From 1 July 2009 the French Government has lowered VAT (or TVA in France) on Restaurant meals from 19.6% to 5.5% in a bid to stimulate a sluggish market, which should result in some noticeable savings for diners.
This is welcome as a good meal out in France can be a real treat - and often very much better value than most UK eateries.
However, beware that VAT is not reduced on wine, which remains at 19.6% - higher than the UK (currently 15%) but without the UK’s punitive excise duty rates.
Of many favourite restaurants in France, there is one in the Lot département which remains a cherished memory for me - Le Gindreau at St Medard-Catus (46, Lot, Midi-Pyrenees) - a glorious meal of local specialities, good wine, excellent service and a table on the terrace with views over the quiet local countryside - and 3 hours for lunch!
Within easy travelling distance of Cahors and with an impressive list of Cahors and other wines.
Categories: 46 Lot, Cahors, France Restaurants, South West France No Comments
Bourges Cathedral illuminated at Night
The gothic cathedral of St Etienne at Bourges (18 Cher, Centre) is one of the most impressive in France, surrounded by the medieval streets of the old town. I
magine the sight of this magnificent and imposing edifice compared to the modest premises of the local populace, it would inspire awe and wonder. Today it remains impressive, with immense flying buttresses and sheer bulk and beauty enough to justify its designation as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites:-
The Cathedral of St Etienne of Bourges, built between the late 12th and late 13th centuries, is one of the great masterpieces of Gothic art and is admired for its proportions and the unity of its design. The tympanum, sculptures and stained-glass windows are particularly striking. Apart from the beauty of the architecture, it attests to the power of Christianity in medieval France.
As an extra bonus, the Cathedral is illuminated as night as part of Les Nuits Lumière de Bourges
ievery Thursday, Friday and Saturday night in July, August and September 2009 from dusk.
Additionally on Fridays 3 July 2009, 29 August 2009 and 18 September 2009 locals will be in costume, and on Fridays 17,24 and 31 July 2009, 7 and 14 August 2009 there will also be the opportunity to taste the wines of the region (Vins du Centre, which includes Sancerre, Quincy, Reuilly, Menetou-Salon, Poully-Fumé, Coteaux du Giennois and Chateaumeillant AC)
More info on the wines of Centre
Categories: 28 Eure-et-Loir, Culture, France Events, Heritage, Quincy, Sancerre, Wine Festivals No Comments
A Visit to the Saltworks!
UNESCO has just announced that it has extended recognition of the Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans to include the Great (although presumably not Royal) Saltworks of nearby Salins-les-Bains (25 Doubs, Franche-Comté.)
The Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains, where brine has been extracted since the Middle Ages if not earlier, features three buildings above ground: salt stores, the Amont well building and a former dwelling. It is linked to Claude-Nicolas Ledoux’s Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans and bears testimony to the history of salt extraction in France. (The Royal Saltworks represented)…the first major achievement of industrial architecture, reflecting the ideal of progress of the Enlightenment. This vast, semicircular complex was designed to permit a rational and hierarchical organization of work and was to have been followed by the building of an ideal city, a project that was never realized.
Not on the usual list of tourist attractions for most of us, but this looks to be an interesting gem in a part of France that many visitors miss.
Whilst in the département of the Doubs, you can also enjoy the delights of the “Swallows Line” (la Ligne des Hirondelles)
Claimed to be one of the most beautiful railway journeys in France, the Ligne des Hirondelles crosses the Jura, in a trip lasting 2½ hours, travelling over 120 km between plain and mountain, through the forest of Chaux, the vineyards of Arbois, the vast Grandvaux plateaus, and the Valley of la Bienne.
It boasts a number of very impressive engineering structures. The 123 kilometre line, linking Dole and Saint-Claude, goes through 36 tunnels and crosses 18 viaducts. It climbs from 200 metres of altitude (at Dole station) to 948 metres (at its highest point, the Col de la Savine) before descending again to 440 metres of altitude at Saint-Claude. The trip from Morez to Saint-Claude alone goes through 18 tunnels, totalling 470 metres, with 10 bridges and viaducts. The leg from Morbier to Morez epitomises the Swallows Line. (see our map)
More info on The Royal Saltworks
More info on The Swallows Line
More info on the Doubs
Categories: 25 Doubs, 39 Jura, Culture, Heritage, Train FrenchDuck links: dole, hirondelles
Hire a Motorhome In France
Holiday Autos.co.uk has launched a new Motorhome hire service which you can book in the UK the same way you would book car hire online.
With a good selection of pick up points in major towns and at major French airports you may also be able to select one-way hire - i.e. drop off at a different location.
With plenty of quality motorhomes to choose from in hundreds of worldwide locations you’ll be spoilt for choice, wherever you’re heading off to. Book a one berth for a bit of alone time, or take the whole family and hire a nine berth. Whatever you opt for, expect nothing less than luxury as you travel about in your motorhome.
France is one of the best countries for motorhome touring and is very motorhome (or “camping car“) friendly being equipped with many camp sites and service areas where you can charge up your electricity, water etc, and/or park overnight. So you can tour all day, stop and admire some great views and explore a wide landscape, rather than be confined to a small area.
Picl-up locations include Toulouse, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nice, Brest, Tours and Strasbourg, all of which would offer a week’s great touring with no hotel bills!
