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There are a number of special offers around which may be of interest in the runup to Easter, only a few weeks away.

There’s 15% off bookings for any of the “Sweet French Cottages” in the Aveyron (Midi Pyrenees) if you book by 15 April 08  - see www.frenchduck.co.uk

Brittany Ferries has a number of offers including 10% off 2008 Self-catering holidays booked by 15th March 08 - see www.brittany-ferries.co.uk

SpeedFerries is offering 20% off all 2008 bookings for a limited period - including their already low price multi-trip tickets - see www.speedferries.com

Waitrose has £10 off and free delivery on selected mixed cases of Classic French wines until 5 March 08 - see www.frenchduck.com

The start of the cycling season in France is marked by the somewhat mis-named Paris-Nice race which runs from 9th - 16th March 2008. Mis-named because although it does indeed finish in Nice it does not start anywhere near Paris. This year is pushes off from Amilly (45 Loiret, Centre) about 75 miles south of Paris near Montargis.

It is also known as the “Race to the Sun” and extends over 1200 km in the week.

After a time trial (prologue) on Sunday 9 March, the route heads south through Nevers (58 Nievre, Burgundy) via Sancerre, then across to Beaujolais (Belleville, 69 Rhone, Rhone-Alpes) and Fleurie and on to Saint Etienne (42 Loire, Rhone-Alpes).

After a transfer down to Montelimar (26 Drome, Rhone-Alpes) the race then heads for the Alps via Mont Ventoux, Althen-les-Paluds (84 Vaucluse, Provence) and onto the Mediterranean coast via Sisteron to Cannes and Nice where the race finishes on 16 March on the Promenade des Anglais.
Even if you are not a cycling fan, the race and its paraphernalia is quite a spectacle and will pass through some glorious countryside.

For more info on the route see www.letour.fr

Watirose online is currently running a special offer of £10 off a mixed case of classic French wines (and free delivery) until 5 March 2008.

This offer is available to French Duck readers by quoting code WINE77 at the checkout.

Whilst I tend to prefer to support small independent wine merchants, Waitrose’ selections are often excellent, always reliable and generally good value.

This is a good selection of wines from all the main classic wine regions of France including reds from Beaujolais, Cahors, Fitou, Bordeaux, Cotes du Rhone (Chapoutier) and a red Burgundy.

For the whites there is a Macon Lugny, Saumur, Bordeaux, Touraine Sauvignon and Chablis.

The offer means that a case of 12 bottles is just £55.00 including free UK delivery - i.e under £5.00 a bottle. And if you prefer only reds or only whites, you can have that for the same price (2 bottles of each). But this offer is only available with thediscount voucher code above and until 5 March 2008!

See Watirose online

BBC2’s final of MasterChef 2008 (Thursday 28 Feb 2008) takes the finalists to work in some of France’s best restaurants.

The other challenges for the 3 finalists have included cooking at the London Hilton for a group of Professional Chefs with 17 Michelin stars between them, and cooking for the Army in the heat and humidity of Belize with very basic army equipment. Working in a French Michelin-starred restaurant will be the final challenge!

The restaurants and chefs chosen are recognised as amongst the best in the world, with exacting standards and extraordinary quality food:-

• Troisgros in Roanne (42 Loire, Rhone-Alpes)
• Michel Bras in Laguiole (12 Aveyron, Midi-Pyrenees) - (see the recipe for a Mischievious Cherry Dessert - malice des cerises)
• Restaurant Pierre Gagnaire (75 Paris, Ile de France)

Interesting that 2 of these top restaurants are not in Paris but deep in the French countryside - very provincial and some distance from major centres of population - the French will travel long distances for a good meal!

If you are interested in French cuisine, have a read of Michael Booth’s entertaining book Sacre Cordon Bleu

Booth shares with us the secrets of his training at Le Cordon Bleu and of French cooking itself, explaining how to make the perfect sauce; the secret of great stocks; how to win a fight with a lobster; and how to avoid maiming yourself while cleaning your knives. He explores how France rose to culinary pre-eminence and asks if Paris still deserves its reputation as the culinary capital of the world. Following both traumas and unexpected triumphs at school, Booth embarks on the ultimate chef’s challenge, he goes to work at the Michelin-starred Paris restaurant of the most famous chef in France, Joel Robuchon.

