ET CONGRÈS
38 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

at the Hôtel de Chiberta and from the
breakfast terrace watched members make
their first swings of the morning at the
short tenth, as they are entitled to do.
After a second croissant, I headed for the
practice ground, a lake. Hitting balls into
the water is a questionable practice
routine, but strangely liberating.
“There was no practice ground in the
early days,” explains club manager
Estelle Nocera Raguno-Sirot. “When
we needed one, the only space available
was the lake.”
Chiberta is another course that divides
its setting equally between pine forest and
treeless links holes, with only the
promenade between golf and the ocean.
On a calm day it is in a benign mood.
“You have to imagine the wind in your
face here,” says Estelle at the 11th, which
she describes as “pure Simpson, at his
simplest”: a long straight par four toward
the sea, with a gun-barrel fairway and a
raised green. On an exposed sea course
such as this, in Europe’s surfing capital,
wind is everything. If it doesn’t carry your
drive into someone’s garden,
it will do its best to blow your putt off
the green and back down the fairway,
or into a bunker.
Simpson’s creation has had its
troubles, to say the least. During World
War II, the Germans requisitioned the
hotel, and their coastal defences wrecked
the course. Chiberta’s golfers unearthed
Simpson’s original drawings after the
war, rebuilt the greens and planted new
tees on top of Nazi blockhouses.
The restoration work goes on,
removing trees that don’t belong and
clearing the rough to allow indigenous
marine vegetation to flourish, instead of
long grass. “It’s colourful, it’s natural,
and you don’t lose the ball,” says Estelle.
MORE
ONLINE
ATLANTIC GOLF
“If Pinehurst can do it, so can we.”
Chiberta measures itself against the best.
Coastal erosion is another threat: the
sea has advanced 60 metres in 40 years,
devouring a hotel, a railway and half the
fifth fairway. All the more reason to play
this beautiful course soon.
My last stop before the Spanish border
is the old port of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, on
its sheltered bay, where Harry Colt
designed Chantaco while his arch-rival
Simpson was shaping Chiberta, 20
kilometres up the coast. Did the two
master builders bounce ideas off each
other over a glass of Irouléguy in one of
the tapas bars outside the Biarritz fish
market? Were there furtive missions of
industrial espionage?
The two locations are quite different,
with Chantaco being set back from the
sea in leafy seclusion between town and
mountains. The club enjoyed fashionable
success from the off, numbering Charlie
Chaplin and the future Edward VIII
among its patrons. The owner’s daughter,
many times French amateur champion,
married the inter-war tennis ace René
Lacoste to found the sporting and
business dynasty that still holds the
reins at Chantaco. and maintains its
reputation as a tournament venue and
academy for young talent.
The course and its art-deco
clubhouse have great charm and the
aura of an institution at peace with
itself. “We’re in nature here, that’s
what our members appreciate most,”
says the club’s manager Stéphane
Kerjean, inviting me to admire the view
of La Rhune. The Basque Country’s
signature peak is the last buttress of the
Pyrénées before they plunge into the
ocean at Irun. Its summit is the line for
your drive at the long 17th.
“Why don’t you play, since you’ve
come all this way?’ asks Stéphane. With
regret, I have a boat to catch, but it is
good to have something to look forward
to, for the next pilgrimage.
● See page 40 for travel information. ➳
Discover more activity holiday ideas
www.completefrance.com/travel/
activity-holidays
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 39

A golfer celebrates on the fifth green at the Chiberta course at Anglet
Francofile
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Play the golf courses on France’s Atlantic coast
GETTING THERE
By road/ferry: Brittany
Ferries operates overnight
crossings between
Portsmouth and Saint-
Malo, Bilbao and Santander.
Prices from £466 return
for a car and two
passengers with
a two-berth cabin, from
Portsmouth to Saint-Malo
and Bilbao to Portsmouth
in October (tel: 0330 359
7000, brittanyferries.co.uk).
Brittany Ferries also offers
tailor-made golf breaks
(tel: 0330 159 5418,
brittany-ferries.co.uk/golf).
See page 25 for other travel
information.
We are grateful to Ford for
the loan of a Kuga Vignale
for the feature. The
six-speed, four-wheel drive
SUV returned 45mpg over
the 1,450-kilometre trip.
On-the-road price from
£29,545 (ford.co.uk).
WHERE TO PLAY
Green fees are for high
season (Apr-Oct). Buggies
available at all courses
except Chiberta (€30-€40).
Pléneuf-Val-André
Rue de la Plage des Vallées
22370 Pléneuf-Val-André
Tel: (Fr) 2 96 63 01 12
pleneuf-val-andre.
bluegreen.com
Green fees €65.
Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Avenue des Pays de Loire
85160 Saint Jean de Monts
Tel: (Fr) 2 51 58 82 73
golfsaintjeandemonts.fr
Green fees €69.
Grand Saint-
Émilionnais
172 Lieu-dit Goffre
33350 Gardegan-et-
Tourtirac
Tel: (Fr) 5 57 40 88 64
segolfclub.com
Green fees €105 including
electric trolley. Closed Tues.
Golf du Médoc
Chemin de
Courmateau
33290 Le Pian-Médoc
Tel: (Fr) 5 56 70 11 90
golfdumedocresort.com
Green fees €86, both
courses in a day €129.
Signature Golf Pass €230
for three green fees at Golf
du Médoc and Grand
Saint-Émilionnais, valid for
one week; €506pp including
three nights’ B&B at either
club (signaturegolf
destination.com)
Chiberta
104 Boulevard des Plages
64600 Anglet
Tel: (Fr) 5 59 52 51 10
golfchiberta.com
Green fees €84.
Chantaco
Route d’Ascain
64500 Saint-Jean-de-Luz
Tel: (Fr) 5 59 26 14 22
chantaco.com
Green fees €79.
WHERE TO STAY
Atlantic Thalasso
16 Avenue des Pays
de Monts
85160 Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Tel: (Fr) 2 52 56 00 23
atlantic-thalasso-hotel.com
Hotel with spa and indoor
pool. Doubles from €74.
Golf du Médoc
Chemin de Courmateau
33290 Le Pian-Médoc
Tel: (Fr) 5 56 70 31 31
golfdumedocresort.com
Golf resort hotel with spa.
Many ground-floor rooms
open on to the course.
Doubles from €115.
Annexe du Comptoir
5 Lieu-dit la Croix
33350 Saint-Genèsde-Castillon
Tel: (Fr) 5 57 47 90 03
comptoirdegenes.fr/
annexe-du-comptoir
Three-bedroom gîte in
a family vineyard, 3km from
Grand Saint-Émilionnais golf
course. €180 per night,
minimum stay three nights.
Hôtel de Chiberta
104 Boulevard des Plages
64600 Anglet
Tel: (Fr) 5 59 58 48 48
hotel-chiberta-biarritz.com
Charming hotel 20 metres
from the clubhouse and 200
metres from the beach.
Doubles from €145. The chic
little restaurant serves
Basque specialities. Menus
from €28.
Hôtel du Palais
1 Avenue de l’Impératrice
64200 Biarritz
Tel: (Fr) 5 59 41 64 00
hotel-du-palais.com
This dazzlingly restored
hotel has a practice green
with free golf lessons for
TOURIST INFORMATION:Nouvelle-Aquitaine tourist board, nouvelle-aquitainetourisme.com;
Biarritz tourist office, tel: (Fr) 5 59 22 37 10, tourisme.biarritz.
fr; Saint-Émilion tourist office, tel: (Fr) 5 57 55 28 28, saint-emilion-tourisme.com
residents on Sundays.
Doubles from €325.
Hôtel le Chantaco
Route d’Ascain
64500 Saint-Jean-de-Luz
Tel: (Fr) 5 59 41 32 87
lechantaco.com
Comfortable rooms, good
food and a relaxing garden
with a pool, 50 metres
from the golf club. Doubles
from €95.
WHERE TO EAT
Le Robinson
85160 Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Tel: (Fr) 2 51 59 20 20
hotel-restaurant-robinson.fr
Hotel-restaurant serving
excellent seafood. Menus
from €15.50.
Comptoir de Genès
5 Lieu-dit la Croix
33350 Saint-Genès
de Castillon
Tel: (Fr) 5 57 47 90 03
comptoirdegenes.fr
Lively bistro with
wine-themed menus from
€14.50.
Le Caffe Cuisine
7 Place du Marché
33420 Branne
Tel: (Fr) 5 57 24 19 67
Restaurant with terrace in
a pretty village on the
River Dordogne. Menus
from €17.
PHOTOGRAPHS: ADAM RUCK
40 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

CLASSICAL MUSIC
CENTURIES
IN SOUND
From plainchant to Boléro,
France has a rich musical
heritage, explains
Sandra Haurant
The roots of early classical
music in France are
intertwined with the sacred
chants in the Catholic church.
Within the stone walls of churches and
abbeys, one-voice or monophonic chants
dominated, and were gradually joined by
multi-voice or polyphonic chants. Over
time, these distinctive musical styles
spread into secular music.
Around the 12th century, a number
of musical schools took shape, including
one based around Notre-Dame cathedral
in Paris. Although the composers are
for the most part unknown, the school
produced the earliest repertory of
polyphonic or multi-part music to reach
international renown.
In the 15th century, a group of
composers maintained by the powerful
Dukes of Burgundy helped to develop
several new styles. This musical
Renaissance in Europe was helped
by the advent of printing, which
changed the ways in which musicians
accessed compositions.
Music in France saw a shift toward
a style that emulated Greek tragedies,
giving way, by the 17th century, to the
influence of Italian opera, as France
moved into its Baroque period. Indeed,
Franco-Italian composer, instrumentalist
and dancer Jean-Baptiste Lully (born
Giovanni Battista Lulli), who worked in
the court of Louis XIV, is credited as the
founder of French opera.
Lully collaborated with the writer
Molière on innovative musical theatre
projects, including the comédie-ballet
ABOVE: The composer Claude Debussy pushed musical boundaries at the turn of the 20th century
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, a play
incorporating music and dance.
However, after an apparent falling-out,
Lully returned to writing operas. Molière
went on to work with another leading
light in French Baroque music, Marc-
Antoine Charpentier, who composed the
music for Le Malade Imaginaire.
Major force
In the midst of the French Revolution,
music was also changing. The
government combined the École Royale
de Chant with the Institut National de
Musique to create the Conservatoire de
Musique in 1795, which remains a major
force in the musical world as the
Conservatoire National Supérieur de
Musique et de Danse de Paris.
The Conservatoire has an illustrious
list of alumni including Georges Bizet,
Claude Debussy and Gabriel Fauré.
Bizet’s opera Carmen premiered in 1875
to an indifferent reception, and the
composer died the same year, aged just
36, little knowing the worldwide fame it
would come to enjoy.
Debussy was to have a huge influence
on French classical music in the 20th
century, with a groundbreaking style of
composition that seemed to align itself
with the work of the Impressionist
painters – although he was not keen on
using the term to describe his work.
Fellow Conservatoire student
Maurice Ravel was similarly linked with
musical Impressionism but also rejected
the term. Ravel is best-known for the
15-minute Boléro (1928), but the
composer considered it one of his least
important works, describing it
as an “experiment in a special and
limited direction”.
The experimental baton was picked
up by composers such as Olivier
Messiaen and his student Pierre Boulez.
Messiaen created richly complex
compositions heavily influenced by
Catholic theology and birdsong.
Boulez led a revolution in
contemporary music, particularly
through his leadership of the IRCAM
research centre in Paris, with its study
of electronic techniques.
PHOTOGRAPHS: GRAINGER HISTORICAL PICTURE ARCHIVE/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; PATRICE NIN; C. LEIBER/OPÉRA NATIONAL DE PARIS; WILLIAM
BEAUCARDET; AGATHE POUPENEY; FRÉDÉRIC IOVINO
42 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

HISTORY TRAIL
4
3
2
5
1
THINGS TO SEE
1 Théâtre du
Capitole, Toulouse
The Théâtre du Capitole,
which has its origins in the
18th century, stands proudly
in the main square of the ville
rose, and houses an opera
company, ballet troupe and
symphony orchestra. Enjoy
a glass of something cool on
the terrace before sitting back
in a plush seat to drink in the
exquisite music and the
spectacular staging.
Place du Capitole
31000 Toulouse
Tel: (Fr) 5 61 22 31 31
theatreducapitole.fr
2 Palais Garnier,
Paris
With its marble staircases,
intricate mosaics and belleépoque
salons, performance
spaces don’t get much more
spectacular than this. The
horseshoe-shaped auditorium
– opened in 1875 – was
designed as a place to see and
be seen, and has a ceiling
painted by Marc Chagall,
which was inaugurated in
1964. Self-guided audio visits
are available.
Place de l’Opéra, 75009 Paris
Tel: (Fr) 1 71 25 24 23
operadeparis.fr
3 La Cité de la
Musique and
Philharmonie de Paris
The Cité de la Musique in Parc
de la Villette is home to
La Philharmonie, a shining
sculpture of a building
designed by architect
Jean Nouvel to provide
a groundbreaking concert
space. The complex also
contains the Musée de la
Musique, which houses
almost 1,000 instruments and
artefacts including a piano
owned by Chopin.
221 Avenue Jean-Jaurès
75019 Paris
Tel: (Fr) 1 44 84 44 84
philharmoniedeparis.fr
4 Opéra Royal de
Versailles
The Opéra Royal was
inaugurated in 1770 to
coincide with the marriage of
the future king Louis XVI to
Marie-Antoinette of Austria. It
was suitably ornate and soon
recognised as one of the most
beautiful theatres in Europe.
The 2017/18 season includes
Bizet’s Carmen, Charpentier’s
The Descent of Orpheus to the
Underworld, and Lully’s
Phaeton. Concerts are also
held in other parts of the
château and the grounds.
Château de Versailles, Place
d’Armes, 78000 Versailles
Tel: (Fr) 1 30 83 78 89
chateauversailles-spectacles.
fr/en/royal-opera
5 Opéra de Lille
The original Opéra de Lille
was built in 1788 but
destroyed by fire in 1903.
Louis-Marie Cordonnier won
the competition to build
a replacement, choosing
a neoclassical style. Work
finished in 1914, but the
invading Germans took over
the theatre for the duration of
World War I. Today, the venue
stages opera, dance and
orchestral music, as well as
family-centred ‘Happy Days’.
2 Rue des Bons Enfants,
59000 Lille
Tel: (Fr) 3 28 38 40 50
opera-lille.fr
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 43

Champagne
on the train
Travelling by rail left Kathryn Tomasetti free
to enjoy a flute or two of bubbly as she
explored this fascinating wine region
MAIN PICTURE:
Vineyards around
the village of
Ville-Dommange,
near Reims;
RIGHT: A TGV on the
journey through
Champagne
I
used to think of myself as a seasoned
traveller. Compact wheelie suitcase?
Check. Hand luggage only?
Bien sûr. But since the birth of our
twin sons two years ago, standards have
slipped. Now my luggage is a cornucopia
of stuffed toys, picture books and
whizzy cars.
Fortunately, my husband and I are
long-time train aficionados. These days,
travelling by rail – where we are welcome
to take all the luggage that we can carry
– has never been more appealing. The
bonus? Unlimited baggage works both
ways. We are taking the Channel Tunnel
route to Champagne (the historical
region), not to be confused with
le champagne (the beverage I plan to
imbibe and then put in my suitcase
wrapped up in two sleepsacks).
A snappy 2hr 12min Eurostar
➳
PHOTOGRAPHS: JOHN KELLERMAN/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; ZENG JIANG
44 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

CHAMPAGNE
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 45

ABOVE: Vineyards in the Champagne region; BELOW RIGHT: Avenue de Champagne in Épernay; ABOVE RIGHT: A sculpture in the cellars of Veuve Clicquot
journey sees us swapping breakfast in
London (goodbye Pret À Manger
porridge) for an early déjeuner in Paris
(hello croque-monsieurs). After
a ten-minute stroll from the Gare du
Nord to the Gare de l’Est, we are soon
on a TGV, speeding 45 minutes eastwards
to Reims, alongside rows of vines and the
gentle rippling of the River Marne.
Reims is the biggest city in the
champagne wine-producing area and
became part of Grand-Est in the shake-up
of the French regions last year. Much of
it had to be rebuilt after the devastation
of World War I. We admire the resulting
art-deco facades during a ten-minute
amble from the railway station to the
hotel. Like its neighbours, the familyowned
Hôtel de la Paix flaunts its curved
corners and mosaic tiling. Better yet, it
is home to a trendy champagne bar
favoured by Reims’s jeunesse dorée.
Our first flute of bubbles, on the
outdoor sipping terrace, puts us in the
mood to explore.
The following morning, we hire
a bike from the hotel and cycle to the
Cathédrale Notre-Dame, with its dazzling
stained-glass windows created by Marc
Chagall in 1974. It was on this site that
29 French kings were crowned between
the 11th and 19th centuries.
However, the bubbles soon lure us
across town to Les Crayères, former
chalk quarries that are now used as
cellars by famous champagne houses
including Mumm and Taittinger.
Little wonder: the 200 kilometres of
subterranean tunnels are ideal for
storing champagne, maintaining
a perfect 11-12°C temperature and
90-95 per cent humidity.
Cellar tour
We opt for a crash course in champagne
history through Veuve Clicquot’s
‘Footsteps of Madame Clicquot’ walking
tour. Established in 1772 and taken over
by the widow (veuve) Clicquot in 1805,
the champagne house is now one of the
world’s most recognised brands.
Our toddlers are strapped into slings
during the chilly cellar tour, where staff
take time out from their chores to explain
why they use three dominant grapes
(chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot
meunier) and how a double fermentation
gives the drink its unique fizz. Best of all,
the slowly ageing Yellow Label bottles we
witness en route can be bought directly in
the boutique for far less than in the UK.
Eurostar allows passengers to travel with
six bottles of wine per adult.
Next day, we take the 25-minute train
journey to Épernay – Champagne’s
cultural hub and unofficial capital. Our
two little boys are enchanted by the
picture windows that take in tiled village
rooftops pierced with sharp steeples and
a chequerboard of gently rolling vineyards.
Unlike most wine regions of France,
Champagne’s vines are sectioned out into
petite family-held parcels. It is not
uncommon for countryside plots to be
owned by the local pharmacist or the
46 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

PHOTOGRAPHS: DIDIER GUY; VILLE D’ÉPERNAY; MICHEL JOLY; A.S. FLAMENT
village boulanger. Unless the proprietor is
an independent producer, each individual
vineyard’s harvest is promised every year
to a famous champagne house and
pegged with a sign. Case in point: we
spot signposts from the train noting
grapes destined for top-end houses
Louis Roederer and Krug.
Once more, arriving by train is
effortless. The Gare d’Épernay was once
the starting point for exporting tens of
millions of bottles of champagne, so the
big-name houses in the town centre are
just a five-minute walk away. Historic
buildings dot the affluent cobblestone
streets. Épernay’s pâtisseries even display
champagne-flavoured macarons.
The biggest draw in town is the
Avenue de Champagne, an elegant street
housing many of the most prestigious
champagne houses, but underneath these
imposing facades lie 110 kilometres of
cellars, storing 200 million bottles of
bubbly – a figure that helps to keep the
global supply at around 1.4 billion bottles.
The majority of the celebrated houses
offer tours. Moët & Chandon’s 28
kilometres of labyrinthine caves make up
the largest warren of cellars in the region.
Outside the house stands a sculpture of
the legendary Dom Pérignon, reputed
inventor of champagne and a Benedictine
monk in the nearby village of Hautvillers.
His steely gaze eyes us up. Is he implying
that it would be rude not to stock up
straight from the source? We bag
a couple more bottles of Moët directly
from the gift shop.
The twins demand an afternoon’s
detour in Aÿ, just four minutes by train
from Épernay. Incredibly, this compact
countryside village (population 4,500)
has no fewer than 55 champagne houses,
including a scattering of famous names,
such as Bollinger, Deutz and Ayala. The
surrounding vineyards are criss-crossed
by hiking trails, a healthy addition to our
schedule after two days of andouillette
sausages, choucroute and fizz. For
enthusiasts, the Musée des Métiers
du Champagne details the process of
champagne-making.
Flashes of riverside
The UK remains the leading export
market for champagne, with much of it
arriving by road. But two centuries ago,
bottles were taken by boat along the
River Marne via Épernay to Paris, before
being shipped across the Channel.
We follow the river’s tumbling route
westwards, the railway line offering
stunning flashes of riverside walking
paths and weeping willows as we trace
the Marne’s southern banks all the way
to Château-Thierry. It is apparent why
this entire valley was awarded Unesco
World Heritage status in 2015.
The remains of a 12th-century castle
crown Château-Thierry, a bustling
market town that marks the final stop on
our journey. To the east sits Champagne
Joël Michel, a family-run organic
producer that has been a local institution
since 1847. Unlike anywhere thus far on
our travels, the vineyard features both
Japanese and medieval gardens – ideal for
our boys to scramble around.
I take my sudden burst of freedom to
sample a house brut, decorated with
a 1920s-style label, which I definitely
wouldn’t have stumbled across back
home. Then it’s London calling.
We reset watches on the Eurostar sprint
home, allowing us extra time for bedtime
stories and more bubbly. No airport
queues for us.
● See page 48 for travel information. ➳
MORE
ONLINE
CHAMPAGNE
TAKE THE TRAIN
Three other French wine
areas to visit by rail
Alsace: With one change in Paris,
France’s easternmost wine-growing
region is a 5hr 15min journey from
London. From Strasbourg,
the Canal de la Bruche cycle path is
a picturesque way to access the
nearby vineyards of Molsheim.
Alternatively, journey 30 minutes
south by rail to Colmar, which is also on
the Alsace Wine Route.
Bordeaux: France’s most renowned
wine region, Bordeaux is home to more
than 8,000 producers. A speedy new
rail route between London and
Bordeaux (with one change in Paris)
was launched in July 2017, reducing
travel time to less than 5hr 30min.
East of Bordeaux, the medieval town
of Saint-Émilion – a Unesco World
Heritage site – is also easily accessed
by train.
Rhône Valley: Heart of the Côtes du
Rhône AOC, the Rhône Valley is the
country’s oldest wine region. Direct
trains from London to Avignon
(several times per week from March
to November) take 5hr 45min. From
here, you are well placed to visit
Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where Avignon
popes cultivated their own vineyards
during the 14th century.
Explore the Champagne area by
car with our road trip itinerary
www.completefrance.com/travel/
driving
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 47