For more info see Holiday Autos.co.uk
Categories: France FrenchDuck links: brest, Marseille, motorhome, nice, toulouse, tours
Wine Festival in Aniane, Herault
Although a rather small Languedoc village, Aniane has a world-wide reputation as the home of Mas de Daumas-Gassac where owner Aimé Guibert challenged the traditional winse bureaucracy by making top quality wines outside the very restrictive Appellattion Controllée system - and then the locals saw off an attempt by a large multinational to buy up a significant chunk of the local vineyards in order to make some bland, branded wine.
Importantly the village lies in the heart of the Languedoc vineyards about 40km North East of Montpellier (34 Herault. Languedoc) Hence it makes an ideal focus for the substantial Aniane Wine Fair (Salon des Vins) on the weekend of 25-26 July 2009 - several dozen wine makers from Aniane and surrounding villages (including Daumas Gassac) will be attending, including one of my favourties - the Mas de la Serranne. where Isabelle & Jean-Pierre Venture make some excellent Coteaux du Languedoc AC wines blending traditional Languedoc with Rhône grape varietals which produce intense. but smooth, herby red wines.
For more info see Aniane Wine Fair
Categories: 34 Herault, Coteaux du Languedoc, France Events FrenchDuck links: aniane, daumas gassac, mas de la serranne
From our Archives………………….
Muscadet is in Town! - Nantes
From 13-18 May 2008 the city of Nantes celebrates its local wine - Muscadet! 80 restaurants, winebars and wine merchants will be offering special menus featuring the local dishes of the region and its wines! With a winemaker available to answer all you questions about these crisp fresh white wines, this promises to be a good opportunity to revisit Muscadet wines, which were so popular years ago, but whose reputation was ruined by the production (or at least UK imports) of thin acidic wines.
Many examples tasted over the last year or so have restored my faith in the appellation, offering some wonderfully rich and complex wines, especially “sur lie”, which deserve to be taken much more seriously than as just a good wine with fish! It still is a good wine with fish and seafood, but it can also provide a worthy alternative to Sauvignon Blanc and Alsace Riesling.
For more info see www.vinsdeloire.fr
Yapp is good with Loire wines and offers a Muscadet de Sevre-et-Maine from Domaine de la Morlaine at £6.95: “Bone dry with a subdued saline nose and a braving citric zest on the palate.”
Categories: 44 Loire Atlantique, France, France Events, Muscadet No Comments
From our Archives………………….
Tour de France - Stage 3
Waregam(Belgium) - Compiegne (60 Picardie)
see http://www.frenchduck.com
Categories: 60 Oise, Picardie No Comments
From our Archives………………….
Wine Discoveries
Wine Discoveries offers “Great Wines from Small Producers” - and was born “out of a frustration - not being able to find interesting wines in the £5 to £10 price range” - good selection particularly Languedoc, Rhone, Loire - based in East Sussex but good value and low delivery charges nationwide - see www.winediscoveries.co.uk
Wine Discoveries
Unit 7, Old Factory Buildings, Battenhurst Road, Stonegate, East Sussex TN5 7DU
t: 01580 200900
f: 0870 1321259
Categories: UK Wine Merchants No Comments
Scenic Railways in France
The railway journey from Nimes(30 Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon) to Clermont Ferrand (63 Puy de Dome, Auvergne) offers you a different perspective on the Massif Central than most of us experience using the main north-south artery down the Autoroute du Soleil. Whilst the newer A75 route from Beziers to Clermont-Ferrand also offers some spectacular views, the train gives you more time to admire the landscape and takes you to 
places which the car cannot.
Crossing the wild country of the Cevennes in southern France this line passes through 106 tunnels and over almost 1,300 bridges, including the impressive 41 arch Chamborigaud Viaduct.
Easily reached by TGV from Paris, Nîmes is the starting point of this leisurely journey through the remote, wild country of the Cevennes. Though only 303km long, the line burrows through 106 tunnels and crosses almost 1,300 bridges, including some of the most impressive viaducts on French railways, such as the 28-arch edifice at Chapeauroux and the 41-arch near-semicircle of Chamborigaud Viaduct.
The southern plain of vineyards, Lombardy poplars and Aleppo pines gives way to a few miles of hilly post-industrial landscape with occasional traces of mining activity gradually being reclaimed by nature. The long climb into the Cevennes and the summit at La Bastide (1,023m above sea level) is flanked by woods and the occasional agricultural terrace etched into the hillside. Running across a plateau, the train offers panoramic views across hills stretching to the horizon. Lonely stations in the middle of nowhere make one wonder at the optimism of the railway’s builders. But perhaps the finest stretch is the long section of track built on a masonry ledge above the River Allier with glorious views along the sinuous valley.
The journey takes about 5½ hours, yet fares start at just £34 - the 300km route passes through Ales, Chamborigaud, Villefort, Chapeauroux, Langogne, Langeac, Brioude and Issoire.
For more details see www.raileurope.co.uk
Another acclaimed scenically beautiful rail route is in the French Comté - see http://frenchduck.com
Categories: 25 Doubs, 30 Gard, 39 Jura, 63 Puy-de-Dome, Road, Train FrenchDuck links: ales, brioude, chamborigaud, chapeauroux, issoire, langogne, Nimes, villefort