You’ll learn a lot about the French and their approach to food.

I’m not sure I expected to find a couple moving from Australia to make a home in the depths of the southern Loire Valley, but a recent article on the Preuilly-sur-Claise Saffron Festival unearthed an interesting website (blog) called “Days on the Claise” run by Susan and Simon.
As well as more about the Saffron Festival, there is also an interesting exploration of one of the local goats cheeses - Sainte Maure de Touraine:

St Maure de Touraine is an AOC (Appellation d’origine contrôlée) which roughly follows the boundaries of the old Province of Touraine. It has to be made by traditional methods - this just about means that all the cheese is made by hand from fresh ingredients, either on farms or in dairy co-operatives. There is an industrial version made in the same area, but this is called St Maure (without the Touraine bit). Our nearest farm is about 5 km from us on the road from Preuilly and Charnizay, and they won a Golden Goat for farm produced Sainte Maure in 2005.

There is even a recipe from the local hotel for Carp in a Goats Cheese Sauce (Filet de carpe de Brenne au Saint-Maure-de-Touraine).

For a different insight into aspects of living in rural France see Days on the Claise.

A possible base for visiting this area would be the P&V Apartment complex at Loches (37 Indre-et-Loire, Centre) Ideally located on the banks of the Indre and opposite the “Logis Royal”, the Pierre & Vacances resort at Loches occupies an outstanding site: the redeveloped old flour mills, to which small modern buildings respectful of the surrounding heritage have been added. The medieval town of Loches is just a 5-minute walk away. Further afield lie the chateaux de Loire, including Chambord, Tours, and Chenonceau

The Aude département (11 Languedoc-Roussillon) straddles the Autouroute des Deux Mers (A62) as it heads east from Narbonne towards Toulouse and eventually Bordeaux. The autoroute follows the flattish valley bottom which has for years formed a major transit route, most famously and spectacutlarly with the Canal du Midi, followed by the railway and then the A61 motorway. To the north lies Minervois and to the south is Corbières AC - this is my sort of wine - rich and complex, great body from the Grenache grape and with enough tannin and fruit to make it a wine to savour.

My favourite wine of the region has to be the Grande Cuvée de Castelmaure - because it is a really good wine, but also because we drank it with a superb Cassoulet in a very idiosyncratic restaurant in the heart of the old medieval city of Carcassonne - a memorable ocassion.

We imported this wine for the last few years of our Allez Vins! wine importing business, despite it coming from a Co-operative cellar - so often a recipe for mediocre wines, especially in the south of France. Sure, the winery is rustic, but the approach and the wine is extraordinarily good - in part because it is a small community of vignerons, but also because they have an excellent winemaker who has ensured that quality is the first priority. It’s worth a visit up narrow twisting lanes south of Durban and nearly in Fitou country - a ruggedly beautiful landscape.

Unlike New World wineries, fancy marketing has never been the strong point of the Midi winemakers. However, what they do employ is a lot of words extolling the virtues and mysteries of the local soil, the elusive “terroir”, the traditions and the horny handed skill of the sons of the soil. They have a way of waxing lyrical about what they do which is quite unlike British understatement. Hence my surprise to find that the Castelmaure winery has a new, and very lyrical website - it tells you little of significant interest, but it does it with real flair!