Francofile
Discover the Champagne area by train
GETTING THERE
By rail: The journey from
London to Reims via Paris
takes 4hr 45min, or
4hr 15min if you go via Lille
to Champagne-Ardennes
TGV (just outside the city).
Fares start from £86 return
(tel: 0844 848 5848,
voyages-sncf.com).
Eurostar does not allow
alcohol on its night trains.
By air: The nearest airport
is Paris Charles de Gaulle
(1hr by car to Reims or
30min by train to
Champagne-Ardenne TGV).
By road: Reims is
a 2hr 40min drive from
the northern ports.
WHERE TO STAY
Hôtel de la Paix
9 Rue Buirette
51100 Reims
Tel: (Fr) 3 26 40 04 08
bestwestern-lapaixreims.com
Located on the edge of the
Old Town, this hotel has
been a city landmark for
more than a century. It has
a traditional brasserie
(fruits de mer are the
speciality) and a hip
champagne bar, as well as
an indoor pool and bicycles
for hire (€12 a day).
Doubles from €185.
Hôtel Jean Moët
7 Rue Jean Moët
51200 Épernay
Tel: (Fr) 3 26 32 19 22
hoteljeanmoet.com
Stylish, recently renovated
hotel with spa, housed in
an 18th-century mansion
just a few minutes’ stroll
from the Avenue de
Champagne. Twelve rooms,
from €130.
Champagne Sacret
3 Rue Billecart
51160 Aÿ
Tel: (Fr) 3 26 56 99 20
champagne-sacret.com
Chic four-roomed
chambre d’hôte (two with
freestanding bathtubs),
owned by third-generation
champagne-maker James
Chevillet and his wife
Stéphanie. Every evening
the couple lead
a champagne tasting (free
for guests) in the hipster
common room.
Doubles from €160
including breakfast.
FOR AN APÉRO
C Comme Champagne
8 Rue Gambetta
51200 Épernay
Tel: (Fr) 3 26 32 09 55
c-comme.fr
Owned by champagne
aficionado Frédéric Dricot,
this bar stocks hundreds of
tipples from big-name
houses and independent
producers, available by
the bottle or the glass.
Six-glass tastings
from €34.50.
WHERE TO EAT
Pâtisserie Waïda
3 Place Drouet d’Erlon
51100 Reims
Tel: (Fr) 3 26 47 44 49
Traditional pâtisserie in
the old town, ideal for
breakfast (try the pistachio
cream pastries),
handcrafted chocolates or
filling up a picnic hamper.
Sit on the alfresco terrace
in summer or soak up the
ABOVE: Pâtisserie Waïda in Reims
snug café’s art-deco
ambiance in winter.
Quiches from
around €3.50.
La Table de Kobus
3 Rue Dr Rousseau
51200 Épernay
Tel: (Fr) 3 26 51 53 53
la-table-kobus.fr
Classic bistro delivering
modern French flavours,
from foie gras terrine with
rosé champagne foam to
cod and Monalisa potatoes
in a pistachio crust.
Oenophiles can bring their
own prized bottles
(lunchtime Tue-Fri), which
staff will serve at no extra
cost. Menus from €35.
Restaurant
le Vieux Puits
7 Rue Jules Lobet
51160 Aÿ-Champagne
Tel: (Fr) 3 26 56 96 53
levieuxpuits.com
Set within a beautiful
country-style manor
alongside Aÿ’s pinot noir
vineyards, this authentic
eatery has a terrace and
overlooks manicured
gardens. Chef Eric Aubert
serves classic creations,
from confit de canard to
veal terrine. The wine list’s
local cuvées include nearby
Champagne Lallier. Menus
from €28.
WHERE TO VISIT
Cathédrale Notre-
Dame de Reims
3 Rue Guillaume
de Machault
51100 Reims
Tel: (Fr) 3 26 47 55 34
cathedrale-reims.com
Work on this Gothic
masterpiece began in the
13th century, after the
previous cathedral was
destroyed in a fire. Badly
damaged in World War I, it
has since been restored.
Veuve Clicquot
1 Place des Droits
de l’Homme
51100 Reims
Tel: (Fr) 3 26 89 53 90
veuveclicquot.com
TOURIST INFORMATION: Reims tourist office, tel: (Fr) 3 26 77 45 00, reimstourisme.com;
Épernay tourist office, tel: (Fr) 3 26 53 33 00, ot-epernay.fr;
Champagne-Ardenne tourist board, tourisme-champagne-ardenne.com
Three guided cellar tours
are offered: ‘Discovery’,
€25, 1hr 30min, one
tasting; ‘On the Footsteps
of Madame Clicquot’, €50,
2hr, two tastings;
‘Aromatically Yours’, €120,
2hr 30min, four tastings.
Tours early April to
mid-Nov, Tues-Sat
(‘Aromatically Yours’
Tue-Fri). Reservations
necessary. Free for
under-tens.
Moët & Chandon
20 Avenue de Champagne
51200 Épernay
Tel: (Fr) 3 26 51 20 20
moet.com
Four guided cellar tours
are offered: ‘Traditional’,
€24, 45min, single tasting;
‘Impériale’, €30, ‘Grand
Vintage’, €38, both 45min
and two tastings;
‘Private Grand Vintage’
(reservations only), €76,
1hr 30min tasting session.
Tours weekdays Feb-Mar,
daily April-mid-Nov. Free
for under-tens.
PHOTOGRAPH: PÄTISSERIE WAÏDA
48 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

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The Unesco-listed Pont Valentré spans
the River Lot on the outskirts of Cahors
Cahors
Nestling within a meander of the River Lot, Cahors is
a treasure trove of medieval architecture, gourmet treats
and vinous discoveries, says Dominic Rippon
52 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

TAKE A STROLL
Amid the rolling hills of the Lot
département, where goats graze in
remote pastures and vines cling to the
sun-baked limestone slopes, the town of
Cahors, its capital, is embraced on three sides by the
River Lot, over which its emblematic bridge, Pont
Valentré, proudly sits. A warm breeze whipped
across the glistening water on a clear spring
morning, as I awaited my tour guide in the shadow
of one of the bridge’s three imposing roofed towers.
As I admired the renovated majesty of Pont
Valentré, Valérie Noyé, from Cahors tourist office,
arrived to explain more. “This is the only complete
medieval fortified bridge left in France,” she revealed.
Built in the 14th century during the Hundred Years
War, it is as remarkable for its meticulous
construction (90 per cent of the stone is original) as
for its apparent lack of use: the bridge led nowhere,
not even to a minor road out of town. It was built
largely for symbolic reasons – as a show of military
strength and economic prosperity – and as a means
of raising taxes on goods carried by boats sailing
upstream. It was the last of three bridges to be built
in Cahors in the Middle Ages – and the only one to
survive demolition in the 19th century.
The bridge was built largely
for symbolic reasons – as
a show of military strength
and economic prosperity
We took the underpass beneath the railway line,
to join Rue Président Wilson toward the old town
centre, and then cut across the green spaces that
border the Allées Fénelon, where the Festival
Gastronomique takes place in early July. Before
pausing to admire the imposing statue of
19th-century statesman Léon Gambetta, Cahors’s
most famous son, we descended the stairs into
Parking Fénelon. This is the only subterranean car
park in France in which you can leave your vehicle
beside an excavated Roman amphitheatre!
Across Boulevard Léon Gambetta, Cahors’s
medieval town centre revealed itself in a hundred
narrow streets, flanked by a dazzling architectural
mix of timber, fired brick and limestone. “Cahors
is one of the most important conservatories of
medieval architecture in France,” Valérie told me,
as we stopped to admire the ornate facade of the
Maison du Patrimoine, in Rue de la Halle. This
small exhibition centre was once home to a medieval
merchant’s family, a reminder that although Cahors
is now a sleepy provincial capital, it was once one of
south-west France’s most important trading centres;
its powerful merchant class, the cahorsins, was
renowned throughout medieval Europe.
➳
PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY IMAGES/iSTOCKPHOTO
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 53

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: The Romanesque Cathédrale
Saint-Étienne with its distinctive twin domes; A quiet
corner in the cathedral cloisters; The statue of Cahors-born
statesman Léon Gambetta in the Allées Fénelon;
The Moorish exhibit on the Secret Gardens trail
In Place Galdemar, the indoor market was
buzzing with its own trade, as stallholders vied to
sell Quercy cheeses, fresh spring fruit and vegetables,
locally reared meat, and fish caught from the River
Lot. Bottles of the famous ‘black wine’ of Cahors,
made from the deeply-coloured malbec grape, were
being squeezed into already laden shopping bags in
preparation for the long Saturday lunch.
The market extended outdoors into Place
Jean-Jacques Chapou, where white asparagus and
plump cherries weighed down the wooden tables.
At the far end, we entered the Cathédrale Saint-
Etienne, the focal point of the medieval quarter.
Like Pont Valentré, the cathedral is a Unesco
World Heritage site, as part of the Santiago de
Compostela pilgrimage trail. Most of it was built
in the 12th and early 13th centuries in the
late-Romanesque style, with two giant domes –
the largest in south-west France – perched above
its knave. Outside the cathedral’s northern gate,
my gaze was drawn toward a stone sculpture above
the door. This remarkably complete work of art,
Valérie concluded, is one of only two surviving
Romanesque sculptures in France that depict
Christ’s ascension to heaven (the other is in the
Basilique Saint-Sernin in Toulouse): a crowning
architectural jewel in a town where a new discovery
awaits around every corner.
CAHORS AT
A GLANCE
Stay the night at… the four-star Château
de Mercuès (doubles from €153,
chateaudemercues.com), a painstakingly
restored medieval château with a Michelinstarred
restaurant and stunning views over
the River Lot. The estate’s owner, Bertrand
Vigouroux, produces some of Cahors’s
finest red wines.
Stop for lunch at… Restaurant Auberge
du Vieux Cahors (menus from €15,
aubergeduvieuxcahors.com), a cosy bistro
with a small terrace in the heart of the
medieval quarter. Owners Loétitia and
Guillaume serve local specialities such as
salade Quercynoise, made with ham,
gizzards and foie gras; confit and magret de
ABOVE: A busy corner in the medieval quarter
canard; all accompanied by an impressive
range of Cahors wines.
Stop for a coffee at… L’Interlude
(30 Boulevard Léon Gambetta, tel: (Fr)
5 65 22 09 90), a perfect place to relax
after the market. A selection of tapas and
pâtisseries can be wise alternatives to
a big lunch on a hot day, and from October
to March plates of fresh oysters are served
throughout the afternoon.
WHERE TO VISIT
● Discover Cahors from the water with
Les Crosières Fénelon, a relaxing river
cruise that departs from Pont Valentré and
snakes its way upstream, along the
meander in the Lot within which Cahors
nestles, through peaceful locks and past
ancient dovecotes, before returning home
(at least three cruises daily, from May to
September, bateau-cahors.com).
● The Musée de la Résistance, de la
Déportation et de la Libération du
Département du Lot is as complete
an examination of life in Nazi-occupied
Cahors as its name suggests. Six exhibition
halls take you back to the origins of the
Resistance movement and its eventual role
54 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

IN THE AREA
TAKE A STROLL
ABOVE: Medieval houses in the Plus Beau Village of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie
in defeating Hitler’s forces in south-west
France (open 2pm-6pm all year, Place
Bessière, tel: (Fr) 5 65 22 14 25).
● Cahors is home to 25 ‘secret gardens’,
each with its own theme. The Moorish
Garden is inspired by the palaces of
Andalucía and Morocco; the Herbularium
is a medicinal herb garden planted in the
shadow of the cathedral, and the Courtil des
Moines re-creates the look of a medieval
vegetable garden. A printed guide is
available from the tourist office.
GETTING THERE: The train to Cahors
from Paris Austerlitz takes 5hr 15min;
The drive from the northern ports takes
8hr 30min; The nearest airport is in Toulouse
(1hr 20min drive).
TOURIST INFORMATION: Cahors tourist office,
tel: (Fr) 5 65 53 20 65, tourisme-cahors.fr
The Lot is a sparsely populated
département, where one can cycle,
wander or hike for hours with only
squirrels and deer for company. It is
also rich in history, with a smattering
of Plus Beaux Villages, the most
striking of which is Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
The medieval village perches on
a clifftop a 30-minute drive east of
Cahors; alternatively, take a more
leisurely boat cruise upstream
(bateau-cahors.com). Saint-Cirq won
French television’s Village Preféré des
Français competition in 2012, and
has no fewer than 13 classified
historic monuments. The views of
the River Lot from its highest point
are well worth the climb.
Twenty minutes north of Saint-
Cirq, you will find the prehistoric
cave paintings of Pech Merle, near
the village of Cabrerets. One of
the best preserved examples of
prehistoric art in Europe, these
25,000-year-old paintings are hidden
within two kilometres of caves; visits
are guided and should be booked
well in advance (pechmerle.com).
If you want to delve still deeper
into the region’s prehistory, the Plage
aux Ptérosaures, in the village of
Crayssac, west of Cahors, reveals
footprints left by these winged
reptiles 150 million years ago
(tel: (Fr) 5 65 53 20 65).
Upstream of Cahors, beyond
Saint-Cirq, is a collection of
impressive châteaux, built in the
Middle Ages and restored in the
Renaissance style by the seigneurs
of Quercy in the period following the
Hundred Years War. One of the best
known is the Château de Cénevières,
15 minutes east of Saint-Cirq: the
luxuriously furnished residence of the
De Braquilanges family, who offer
visits throughout the year (chateaucenevieres.com).
If you are visiting the Pech Merle
caves, don’t miss the Château des
Anglais de Cabrerets – also known as
the ‘Devil’s Castle’ – on the way.
Set menacingly into the cliffs that
overlook the River Célé, the fortress
served as a refuge for the ‘invaders’
during the Hundred Years War.
For wine-lovers, the area around
Cahors is most famous for its
full-blooded reds, which were highly
prized in the Middle Ages, when they
were carried by river to the port of
Bordeaux, before being shipped to
northern Europe. At the far west of
the Cahors appellation, in the village
of Vire-sur-Lot, the Château du
Cèdre is the pre-eminent estate, while
closer to Cahors, Château Lagrezette
is a 15th-century fortified residence,
making delicious wines that age
gracefully (chateaudu cedre.com,
chateau-lagrezette.com).
MORE
ONLINE
Coast and country: Discover more
about the Occitanie region
www.completefrance.com/
regions-of-france
PHOTOGRAPHS: FOTOLIA; DOMINIC RIPPON; VILLE DE CAHORS, C. SQUASSINA
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 55

Highways
and byways
A.K.A. THE BIRDS, THE BEES
AND THE BUTTERFLIES
Going on a road trip is a great way to really experience an area.
Lara Dunn explores the Hautes-Pyrénées and its high life
56 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

PYRÉNÉES
Driving back toward
Toulouse, I am glad to be
a passenger. My eyes are
drawn to the not-so-distant,
mist-wreathed mountains to my side,
huge birds of prey wheeling above the
road in the summer sky. These are the
views that have been our constant
companion over the past five days and it
is a wrench to leave them behind. It feels
so much longer ago that we arrived at
bustling Toulouse airport to start our
Pyrenean road trip; we have seen, done
(and eaten) so much. That time dilation
is always the sign of a great trip, I feel.
Our arrival in Bagnères-de-Bigorre at
the start of the trip was a little frantic.
Rush-hour traffic at Toulouse meant
a slightly later arrival than planned, but
the period loveliness of our first hotel
soon put paid to any stress. It was
tempting to wander around the historic
spa town, but that would have to wait
until tomorrow, dinner was on the cards.
Dining on the local speciality of Noir de
Bigorre pork steaks, the River Adour
bubbling noisily along beside us matched
our excitement at the days to come.
The Pont d’Espagne crosses the
Gave du Marcadau south of Carterets
Bustling market
A tour of Bagnères-de-Bigorre is not
complete without a trip to one of its
spas. At one point, there were reputedly
more than 40 spa establishments, some
located within the cellars of people’s
houses. Now, just two remain, the
medical-treatment orientated Grand
Thermes and the more relaxation-focused
Aquensis, with its rooftop whirlpool
baths and chapel-like indoor pools.
Emerging rejuvenated from the latter, we
wandered the streets and meandered
through the market, one of the most
important in the area, and groaning with
local produce from cheeses to Basque
spices. All too soon, it was time to leave,
though, the literal high point of the trip
awaited – the Pic du Midi de Bigorre.
The drive to La Mongie led us
through small communes, clustered in
the green-sided valleys, yet more broadly
spaced than the Alpine villages we had
experienced in the past. Already, cyclists
were in evidence, making their slow ➳
PHOTOGRAPH: HAUTES-PYRÉNÉES TOURISME/MASSON
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 57

and tortuous way up to their ultimate
goal of the Col du Tourmalet, such
an icon of the Tour de France.
Every inch the ski town, La Mongie
seemed to be dozing on this summer day,
the road empty enough for a lone donkey
to be idly standing in the middle.
The weather was against us, with
thunderstorms forecast, meaning our
planned dinner and stargazing soirée at
the Pic du Midi was truncated to
a hurried ascent, clouds rapidly gathering
as the two cable cars climbed.
The drama and power of nature was
clearly in evidence as we wandered
around the observatory platforms at
2,877 metres, grey masses roiling both
above and below us, the winds picking up
sufficiently to have us scurrying for the
cable car back down. Real mountain
weather. Huge griffon vultures (or
possibly lammergeiers) soared in circles,
defying the brewing storm.
We backtracked a little the next day,
making our way down to the tiny town
of Campan for one of the highlights of
The dolls appear in
strange tableaux in
windows and sheds
the local calendar, the Fête des Mariolles.
The town is well-known for its quirky
tradition of mounaques – coarse dolls
created originally to mock unorthodox
local weddings but now used more for
entertainment. Throughout the summer,
the dolls appear in creative and strange
tableaux in windows, balconies,
doorways and sheds all around the town,
and visitors can buy their own kit from
the Atelier des Mounaques.
The roads closed and the fête began,
groups in period costume from around
the world – by special invitation only –
processing through the town. Folk
dances and music filled the small streets
with life and doubtless the celebrations
continued long into the evening.
Making our way up through
La Mongie once more, we soon reached
the famous Col du Tourmalet, shrouded
in cloud and teeming with tired but
jubilant cyclists. The pass is so sought
after that it is possible not only to hire
‘ordinary’ road bikes from Tourmalet
Bikes in Luz-Saint-Sauveur down in the
FROM TOP: Dancers at the Fête des Mariolles
in Campan; The observatory at the summit of
the Pic du Midi; A fritillary butterfly
valley, but even electric road bikes
(tourmalet-bikes.com, €55 for a halfday).
By all accounts, it can take just and
hour and a half to reach the col by e-bike
from Luz, as opposed to the several hours
it would take entirely self-powered.
Having descended the pass in the car, and
seeing its switchbacks, we chose instead
to explore the three-dimensional town of
Luz-Saint-Sauveur, leaving the cycling for
another visit.
The narrow streets quickly peter out
at the top of the town, transforming
58 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

swiftly into leafy, rocky hiking trails
drawing the walker ever upwards.
A meander along the GR10 which passes
through town showed us heavily
burdened trekkers enjoying a lengthier,
and vigorous mountain adventure.
The next day, though, we had our
own adventure planned, with a guided
butterfly walk in the mountains. Butterfly
specialist Jude Lock took us to
somewhere she hoped was above the mist
that had settled in the valley, where the
butterflies could enjoy their crucial
solar-charging. While pockets of clinging
cloud eventually drove us on from Lac
des Gloriettes with its impressive dam,
vivid wild irises and playful young
marmots, we enjoyed its stunning views
as well as successful butterfly spots.
By the time we were back at the car,
I had already seen several types of the
fritillary family and plentiful marbled
whites as well as the smaller ringlets,
endemic to the area. Our second walk,
at the Cirque de Gavarnie, was more
fruitful, as the sun broke through and
warmed the insects. Here we saw more of
the same species, but also the larger
silver-washed fritillary, the shocking
orange flash of a male scarce copper and
numerous scarlet and black-spotted
burnet moths. Weighty bumblebees of
various types visited the plentiful flora,
too. Before we knew it, we had reached
a promontory, offering a superb view of
the vast waterfall-dotted wall of the
Cirque de Gavarnie, that natural barrier
between France and Spain.
That evening, continuing the insect
theme, we visited the Pavillon des Abeilles
in Cauterets, a combination of bee
produce emporium and shrine to all
things apicultural. As a beekeeper myself,
it was fascinating to see a video showing
the transhumance practices of the region,
and I was sorely tempted to sign up for
three days of bee yoga run by Ballot-
Flurin, which runs both the shop and
a flourishing larger enterprise of beebased
remedies. Definitely one for
a future visit! Cauterets’s impressive,
largely 19th century architecture shows
just how profitable, and international,
spa tourism was in its heyday. It still is,
today, to a degree, and the local spas are
still extremely popular.
Sitting beside the serenely turquoise
Lac de Gaube the next day, high above
Cauterets, yet only an hour or so’s
relaxed walk from the town, the quiet
power of the local waters was clear. It
was tough to leave the glorious peace of
this mountain lake, all greens and blues.
On the way back to the tumult of the
Pont d’Espagne, via the chairlift that
transforms the accessibility of this spot,
we bade farewell to yet more butterflies,
small sparks of blue dotting the pink and
MORE
ONLINE
15 spa towns in the Pyrénées and
the rest of France to explore
www.completefrance.com/travel/
short-breaks
PYRÉNÉES
purple of the flowers. There was no doubt,
we would return. The Pyrénées had stolen
a corner of our full-to-bursting hearts.
Later, after visiting a very different set
of healing waters, at the Grotte de
Massabielle under the impressive
Sanctuaire in Lourdes, we stood on the
hill occupied by the Château Fort. Gazing
down on the town, we were struck by
what an amazing and transformative
region this was – both spiritually and
physically. It was hard to leave.
● See page 60 for travel information.
➳
LARA DUNN; ROBIN DICKSON; HAUTES-PYRÉNÉES TOURISME/PIERRE MEYER; TYPOGRAPIK 13
ABOVE: The Château Fort in the pilgrimage town of Lourdes; TOP: The Cirque de Gavarnie creates a natural border between France and Spain
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 59