As anyone who has ever got his fingers sticky in the fruity blood of the Grenache grape under the blazing sun of Castelmaure knows full well: wine must have the taste of what it is, its terroir. A taste that rings true. A deep, fundamental, earthy truth that all the frills of vinification and oenology will never manage to replace. But don’t see in that a plea for some obscurantism, for some Virgilian naivety, but wine is, and must remain the child of its earth. Likewise, its sincerity, its grandeur too, pass through the callous hand of the grape-picker, hard work and the respect for a job well done. Wine is a child of the soil and the sweat of men. The grape-harvest, which gushes forth each year from the same barrel as all the old human rituals, betrays the ambiguity of the links that unite Man and Nature. Struggle and love. On the one hand, the Ancients who called the vineyards the “galleys” because of the slope, the stones, and the climate… On the other hand, this vine-grower who secretly talks tenderly to his old vine stocks to congratulate them, to thank them … It is true that here, in Castelmaure, things have changed considerably. The men have changed. The impetus came at the beginning of the eighties. Under the leadership of Patrick de Marien, the chairman, and of Bernard Pueyo, the director, the 70 members of the village old co-op began by asking themselves about their vines : which terroirs? Which varieties? This led them to upgrade the majority of their vines by replacing certain poorly-suited Carignans with Syrahs, Grenaches and, more recently, with Mourvèdres.

It is so French, and who can blame them when they make such great wines.

For more on Castelmaure see www.castelmaure.com

For a map and more info on Corbières see www.frenchduck.co.uk

The wines of Castelmaure are available in the UK from www.thewinesociety.com

Tarn-et-Garonne (82 Midi-Pyrenees) lies between Toulouse to the south, Agen to the West and Cahors to the North. The main town is Montauban.
(see map)
Please check locally before heading for any of these markets - some do not run every week and many do not run in the winter. Some may also be held in the evening rather than morning.

Beaumont-de-Lomagne - Saturday
Bourg-de-Visa - Sunday
Castelsagrat - Sunday
Castelsarrasin - Thursday, Saturday
Caussade - Monday
Caylus - Tuesday
Finhan - Wednesday
Grisolles - Wednesday
Labastide-St-Pierre - Wednesday
Lafrancaise - Wednesday, Sunday
Laguepie - Wednesday
Lamagistere - Sunday
Lauzerte - Wednesday, Saturday
Lavit-de-Lomagne - Friday
Moissac - Saturday, Sunday
Molieres - Friday
Monclar-de-Quercy - Thursday
Montaigu-de-Quercy - Saturday
Montauban - Wednesday, Saturday
Montech - Tuesday
Montpezat-de-Quercy - Sunday
Montricoux - Friday
Negrepelisse - Tuesday
Realville - Saturday
Roquecor - Sunday
Septfonds - Wednesday
St-Antonin-Noble-Val - Sunday
St-Nicolas-de-la-Grave - Sunday
Valence-d’Agen - Tuesday, Saturday

Poitiers (86 Vienne, Poitou-Charentes) is a bit of a contradiction - laden with history (such as the Battle of Poitiers in the 100 years war) and yet host (on its outskirts) to the futuristic Futuroscope - a sort of theme park but with a real intention of looking into the future.
I have to confess it is usually one of those places which I pass by on the journey south towards Bordeaux and the Dordogne. Now it could be a city break weekend destination with Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flying in from Stansted and Birmingham.

Anthony Peregrine in the Times visited the place:

The place had its moments in the Middle Ages, as base to Eleanor of Aquitaine’s court, with a full complement of artists, aristocrats and bad-tempered bishops. The period equipped it with a framework of outstanding buildings, noble (if narrow) streets and a lasting sense of self-worth. Then, about eight centuries later, the city had a rush of blood to the head and built the Futuroscope theme park.

In between, not much happened. Poitiers relaxed into being a small provincial capital, which, in France, is quite enough. It ensures a constant supply of students, lawyers, clerics, shops, political dispute, bars and restaurants.

This present life buzzes through the past, convinced that, whatever the rest of the world thinks, Poitiers is the place to be. While you are strolling along with it, you will agree. It is also a good kick-off point for a drive through the east of the Vienne département – a land of forest, farming and riverside villages…

See our customised Google Map of the region

Poitiers Official Tourist Office

The Cahors region was a little isolated and very traditional when I first started to get to know it in the 1970s. It produced a somewhat rustic style of Malbec which I like, but the wine was little known or appreciated outside the region. Since then much has changed, with some superb, smooth and rich cuvées being produced regularly and often at keen prices from most produces. The emergence of Argentinean Malbec has led to a redisccovery of Cahors’ Cot or Auxerrois grape - the same but with a local name.
But with typical Gallic arrogance and reverence for tradition, there was great reluctance to promote these wines - you would probably have been banished to the furthest corner of France had you dared to refer to the grapes as Malbec!

But now every chateau has its top (expensive) cuvée and is happy to be recognised as the birthplace of Malbec! But the change goes further than that. Take one chateau as a good example:-
Clos Triguedina has always been one of the most respected Cahors AC wine chateaux and is well worth a visit. Situated at Vire-sur-Lot (46 Lot, Midi-Pyrenees) to the west of Cahors, the range of wines produced is extraordinary for the region. The tradtional Malbec (Cot, Auxerrois) reds include some good everyday drinking wines, as well as some of the best in the appellation - such as the Prince Probus (Probus was the emperor who allowed to France to replant its vines in the Third Century). Made from 100% Malbec from vines over 50 years old, this is a deep rich concentrated wine which needs a few years maturation in bottle on top of its 18 months in new oak barrels.

However, producing one of the top Cahors wines is not enough for this creative winegrower who has also developed a wide range of wines:
The exceptional: New Black Wine ®, a re-creation of the Black Wine of Cahors which used to be drunk by the King of England in the Thirteenth Century. The authentic process of vinification is to cook grapes or must before fermentation. This is really something quite different and should be tried.

Furthermore there are the innovative Vins de Lune (Moon wines) - including a stunning rosé made from Malbec (Rosé du Clos) and gently pressed to extract colour and fruit, but omitting harsh tannins. Le Malbec du Clos ®, is a lighter drinking style of Malbec (a Vin de Pays du Comté Tolosan) which can even be drunk chilled in the summer - and the Moelleux du Clos ®
which is a dessert Chenin Blanc white wine, made on the back of Mr Baldes’ early years in Barsac!
Previously serious wine makers would only make Cahors AC red wines - anything else would be consigned to local “plonk” consumption. To find a respected Cahors wine maker taking rosé, sweet white and vin de pays wines seriously shows how much things have changed - and for the better.

The proprietor, Jean Luc Baldes is a leading figure in the Cahors Wine Country:

Jean Luc Baldes, now the 7th generation of the family, has in keeping with his ancestors wine growing traditions, been able to place his diversified products at the top level.
His wines are supplied to famous restaurants and institutions such as the French Senate, the Elysée Palace and the Parliament.

Clos Triguedina was one of the 3 chateaux families featured in Michael Sanders’ Families of the Vine: Seasons Among the Winemakers of Southwest France which offers real insights into the realities of running a family vineyard in Cahors.

For more info on the Chateau and its wines see www.jlbaldes.com

With the arrival of Spring comes a celebration of Birds and Wildlife in Picardie ( Festival de l’Oiseau et de la Nature) from 12 - 20 April 2008. Forget the stereotyped connotations of Picardy, the Somme and northern France, this is an area of lakes, sanddunes, cliffs and gentle river valleys which is a haven for birds and wildlife - fantastic walking country, glorious seascapes and plenty of paths for hiking and rambling, and an extensive network of cycle paths. Whilst it may lack the best of the weather and has few exciting towns, the countryside is well worth a visit - especially as it is so close to the Channel ports of Calais, Boulogne, Dieppe and Le Havre.
The festival itself will offer guided walks, exhibitions, films and workshops, but the landscape and wildlife are the main attractions.
For more info on the Festival see www.festival-oiseau-nature.com/
For more info on the region generally see www.picardietourisme.fr

For somewhere a little different to stay in Picardie you could try the Belle Dune self-catering Holiday Village.

Belle Dune is one of Pierre & Vacances’ most popular self catering holiday villages in France. Built in the 20th Century style of the Picardy region, the village nestles in a preserved natural area of sand dunes, is surrounded by a large lake and flanked by one of France’s finest golf courses. On-site activities are numerous, the beach is accessible by train plus a mini-market and an English pub.