Francofile
Take to the road in the Hautes-Pyrénées
GETTING THERE
By air: Lara travelled from
Bristol to Toulouse with
easyJet (easyjet.com).
The service operates daily
from Bristol, Luton and
Gatwick from £33.99 each
way. Ryanair (ryanair.com)
operates a service into
Lourdes airport five times
a week from £19.99.
The drive from Toulouse
Airport to Bagnères-de-
Bigorre takes around 2hr.
Car hire options abound
from around £250 for five
days. See page 25 for other
travel information.
WHERE TO STAY
Villa Rose
54 Rue Georges Lassalle
65200 Bagnèresde-Bigorre
Tel: (Fr) 5 62 34 09 84
villarose65.com
This B&B is a real hidden
gem, decked out in period
style, complete with
wooden floors and salons.
Doubles from €110
including breakfast,
which can be taken in
the gorgeous salon
des tisanes.
Hôtel La Mongie
Créte Blanche
La Mongie
65200 Bagnèresde-Bigorre
Tel: (Fr) 5 62 91 92 49
la-crete-blanche.fr
A fairly functional ski
resort hotel hides pleasant,
design-led cosily appointed
rooms from €87, breakfast
€11. Five minutes’ walk
from the Pic du Midi cable
car station.
Hôtel Les Templiers
6 Place de la Comporte
65120 Luz-Saint-Sauveur
Tel: (Fr) 5 62 91 68 72
hotel-luz.com
In the historic heart of
town across the market
square from the Église des
Templiers, this compact
hotel combines traditional
charm with all mod cons
and a warm welcome.
Doubles from €79,
breakfast €9.50.
Lion d’Or
12 Rue Richelieu
65110 Cauterets
Tel: (Fr) 5 62 92 52 87
hotel-cauterets.fr
Owned by the charming
Lasserre family since 1913,
this delightful three-star
hotel has character,
warmth, a touch of luxury
and excellent food served
in a relaxed and intimate
setting. On a warm
evening, try the outside
terrace. Doubles from €76,
breakfast €12, €33pp extra
for half board, which is
superb value.
Grand Hôtel Gallia
& Londres
97 Boulevard Rémi Sempé
(car park/sat nav address)
65100 Lourdes
Tel: (Fr) 5 62 94 35 44
grandhotel-gallialondres.h-rez.com
Large, comfortable,
modern hotel a few
minutes’ walk from the
Sanctuaire, with an
in-house spa, bar and busy
dining room. Doubles from
€73 including breakfast.
Gated car park €15 a day.
WHERE TO EAT
Fabrique du Terroir
3 Avenue Maquis
de Payolle
ABOVE: The Villa Rose in Bagnères-de-Bigorre; ABOVE RIGHT: The Aquensis spa centre
65200 Bagnèresde-Bigorre
Tel: (Fr) 5 62 91 15 51
carrepy.com/restaurant
Part butcher/delicatessen,
part restaurant, this stylish
place by the river
specialises in the curiously
beef-like Noir de Bigorre
pork. Menu from €22.
Restaurant Le Schuss
6 Boulevard du Pic du Midi
65200 Bagnèresde-Bigorre
Tel: (Fr) 5 62 91 90 10
restaurant-schusstourmalet.fr
Cosy, modern, alpine-style
restaurant specialising in
good quality local fare and
fondue/raclette. The menu
uses ingredients in
a variety of ways, such as
magret de canard with
different sauces. Mains
from €10.
La Tasca
17 Place Saint-Clément
65120 Luz-Saint-Sauveur
Tel: (Fr) 5 62 92 96 22
latasca-luz.fr
Franco-Spanish restaurant
run by a former London
policeman. Local produce
features strongly and
the setting is lovely,
particularly the terrace.
Make sure to try the beers
brewed on the premises.
Mains from €14.50.
Hôtellerie du
Lac de Gaube
Lac de Gaube
65110 Cauterets
Tel: (Fr) 6 74 51 56 28
gaube-seyres.fr
The wonderful lakeside
setting is matched by
seriously good – and
generous – food including
some of the best confit de
canard I have eaten. Mains
from €17.
WHERE TO VISIT
Aquensis, Bagnères-de-
Bigorre, aquensis.fr.
Pic du Midi, picdumidi.com,
adults €38.
Campan, Fête des
Mariolles, second week of
July every year.
Guided butterfly walk
(half-day. various
locations) with Borderline
Holidays, tel: (Fr) 5 62 92
68 95, borderlinehols.com.
Bains du Rocher Spa,
Cauterets, bains-rocher.fr.
Pavillon des Abeilles,
Cauterets,
pavillondesabeilles.com.
Pont d’Espagne and Lac
de Gaube, Cauterets,
adults €15.
Sanctuaire and Château
Fort, Lourdes, sanctuaire
access free, Château Fort
€7 for adults.
TOURIST INFORMATION: Hautes-Pyrénées Tourisme has five new road trip itineraries (from three to seven days) that take in many key
sights. Prices from €276 for two people including road book, accommodation and attraction tickets, but excluding travel, pyrenees-trip.uk;
Grand Tourmalet Tourisme has offices in Bagnéres-de-Bigorre, Campan, La Mongie, and Baréges, tel: (Fr) 5 62 95 50 71, grand-tourmalet.com;
Cauterets tourist office, tel: (Fr) 5 62 92 50 50, cauterets.com; Lourdes tourist office, tel (Fr) 5 62 42 77 40, lourdes-infotourisme.com.
PHOTOGRAPHS: AQUENSIS; ROBIN DICKSON
60 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

The only French
property site using
France’s new regions
From traditional gîtes to beautiful
châteaux, converted barns to luxury villas
- there really is something for everyone
at your improved France Property Shop
IMAGE: ©Xantana|Dreamstime.com
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 61

Le
Weekend
SHORT BUT SWEET
CITY BREAKS
PERPIGNAN
French and Catalan influences, both ancient and modern, combine to
exciting effect in this Mediterranean city, says Robin Gauldie
Arrving in the capital of
Pyrénées-Orientales,
I immediately get the sense of
a city with a distinct cultural
identity. Road signs welcome me not only
to Perpignan, but to Perpinya. And not
just to Perpinya, but to Perpinya
– ‘Centre del Mon’ (Centre of the World).
There is no doubt that Perpignan is in
France. That question was settled in
1659, after centuries of Franco-Spanish
squabbling. But the city has a clear
Catalan identity. The border is only
35 kilometres away, and Barcelona is 650
kilometres nearer than Paris. The red and
yellow Catalan flag flies over the hôtel de
ville, alongside the tricolore and the
EU’s star-spangled banner. They dance
the sardana on Place de la Loge at
midsummer, when bonfires are lit from
torches carried from Canigou, the
mountain revered by Catalans. And the
street signs are bilingual.
Arriving at the Gare de Perpignan,
I do not perceive any of the ‘frenzied
energy’ that some writers have claimed
inspired Salvador Dalí (who lived most of
his life just across the Spanish frontier in
Cadaqués) to declare the city’s railway
station ‘the centre of the world’. In my
haste, I fail to notice the Dalíesque swirls
of colour that decorate its high ceilings.
It is not until I arrive on Place de
Catalogne that I am reminded of Dalí’s
links with Perpignan by a gleefully mad
statue of the artist, arms flung wide
to embrace the world. It is a copy of his
effigy above the station entrance.
Knowing a little about Perpignan’s
early history, I expect a historic centre
replete with medieval mansions and
churches, but it is the art-deco patrimony
that surprises.
The city has more than 1,000
outstanding villas and other buildings in
this style, says Philippe Latger, founder of
Perpignan Art Déco. The organisation
curated its first festival in 2015, which
looks like becoming an annual fixture.
Until the 1890s, Perpignan was
hemmed in by its medieval ramparts.
With a craze for urban renewal sweeping
France, they were demolished to let
the city grow.
And grow it did. Behind Dalí on
palm-lined Place de Catalogne is a grand
wedding cake of a building with huge
PHOTOGRAPHS: SERVICE PHOTO/VILLE DE PERPIGNAN; ROBIN GAULDIE;
G.DESCHAMPS; GETTY IMAGES/iSTOCKPHOTO
64 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

CITY BREAK
windows and a glazed cupola. When it
opened in 1910, Aux Dames de France
– one of the earliest branches of the
Gompel brothers’ department store chain
outside Paris – was heralded as a steel
and glass marvel of edgy early 20thcentury
design. Seemingly doomed after
some decades of dilapidation, it was
rescued by millennium funding, and since
2001 has been a branch of the FNAC
retail chain, its still-exciting exterior
untouched except for the prominent logo
of its new owner.
Among those who campaigned to save
Aux Dames de France were the Font
family, self-appointed guardians of
Perpignan’s art-deco heritage and owners
of another landmark of this adventurous
era, the Cinéma Castillet on Place de la
Victoire. Elaborately decorated, it stands
just across the square from a much older,
and better-publicised landmark.
Le Castillet, a massive towered gateway
of brick and stone, is all that remains of
the old city walls. Once a prison, it now
houses a museum of folk arts and
Catalan traditions. Passing through its
great arch, it feels as if I have travelled
from the belle époque and the art-deco
years to a much earlier era.
Most of the surviving Gothic and
Renaissance buildings stand within
a few hundred yards of Le Castillet.
They date from Perpignan’s golden age
as a mercantile centre, when its
skilled workers spun and wove
raw wool from the Pyrénées into
fine fabrics that were exported
throughout the Mediterranean,
The Cathédrale de Saint-Jean-
Baptiste (Perpignan’s patron saint)
looms over Place Léon Gambetta. Begun
in 1324, consecrated almost 200 years
later and (like so many cathedrals) never
quite finished, it has an oddly modest
facade, built not of dressed stone but (like
Le Castillet) of Roman-style terracotta
brick and rough red rubble boulders from
the river. Within, though, it is anything
but modest. An unusual single nave
makes its dim interior seem all the more
cavernous, dwarfing the scant remains of
the 11-century Saint-Jean-le-Vieux, which
it replaced.
A few blocks away, on Place de la
Loge, the Loge de Mer – now housing the
city tourist office – was the hub of the
city’s trade, where merchant guilds
ABOVE: The statue of Salvador Dalí on Place
de Catalogne; FACING PAGE FROM TOP: Bustling
Place de la Loge; The Le Castillet gateway;
The Palais des Rois de Majorque
bought and sold. Next to it, the
courtyard of the 13th-century hôtel de
ville is graced by La Méditerranée,
a pensive bronze water nymph cast in
1905 by Aristide Maillol. The sculptor
lived in nearby Banyuls, and this was
the work that launched his career. There
are more of his works in the freshly
renovated Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud, but
when I visited, its opening date was still
a couple of weeks away.
Coloured marble
Saving Perpignan’s most prominent
landmark until last, I wander through
narrow streets toward the medieval
Palais des Rois de Majorque, pausing for
a glass of mint tea at a Moroccan stall in
the Marché Cassanyes, busy as ever on
a Sunday morning. Walking round the
ramparts, I can see that this was in its
day both a grand royal residence and
an imposing fortress (it was garrisoned by
the French army until the 1990s).
The walls alternate courses of brick
and boulder, though the inner courtyards
would originally have been plastered and
whitewashed. The halls and palaces,
designed for James II of Majorca, are
a blend of late-Romanesque and Gothic,
with coloured marble gracing stairs and
arched doorways. James’s little kingdom,
combining Roussillon, Cerdagne and ➳
MORE
ONLINE
Discover more French city break ideas
www.completefrance.com/travel/
short-breaks
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 65

the Balearics, was created for him by his
father, James I of Aragon. He became
king in 1276, but the kingdom lasted
only until 1349, when his grandson,
James III, was ousted and his lands
absorbed by Aragon.
On the way back to the station I tip
my hat to Perpignan’s latest contribution
to edgy design, the Théâtre de l’Archipel,
which opened in 2011. Here, architects
Brigitte Métra and Jean Nouvel have
created an arts complex with a hint of the
surreal that might have pleased Dalí:
a massive pink central blockhouse takes
its cue from the towers of the Palais des
Rois; a vast red bubble of an auditorium
is inspired by the garnet pebbles of the
Tet river-bed; and an arched metal
wing echoes the vaults of Perpignan’s
Romanesque-Gothic churches.
During my stay, I have galloped
through Perpignan’s older history and
had time to glimpse some of its more
recent architectural heritage. Next time,
I plan to discover more of its art-déco
grandeur, and I shall remember to
pause to admire the station that claims
to be the centre of the world.
ABOVE: The Théâtre de l’Archipel arts complex
Francofile
Discover the cultural melting pot of Perpignan
GETTING THERE
By air: Aeroport Sud de
France Perpignan is 8km
north of the city centre.
Flights to Barcelona or
Girona are also viable
options. Trains from
Barcelona airport (via
Barcelona-Sants) take less
than two hours, and the
journey time from Girona is
45min (renfe-sncf.com).
See page 25 for other
travel information.
GETTING AROUND
Walking is the easiest way
of exploring the compact
historic centre. For longer
journeys – such as a trip to
the beach at Canet-en-
Roussillon, there is an
efficient bus network, with
single trips costing €1.60.
BIP bike hire is available
from 15 stations around the
city centre; pick up/drop off
at any using access code
and PIN (sent to you by
email or text). €1 per hour
(www.bip-perpignan.fr).
The Petit Train de Perpignan
leaves from Le Castillet and
loops around 26 landmarks
in the historic centre,
covering 7km in 45 minutes,
with multilingual
commentary. Up to ten
departures daily in summer,
10.30am to 7.30pm, ticket
€7 (petit-train-deperpignan.com).
WHERE TO STAY
Robin stayed at:
Hôtel de la Loge
1 Rue Fabrique d’en Nabot
66000 Perpignan
Tel: (Fr) 4 68 34 41 02
hoteldelaloge.fr
On the edge of the historic
centre, this 16th-century
townhouse is decorated in
Catalan colours and has
cosy rooms, some with
miniature balconies
overlooking Place de la
Loge. Doubles from €59.
Also try:
Mas Latour Lavail
55 Chemin del Vives
66000 Perpignan
Tel: (Fr) 6 73 93 74 30
maslatourlavail.com
Stylish haven surrounded by
fields and vineyards, 4km
from the city centre and
a five-minute ride from the
airport. Doubles from €155.
Le Divil restaurant
WHERE TO EAT
Robin ate at:
Le Divil
9 Rue Fabriques d’en Nabot
66000 Perpignan
Tel: (Fr) 4 68 34 57 73
restaurant-le-divil-66.com
Brick-vaulted cellar with
wooden trestle tables,
leather benches and walls
decorated with graphic art.
Menus from €22, six-course,
menu confiance €45, which
may include terrine de boeuf
and pork confit.
Le Vienne
3 Place François Arago
66000 Perpignan
Tel: (Fr) 4 68 85 11 11
Relaxed brasserie on
Perpignan’s social hub
offering an array of pizza
and pasta dishes.
TOURIST INFORMATION: Perpignan tourist office, perpignantourisme.com;
Pyrénées-Orientales tourist office, tourisme-pyreneesorientales.com
La Table d’Aimé
4 Rue Francisco Ferrer
66600 Rivesaltes
Tel: (Fr) 4 68 34 35 77
cazes-rivesaltes.com
Amid the Maison Cazes
vineyards, a 15-minute
taxi-ride from town, chef
Sebastien Colombier serves
dishes from locally sourced
organic produce. Menus
from €19.
WHERE TO VISIT
Palais des Rois de
Majorque
Rue des Archers
66000 Perpignan
Tel: (Fr) 4 68 34 96 26
perpignantourisme.com
Musée d’Art
Hyacinthe Rigaud
21 Rue Mailly
66000 Perpignan
Tel: (Fr) 4 68 66 19 83
musee-rigaud.fr
Le Castillet et la Musée
des Arts et Traditions
Populaires Catalanes
Place de Verdun
66000 Perpignan
Tel: (Fr) 4 68 35 42 05
perpignantourisme.com
Cathédrale
Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Place Léon Gambetta
66000 Perpignan
Tel: (Fr) 4 68 51 33 72
perpignan.catholique.fr
Le Théâtre de l’Archipel
Avenue Général Leclerc
66003 Perpignan
Tel: (Fr) 4 68 62 62 00
theatredelarchipel.org
DIARY DATES
Le Festival PAD (Perpignan
Art Deco Festival), June
2018, perpignan-artdeco.fr
STAYING ON
Perpignan is a 15-20 minute
bus ride from the beaches
at Canet-en-Roussillon and
Saint-Cyprien Plage,
purpose-built resorts with
miles of fine sand and lots
of watersports.
PHOTOGRAPHS: SERVICE PHOTO/VILLE DE PERPIGNAN; HERVE LECLAIR/ASPHERIES.COM
66 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

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CHÂTEAU DE BERNE
Lorgues, Var
For those looking to sample fine wines
in a rural setting, the luxurious
Château de Berne will not disappoint.
The 600-hectare estate lies in the hills
near the Provençal village of Lorgues and
is a short distance from the dramatic
Gorges du Verdon.
This country house retreat comes with
elegantly decorated rooms featuring tiled
floors and Provençal furniture; many
have balconies overlooking the wine
estate. Meals here are a splendid affair,
with a gastronomic restaurant serving
creative cuisine, and a brasserie offering
lighter dishes.
Activities on offer include a wine
tasting and tour of the estate.
Alternatively, you can while away
an afternoon in the outdoor pool or play
tennis and pétanque. Get out and about
by hiring quad bikes to explore one of
the vineyard trails.
Doubles from €330, breakfast €29.
Tel: (Fr) 4 94 60 48 88
chateauberne.com
Where to stay...
For winelovers
From impressive châteaux to
cosy apartments, we have the
best places for getting close to
your favourite French vintages
STUDIO GRAND
THÉÂTRE
Bordeaux, Gironde
This apartment for two is on the ground
floor of a hôtel particulier in front of
Bordeaux’s grand théâtre. The modern
accommodation includes a spacious
bedroom featuring a king-size bed, two
televisions and sofa. A spiral staircase
leads up to a fully equipped kitchen
complete with oven, dishwasher and
small breakfast bar. On the same floor,
you will find a modern, stone-tiled
bathroom, with floor-to-ceiling mirror
and rainwater shower.
Prices from £40 per night
(minimum two-night stay).
airbnb.co.uk
PHOTOGRAPHS: LARA DUNN
68 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