For more info and special offers see P&V

Book your cross-channel ferry online -

A browse through the local travel bookshop in midwinter is always enjoyable, especially when you find something new. Hence Mireille Guiliano’s French Women Don’t Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure caught the eye as unlike most books about dieting, it concentrates more on the pleasure of eating well A la Francaise. Personally I like the French approach of more but smaller courses rather than the British plate piled high with meat and 2 veg! One of the key messages here is all about portion size. This is another angle on the “French Paradox ” whereby despite a rich diet, the French tend to have lower levels of obesity and heart disease!

“It is classy, chic, convincing, funny, wise, well-written and very timely. It’s the ultimate non-diet book, which nonetheless shows us how to eat with balance, control and above all pleasure. Chuck out all the radical diet books, think about what you eat and why, and then enjoy eating the right things (and some of the wrong ones) intelligently, and in smaller portions.”

Another choice was Marie-Pierre Moine’s Provence Cookery School a sumptuous celebration of rich Provencal fayre, lovingly illustrated

Recreate the gorgeous flavours of Provencal cuisine in your own kitchen. Forget expensive and difficult courses run by intimidating chefs. This one-on-one guide gives step-by-step advice on how to learn the key elements of Provencal cooking in only one week. Each day, you’ll discover how to combine local ingredients and techniques to create authentic, delicious dishes, with three-course menu plans for making magnificent meals. Cook and enjoy over 100 wonderful dishes, using local ingredients from the best producers, from superb sauces to perfect pastries. Guy Gedda is your friendly and charming host: his clear demonstrations show you exactly what to do without the need for professional expertise and skill, but with results that will prove you have mastered the essentials of Provencal cooking in your own kitchen. Bon Appetit!

Finally a rather fun food book to enable you to recapture the essence of French cuisine back at home - William Black’s Plats Du Jour. According to Metro’s review: (April 25, 2007):

“The French wouldn’t dream of agonising over whether to buy local: after all, their culture is built on it, n’est ce pas? In his culinary travelogue Plats du Jour, William Black celebrates their peerless heritage, but also detects that everything isn’t quite so rosy in the country’s kitchen as they would like to think. “

Try the east for a change? One area well known to British wine drinkers but less well known to Britons is Burgundy. Only 5 - 6 hours from the Channel Ports or 90 minutes from Geneva or Lyon airports this area abounds with small villages, individual cuisine and lots and lots of really fine wines.

“We’re biased. We live in a small village in the extreme east of Burgundy, right on the border with the Jura Department and we love it here” say John & Carolyn Scallon at www.bandb-burgundy.com who offer excellent accommodation (4 individually decorated bedrooms with en-suite facilities) in the heart of south Burgundy at Sens-sur-Seille (71 Saone-et-Loire, Burgundy) east of Chalon-sur-Saone.

They have provided a personalised guide to visiting the vineyards of Burgundy - see http://www.frenchduck.co.uk/B&BBurgundy.html , This is great as Burgundy is one of the wine regions which I know least well, as it did not really fit my focus on “lesser known French wines” in my wine merchant days. So it is good to get advice from someone who knows the region well.
My most memorable Burgundy was imbibed at Nuits-Saint-Georges, where we stayed for a night about 20 years ago. As is usual, we opt for the local wine in the restaurant - a Clos la Marechal from Faiveley, which was smooth and creamy with oaky lush cherry fruit. Sadly every red burgundy since has been a bit of a disappointment, in part because Pinot Noir tends to be a bit tempremental, and Burgundy’s weather can be quite variable. Last time I looked it was about £25.00 a bottle, which is the other problem with Burgundy - it tends to be pricey! However find the right one and you could be in heaven. See Faiveley’s website (under construction)

The iconic Citroen 2CV (2 Chevaux or 2 horses or “deuch” or “umbrella on four wheels”) was launched in 1948 at the Paris Motor Show and went on to sell more than 4 million before production ceased in 1990.
The design criteria were for a lightweight vehicle that would enable two peasants to drive 100 kg (220 lb) of farm goods to market at 60 km/h, in clogs and across muddy unpaved roads if necessary.Fuel economy was limited 100km with 3 litres of fuel. Most famously, it would be able to drive across a ploughed field without breaking the eggs it was carrying. Later the roof was raised and made convertible so that you could drive while wearing a hat.and to accomodate bulky items.