WHERE TO STAY
CHÂTEAU
PAPE CLÉMENT
Pessac, Gironde
Surrounded by 60 hectares of vineyards
a 15-minute drive from Bordeaux, this
elegant estate, which is owned by wine
magnate Bernard Magrez, is one of the
oldest Grands Crus in the region. Vines
were planted in the late 13th century by
Bertrand de Goth, the future Pope
Clement V, whose name was given to
the château.
Visitors can find out more about the
wine estate on a daily tour and tasting
(advance booking required), which are
tailored to meet guests’ interests, whether
they are enthusiastic beginners or
experienced collectors. And to top off
a perfect wine tasting, guests can savour
private fine dining in one of the château’s
elegant dining rooms, or perhaps enjoy
a caviar and wine-making experience.
The château has just five guest rooms,
each one sumptuously decorated with
herringbone parquet floors, 19th-century
furniture and marble bathrooms. Other
in-room facilities include flat-screen TV,
coffee-maker and air-conditioning.
Rooms from €230 including breakfast.
Tel: (Fr) 5 57 26 38 38
bernard-magrez.com/en/wines/chateaupape-clement
STUDIO APARTMENT
Eguisheim, Bas-Rhin
This studio apartment for two is situated
in a paved alleyway in the Plus Beau
Village of Eguisheim, which is famous
for producing high-quality Alsace wines.
Accommodation covers 32 square metres
and includes a double bedroom,
a bathroom with shower, wash basin
and toilet, and a small kitchen containing
a sink, refrigerator and microwave oven
and grill. The reception room has
a dining table, sofa and television. The
owner lives opposite and has a garage
where bicycles can be stored, and there is
also a parking space. The apartment is
200 metres from shops, while the
vineyards, perfect terrain for cycle rides
and walking, start 500 metres away.
Prices from £36 per night (minimum
three-night stay at weekends).
airbnb.co.uk
DOMAINE LA YOLE
WINE RESORT
Valras-Plage, Hérault
Anyone looking for a camping stay with
a strong wine focus will find exactly
what they need at La Yole on the
Mediterranean coast. Set on a longestablished
wine estate, the campsite
offers tastings, winery visits and talks.
Other activities include gastronomythemed
hikes, as well as tennis, fencing,
pétanque and dancing. A large water
park and a farm offering animal
encounters will keep youngsters amused.
Open 1 April to 15 October.
Pitch based on two adults from €21.30
a night; cabins from €69 a night.
Tel: (Fr) 4 67 37 33 87
campinglayole.com ➳
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 69

DOMAINE DE
VERCHANT
Montpellier, Hérault
Nestled among 13 hectares of vineyards
just 20 minutes from the centre of
Montpellier, this luxury hotel is the
perfect place for wine-lovers.
The 26 rooms are spread across
the 17th-century mansion house and
a series of soft stone outbuildings, which
once housed the harvest workers. Rooms
are strikingly contemporary, with
white bed linen, bold curtain fabrics
and Italian designer furniture.
The hotel has a bistro and gastronomic
restaurant where dishes are paired
with wines from the estate. Guests
can also book a tasting session with
the sommelier.
Other facilities include an infinity pool
and spa, where the signature treatments
include a Grand Cru grape-seed
exfoliation and red-grape body wrap.
Doubles from €329 excluding breakfast.
Tel: (Fr) 4 67 07 26 00
domainedeverchant.com
FRANCE PASSION
Across France
Campervan enthusiasts with a love of
wine can stay overnight for free at
hundreds of vineyards by signing up with
France Passion. The scheme, aimed
exclusively at motorhome owners, costs
€29 a year, which brings you the
all-important guide. Membership allows
you a free pitch for 24 hours at more
than 2,000 sites including 800 vineyards
and 950 farms, most of which are off the
beaten track.
Annual membership €29.
france-passion.com
CHÂTEAU DE PIZAY
Saint-Jean-d’Ardières, Rhône
Lying in the Beaujolais vineyards near
Morgon, this medieval château offers fine
wines and a tranquil setting to make for
a truly enjoyable stay. The elegant
château has a dozen well-appointed
rooms, featuring antique furniture, free
Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs. All the rooms
overlook a large, French-style garden and
some come with private terraces.
Activities include a tour of the estate
and a chance to taste the château’s fine
vintages and join a wine sensory course
at the oénotheque (pictured above). You
can then take a dip in the heated outdoor
swimming pool or go for a stroll through
the garden. For a bit of extra pampering,
head for the spa, which has a sauna and
hammam, and provides a range of
multisensory treatments.
Guests can also look forward to
a fine-dining experience at the gourmet
restaurant, which serves seasonal menus
based on fresh local produce.
Doubles from €200 including breakfast.
Tel: (Fr) 4 74 66 51 41
chateau-pizay.com
MORE
ONLINE
Find more ideas on places to stay in France
www.completefrance.com/
travel/where-tostay
NO8 B&B
Mailly-Champagne, Marne
For a relaxing stay in the heart of
Champagne country, look no further
than this charming B&B, set in a former
winemaker’s home in the Grand Cru
village of Mailly. There are four en-suite
bedrooms – two in the main house and
two in an adjoining annexe – and
a spacious lounge-dining room, which is
available for all guests to use. The village
makes an ideal base for visiting the
famous champagne houses. The owners
provide free guide books and maps of the
Route Touristique de Champagne.
Doubles from €70 including breakfast.
Tel: (Fr) 3 26 91 11 14
no8bedandbreakfast.com
PHOTOGRAPHS: DOMAINE DE VERCHANT
70 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

DOMAINE DE GARILLE
Aragon, Aude
Enjoy sampling wines from the sundrenched
south-west of France at the
Domaine de Garille, ten kilometres from
medieval Carcassonne. The wine estate
has seven gîtes, all with splendid views
over the countryside. Each is individually
decorated using Mediterranean colours
and using both contemporary and
traditional furnishings. The smallest gîte
accommodates two people, while the
largest can house up to six, and all come
with fully equipped kitchens and
bathrooms. Each gîte also has a private
terrace, the perfect place for guests to
relax with a glass of wine.
Prices from €225 for one week
in low season.
Tel: (Fr) 4 68 72 76 96
lorgeril.wine
AUBERGE DU VIN
Mazan, Vaucluse
Anyone with a soft spot for wines from
the Rhône Valley and a desire to learn
more about them will be in good hands
at the Auberge du Vin, located at the foot
of Mont Ventoux.
This 18th-century farmhouse is the
home of British expatriates Linda Field
and Christopher Hunt, who offer wine
holidays and courses for up to 16 guests.
Popular choices include a three-day
wine holiday weekend or the week-long
‘Rhône Ranger Adventure’, during which
you will visit and taste the wines of the
eight most important Rhône villages.
If you would rather explore on your
own, you can stay on a bed and
breakfast basis or rent one of the two
self-contained cottages.
Doubles from €140 including breakfast
and two glasses of rosé, cottages from
€750 (minimum one-week rental).
Tel: (Fr) 4 90 61 62 84
aubergeduvin.com
DOMAINE CÉLINE ET
FRÉDÉRIC GUEGUEN
Chablis, Yonne
Just seven kilometres south-west of
Chablis lies the vine-fringed hamlet of
Préhy, where the wine-producing
Gueguen family offers accommodation.
They have one guest bedroom in their
home, which has a flat-screen TV, and
a bathroom with shower and toilet.
You can take breakfast on the terrace
overlooking the vineyards.
A few minutes’ walk away, the
Guegens have
a renovated gîte,
which has two
WHERE TO STAY
NEXT
MONTH
THE BEST
PLACES TO
STAY FOR
WILDLIFE
SPOTTING
bedrooms that can take up to five people,
and a fully equipped kitchen. Other
facilities include a swimming pool, heated
from May to September, and free Wi-Fi.
Guests can book a tasting at the house
and buy wine from the on-site cellar.
B&B from €90; gîte from €110 per night
(minimum two nights).
Tel: (Fr) 6 08 74 63 85
chablis-gueguen.fr
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 71

BON APPÉTIT
The best of French gastronomy
P74 FESTIVINI
The festival of wine and
gastronomy in Saumur.
P78 COOKERY CLASSICS
Books to help you master
French cuisine.
P79 RESTAURANT REVIEW
AND WINES OF THE MONTH
P80 MAKE THE PERFECT…
Panisses – chickpea fritters
from Provence.
P82 EATING OUT IN…
The Unesco World Heritage city
of Avignon.
P84 WINE
Exploring the distinctive grape
that is muscat.
Grapes
ripening in
the summer
sunshine
PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY IMAGES/iSTOCKPHOTO; DEBORAH SAMPSON
CHEESE OF THE MONTH
Pont-l’Évêque
Produced from the
same milk as its close
cousin Camembert,
Pont-l’Évêque cheese
has a long history. Today, it is
one of four Norman cheeses to
carry the AOP (Appellation
d’Origine Protégée) label, while
the Spruytte family is one of
only five that still make this
creamy square cheese from
milk produced on their own
farm. Because Jêrôme and his
wife, Françoise, use
unpasteurised lait cru, they
must satisfy stringent
sanitation regulations as well as
the demanding AOP criteria.
STRENGTH
Somehow, Françoise finds
time to serve as mayor of
Saint-Philbert-des-Champs, in
the bucolic Pays d’Auge area
of the Calvados département.
The family farm is (at the
original insistence of Jérôme’s
religious grandmother) right
opposite the church. These
days, the couple live across
the road from the old house in
whose musty cellar Françoise
oversees the production of
their fromages fermiers.
Pont l’Évêque comes in
four possible (always square)
sizes and it takes 3.5 litres of
the Spruyttes’ Normandy
herd’s milk to make one 300g
cheese. Of the 50,000 or so
they produce annually, a third
goes to boutique cheese shops
around France, another third
retails to local commerçants,
and the remainder is sold
by Françoise at markets.
While taste is subject to
seasonal variations and
different milk treatments,
a tell-tale orange bloom on
the salt-washed rind (pictured
left) suggests a more mature
cheese, somewhere toward
the upper end of the standard
affinage of three to six weeks.
Even this, though, scores just
three on the Robustometer.
The buttery yellow, slightly
springy flesh is surprisingly
salty, with a hint of hazelnuts
and a distinct note of
mushrooms and autumnal
pasture. The aroma is redolent
of the Spruyttes’ cellar and
a reminder of the work
involved for such small-scale
operators to bring their produce
to market. Despite commercial
competition and exacting
regulations, they remain
passionate about their craft.
Long may they modestly thrive!
Mark Sampson
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 73

Saumur
en fête
Enjoy the food and wines of this historic Loire Valley town during
the ten-day Festivini celebrations, says Sophie Gardner-Roberts
As one of the most important
wine-producing countries in
the world, France has
countless fêtes and institutions
celebrating le vin, from traditional grape
harvest festivals and quirky cork
museums to the swanky new Cité du Vin
in Bordeaux. The country has 16
appellations referring to the ‘grands
vignobles’ – Bourgogne, Loire, Bordeaux,
Rhône etc – and more than 300 AOCs
(Appellations d’Origine Contrôlée).
The Loire Valley’s main claim to fame
may be the regal châteaux that cling
majestically to the shores of the mighty
river, but if you are visiting Saumur or
nearby towns in September, be sure not
to miss Festivini. This annual gathering
celebrates the Vins de Saumur, produced
to the east of the historical region of
Anjou in an area stretching from the
town itself to Gennes, Montsoreau and
Montreuil-Bellay.
In this region, vines are cultivated over
3,000 hectares in a soil rich in white
tuffeau stone, which was used to build
some of the châteaux. The two main
grape varieties are chenin blanc, perfect
for bubbly, dry whites and, when the
grapes are left to rot, Coteaux de Saumur
sweet wines; and, for the reds, cabernet
franc, which is said to have been cultivated
in the area since the 11th century.
Festivini organises many activities in
and around Saumur that pay tribute to
the wines and the producers. From 2-10
September, you can explore the area, take
part in wine tastings and learn all there is
to know about the seven AOCs produced
PHOTOGRAPHS: DAVID DARRAULT; FRÉDÉRIC AYROULET; SOPHIE GARDNER-ROBERTS
74 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

BON APPÈTIT
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Guests at the dinner at Fontevraud Abbey at the climax of Festivini;
Pouring glasses of Saumur wines; A tasting at the Domaine de Rocheville
here. The celebrations culminate in
a huge party in the grounds of the
Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud; the idea
being that you will have gathered the
knowledge during the week to enjoy the
wines in a fun and relaxed atmosphere
while tucking into delicious food. Sounds
good? Let me take you on a tour.
Going ‘inland’
The Loire Valley attracts millions of
visitors a year, thanks to the castles, of
course, but also due to the Loire à Vélo,
a cycling route that meanders gently
along the riverbank. Visitors on wheels
rarely venture far from the cycle path and
the calling of the Loire; little do they
know that they are missing jewels of
other sorts nearby.
Festivini organisers have set out to
change all that by creating eight
alternative cycling routes that go ‘inland’
– away from the Loire – to reveal the
vineyards that thrive beyond the river.
These routes take you to the heart of
wine domaines as you zig-zag through
the vineyards on narrow paths. This way,
you can discover the hidden Clos d’Entre
les Murs at Château de Parnay. This
unusual vineyard, listed as a Monument
Historique, uses a special technique to
grow the vines: 11 walls, each 60
centimetres thick, are placed in parallel
lines, with one side facing the south, and
the other the north. The vines are fed
through regularly placed holes at the foot
of the walls; the pied de vigne (vine stock)
faces the north, in the shade of the wall
to retain humidity, while the rest of the
plant grows on the south side, benefiting
from warmth and sunshine.
If you find the heat a little too intense
(summer is still truly present in early
September in the Saumurois region), seek
shelter in impressive troglodyte caves and
old quarries, dug deep into the tuffeau
rock. Again, the cycling routes will take
you there, passing through small villages
you may have missed, such as Souzay-
Champigny, which has some beautiful
troglodyte homes built into the cliffs.
As all roads lead to Rome, so all of
these cycling routes lead to a domaine
and a well-earned tasting. Try Domaine
de Rocheville, in the Saumur-Champigny
vineyards near Parnay. Not only is the
cycle ride there beautiful, but the wine
tastings take place on a chic teakwood
terrace with a lovely view of the Loire.
Domaine des Frémonclairs, a familyowned
domaine in Turquant, is also
a special place. The producer, Christophe
Hallouin, has in his cellars some very
old Coteaux de Saumur, which have
been passed down the generations.
His more recent vintages include mostly
Saumur Champigny, Saumur Blanc and
Crémant de Loire.
You can go it alone on these routes;
simply ask for a map at the Saumur
tourist office. Alternatively, join a guided
cycle ride with a gourmet picnic stop and
several wine tastings (€30pp, €20 if you
bring your own bike).
A different approach
If cycling is too energetic, slow the pace
and hop on to a horse-drawn carriage as
part of the Equivini events included in the
festival. Beginning at Doué-la-Fontaine,
visitors are taken on a gentle ramble
among the vines in a wooden carriage.
The service is provided by the Écuries
Saint Nicolas, which trains its horses to
respond to voice orders only. It is
a delightful experience to sit back and
watch the vines go by with only the
sounds of the creaking carriage and the
driver’s occasional orders, spoken softly
but clearly to the horse. Spaces are
available on 8 and/or 9 September for ➳
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 75

€59.90 per day. The ride includes tastings
and an ‘epicurean’ lunch, wine included.
Although it is fascinating to get off the
beaten track, you can hardly ignore the
River Loire altogether, so enjoy a punt on
the river in the company of a Saumur
vigneron (plus wine tastings, naturally).
The boat trips are a great way to discover
the banks of the Loire in a new way, and
offer spectacular views of the Château de
Saumur. The boat trips (€15) depart from
the town and take place on 3 September,
with three departures that day, and then
from 5-10 September, leaving at 4pm
(5pm on the Sunday).
Back on dry land, two easy hikes
among the vines are a popular feature
(2-3 September, €5). The paths are seven
kilometres long and participants are given
a kit at the start which includes a glass,
a quiz and a map. There are wine tastings
along the way, which push the overall
time of the walks to around 3hr 30min.
The fittest (and bravest) can take part
in races on 3 September that cut through
the Saumur-Champigny vineyards.
Pathways are adapted according to
runners’ ability, and you can opt for
different backdrops, too – one race
goes by some of the most impressive
troglodyte sites.
THE SEVEN
SAUMUR
AOC WINES
Saumur Rouge
Saumur Rosé
Saumur Blanc
Saumur Brut
Saumur-Champigny
Saumur Puy Notre-Dame
Coteaux de Saumur
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The château at Saumur overlooks the River Loire; The Clos d’Entre les Murs
vineyard at Château de Parnay; A duck dish at the gala dinner at Fontevraud Abbey
Foodie heaven
One of the main attractions of Festivini is
being able to sample Saumur wines and
the local produce that goes with them.
Perhaps the nicest way to start the
celebrations is to tour the vignerons’
market in Saumur on 2 September.
The 25 producers of the AOC Saumur
wines gather to show off their vintages,
offering tastings and chatting to visitors
about their proud history: Saumur Rouge
was among the first wines to receive
an AOC, in 1936.
Rosé enthusiasts have their own
special event, which is being held on the
roof of the Dôme theatre in Saumur on
6 September. Enjoy tastings of AOC
Saumur Rosé, with food to match, while
listening to live music and taking in the
views of the town and the Loire (€18,
€15 for under-25s). Take things even
further with a bucolic outdoor dinner in
a vineyard in Montreuil-Bellay, complete
with fairy lights and live music, and meet
local winemakers (8 September, €14).
End the celebrations, en beauté, as the
French would say, with a fabulous
evening strolling the grounds of the
12th-century Abbaye Royale de
Fontevraud and sampling the seven AOC
wines with gourmet, tasting-menu dishes.
This immersive party (€75) allows
visitors to discover the abbey in stages as
access is opened gradually to guests.
The aperitif is enjoyed in the entrance
courtyard; the starter in the gardens; the
mains within the abbey; and the dessert
and bubbly in the cloisters. While last
year’s theme celebrated Great Britain
with ‘God Save the Queen’ as a title,
2017 promises to take visitors on
a dream-like voyage into an imaginary
world, ‘Le Jardin des Délices’.
Make sure you stay until midnight, as
the organisers love to surprise guests for
the final course. I dare you to try all the
exquisite little dishes on offer, although I
suspect you won’t need any persuasion to
try all seven AOC wines. Remember to
be responsible; after all, you will be in
the presence of the spirit of Queen
Eleanor of Aquitaine, who is buried in
the abbey.
Bon voyage et bon appétit!
For more information and to book
events, visit festivini.com, vins-de-saumur.
com, fontevraud.com
MORE
ONLINE
Discover all of France’s wine regions
www.completefrance.com/languageculture/food-and-drink
PHOTOGRAPHS: SOPHIE GARDNER-ROBERTS; FRÉDÉRIC AYROULET
76 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBER PRIVATE VIEW EVENT
Matisse in the Studio
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Saturday 9 September, 6.30pm – 9pm
Archant magazine subscribers are invited to an exclusive private
view on Saturday 9 September 2017, 6:30pm - 9pm
Join us at the Royal Academy of Arts for a drinks
reception and private view of the unmissable
exhibition, Matisse in the Studio.
This sumptuous exhibition offers a rare glimpse into
the artist’s personal collection of objects, as well as
the paintings, sculptures and drawings it inspired.
Matisse drew his collection from the far corners of
the world: Buddhist statuary from Thailand, Bamana
figures from Mali, furniture and textiles from North
Africa. Rarely of material value, these objects were
nonetheless precious. Seen side by side with the works
they influenced, they reveal how Matisse’s vision of rich
and masterful energy first stemmed from the collage of
patterns and rhythms which he found in the world of
objects.
The evening will include a glass of wine on arrival, introduction from an RA expert and
private view of the exhibition outside public opening hours.
Exclusive subscriber tickets are just £25
www.roy.ac/archantmatisse 020 7300 8090
quoting ARCHANT PRIVATE VIEW
Please have your 12 digit subscriber number to hand (you will find this on your address label above your name and address with each issue)
T&Cs: Tickets are limited and subject to availability, assigned on a first come first served basis. Offer open to Archant subscribers only. Booking paid in advance and non-refundable. New subscribers welcome,
please turn to the subscription page for details. Henri Matisse, Still Life with Seashell on Black Marble, 1940. Oil on canvas, 54 x 81 cm. The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow. Photo © Archives H.
Matisse. © Succession H. Matisse/DACS 2017. Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts, London and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in partnership with the Musée Matisse, Nice

ABOVE: La Mère Brazier in Lyon and (inset) its founder’s cookbook
CLASSIC COOKBOOKS
Inspired by the delights of French cuisine? Then re-create the dishes in your own kitchen
with our selection of guides that have stood the test of time
Le Guide Culinaire
Georges-Auguste
Escoffier, John Wiley
& Sons, £30
First
published in
1903, this
book
marked the
legendary
chef’s
attempt to lay down in
print the basic principles
of French cuisine for the
benefit of his fellow
professionals. Packed full
of authentic recipes, from
soups and sauces to meat
and fish dishes, the guide
quickly became an
indispensable part of
a French chef’s repertoire
and remains influential to
this day.
French Country
Cooking
Elizabeth David, Grub
Street, £12
Having travelled
extensively abroad before
and during
World War
II, the
cookery
writer
Elizabeth
David
changed the face of British
cooking with her recipes
drawing on the delights of
Mediterranean cuisine.
Her French cookbook,
published in 1951, proved
hugely successful as David
revealed the diversity of
French cuisine, with
recipes ranging from
a Basque country pheasant
soup to the Burgundy
favourite of wild hare
served with cream sauce
and chestnut purée.
La Mère Brazier:
The Mother Of
Modern French
Cooking
Eugénie Brazier,
Modern Books, £25
After opening a restaurant
in Lyon in 1921, Eugénie
Brazier became the first
woman to be awarded
three Michelin stars, and
is widely regarded as
an important influence on
modern French cooking.
Her book, published in
1977 and translated into
English in 2014, contains
more than 300 regional
recipes that anyone can
follow at home. There are
also charming anecdotes,
including memories from
multi-starred Paul Bocuse,
who trained with her,
and had to iron
tablecloths and wash
dishes before being
allowed to prepare food.
Larousse
Gastronomique
Prosper Montagné,
Hamlyn, £70
First published in 1938,
Montagné’s guide has
stood the test of time and
become an invaluable
source of information for
every aspiring cook. This
encyclopaedia, focusing
mainly on French
gastronomy, contains
recipes for nearly every
dish imaginable as well as
information on their
origins and different
French cooking styles.
An updated edition in
2009 includes 85
biographies of chefs and
hundreds of photographs.
GOUGÈRES AU
FROMAGE
These savoury choux buns are
traditionally eaten at the start
of a meal in Burgundy-
Franche-Comté and will prove
instantly moreish.
SERVES: 40-50 gougères
INGREDIENTS
• 250ml/8 3 /4 fl oz water
• 125g/4 1 /2oz butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 250g/8 3 /4oz plain flour
• 8 eggs
• 150g/5 1 /4oz Comté fruité cheese,
grated
1. Preheat the oven to
190°C–200°C/375°F–390°F.
2. In a saucepan, bring the water
with the butter to the boil, add salt
and pepper to taste.
3. Once the butter has melted in the
boiling water, add the flour quickly
and stir into a pastry. Lower the heat
and keep stirring rapidly for about
five minutes until the mixture
thickens and leaves the sides
of the pan.
4. Put the mixture into a food mixer
(or use an electric whisk) and add the
eight eggs gradually. Mix until the
batter is well combined.
5. Add the grated cheese and
mix well.
6. Spoon the whole mixture into
a piping bag and then, on a lined
baking sheet/tray, pipe (or spoon,
if not using a piping bag) out
a quantity the size of a quail’s egg
every 4cm to 5cm/1 1 /2in–2in.
7. Bake in the oven for 10–12
minutes, then serve warm.
This recipe is taken from
France – From The Source,
written by Carolyn Boyd,
published by Lonely
Planet, priced £19.99.
PHOTOGRAPHS: HEMIS/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; RIVER THOMPSON
78 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

BON APPÉTIT
RESTAURANT REVIEW
GALVIN BISTROT DE LUXE
BAKER STREET, LONDON
Nestled in the smart streets of Marylebone,
the understated facade of this
restaurant, embellished with neat
shrubbery, hides a chic dining room.
The style is a modern take on classic bistro, all
dark wood, crisp white tablecloths and globe
lighting, with the staff immaculately turned out.
It is a popular destination, due to its location
and the reputation of the Galvin brothers – Chris
and Jeff – who run numerous restaurants in and out
of London. Galvin Bistrot de Luxe was their first venture,
opened in 2005, and has garnered several awards, including
Best French Restaurant for two years and Best Wine List in 2009.
The menu offers a variety of timeless French classics, some
with a British twist, others taking seasonality into account, and
it is hard to find fault with a pleasantly varied prix fixe menu at
a restaurant of this calibre for just £19.95. Nonetheless, my
companion and I decided to go à la carte, with some of the
dishes just too tempting to ignore.
To begin, we both selected the half dozen Herefordshire
snails in garlic butter. It was my first experience of escargots,
and the plump, flavoursome morsels did not disappoint. There
was no risk of rushing our starter, especially with the added
handicap of not being experienced with snail tongs!
As it was a hot day, for my main course I eschewed the
slightly heavier menu options of pork belly and rump of lamb,
in favour of the caramelised duck confit, olive and orange salad
with walnuts. My friend selected one of the excellent range of
vegetarian dishes – grilled aubergine steak with
slow cooked tomato, yoghurt and pea shoots.
Both were delicious and showed a deft hand with
seasonings that really helped the quality of the
ingredients to shine.
A glass of house red for me and white for my friend
balanced the flavours beautifully. I rounded off my meal with
a cheese plate, but sneaked a small taste of my friend’s
tarte Tatin, which was excellent.
The service was attentive but not fussy, and the overall
atmosphere was relaxed and easy-going, making a very pleasant
lunchtime experience.
Lara Dunn
Open for lunch Mon-Sat, 12pm-2.30pm, Sun 12pm-3pm;
dinner Mon-Wed 6pm-10.30pm, Thurs-Sat 6pm-11pm,
Sun 6pm-9.30pm. Three-course prix fixe menus: Lunch £15.50,
dinner £19.50. À la carte mains from £16.50.
66 Baker Street, London W1U 7DJ
Tel: 0207 935 4007,
galvinrestaurants.com/s/4/galvin-bistrot-de-luxe
WINES OF THE MONTH BY SALLY EASTON, MASTER OF WINE
SNAP IT UP
Château La Tulipe de la Garde, Merlot
2014, Bordeaux Supérieur
This wine is blended with a drop of cabernet
sauvignon and cabernet franc which adds
a little spicy bramble and blackcurrant
piquancy to the sweetly soft, round, dark
plum fruits of merlot. Some
months in oak add toastiness
to the flavour. The tannins are
modest and supple in the
warm core, and are sufficient
to warrant some protein to
bring it all together. This is
attractively straightforward
and well-balanced.
Drink with: Barbecue meats.
Sainsbury’s, £9
Tel: 0800 328 1700
sainsburys.co.uk
WEEKEND TREAT
Henry Fessy, Moulin à Vent 2015,
Beaujolais
Of the ten Beaujolais Crus, Moulin à Vent is
one of the most full bodied and ageworthy,
and this one fits that bill. A ripe, sunny
vintage has, additionally, helped to give
a smooth, fine grain to the
integrated tannins, and a hint of
raisin character. This is a serious,
structured wine with a density of
sweet, baked, black cherries,
berries and blackcurrants, and
a core of acid freshness running
through it.
Drink with: Duck in cherry sauce.
The Vineyard, £15.25
Tel: 01706 822 213
(orders by phone)
thevineyardwineshop.co.uk
TIME TO CELEBRATE
Domaine Samuel Billaud, Premier Cru
Séchet, Vieilles Vignes 2015, Chablis
This is textbook, steely chablis of super
concentration and precision, with
60-year-old vines in limestone soil adding
their own degree of balance and density.
This wine is concentrated and plush in the
strict, linear, crisp profile of
high-quality Chablis, and has
a sophisticated saline note. Meal
and stony character appear in
a smooth, fine-cream texture
amid flavours of peach, citrus
pith and cobnut-cream.
Drink with: Chicken in creamy
mushroom sauce.
Wine Society, £25
Tel: 01438 741 177
thewinesociety.com
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 79

Make the perfect...
Panisses
These chickpea fritters are a favourite with the Niçois as
a snack or accompanying a stew, says Rosa Jackson
Visit any pasta shop in Nice
and you will see golden,
saucer-shaped discs alongside
sheets of beef-and-chard-filled
ravioli and green or white tagliatelle
noodles. Known as panisses, they look
a little unprepossessing for a food that
inspired the legendary Californian chef
Alice Waters to name her Berkeley
restaurant Chez Panisse. Yet take them
home, cut them into thick strips and fry
them, and you will understand why these
chickpea fritters cause such enthusiasm.
Like many local specialities, panisses
made their way from Liguria to Marseille
and Nice, both port cities with historical
ties to Italy. The Genoese who settled
here in the 19th century brought with
them bags of chickpea flour, which
allowed them to make the crisp pancake
known as socca in Nice (or farinata
in Liguria) as well as panisses, which
were sold as a snack at the markets
in Marseille.
The original name, panisso in Italian,
referred to a chickpea polenta:
unlike the batter for socca, which
is poured directly into a copper
pan to bake in a wood-fired oven,
the panisse mixture cooks in
a saucepan before being poured
into saucers to set.
Because panisses are readily
available in Nice and Marseille,
few cooks bother to make them
at home these days. Yet the
process is surprisingly easy and
rewarding, calling for no special
equipment and just a few minutes
of whisking as the bubbling
mixture thickens. The ingredients
are also easy to find, with gram
(chickpea) flour now being sold in
major supermarkets as well as
Indian food shops.
Having made panisses many
times, I have discovered the
importance of adding olive oil to
the water (my first try was
a lumpy disaster without it), and
ABOVE: The marina at Nice, capital of the Côte d-Azur and home to panisses
to whisking in the sifted
chickpea flour a large
tablespoonful at a time.
Ideally, one person
adds the flour while the
other whisks, but it is
perfectly doable as
a solo project. Salt is
also a must to bring out
the flavour, or you
might add chopped
Food critic and black olives, like some
cookbook author pasta shops in Nice.
Rosa Jackson lives I prefer melt-in-themouth
panisses to firm
in Nice, where she
runs the cookery ones, so use a lower
school Les Petits proportion of chickpea
Farcis and writes flour to water than
about food
some recipes I have
for publications seen. The fritters will
worldwide.
take longer to brown
and be a little more
delicate to flip as they
cook, but for me the
result is worth the small effort.
As I don’t have large saucers, I use
crème brûlée dishes to obtain the
traditional round shape, but you can also
pour the mixture into an oiled baking
tray or loaf pan, which will give you
more uniform chips. Rather than getting
out my deep fryer, I am happy to
shallow-fry the panisses in equal parts
vegetable oil and olive oil.
For the Niçois, panisses can be
anything from a snack, perhaps dipped in
tomato sauce or a herbed fromage blanc
dip, to an accompaniment to a stew such
as daube, beef simmered in red wine with
vegetables. My friend Karine, who was
born in Nice, remembers her grandmother
sprinkling them with sugar for a dessert
– a perfect example of the locals’ ability
to make the most of what they have.
80 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

BON APPÉTIT
PHOTOGRAPHS: FOTOLIA; ZUMA PRESS INC/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
PERFECT PANISSES
• 1 litre/4 cups water
• 150g/1 1 /4 cups chickpea
(gram) flour
• 1 1 /2tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil and vegetable oil, for frying
1. Lightly oil six saucers or crème brûlée
dishes.
SERVES
6
2. Bring the water to a boil, add 1tsp salt and
1 1 /2 tbsp olive oil. Slowly pour in the chickpea
flour, whisking constantly. Turn the heat
down and stir constantly with a wooden
spoon for five minutes until the mixture has
thickened: be careful not to burn your hand
(wrap a tea towel around it if necessary).
3. Fill the saucers to the brim with the
mixture, dipping your fingers in cold water to
press the batter into the saucers. Set aside
for at least one hour (the panisses will keep in
the refrigerator, covered, for a few days).
4. Turn the panisses out on to a work
surface and cut into thick chips (about
five per saucer).
5. Pour equal proportions of olive oil and
vegetable oil into a large frying pan, enough
to generously coat the base of the pan, over
a medium-high heat. Fry the panisses
until golden on both sides, carefully flipping
them once.
6. Serve hot with freshly ground pepper.
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 81

Eating out in...
Avignon
The Palais des Papes dominates the city of Avignon
Follow the locals to find the best places to savour the
flavours of the papal city, says Robin Gauldie
1 La Vieille
Fontaine
Mathieu Desmarest has been dubbed one
of the ‘great chefs of tomorrow’ by the
influential Gault & Millau guide.
Engaging, self-confident and just
26 years old, he is one of French
gastronomy’s fastest-rising stars.
At La Vieille Fontaine, restaurant of
the stately Hôtel d’Europe, his tasting
menu changes with the seasons. The
hotel is just inside Avignon’s medieval
ramparts, and on a summer evening the
courtyard, beneath a plane tree as old as
the 16th-century building itself, is
a lovely place to dine. For cooler seasons,
there is an elegant dining room off the
courtyard. Just think: Napoléon himself
may have dined here, for it was he who
ordered this aristocratic townhouseturned-hotel
to be given its present name.
“I take my discipline as a chef from
[the Institut Paul] Bocuse, where I trained
before I came back to Avignon,” says
Desmarest as he guides me through the
tasting menu. It is clear that he draws on
every corner of France for his inspiration,
with dishes including Brittany scallops
with Richerenches truffles, shrimp
ceviche with coriander, garden cherries
and cold garden pea soup, and Mont
Ventoux pork fillet and crispy pig’s
trotter in chickpea cream and harissa.
I could go on at length about the
carefully matched wines chosen as if just
for me by sommeliers Jérémie Leone and
Pierre Baud, but one in particular stands
out: a steely, flinty Riesling Kabinett
Egon Müller that with one sip may have
permanently changed my perception of
what Mosel wines are all about.
Open Tues-Sat noon-1.30pm and
7.30pm-9.30pm. Three-course menu
from €63; four-course menu €85;
tasting menu €99.
12 Place Crillon, 84000 Avignon
Tel: (Fr) 4 90 14 76 76
heurope.com
PHOTOGRAPHS: FOTOLIA; PHILIPPE GIRAUD; MARY-LAËTITIA GERVAL; RUTEMPLE CC BY 2.0
82 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

2 Restaurant
Le 46
Although just one block from the tourist
crowds on Place de l’Horloge, Restaurant
Le 46 attracts an overwhelmingly
French clientele, and is so popular that
reservations are recommended. Lit during
the day by large French windows opening
on to the narrow Rue de la Balance, it is
a bright, modern room, with bright,
modern staff, and noisy in a good way,
with chat, not muzak and mobiles.
You can eat indoors or, in summer,
on the pavement terrace, although these
tables are favoured by diners who cannot
break the smoking habit.
For my apéro, I had to choose a pastis,
which arrived with an amuse-bouche of
black olives marinated in Provençal herbs.
Marseille lays claim to the quintessentially
Provençal aniseed-infused tincture, but in
fact it was created by Jules-François
Pernod’s distillery just outside Avignon
in 1918.
I chose a bone-dry, almost sparkling
viognier to go with my starter of crispy
3. Maison
Christian
Étienne
Avignon’s sole Michelin star is held by
Maison Christian Étienne. The
eponymous founder’s right-hand man,
Guilhem Sevin, took over the restaurant
last year and has retained the star rating
that Christian Étienne himself held for
some 30 years without a break.
Sevin’s wife Corinne, a trained florist
who used to work at the palatial Royal
Monceau Raffles in Paris, brings her eye
for detail to the restaurant. It is
a gorgeous but informal space,
a glass-roofed temple of gastronomy in
the shadow of the Palais des Papes.
Sevin’s style brings just a hint of Asia
to classic French ingredients. In June, the
seasonal Menu ‘Sur le Pont’ featured
glazed caillettes de porc in a subtly
tandoori-tinted jus, served with local
green asparagus from Clos Méjean, and
followed by cod pavé with ground
coriander accompanied by a rainbow of
multi-coloured carrots and mangetouts.
crab ravioli and spring rolls crunchy with
tiny cubes of mango and spring onion.
Fetchingly turned out with a sprinkling of
bean sprouts on a square black ceramic
platter, it was a complex combination of
tastes and textures. My choice of main
course was duck, which was served
pinkly moist within salty, crispy skin.
It was served with crunchy, just-off-raw
roast baby turnips, while a stack of
aubergine filled with tomato and onion
added a Levantine tinge.
Open Mon-Sat noon-2pm and
7pm-10pm. Lunch menu from €15;
evening carte entrées €9-€9.50, mains
€15-€18, desserts €6.
46 Rue de la Balance, 84000 Avignon
Tel: (Fr) 4 90 85 24 83
le46avignon.com
But I could have pushed the boat out
with the Menu du Palais: foie gras, oysters,
John Dory, veal, cheese and dessert. The
Michelin Guide describes the wine list as
“particularly interesting”, and so it proved.
Rhône wines dominate, understandably,
and there are some rather good rosés
from the Gard département.
It may not be the obvious place to go
if you are keeping an eye on your budget,
but I defy you to say it is not worth every
cent, even if you need to live on soup for
the next week.
Open Fri-Tues noon-1.30pm and
7.30-9.30pm (daily during the Avignon
Festival in July). Menu ‘Sur le Pont’ €35;
Menu du Palais from €80.
10 Rue de Mons, 84000 Avignon
Tel: (Fr) 4 90 86 16 50
christian-etienne.fr
BON APPÉTIT
Eating in
Sample the sweet and savoury delights of
Vaucluse in Avignon’s shops and markets
MARKET
Les Halles
18 Place Pie
84004 Avignon
Tel: (Fr) 4 90 27 15 15
avignon-leshalles.com
Avignon’s top chefs shop at the covered
market, which is easy to find because of its
‘garden wall’ (pictured) on the facade, the
creation of botanist Patrick Blanc. More than
40 vendors gather here every day except
Monday, and on Saturday mornings stars of
local gastronomy show off their skills at the
Petite Cuisine des Halles.
CONFECTIONERY
Les Pâtissiers des Papalines d’Avignon
22 Rue du Vieux Sextier
84000 Avignon
Tel: (Fr) 4 90 82 42 38
patissiers-chocolatiers-vaucluse.com
Papalines are Avignon’s signature chocolate
bonbons, which are filled with a herbal liqueur
and coated in a layer of pink chocolate. The
shop also sells ventoulets, described as ‘all of
Provence in one cake’, combining almonds,
honey, lavender, apricots soaked in Muscat de
Beaumes de Venise sweet wine, and a dab
of chocolate into one mouth-watering, rich,
damp slice.
OLIVE OIL
Maison Bronzini
74 Rue de la République
30400 Villeneuve-lès-Avignon
Tel: (Fr) 4 90 25 45 59
maisonbronzini.com
For olive oil connoisseurs, Maison Bronzini
ticks all the boxes: low acidity, cold-pressed
extra-virgin cuvées, and traditional production
methods. Some are infused with herbs from
the surrounding garrigues (shrubland), others
with local truffles. Try the family’s own
olive-based liqueur, made to a secret recipe,
as an apéro. Bronzini also makes and sells
olive-oil-based soaps and cosmetics. The shop
is in Avignon’s neighbouring commune, a short
walk across the River Rhône.
● For more about restaurants, food and drink
in the area, see Vaucluse en Provence tourist
board (provenceguide.com) and Avignon
tourist office (avignon-tourisme.com).
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 83

Taste of the
exotic
One of France’s most distinctive and best-known grapes,
the ancient muscat variety still has the power to surprise
With its exotic aromas and
distinguished heritage, muscat is
one of France’s most familiar grape
varieties. While clearing the garden
of my home in the Aude département two years ago,
I found five muscat vines growing amid the
undergrowth; and if you buy an established vine for
table grapes from a French garden centre, the
chances are it will be a breed of muscat.
It is unusual for a grape to be equally prized for
the fruit bowl and the production of wine. What
makes muscat even more alluring is that the wines
it makes frequently show aromas of the unfermented
grapes – as opposed to more common fruit
descriptors such as peach, apricot and even quince.
Like most Mediterranean grapes, muscat travelled
to France from further south. It was probably
brought from ancient Greece by Greek or
Phoenician merchants, although some have
speculated that it may have been used for viticulture
even earlier, possibly by the ancient Egyptians.
With such a long history, it is unsurprising that
muscat has mutated and bred widely with other
varieties, which has led to its frequent confusion
with other grapes. Although there are around 200
members of the extended muscat ‘family’ of vines,
variously growing white, rose-coloured and dark
Dominic Rippon
has many years’
experience in the
wine trade, both
in the UK and
France, and
now runs the
wine merchant
business
Strictly Wine.
berries, only three pale-skinned varieties are widely
used for the production of quality wine in France:
muscat ottonel, muscat of Alexandria and muscat
blanc à petits grains. The last of these is France’s
most planted and its most esteemed for winemaking;
an ancient variety that is a parent of both muscat
ottonel and muscat of Alexandria.
Muscat blanc à petits grains is as recognisable in
the vineyard as it is in the glass, producing mostly
small, golden berries, although it is not unusual to
find pink or dark-skinned grapes on the same vine
or even within the same bunch. It is thought to have
arrived in France via what was then the Greek
trading port of Marseille, from where it rapidly
colonised the French Mediterranean, proving a great
blending partner for less aromatic varieties such as
grenache blanc and bourboulenc.
The variety is best known in Languedoc for the
sweet fortified stickies – or vins doux naturels – it
produces in the Frontignan, Mireval and Saint-Jeande-Minervois
appellations. The similar Muscat de
Rivesaltes, in Roussillon, is blended from muscat
blanc à petits grains and muscat of Alexandria.
These are aromatic sweet wines, made by adding
grape spirit to partially fermented grape juice,
halting its fermentation to produce a combination of
exotic richness and crunchy fresh-fruit flavours.
84 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

BON APPÈTIT
PHOTOGRAPHS: DOMINIC RIPPON
Despite its impressive heritage and unique
character, muscat has fallen out of fashion in France
and abroad, along with the sweet wines for which it
is best known. Winemakers have responded by
producing drier styles, with vibrant, floral aromatics
and a lightness of body that have proved popular
with younger wine drinkers. Even Domaine de
Barroubio, the most important producer of sweet
Muscat de Saint-Jean-de-Minervois, is increasingly
well known for its delicate dry Muscat Sec, bottled
as IGP Pays d’Oc.
Late-harvest wines
In the opposite corner of l’Hexagone, in Alsace,
muscat is one of the four ‘noble’ varieties – along
with riesling, pinot gris and gewürztraminer –
allowed for the production of Grand Cru wines.
Muscat blanc à petits grains is joined in the vineyard
by its earlier-ripening offspring muscat ottonel,
although blending of the two varieties is, curiously,
not permitted in most Grand Cru wines.
In contrast to its traditional vocation in the south,
Muscat d’Alsace is often a dry or off-dry wine,
although it is also used to make vendanges tardives,
or late-harvest, wines. Muscat was the first
documented variety in Alsace, probably introduced
by the Romans in ancient Gaul, but it is still viewed
by many as a poor cousin of the other ‘noble’
grapes, and rarely commands the same premium as
the top rieslings or gewürztraminers.
Back in the south, Raymond Miquel of Domaine
de Barroubio is convinced that the traditional sweet
muscats of Languedoc-Roussillon have a bright
future. To demonstrate their potential, he invited
sommeliers and journalists to his estate in the hamlet
of Barroubio, near Saint-Jean-de-Minervois.
He had prepared a ‘vertical’ tasting of old
vintages of Muscat de Saint-Jean-de-Minervois,
6
OF THE BEST FRENCH MUSCATS
Muscat de Saint-Jean-de-
Minervois ‘Cuvée Classique’
Domaine de Barroubio
barroubio.fr
An uncommonly elegant sweet vin
doux naturel, which shows aromas
of lychee and grapes in youth,
developing complex marmalade,
caramel and hazelnut aromas as
it ages in bottle.
Muscat de Rivesaltes
Domaine Cazes
cazes-rivesaltes.com
A floral nose, with hints of ripe
citrus fruit; on the palate, the
wine’s natural sweetness is
balanced by menthol notes and
a seasoning of spice.
Funambulles, vin mousseux
Domaine du Mas Rouge
domainedumasrouge.com
An unusual sparkling muscat, made
by a producer of traditional
fortified Muscat de Mireval.
It shows all the lychee and grape
aromas of young muscat; its
freshness accentuated by the
bubbles. A delicious aperitif wine.
beginning with 2005 and going back to 1990.
At an average altitude of 300 metres, the
appellation’s vineyards are planted on a remote
limestone plateau, giving wines that are high in
sugar, but which keep an uncommon freshness,
even in warm years. In their youth, aromas of lychee
and grapes are frequently joined by lemon zest
and pear; and as the wines age, marmalade and
caramel begin to appear, finally replaced by
hazelnuts and mocha.
Guests discussed the relative merits of the
different vintages – from the uncommon elegance of
the 2003, despite the torrid heat of the growing
season, to the developed aromas of figs, spice and
oloroso sherry in the 1993 – as the final bites of
tapas were polished off.
Raymond had a final surprise in store, in the
form of a clear grape spirit, or eau de vie, distilled
from muscat blanc à petits grains.
The variety’s aromas of fresh grapes
had survived the distillation, giving
an unusually distinctive, floral spirit:
a refreshing way to round off an
enlightening tasting.
Muscat de Frontignan
‘Vendange d’Automne’
Château de la Peyrade
commerce.chateaulapeyrade.com
An oak-aged vin doux naturel that
ferments slowly for eight months
before grape spirit is added.
A spicy vanilla-laced nose,
with flavours of dried apricot
and orange peel.
Muscat d’Alsace
Domaine Haegi
haegi.fr
A blend of 80 per cent muscat
FACING PAGE:
Vineyards in the
Muscat de Saint-
Jean-de-Minervois
appellation;
BELOW: Vigneron
Raymond Miquel
(standing) with guests
at the tasting at
Domaine de Barroubio;
INSET: Vintages at
the tasting went
back to 1990
ottonel with 20 per cent muscat
blanc à petits grains, with white
flower aromas and fresh, crunchy
fruits on the palate, complemented
by a hint of spice on a lingering,
dry finish.
Muscat Sec
IGP Côtes de Thongue
Domaine Saint-Georges d’Ibry
saintgeorgesdibry.com
Rose petal and lychee aromas, with
mango and apricot appearing on
the palate. A delicious dry muscat
from the vineyards near Béziers.
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 85

FRANCE MOVES
TO BAN PETROL
AND DIESEL
CARS BY 2040
France is to end sales of petrol and
diesel vehicles by 2040 as part of
a plan to meet its targets under
the Paris climate agreement.
President Emmanuel Macron’s
government made the
announcement a day after
Swedish car manufacturer Volvo
said it would produce only fully
electric or hybrid cars from 2019.
France’s Environment and
Energy Minister Nicolas Hulot,
described the move as
“a veritable revolution”, and
a “way to fight against air
pollution”. He added that it
would be a tough objective for
French car manufacturers to
meet but not impossible as they
“have enough ideas in the
drawer to nurture and bring
about this promise”.
Pascal Canfin, the head of
WWF France and a former Green
politician who served in François
Hollande’s government, said the
new policy “places France among
the leaders of climate action in
the world”.
Other countries have put
forward the idea of banning
vehicles with combustion
engines but have not gone as
far as France in passing
official objectives.
Among them is the UK, which
aspires to ensure that all new
cars are either electric or
ultra-low emission by 2040.
Norway has the greatest number
of electric vehicles in the world
and has set a target of selling
100 per cent electric or plug-in
hybrid cars by 2025.
LA CULTURE
News, reviews and language
ABOVE: Simone Veil in the uniform of the Académie Française; BELOW: Her funeral at Les Invalides
PANTHÉON HONOUR
FOR SIMONE VEIL
Simone Veil, the French politician,
women’s rights champion and
Holocaust survivor who has died at
the age of 89, is to be laid to rest in
the Panthéon in Paris. President Emmanuel
Macron announced that the former
minister would receive the rare honour to
show the “immense gratitude of the French
people to one of its most loved children”.
He paid tribute to the politician at her
funeral at Les Invalides, where the Garde
Républicaine carried her coffin.
Born to a Jewish family in Nice in 1927,
Simone Veil was arrested by the Germans
during the war and sent to Auschwitz and
then Bergen-Belsen concentration camps.
The Holocaust survivor was appointed
health minister in Valéry Giscardd’Estaing’s
centre-right government in 1974
and steered through landmark laws,
including the right to abortion and
legalisation of the oral contraceptive pill.
The controversial abortion legislation,
named the Loi Veil, was passed in 1975
and is considered one of the foundations of
women’s rights and secularism in France.
Simone Veil went on to serve as the
first elected President of the European
Parliament in 1979, and re-entered French
politics in the 1990s. In 2010, she joined
the Académie Française – guardians of the
French language – becoming only the sixth
woman to join the ‘immortals’, as the 40
academy members are known.
She will become the fifth woman to be
laid to rest in the Panthéon, alongside 76
men. Other national figures buried there
include writers Émile Zola and Victor
Hugo, and scientist Marie Curie. The body
of her husband, politician Antoine Veil,
who died in 2013, will be moved to join
her in the crypt.
PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO; SIPA PRESS/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK; PIERRE VILLARD/SIPA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK;
MUYLAERT SEBASTIEN/ACTION PRESS/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK; BB FRANCE CC BY-SA 3.0
86 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

CULTURE
C’est qui?
We cast a spotlight on a figure making
the headlines this month
ABOVE: President Emmanuel Macron with US President Donald Trump at the Fête Nationale celebrations
MACRON EFFECT PUTS FRANCE
TOP OF SOFT POWER RANKINGS
France has overtaken both the US and
UK to become the world’s top soft
power, according to an annual survey
which measures countries’ non-military
global influence.
The term ‘soft power’ was coined by
Harvard academic Joseph Nye and
relates to the ability to forge and develop
international alliances through
a country’s appeal and attraction.
France’s rise to the top spot has been
attributed partly to the influence of
centrist President Emmanuel Macron,
who recently welcomed US President
Donald Trump and First Lady Melania
to the Fête Nationale celebrations in
Paris. However, the country’s success has
also been put down to its diplomatic
NEWS
IN BRIEF
● A £5.99 bottle of
French wine from
supermarket chain Aldi
has beaten rivals three
times its price in the
International Wine
Challenge competition in
London. The Exquisite
Collection Côtes de
Provence 2016 was
voted best rosé and
second-best wine in the
world in the value wines
category, beating
thousands of other
vintages. The rosé is
produced in Carnoules in
the Var département by
Jules Wines.
● The acting head of the
French air force, General
Richard Reboul, has
been accused of using
a fighter jet to fly to his
house in Provence.
Le Canard Enchaîné
satirical newspaper
alleges that the general
has requisitioned an
Alpha jet several times
since last summer to
fly from his training
academy base in
Bordeaux to his
property near Salon-de-
Provence for weekends.
The defence ministry
has launched an inquiry.
network’s ties with multilateral and
international organisations.
The Soft Power 30 index uses data
from 25 countries to measure their
impact and covers issues ranging from
government and foreign policy to
capacity for economic innovation and
even cuisine. Other important factors
include a country’s attractiveness for
tourists and foreign students.
The report found the UK’s soft power
to be strong, but warned that the Brexit
negotiations were causing its rating to fall
due to a decline in positive feelings
toward it among other European
countries. The results also revealed that
Donald Trump’s rhetoric was reducing
worldwide respect for the US.
● The tomb of General
Charles de Gaulle,
the former French
President and leader
of the Free French
Resistance during
World War II, has been
vandalised. The attack
took place in Colombeyles-Deux-Églises
in
the Haute-Marne
département, where
de Gaulle had a home for
nearly 40 years. Video
cameras showed a man
stepping on the
tombstone and toppling
a large cross, causing
it to break. The incident
sparked outrage
among politicians and
the public.
Name: Pierre Dukan.
Occupation: Former
doctor and
nutritionist, and
the creator of the
controversial
Dukan diet.
Tell me more: Pierre
Dukan was once a popular French
doctor and shot to worldwide fame in
2010 with the publication in the UK
and the US of his protein-rich, lowcarb
diet plan. He sold more than
11 million copies and counted
celebrities including Kate Middleton,
Jennifer Lopez and Penelope Cruz
among his followers.
However, his diet plan – which
had been launched in France in
2000 – became mired in allegations
of ethical breaches and in 2011 the
British Dietetic Association labelled
the plan one of the worst ‘celebrity
diets’ of the year.
Things went from bad to worse
for Dukan when a survey in France
of 5,000 people who had followed
the diet revealed that 35 per cent
regained the weight in just one
year, which climbed to 80 per cent
after four years.
In 2014, the French national
medical board stripped Dukan of his
medical licence, arguing that he
“promoted his slimming diet
commercially”, which is forbidden
in France.
In July this year, it was
announced that he was being sued
in New York for alleged fraudulent
activity. A European private equity
fund claims that the former doctor
“fraudulently obtained financial
advisory services without any
intention of fulfilling their
contractual obligations”. The funds
are said to total hundreds of
thousands of dollars and it is
alleged that they were sought
by Dukan to develop his diet plan
in the US.
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 87

ICONS
Designed to carry two peasants,
100lb of potatoes and a small
cask of wine, the Deux Chevaux
is France’s most famous car,
says Heidi Fuller-Love
Disparagingly dubbed ‘Tin
Croissant’ in the US and
fondly known as La Deuche
in France, the 2CV is one of
the country’s most recognisable icons.
According to urban legend, head of
Citroën Pierre-Jules Boulanger had
a brainwave one rainy afternoon in the
1930s when his gleaming limousine
ambled behind yet another horse and
cart doing 2km/h along a muddy lane.
“Why not offer French farmers a more
powerful mode of transport?” he said,
to no one in particular.
Overtaking the sluggish cart, he
rushed home to reflect on his innovative
idea. After doing some market research,
he concluded that by designing a rugged
car that was cheap to run, he could
corner a hitherto untapped market.
A few days later, Boulanger told
flabbergasted designers at the company’s
Levallois plant in the Paris suburbs to
TAKE A 2CV TOUR
● Paris-based 4 Roues Sous 1
Parapluie has night and garden tours
from €30pp and even organises
a week-long Route des Villages tour
from Paris to Cannes (www.4rouessous-1parapluie.com).
● If you prefer self-drive, try one of
the packages organised by Nord-Pas
de Calais tourist office (from €113pp,
northernfrance-tourism.com/
Holiday-packages/Package-A-vintage-
2CV-tour).
design him ‘an umbrella on wheels’.
“And I want it to be capable of carrying
a basket of eggs over a ploughed field
without breaking a single one,” he added.
Initially nicknaming it the TPV (toute
petite voiture), Citroën’s boss stipulated
that the vehicle should be tough enough
to cope with potholed country roads,
consume a maximum three litres of
petrol per 100 kilometres, be comfortable
without being luxurious and require
a minimum of upkeep. The task was so
tall it took his team 13 years to complete.
Work started in earnest in 1935 and
from the beginning the project was
shrouded in secrecy. The car had to be
lightweight, so designers experimented
with corrugated panels from a Junkers
Ju 52 aircraft and bodywork made out
of aluminium. It had to be economic, so
they used an engine from a 500cc
motorbike, and – in an attempt to
combine comfort with economy –
● Discover one of France’s most
celebrated wine regions with
Bordeaux 2CV Tour (from €70 for two
people, bordeaux2cvtour.com).
passengers were initially seated in
hammocks suspended from the roof by
wire cables.
In 1937, the first prototype was
whisked away for tests in the grounds of
an abandoned château at La Ferté-
Vidame. The trials were a disaster: the
hammock seats jigged like trampolines,
the bodywork rubbed, and the chassis
creaked. It was back to the drawing
board for the TPV.
Two years later, Boulanger insisted
that his baby was ready to launch. The
engineers disagreed, but by now they
knew better than to argue with the man
they had dubbed ‘the imaginative tyrant’.
Boulanger ordered 250 prototypes to be
built ready for the 1939 Salon de
l’Automobile. Production started on
2 September 1939, but at 11am the
following day, France and Britain
declared war on Germany.
When peace returned in 1945,
Boulanger dragged out the only surviving
PHOTOGRAPHS: ESCAPEADEUCHE.COM
88 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

The classic
Citroën 2CV
prototype of his TPV, kept hidden in
a loft at La Ferté-Vidame, and
summoned Flaminio Bertoni, the man
who later designed another
legendary Citroën, the DS,
to work on it. Three
years later, the TPV,
now called 2CV, was
presented at the
35th Salon de
l’Automobile in Paris.
Critics were
initially scornful,
dubbing the canvasroofed
car with
a 60km/h speed limit ‘the snail
on wheels’ and asking ‘if it came with
a can opener’. Country dwellers were
quick to see the vehicle’s potential,
however, and before the first 2CV had
rolled off the production line there was
already a six-year waiting list.
By 1953, the Levallois factory was
turning out 1,500 2CVs a week and
DID YOU
KNOW?
In March, retired carpenter
Michel Robillard, who lives near
Loches in Indre-et-Loire,
completed the construction of
a working 2CV built from
wood, complete with
engine.
production continued to soar through the
decade. More than just a car, the 2CV
was seen as a lifestyle; a philosophy;
a façon d’être. ‘No wind-up windows,
no retractable headlights, no
cigar lighter, no fan belt –
no wonder it’s so reliable,
there’s nothing that can
go wrong,’ read one
publicity slogan.
During the 1970s oil
crisis the car’s economic
consumption gave it cult
status and in 1981 it even
starred in a James Bond film,
For Your Eyes Only. Rising costs
were making Boulanger’s baby less and
less economical to produce, however,
and France’s most famous car slowly
dwindled from sight.
The Levallois factory closed in 1988
and Citroën moved its plant to Portugal,
but it was only short reprieve. In 1991,
the last 2CV left the production line.
The advent of MOTs and cheap car
loans seemed to have sounded the car’s
final death knell. Since the start of a new
millennium, however, the 2CV has come
back into fashion and there have even
been rumours that Citroën plans to build
a revamped model.
In a world where the use of energy
is an increasing problem, there will
always be room for France’s favourite
motoring icon.
VISIT A 2CV
MUSEUM
● From classic vehicles
to souped-up models,
you will find dozens of
Citroën 2CVs at
Le Musée de la 2CV near
Sarrebourg in the Moselle
département (musee2cv.free.fr).
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 89

GOOD
GUY
Former Matrix villain LAMBERT WILSON tells
Pierre de Villiers about the challenges of playing his
childhood hero, underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau
90 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

CULTURE
PHOTOGRAPHS: NACHO LOPEZ/DYDPPA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK; COCO VAN OPPENS; MARKA/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO;
It is easy to see why Lambert Wilson
almost became the first French
James Bond. Looking effortlessly
suave in a white shirt, grey blazer
and slacks, and some blue trainers as he
lounges in a chair at a central London
hotel, the 59-year-old – who was in the
running for the role of 007 in the late
1980s – certainly has the magnetism to
be the martini-sipping super-spy.
“It’s probably too late for me to play
that role,” Lambert says with a smile
when I suggest he could succeed Daniel
Craig as Bond. “The world might be ready
for a French 007, but I’m more likely to
play the Bond villain at this stage.”
Wilson knows a thing or two about
portraying memorable bad guys, having
achieved fame outside of France with his
turn as the dastardly Merovingian in the
second and third Matrix movies. Today,
he is in town to talk about playing
a hero, though. In The Odyssey, Lambert
steps in to the large flip-flops of Jacques-
Yves Cousteau, the legendary ocean
explorer who inspired generations with
more than 120 wildlife documentaries,
shot while bobbing around on a former
minesweeper called Calypso.
A mainstay in any ‘Greatest
Frenchman’ Top Ten list, the red-beaniewearing
pioneer achieved an astonishing
amount in his 87 years, inventing the
aqualung with engineer Émile Gagnan;
winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes
Film Festival in 1956 for Le Monde du
Silence (the first time the prize had gone
to a documentary) and helping to impose
a moratorium on whale hunting.
Like many children growing up in
France in the 1960s and 1970s, Wilson,
son of the actor and theatre director
Georges Wilson, was swept away by
Cousteau’s TV documentaries. “He was
a character in my childhood that was as
present as my grandfather,” the actor
says. “It seemed impossible to think now
but we only had one or two TV channels
and people would spend their entire
evening watching his films. Cousteau was
this fascinating figure who did nice things
with a bunch of tanned guys on a boat,
eating, drinking and occasionally looking
for a dolphin.”
Wilson admits to feeling apprehensive
as he tackled the role of a lifetime.
The Odyssey not only shows Cousteau’s
good side but also his flaws, including
cheating on his wife and neglecting his
FACING PAGE: Actor Lambert Wilson and (ABOVE) with Audrey Tautou in a scene from The Odyssey
children. “I was ill at ease revealing these
things, which are essentially family
secrets,” Wilson says. “I felt I was dealing
with a man who had a widow, children
and grandchildren, and your
responsibility as an actor is to be as fair
as you can for that family. But ultimately
I think it’s great that the film shows
a human being and is not a glorified view
of who Cousteau was.”
Inspirational leader
Wilson left no ocean rock unturned as he
set about transforming into Cousteau.
The actor met the documentary-maker’s
fellow divers and cameramen in Marseille
(where they have an annual get-together
on a beach) to talk about the adventurer’s
ability to inspire people to travel to the
ends of the Earth with him. To look more
like the spindly Cousteau, Wilson lost
ten kilograms and went to great lengths
to get the legend’s posture just right.
“The most delicate thing was working
on his body, because he had a car crash
and it damaged his arm,” he explains.
“My diving double on the film had been
on board with Cousteau for 15 years and
he was very specific about how Cousteau
would carry this injured limb. So, I would
bend my arm behind my back as far as
I could and then unfold it just before each
take. I would have some memory of that
pain during the shoot for the arm to hang
in the right way.”
ABOVE: The real-life Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Wilson’s portrayal of Cousteau is
a high-water mark in a varied career (he
is also a director, stage star and recording
artist) on both sides of the Atlantic. While
the actor’s French cinema CV is loaded
with award-winning films such as Des
Hommes et des Dieux and On Connaît la
Chanson, most of his work across the
pond – Babylon AD; Catwoman – has
been less than stellar. Ask Wilson about
this inconsistency and he points to the
challenges of being typecast in America.
“It seems like being French is the
worst nationality to have in Hollywood,”
he says. “I have portrayed English
characters and I can do an American
accent, but when I meet an American
casting director, I’m only cast as French.
The problem with Hollywood is that the
French are ridiculed. I don’t mind playing
French characters, but it has to be for
great directors. Making fun of the French
is bearable provided it is at a high level.”
Another obstacle to achieving success
in America has been Wilson’s
homesickness. “At my age, I want to
favour my lifestyle. I’m European and
Mediterranean, and I can’t leave all that.”
While America has never been a great
fit, the same cannot be said of the UK.
As you might expect of someone who
once threw his hat into the ring to
play Britain’s greatest spy, Wilson is
a huge Anglophile.
“Having trained as an actor here (at
the Drama Centre in London) and having
worked with Judi Dench at the National
Theatre, I wish I can continue appearing
on stage in the UK,” he says. “I have
always had a huge fascination for English
actors and acting, and it has been an
ongoing story. Sadly, there have been too
many huge gaps and I would like to
reunite with that story.”
● The Odyssey is in cinemas from
18 August. See Pierre’s review on page 92.
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 91

CINEMA RELEASE
The
Odyssey
Starring: Lambert Wilson,
Pierre Niney, Audrey Tautou
Director: Jérôme Salle
Certificate: TBC
Running time: 122 minutes
Release date: 18 August
✮✮✮✮
How do you condense the eventful life of someone as celebrated
as Jacques-Yves Cousteau into a two-hour film? If you
are director Jérôme Salle, you focus on the undersea
explorer’s stormy relationship with son Philippe to show
the passions and demons that drove him to greatness. It is an approach
that makes The Odyssey an intriguing, if rather superficial, look at
a flawed French icon.
Spanning about 30 years, the film follows Cousteau (Wilson) as he goes
from diving equipment pioneer to oceanographer and documentary-maker,
assembling a crew and, with wife Simone (Tautou) by his side, sailing the
seven seas on his ship Calypso. The Frenchman’s celebrity status causes
friction with his family, in particular second son Philippe (Niney), whose
own travels around the globe have made him a committed environmentalist.
While Cousteau’s contribution to making us appreciate our planet
comes across loud and clear in Salle’s film, it is his shortcomings as
a husband and a father that are more interesting. Scenes where he is
confronted over his infidelity or selfishness by his wife and son feature
some fine work by the three lead actors.
This being a movie about deep-sea exploration, The Odyssey looks
absolutely beautiful, with underwater footage of divers gliding around the
big blue showing nature in all its glory and driving home the movie’s
conservation message. While The Odyssey falls short of being the ultimate
character study (Cousteau’s penchant for extra-marital affairs is not
covered in enough detail), this is still a well-crafted biopic about a national
treasure that is well worth exploring.
Pierre de Villiers
OTHER NEW RELEASES
CINEMA
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (from 2 August)
– Luc Besson. master of the spectacular sci-fi (The Fifth
Element, Lucy) returns with this comic-book tale of two special
operatives who have to protect a vast futuristic metropolis
from dark forces. Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne star.
Le Doulos (from 11 August) – Re-release of
a stylish 1963 film noir from director Jean-
Pierre Melville, who was heavily influenced by
classic Hollywood thrillers. The plot focuses
on the relationship between a thief (Serge
Reggiani) and a suspected police informant
(Jean-Paul Belmondo).
92 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

PHOTOGRAPHS: COCO VAN OPPENS; UNIFRANCE; JEAN-MARC DEPREUX
Five minutes with...
JENNIFER BOHNET
The British author talks
about the inspiration
behind her new book Rosie’s
Little Café on the Riviera
(see review, right), living
in Brittany and her love
of France.
I decided to set my novel on
the French Riviera after
having spent 11 happy years
in Cannes. Besides, who
doesn’t like the south of
France? My husband was
a guardian for a large villa
down there and in our spare
time we would go off, often
by bike, and explore the area.
We have been in France
for 18 years and I think we
know it very well. A few
years ago, we swapped the
sunny south for Brittany, in
the hope of being able to pop
across to south Devon on the
ferry to see more of our
children and grandchildren.
Friends said that Brittany
would be wet, but in fact, we
have had some really hot
summers and the place is
lovely and quiet.
France is the
perfect place to set
my novels because
there is such a
wonderful laissezfaire
attitude to
life here. We
have forgotten
how to be
English and
won’t be hurrying
back to the UK.
I hope to set many
Mimosas (from 25 August) – French
director Oliver Laxe’s beautifully shot
allegorical tale concerns a sheikh whose
dying wish is to be buried with his loved
ones. So he begins a journey through the
deserts and mountains of Morocco in the
company of a couple of rogues.
more of my novels across
the Channel.
But if there was one place
in the whole of France that
reminded me of where I come
from it would have to be
Antibes. The Riviera town is
just like Dartmouth in Devon
in that it has a lovely marina.
I used to go often to
Antibes and it really did feel
like home.
Jennifer Bohnet was
speaking to Peter Stewart
We are
listening to...
Le Lac by French
singer-songwriter
Julien Doré. The
lyrics (on youtube.
com) focus on the
artist’s view that
being outdoors is
the perfect place
to fall in love.
BOOKS
CULTURE
Rosie’s Little Café
on the Riviera
Jennifer Bohnet, Harper
Collins, £7.99
Singleton Rosie Hewitt’s longstanding
dream of having her little
café on the sun-kissed French
Riviera is about to come true. But
just days before the launch,
handsome, award-winning French
chef Sebastian Groc opens
a restaurant next door. Worried that her new neighbour
might inadvertently cause her dreams to come crashing
down around her, Rosie decides to put up a fight and show
him that she is anything but a pushover. Full of evocative
description and laugh-out-loud moments, this book will
make you fall in love with the south of France and makes for
a great holiday read. ✮✮✮✮
Curiosities of Paris
Dominique Lesbros,
The Little Bookroom, £14.99
Most visitors to Paris walk down
even the most famous streets
without noticing the small details
that help to bring the past to life.
Dominique Lesbros, a journalist and
author of many books on Paris, aims to put that right in this
idiosyncratic guide to the unsung relics (he calls them
‘mongrels’) that survive from pavement level to the
rooftops. Organised by subject and with 800 photographs,
the book takes you on an eye-opening tour of old shop
signs, remarkable trees, pagan rites and hundreds of other
curiosities that most Parisians are unlikely to know about.
There are also three themed walks and a street index,
usefully split up into arrondissements. ✮✮✮✮
The Templars’ Last Secret
Martin Walker, Quercus,
£18.99
Bruno Courrèges, chief of police in
a small Dordogne town, returns for
his tenth case in former Guardian
journalist Martin Walker’s engaging
crime series, which has been a hit
on both sides of the Channel. The
body of an unidentified woman is
found in a cave beneath the ruined Château de
Commarque near Sarlat-la-Canéda – but did she fall or was
she pushed? The castle has links with the Knights Templar,
and an archaeologist friend of Bruno’s believes the cave
holds the key to an age-old mystery. The author, who lives
in Périgord, puts his local knowledge to good use in a lively
tale that will have you longing for Dordogne. ✮✮✮✮
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 93

LANGUAGE
OPEN A NEW CHAPTER
Reading French fiction in small doses can improve your
vocabulary and fire the imagination, says Peter Stewart
In a world where technology is
constantly evolving, it should come as
no surprise that downloading an app on
to a smartphone is becoming a popular
way to learn a language. But there is still
something special about using books,
particularly in short-story form, which
expand both your
vocabulary and your
imagination.
Anyone taking their
first steps in the language
will not want to miss
French Short Stories for
Beginners (CreateSpace
Independent Publishing
Platform, £11.99).
The nine tales cover
a variety of genres including
science fiction, history and thrillers, and each
is broken down into three manageable
chapters. The natural dialogue used will
help learners to develop their conversational
French, and they can also refer
to a vocabulary list at
the back.
Intermediate learners
interested in boosting
their repertoire of
idiomatic phrases should
try Une Vie de Chien
(Matador, £5). This
illustrated book from
French language specialist
Elizabeth Spradbery features 68 animalrelated
phrases and sayings that will prove
both amusing and useful.
Anyone looking to improve their
knowledge of grammar will get a lot out
THIS MONTH’S BEST PICK
of French Tutor:
Grammar and
Vocabulary
Workbook (Teach
Yourself, £19.99).
The 25 short,
easy-to-follow units
feature more than
200 skill-building
exercises that will
introduce a range of important
grammar points. The book comes
with personal hints and tips to perfect
your French.
If you need some basic
French in a hurry for your
work, try Business French:
Fast Track Learning for
English Speakers
(CreateSpace Independent
Publishing Platform, £9.99).
This handy book focuses on
the 100 most used English
business words and their French equivalents,
and shows how you would use them in
600 phrases.
For an insight into French domestic life
and a chance to widen
your vocabulary, seek
out the film Un Air de
Famille. Cédric
Klapisch’s 1996
comedy-drama focuses
on a family’s birthday
celebration in
a restaurant where
old tensions and
grudges soon come to
the surface.
INTERMEDIATE
Collins Easy Learning French Idioms, Collins, £9.99
This easy-to-follow guide helps learners get to grips with everyday French and
make their own conversational skills more natural and fluent. The book comes
with 250 quirky and humorous idiomatic expressions, arranged into themes
with simple examples, and adds cultural notes to put each idiom into context.
Read this...
CLASSIC NOVEL
LE LIVRE DE LA CITÉ
DES DAMES
By Christine de Pizan
Written in 1405, de
Pizan’s pioneering
prose work serves
as a spirited defence
of her sex in
a society plagued
by misogyny. The
book, written in vernacular
French, centres on the
author’s dreamlike vision
in which three virtues –
reason, rectitude and
justice – instruct her to
create an allegorical city
where womankind reigns
supreme. De Pizan selects
iconic females from her
own era and the past as
building blocks, to show
that women are valued
members of society.
GRAMMAR
CORNER
THE ADVERB ‘PLUS’
When ‘plus’ is used as an
affirmative adverb and has
a positive meaning, i.e. ‘more’
or ‘additional’, it is pronounced
‘ploos’: ‘Je veux plus de pain’
(‘I want more bread’) and ‘
J’ai plus de 200 livres’ (‘I have
more than 200 books’).
When the meaning is
negative, i.e. ‘no more’ or ‘not
any more’, the pronunciation
changes to ‘ploo’: ‘Je ne veux
plus te parler’ (‘I don’t want to
speak to you anymore’) and
‘Je n’aime pas les pommes…
moi non plus!’ (‘I don’t like
apples…me neither!’).
However, an exception
occurs when ‘plus’ is used as
a comparative or superlative
adverb; in this case it is
pronounced ‘ploo’ as in
‘Je suis plus grand qu’elle’
(‘I’m taller than she is’).
94 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

LANGUAGE
SAVIOUR OF THOUSANDS
The bacteriologist Albert Calmette helped to develop a vaccine to
combat the scourge of tuberculosis, as Régine Godfrey explains
PHOTOGRAPHS: 2 CC BY 4.0; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CC BY SA 3.0
Albert Calmette est peu connu. En revanche, tout
le monde a entendu parler de son frère, Gaston.
Le rédacteur en chef du Figaro est abattu en 1914
par la femme du ministre Joseph Caillaux, furieuse
des attaques personnelles du journal contre son mari.
La contribution de Gaston à la littérature était telle que
Marcel Proust lui avait dédié Du côté de chez Swann.
À l’inverse, Albert aime la science et rêve d’océans; il s’enrôle
donc dans le service Santé de la Marine et des Colonies pour
un temps. Ceci le conduit en Chine et en Afrique où il effectue
des recherches sur le paludisme et la maladie du sommeil.
De retour en France, Albert rencontre Louis
Pasteur, qui reconnaît immédiatement l’immense
talent de ce jeune bactériologiste, lui demandant
de diriger un institut Pasteur à Saïgon. Sa nouvelle
carrière consiste à immuniser contre la variole et
la rage, mais il porte un intérêt particulier à la
toxicologie et commence une étude sur les cobras.
Peu après la mort de Pasteur en 1895, la
première pierre de l’Institut Pasteur de Lille est
posée, et à l’âge de 32 ans Albert se voit confier
le poste de directeur.
En attendant l’achèvement du bâtiment en 1899, Albert
produit sa première découverte scientifique majeure, le sérum
antivenimeux qui devait révolutionner le traitement des
morsures de serpent dans le monde entier.
En plus d’examiner l’ankylostome et le traitement des eaux
usées Albert entreprend de trouver un vaccin pour la tuberculose,
tellement il est horrifié par le taux de mortalité dans le Nord de
la France. Le vétérinaire Camille Guérin rejoint son équipe et
ensemble ils démontrent qu’une souche atténuée de tuberculose
animale confère une immunité à l’homme. Ils l’appellent ‘Bacille
de Calmette et Guérin’, d’où l’abréviation BCG.
La vaccination commence en France en 1924 et le BCG est
fourni dans une multitude de pays. En 1930, deux employés du
laboratoire de Lübeck en Allemagne contaminent des vaccins,
causant la mort de nombreux nourrissons. The BCG est exonéré
mais son utilisation diminue.
Avec la recrudescence de la tuberculose pendant la 2ème
guerre mondiale le BCG est administré à grande échelle avec
succès, et la confiance du public envers son innocuité restaurée.
La vaccination BCG était obligatoire pour les écoliers français
de 1950 à 2007.
Word on
the street:
Albert Calmette is a little-known figure; in contrast,
everyone in France has heard about his brother.
Gaston. The Editor of the Figaro newspaper was
shot dead in 1914 by the wife of government
minister Joseph Caillaux, who had been enraged by the
newspaper’s personal attacks on her husband. Gaston’s
contribution to literature was such that Marcel Proust had
dedicated Swann’s Way to him.
Albert, on the other hand, loved science and dreamt of the
oceans, so he joined the Naval and Colonial Medical Corps for
a while. This led him to serve in China and Africa where
he conducted research into malaria and
sleeping sickness.
Upon his return to France, Albert met Louis
Pasteur, who immediately recognised the immense
talent of this young bacteriologist, asking him to
run the Pasteur institute in Saigon. His new
career involved immunising people against
smallpox and rabies, but he had a particular
interest in toxicology and began a study on cobras.
Shortly after Pasteur’s death in 1895, the first
stone of the Pasteur Institute of Lille was laid,
and at the age of 32 Albert was entrusted with its directorship.
While waiting for the building to be completed in 1899,
Albert produced his first major scientific discovery: the
antivenomous serum that was to revolutionise the treatment of
snakebites worldwide.
As well as investigating hookworm and waste water
treatment, he undertook to find a vaccine for tuberculosis, so
appalled was he by its mortality rate in the north of France.
Veterinarian Camille Guérin joined his team and together they
demonstrated that a weakened animal strain of tuberculosis
conferred immunity on humans. They called it ‘Bacillus
Calmette-Guérin’, hence the abbreviation BCG.
Vaccination began in France in 1924 and BCG was provided
in a multitude of countries. In 1930, two employees at
a laboratory in Lübeck, Germany, contaminated vaccines,
causing the death of many infants. BCG was exonerated but
its use declined.
With the resurgence of TB during World War II, the BCG
vaccine was administered successfully on a massive scale, and
public confidence in its safety was restored. BCG vaccination was
mandatory for French schoolchildren from 1950 to 2007.
The word ‘melon’ usually denotes the
large, round fruit. However, if you say
that someone ‘a le melon’ it means
that they are rather big-headed.
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 95

STAYING ON TRACK
If you miss a train or face delays on a journey,
Peter Stewart has phrases to help out
1. Matt and Ellie were due to travel on the 9.19am train from Marseille to Paris but their taxi to
the station got stuck in traffic. They report to the ticket office to ask about a later departure.
TICKET AGENT: Hello. How
may I help you?
AGENT D’ACCUEIL:
Bonjour. Comment puis-je
vous aider?
ELLIE: Oh no! How much is
a new ticket, then?
ELLIE: Ah mince! Et un
nouveau billet de train coûte
combien alors?
MATT: We missed our train
to Paris because we got stuck
in a traffic jam. Do you know
whether it will be possible
to change our tickets for
a later train?
MATT: Nous avons raté le
train pour Paris parce qu’on
était bloqué dans un
embouteillage. Savez-vous
s’il serait possible de changer
nos billets pour un train
plus tard?
TICKET AGENT: May I see
your tickets?
AGENT D’ACCUEIL: Puis-je
voir vos billets?
MATT: Here you are.
MATT: Tenez.
TICKET AGENT: I see that
you have tickets which were
bought in advance via our
website. These are cheaper
than the standard tickets
available here at the station
and as you missed your
designated train, you will
have to pay for a new ticket.
AGENT D’ACCUEIL: Je vois
que vous avez des billets
réservés à l’avance via notre
site internet. Ceux-ci sont
toujours moins cher que les
billets standard disponibles ici
en gare et comme vous avez
manqué votre train désigné,
vous devrez payer
un nouveau billet.
TICKET AGENT: A single to
Paris is €96. And you can use
this ticket on any train
departing before 4pm.
AGENT D’ACCUEIL: Un aller
simple pour Paris coûte €96.
Et le billet sera valable sur
n’importe quel train qui part
avant 16h.
ELLIE: Wow, that is
expensive! But we don’t have
a choice. We need to get to
Paris today as we are going
to a wedding reception
this evening.
ELLIE: Oh, ça coûte cher
alors! Mais nous n’avons pas
le choix. Il faut aller à Paris
aujourd’hui parce qu’on a une
réception de mariage ce soir.
TICKET AGENT: Do you
want to pay by card?
AGENT D’ACCUEIL:
Voulez-vous payer par carte
bancaire?
MATT: Yes, please.
MATT: Je veux bien.
[A FEW MINUTES LATER]
[QUELQUES MINUTES
PLUS TARD]
TICKET AGENT: That’s all
gone through. Here are your
tickets. The next train to Paris
leaves in 15 minutes from
platform B.
AGENT D’ACCUEIL: Alors
c’est bon. Voici vos billets. Le
prochain train pour Paris part
dans 15 minutes, voie B.
[30 MINUTES LATER]
[30 MINUTES PLUS TARD]
TRAIN CONDUCTOR:
Tickets please, ladies and
gentlemen.
CONTRÔLEUR DE TRAIN:
Mesdames et messieurs, vos
billets s’il vous plaît.
ELLIE: Did you validate our
tickets at the machine on
the platform?
ELLIE: Est-ce que tu as
composté nos billets dans la
machine?
MATT: No, I thought you
were going to do it!
MATT: Mais non, je croyais
que tu allais le faire!
TRAIN CONDUCTOR: Ah,
I see that you have not
validated your tickets. You
must always stamp them
before boarding the train,
otherwise you are liable to
pay a fine.
CONTRÔLEUR DE TRAIN:
Ah, je vois que vous n’avez
pas composté vos billets.
Il faut toujours le faire avant
de monter dans le train,
sinon vous vous exposez
à une amende.
MATT: Yes I know, and we
are sorry. We missed our first
train and had to pay a
fortune for two new tickets.
We didn’t have much time,
and we simply forgot to
stamp them. How much is
the fine?
MATT: Oui je sais, et nous
sommes désolés. Nous avons
manqué notre premier train et
on a dû payer deux nouveaux
billets. On n’avait pas
beaucoup de temps et on a
tout bonnement oublié de les
composter. C’est combien,
l’amende?
TRAIN CONDUCTOR: It is
€20 each for a ticket that is
not validated.
CONTRÔLEUR DE TRAIN:
C’est €20 par personne pour
un billet non composté.
MATT: Here is €40 for the
two of us. We have learned
our lesson.
MATT: Tenez, €40 pour nous
deux. On ne fera pas deux
fois la même erreur.
PHOTOGRAPHS: FOTOLIA; PLINE CC-BY-SA-3.0;
96 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

LANGUAGE
2. John lives in Paris, but needs to get to Gare du Nord station to catch a train to London.
He arrives at his nearest métro station to find that there is major disruption, and reports to the
information desk for help.
STATION ASSISTANT:
Hello. Where are you going
today?
AGENT DE MÉTRO: Bonjour.
Où allez-vous aujourd’hui?
JOHN: Good morning. I need
to get to Gare du Nord, but
I see that lines B, D and 4 are
partially closed. I have just
moved to Paris and I don’t
know the métro system that
well. Can you suggest an
alternative route?
JOHN: Bonjour. Je dois aller
à Gare du Nord, mais je vois
que les lignes B, D et 4 sont
partiellement fermées. Je viens
de déménager à Paris et je ne
connais pas bien le système de
métro. Pouvez-vous suggérer
une route alternative?
STATION ASSISTANT:
Of course! So, we’re here at
Denfert-Rochereau. As those
other lines are closed,
I suggest you take line 6 and
then get off at Place d’Italie.
You then take line 5, which
goes to Gare du Nord.
AGENT DE MÉTRO: Bien
sûr! Alors, nous sommes ici,
Denfert-Rochereau. Comme
ces autres lignes sont fermées,
vous devriez prendre la ligne
6 jusqu’à Place d’Italie. Vous
prenez ensuite la ligne 5 qui
va jusqu’à Gare du Nord.
JOHN: That’s great. Thank
you very much.
JOHN: Génial. Merci
beaucoup.
[15 MINUTES LATER]
[15 MINUTES PLUS TARD]
TRAIN CONDUCTOR: Ladies
and gentleman, your attention
please. This train will be
terminating at the next
station, République, due to
trespassers on the line.
CONDUCTEUR DE TRAIN:
Mesdames et Messieurs, votre
attention s’il vous plaît. Ce
train va terminer à la prochaine
station, République, à cause de
personnes trouvées sur les voies.
STATION ASSISTANT:
Hello. How can I help you?
AGENT DE MÉTRO:
Bonjour. Comment puis-je
vous aider?
JOHN: Line 5 has stopped
here due to an incident on the
line and I have to catch a train
to London from Gare du
Nord in 50 minutes. How
can I get there?
JOHN: La ligne 5 du métro
s’est arrêtée ici à cause
d’un incident sur les voies
et je dois prendre un train
de Gare du Nord dans
50 minutes. Comment
puis-je y aller?
STATION ASSISTANT:
So, you need to take line 11
to Belleville. From there,
take line 2 to La Chapelle.
And once you have come out
of the station you will find
Gare du Nord at the end of
the street.
AGENT DE MÉTRO: Alors,
il faut prendre la ligne 11
jusqu’à Belleville. Ensuite,
prenez la ligne 2 jusqu’à
La Chapelle. Et une fois sorti
du métro, vous trouverez
la Gare du Nord au bout
de la rue.
JOHN: Thank you. You are
a life saver!
JOHN: Merci. Vous m’avez
sauvé la vie!
STATION ASSISTANT:
You are welcome. Have
a safe journey!
AGENT DE MÉTRO: Je vous
en prie. Bon voyage!
VOCABULAIRE
Je voudrais un aller-retour pour
Nantes, s’il vous plaît – I would like
a return to Nantes please.
À quelle heure part le train pour
Brest? – What time does the train to
Brest leave?
Comment aller à la gare de
Montparnasse? – How do I get to
Montparnasse railway station?
J’aimerais réserver une place qui est
dans le sens de la marche – I would like
to reserve a seat facing the direction
of travel.
Guichet – Ticket counter.
Aller simple – A single ticket.
Aller-retour – A return ticket.
Carnet – A book of ten métro tickets.
Composter – Validate.
À l’heure – On time.
Retardé – Delayed.
Annulé – Cancelled.
En provenance de – Coming from.
À destination de – Going to.
Correspondance – Connection.
Quai/Voie – Platform.
Départs grandes lignes – Mainline
departures.
Horaire – Timetable.
Sortie – Exit.
Place – Seat.
Place prioritaire – Priority seat.
Terminus – End of the line.
Grève – Strike.
Travaux – Improvement works.
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 97

IDIOMS
WHAT’S ON THE MENU?
Match these types of game with their English equivalents
Guess the meaning of the
idiom ‘ramener sa fraise’.
a) To be hard done by
b) To gossip about someone
c) To stick one’s nose in
Lapin
Lièvre
Chevreuil
Sanglier
Caille
Faisan
Wild boar
Duck
Pheasant
Partridge
Venison
Rabbit
LES DEUX FONT LA PAIRE
Associez chacun des mots ci-dessous à son image
A
C
B
D
Collier; Boutons de manchette;
Bague; Mouchoir
QUI SUIS-JE?
Lisez les indices ci-dessous et devinez qui je suis
Je suis née le 13 juillet 1927 à Nice.
En 1974, j’ai fait adopter une loi autorisant l’interruption
volontaire de grossesse en France.
Je suis devenue la première femme présidente du
Parlement européen en 1979.
Je suis…
Perdrix
Canard
Hare
Quail
WHAT’S AT THE MARKET?
Match these nuts with their English equivalents
Noix
Amande
Noix de cajou
Cacahuète
Pignon de pin
Noisette
Marron
Pistache
Pine nut
Pistachio
Hazelnut
Walnut
Cashew
Almond
Peanut
Chestnut
PHOTOGRAPHS: HGROBE CC BY SA 3.0; CC BY SA 3.0; PINK SHERBET PHOTOGRAPHY CC BY 2.0
ILLUSTRATIONS: TIM WESSON; DREAMSTIME
98 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

How
to say...
Bouteille
[Boo-tay]
Bottle
Fun French
ANAGRAMS
Find the French
words for farm animals
1 Nispuos
2 Sibrbe
3 Leopu
4 Nauage
5 Naotlé
6 Iretu
Answers
Idiom: C) – To stick one’s nose in; Les deux font
la paire: A) Boutons de manchette – cufflinks;
B) Mouchoir – handkerchief; C) Collier – necklace;
D) Bague – ring; Qui suis-je? Simone Veil;
What’s on the menu? Lapin – rabbit; Lièvre –
hare; Chevreuil – venison; Sanglier – wild boar;
Caille – quail; Perdrix – partridge; Canard – duck;
What’s at the market? Noix – walnut; Amande
– almond; Noix de cajou – cashew; Pignon de pin
– pine nut; Noisette – hazelnut; Marron – chestnut;
Pistache – pistachio; Anagrams: Poussin – chick;
Brebis – ewe; Poule – hen; Agneau – lamb; Étalon
– stallion; Truie – sow; Find the quote: ‘Juger un
homme par ses questions plutôt que par ses
réponses.’ ‘Judge a man by his questions rather
than by his answers.’
COMPETITION
Les Mots Fléchés
The winner of this month’s
competition will receive the
Michel Thomas Perfect
French CD-audio course,
published by Hodder &
Stoughton. It will help
intermediates take their
French to the next level and
gain confidence without
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books, writing or striving to
memorise everything. The
pack, which retails at £100,
contains ten hours of audio
learning on CD, more than
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vocabulary help,
a visual learning review and
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CROYANT
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MOSCOU
T
PRÉCISE
July Mots Fléchés winner
The winner of the July Mots Fléchés
competition is Jane White, from
Edinburgh. The mystery town was Calais
in the Pas-de-Calais département.
To enter: Complete the Mots Fléchés grid and note all the letters in the grey squares. Rearrange
these letters to spell a French town or city and send this answer, together with your name, telephone
number and address, to editorial@francemag.com or write to FRANCE Magazine, Les Mots Fléchés,
Cumberland House, Oriel Road, Cheltenham, GL50 1BB. Entries close 30 August 2017.
Last month’s Les Mots Fléchés answers will be posted on our website www.francemag.com/quiz and
appear in the October issue, on sale on 30 August 2017. The answers to this month’s competition will be
on the website from 6 September 2017, and in the November 2017 issue, on sale on 4 October 2017.
FIND THE QUOTE Slice up the baguette where the spaces should be to reveal a saying by French writer Voltaire.
Jugerunhommeparsesquestions
plutôtqueparsesréponses
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 99

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION
“We just loved the surprise picnic in the vineyard”
“We’ll never forget our
day in the lavender fields”
“Today was a world class cycle
ride, thank you so much”
If you have a cycling dream... just make a wishlist and
let us create your perfect cycling holiday; markets,
vineyards, perching villages and an azure blue sea.
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Contact Fellow Velo the Provence and wider France
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dreams come true.
www.fellowvelo.com
Tel: 00 44 7811 285021 / 00 44 1788 568371 ● info@fellowvelo.com
Be seen by
over
48,500
Francophiles
To advertise your active
breaks and special interest
holidays, contact
Stuart on:
+44 (0)1242 216099
advertising@francemag.com
100 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION
HOLIDAY PROPERTY TO LET
How to get the most from our extensive rental section
Simply choose the region you are interested in and browse through the selection of properties. Our simple key will
tell you all you need to know about the rental property of your choice. Though many will be listed with French
telephone numbers, most will be answered by English speakers, unless otherwise stated.
KEY
66
2
Five regions of
property to let by
colour code
South East
South West
North East
North West
Paris
NORTH WEST
SOUTH WEST
PARIS
NORTH EAST
SOUTH EAST
1 Full colour picture
2 Département number
3 Nearest town
4 Département name
5 Sleeping capacity
6 Property description
7 Weekly rental range ( in £ or € )
8 Contact details
Numbers 9 - 16 are distances in
km, O/S for On-site and N/P
for details Not Provided.
9 Nearest supermarket
10 Nearest airport
11 Nearest beach/swimming
12 Nearest tennis
13 Nearest golf
14 Nearest horseriding
15 Nearest restaurant
16 Nearest tourist attraction
1
3
5
6
7
4
COLLIOURE, PYRÉNÉES-ORIENTALES
■ CAPACITY: 2-4
This homely villa is in a quiet corner of a traditional
village surrounded by countryside, vineyards and Les
Alberes mountains. The mediterranean coast is 15 mins
drive, St. Cyprien, Argeles sur mer, Canet plage all
popular beach resorts. Collioure is a delight with
cobbled lanes, artisan galleries and beach front
restaurants. Visit Carcassonne, the wonderful UNESCO
world heritage city. Drive along the beautiful rugged
coast into Spain, visit vineyards, cathar castles and pretty
harbour towns. Enjoy wine tasting, walking and sight
seeing. You will feel relaxed as soon as you arrive at Belle
Vue, with its simple stylish decor and the peaceful
setting! Nearest airport Perpignan 20km.
€ 545-945 p/w
Contact Jo Staples
Tel: 07801 440605
Email: bellevuemaisonvilla@yahoo.co.uk
www.holidaylettings.co.uk/76428
1 20 10 1 20 5 1 1
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
4
FEATURED
RENTAL
PROPERTY IN THE NORTH WEST
61
L’EPINAY LE COMTE
■ CAPACITY: 2
New gite now available for bookings.
THE HAYLOFT
Completed to a high standard etude thermique, this
part barn conversion offers very attractive and
spacious split level accommodation for two people.
Features include original exposed beams and an A
frame window overlooking countryside in the lounge
which is on the first floor. Dedicated wi-fi, TV, DVD &
radio/CD player.
Heating is by woodburner with warm air circulation
system or ceramic electric heaters. Fully equipped
kitchen/dining area, electric cooker, microwave oven,
fridge & dishwasher. Separate laundry area with
washing machine, tumble dryer and 4 drawer freezer.
Shower room and bedroom with a double bed.
Outside patio area with BBQ and hot tub from June
to Sept.
The Hayloft is part of a small gated complex of three
buildings which include The Bakehouse and the
owners private residence. There are generous
gardens and ample space for parking. Excellent
cycling opportunities and there are two adult bikes
available for use by guests.
Mid-week and weekend breaks available.
Pets welcome.
F
€ 400-430 p/w
Contact Details: Susan and Philip Harrison
Tel: 0033 2 33 96 13 67.
Email: hh.aspp@gmail.com
www.lapouliniere.co.uk
10 113 10 3 25 5 5 16
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 101

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION
PROPERTY IN THE SOUTH EAST
France & Monaco Rentals
O6
CENTRAL CANNES, ALPES-MARITIMES
■ CAPACITY: 6
Beautiful 2 bedroom apartment (75m 2 ) completely
renovated in 2017 to the highest standards.
Exclusive Vacation Rental Properties Throughout France and Monaco
We have a selection of privately owned houses and apartments available for
short-term rental all year round in the most stunning areas of France.
• All of our properties are charming
and beautifully furnished.
• All properties have internet
access.
• All with Cable television with a
selection of English Channels
• Free international phone calls
with some of our properties
Phone: +33 6 80 32 41 34
email: information@france-monaco-rentals.com
www.france-monaco-rentals.com
2 bath/shower rooms, air-con/heating, fully fitted
kitchen, Nespresso coffee machine, 2 televisions,
free wifi, double glazing.
Central yet peaceful location overlooking a courtyard
at the rear. Superb location 100m from the Palais des
Festivals, beach, railway station, shopping district of the
rue d’Antibes and many restaurants. Secured entrance,
smoke detectors/carbon monoxide detectors.
Local market selling fresh produce close-by.
Private parking on request. No smoking, no pets.
€400-1,000 per day
Contact Béatrice Carles
Tel: 00 33 6 17 97 27 18
Email: b.carles.83@gmail.com
PROPERTY IN THE SOUTH EAST
FEATURED
RENTAL
11
LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON
Highly
recommended
on James Martin’s
“French
Adventure”
Centrally located in the heart of the Minervois our beautifully restored 18c coaching inn with flower filled courtyard
garden and a swimming pool offers flexible accommodation for all your needs and provides the perfect base for
exploring this beautiful and up and coming corner of France.
During July and August the house will be available to rent on a catered or self-catering basis.
Please contact us for more details and early booking discounts available for summer 2018 full house lets
PRICING INFORMATION:
● B&B €85 for 2, €120-135 for 4
● Extra bed €20
● Dinner from €25 per person
● Weekly self-catered lets from €2,000 per week
0.5 35 O/S 0.5 35 0.5 5 5
Valerie and Mike Slowther
Tel: 0033 (0)4 68 91 69 29
Email: mike@levieuxrelais.net
www.levieuxrelais.net
■ CAPACITY: 2-13
B&B €85 for 2; €120-135 for 4
102 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION
FEATURED
RENTAL
PROPERTY IN THE SOUTH EAST
84
CABRIERES D’AVIGNON, LUBERON
■ CAPACITY: 2-4
La Vieille Maison, a Provençal mas built in
the 15th Century is in the village of
Cabrieres d’Avignon in the Luberon. The
ancient stones - holding a feeling of warmth
and welcome, provide 2 luxury apartments.
All bedrooms are ensuite, quality French
linen is used, and guests have the full use of
the gardens, many relaxing secluded
corners and the pool.
Jonquille - two bedroomed apartment has
an additional terrace and private courtyard.
Cecilia - one bedroomed apartment
together with double height living area and
mezzanine has views overlooking the
shading mulberry trees.
Numerous guests return again as friends.
€ 900-1700 p/w
Contact John and Annie Lupton
Tel: 0033 (0) 490 04 70 30
Email: johnlupton42@gmail.com
www.vieille-maison-provence.com
Facebook.LaVieilleMaisonProvence
0.25 24 0 12 10 7 0.25 10
PROPERTY IN THE NORTH EAST
PROPERTY IN THE SOUTH WEST
66
24
81
EMBRY 7 VALLEYS
■ CAPACITY: 2-6
Beautifully restored fermette with river frontage and
lovely views. 3 bedrooms, original features, fully
equipped kitchen, washing-machine & dishwasher.
Dining area, fireplace and log-burning stove. South
facing garden, tiled terrace with brick-built barbecue.
Enclosed gravel courtyard to front. 30mins from sandy
beaches, golf courses, amusement parks, tennis courts,
canoeing, horse riding, sports & fitness centre with
swimming-pool nearby. 1 hour from Boulogne & Calais.
Prices from 450 per week. Long weekends & mid weeks
possible.
£ 450+ p/w
Contact Maggie
Tel: 0033 3 21 81 59 79
Mob: 0033 6 85 42 18 74
www.northfrancegites.com
5 100 20 5 40 20 5 15
TOURTOIRAC, DORDOGNE / PERIGORD VERT
■ CAPACITY: 8-20
Les Taloches is set in 19 acres of woodland and meadows in the
village of Tourtoirac, close to Hautefort with its magnificent
Chateau and only 45 minutes from Brive airport. Set either side
of a lime-tree shaded courtyard is La Châtaigne (sleeps 12), an
oak-beamed farmhouse and its converted stone barn, La Grange
(sleeps 8). Each house has its own secure private pool, large
terrace, BBQ and garden. Great for families and groups sleeping
between 8 & 20 people, can be hired individually or together.
Both houses are well furnished and fully equipped; prices
include linen and towels.Just a short walk to the riverside village
with its bar/bistro, restaurant, boulangerie and grocery shop.
Easy drive to the Lascaux caves, Brantome, Sarlat and Perigueux.
Weekend / short breaks welcome outside of peak season
(July / August).
From €1480- €3220 p/w
Contact Suzie or Gary
Tel: 0033 5 53 42 30 96
Email: suzie@les-taloches.com
www.les-taloches.com / LesTaloches
1 80
ON
SITE 5 10 1 1 5
SOUTH WEST
MAZAMET, MIDI-PYRÉNÉES
BED & BREAKFAST: 5 DOUBLE ROOMS
La Villa de Mazamet is a luxury B&B, in the heart of SW
France, with five beautifully appointed bedrooms, pool,
Le Petit Spa & table d’hôtes restaurant. Situated in the
market town of Mazamet, La Villa provides a fantastic
base from which to explore this historic corner of France.
On the doorstep to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites,
Vineyards, Mountains & Medieval Villages. From 110 €
per night, per room, inc. breakfast.
10% DISCOUNT FOR FRANCE MAGAZINE READERS
when booking 3 nights + (enter code FranceMag
when booking via our website)
€ 110 p/night
Peter Friend
Tel: +33 563 979 033
E-Mail: info@villademazamet.com
www.villademazamet.com
www.completefrance.com FRANCE MAGAZINE 103

To advertise, call: 01242 216099 or email: classified@francemag.com
LANGUAGE
PROPERTY FOR SALE
Allez-Français - leading
property specialists for South
West France since 2002
www.allez-francais.com
05 55 28 46 40 / 05 53 56 09 35
RSAC N°48183917300020
A small business, but big on
initiative & ideas
SOUTH OF FRANCE
AUTOUR DE LA TABLE
A LANGUAGE LUNCH IN THE LUBERON VALLEY
ENJOYABLE DAY COURSES IN FRENCH WITH LUNCH
BEGINNER TO ADVANCED
French Immersion -
French Intensive - Individual
Training - All levels
Contact Susan Tel: +33 (0) 490 75 59 63, Email: enquiries@languageinprovence.com
www.languageinprovence.com
P9857AFD Pont Herbert (50)
Character house with 5 bedrooms, set in almost a hectare - This
stone property can trace its roots back to the French Revolution
Price 261,450 €
R9807 Saint Mathieu (87)
Beautiful 16th Century Manor house sympathetically restored and
retaining many original features set in parkland grounds of 9,417m²
Price 296,800 €
Agence Immobilière Herman De Graaf
Contact: Cate Carnduff
Le Bourg-Saint-Jean de Côle - 24800 Thiviers - France.
Tel: 00 33 (0)553 62 38 03 Fax: 00 33 (0)553 55 08 03
e-mail: agence@immobilier-dordogne.com
LEGAL SERVICES
Ref.4328
Region Thiviers. Restored farmhouse with
swimming pool and outbuildings, quietly set on
3,95ha of land with beautiful views. Lounge with
fireplace, fitted kitchen, dining room, utility rooms,
5 bedrooms & 2 bathrooms; cellar. Barn (145m2)
with adj hangar (70m2) & agricultural building.
Pool: 6x 12m.
Price: €275,000 agency fees included
Ref.4394
Region Thiviers. Restored Farmhouse with 2 gites, a pool
& outbuildings, quietly set by a hamlet on 6170m 2 of
land (+ 3,6ha of unattached woodland) with beautiful
views. Living room with fireplace & open plan kitchen,
shower room & 2 bedrooms. Mezzanine. Adj barn
(100m 2 ) Gites: 1x1 bedroom & 1x2 bedrooms. Covered
terrace & summer kitchen Misc. sm outbuildings.
Price: €298,000 agency fees included
www.immobilier-dordogne.com
DORDOGNE, SOUTH-WEST FRANCE
In the heart of the Dordogne River area.
3 period properties for sale, in 3 different locations.
From 1 bed to 4/5 beds
£150,000 to £550,000
See website or phone English owner +33 553 044 762 www.dordognehome.info
FOR SALE
“Not just another converted Barn”
40kms to Albi or Gaillac. Purchase a quality of life, extravagant holiday
home or an investment. 4/5 Bedrooms, 4 Bathrooms, Huge Living Space.
Sweeping staircase. Pool. Garage and gardens. 930,000 Euros
www.sansfaconforsale.com
104 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

COLUMN
Vignette
France on
a plate
The French meal’s Unesco
status inspires Carol Drinkwater
to create a lunch to savour
In 2010, the ‘Gastronomic Meal of the French’
was awarded Unesco World Heritage status.
One usually thinks of monuments or locations
bearing this distinguished appellation. However,
Unesco has a fascinating list described as ‘intangible
cultural heritage for humanity’.
Its experts defined the importance of French
gastronomy as a ‘social custom aimed at celebrating the
most important moments in the lives of individuals and
groups.’ Eating in France, they claim, emphasises
togetherness; it unites friends, families; it strengthens
social ties.
What a remarkable feat the French have achieved.
Those long lunches that have become the tradition for
Sundays in the country. Sultry afternoons beneath the
shade of a spreading fig tree, quaffing wine, slowly
devouring generously filled plates around groaning
wooden tables. Dozens of guests, ranging from babes
perched on their mothers’ laps to the nonagenarians;
laughing, sharing stories, building memories to cherish.
From this perfect and leisured activity, the French
have also created great works of art such as Édouard
Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe. Remember the
memorable film, Babette’s Feast, where the French
refugee prepares a gourmet meal for her hosts?
Unesco’s listing follows a fixed structure commencing
with an aperitif, followed by four successive courses:
starter, meat or fish with vegetables, cheese, then dessert
washed down with liqueurs. It includes the marrying of
wines with the food.
Such a repast set me thinking of organising
a huge alfresco lunch for loved ones, offering them
quintessentially French dishes.
Carol Drinkwater
is the best-selling
author of The Olive
Farm series. Her
latest work is The
Lost Girl, a novel
set in post-war
Provence and
modern-day Paris.
Contact Carol at
caroldrinkwater.com
Let’s begin with escargots. The escargot is an edible
land snail, although not all land varieties can be eaten
and some are too small to bother with. Served with
garlic, parsley and butter as an entrée, they are
a delicacy. For very special occasions, I propose
snail caviar.
Do you know that if you buy live snails, you
cannot transport them on a high-speed train in
France? Actually you can, but the snails must have
their own ticket. Seriously. If you have not bought
a ticket for your molluscs, you can be fined.
On to the main course for that family gathering.
Suprême de pigeon, which is half the breast and
a wing. Delicious when served with chestnuts or
cèpes. The pigeons are farm-raised. You would not be
serving a bird trained to carry messages or a wild one
nabbed from the village square. There are excellent
pigeon farms in the Loire Valley. Other choices might
be sizzling roast chicken from the Bresse region or
duck from the south-west.
Cheese. France produces between around 450
types of cheeses and these are grouped into eight
categories. The nation’s annual output is close to one
billion tons. You can eat cheese every day of the year
and never choose the same one. Charles de Gaulle
famously declared that it was impossible to run
a country that had so many different types of cheese.
Tarte Tatin. This internationally renowned dessert
was reputedly created by accident in the late
19th century by one of two sisters, Stéphanie and
Caroline Tatin, at their hotel in Lamotte-Beuvron in
Loir-et-Cher. One story goes that Stéphanie, while
preparing a pie, overcooked the Reine des Reinettes
apples, which caramelised. To disguise her error, she
placed the pastry over the top and placed the tarte in
the oven. When it was cooked, she flipped it over, and
Caroline served it to diners, who acclaimed it.
Sometime later, the owner of Maxim’s, who was
hunting in the region, stopped for lunch, discovered this
marvel, ‘stole’ the recipe and added it to his Paris carte.
The rest is history. The Hôtel Tatin, a restaurant
gastronomique, is still in business if you prefer to take
your loved ones out for that memorable slap-up feast.
ILLUSTRATIONS: MELISSA WOOD
106 FRANCE MAGAZINE www.completefrance.com

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