It’s a bit of a “marmite” car - you either love it or hate it - but it was nevertheless a most successful car getting many French people on the road with something that was functional and economic. It remains popular and is so evocative of France - just add a Gauloise cigarette and a beret and you have the image of France in the second half of the 20th Century.

There is a charming video advertisement for the 2CV which is worth watching at
www.youtube.com

There is also a 2CV Museum in Alsace - “Created in 1998 by the Alsace Club 2CV, the museum aims to show visitors one of the greatest legends of the French car industry. The exhibition is dedicated to all people, children and adults, 2CV enthousiasts, 2CV friends or the curious. The museum wants to show the car that Citroën conceived and sold for 42 years but also wants to show the place that the car takes in people’s hearts and imaginations.- open every Saturday of the year. Entrance is free.

Musée de la 2CV, Route du Donon, Grandfontaine (67 Bas Rhin, Alsace)

For all that Bordeaux is synonymous with fine wine around the world, the city has not had a decent wine museum in recent years. To some extent you could argue that with so many great vineyards in the area who needs a wine museum?? Yet Bordeaux can be a little difficult to come to terms with, and some of the best vineyard cellars can feel a little intimidating.
Whilst the ultimate key to Bordeaux is the quality of its wines, the wines would not have been a success without the history and geography of the city and its rivers, nor without the entrepreneurial structures of the wine trade and the relationships with countries such as England and the Netherlands.
So it has to be good news that a new Musee des Negociants will be opening in the Spring of 2008 in the historic Chartons area of Bordeaux, along the banks of the Garonne river, where barrels of wine were loaded onto sailing ships in earlier times.
The museum is being developed by a young wine merchant (negociant) under the banner of Bordeaux Historia Vini. Negociants were (and to some extent still are) a key feature of the Bordeaux wine trade, buying from, or acting on behalf of the vineyard and selling on to merchants at home and abroad. In some cases they would blend wines to produce a consistent blend which would be widely marketed. This undoubtedly helped the Bordeaux wine trade to consolidate its predominant position in the wine markets of the world.
Musée des Négociants, 41, rue Borie, Bordeaux

For more info on visiting Bordeaux see www.bordeaux-tourisme.com

I have previously been a little cynical about the tendancy of the French to imbue elements of their gastronomic heritage with just a tad too much pomp and often doubtful history and ceremonials. If they had such things, I am sure there would be the equivalent of “The Worshipful Company of the Most Glorious and Authentic Pickled Onion or Shallot”, (oignons conservés au vinaigre?) enriched by elaborate costumes and rituals - and a history dating back to 1992! Having said that I admire their pride in their local produce and agree that it should be celebrated.

However, one august body to which my fond cynicism should not apply is the Jurade de St Emilion, who do have elaborate red robes, a spectacular procession through the town and a banquet which does justice to the fine wines of St Emilion. Every autumn they celebrate their “Ban des Vendanges” to mark the official start of the grape harvest, and many years ago I was lucky enough to accompany members of the Jurade on an extensive itinerary of tastings, a series of lavish meals with grand cru wines and the grand banquet. Although we were often only tasting young wines at the chateaux, some wonderful and mature vintages were brought out for the banquet.

As Timothy Hartley kindly informs me, the Jurade de St Emilion has a rich and important history in the development of the wines of St Emilion:
LA JURADE DE SAINT-ÉMILION

The roots of the Jurade lie deep in both French and English history - as its Arms, Great Seal and banners, which bear both the Lilies of France and the Lions of England, show. Saint-Émilion, together with the rest of Acquitaine, formed part of the dowry of Eleanor of Acquitaine on her marriage to King Henry II. The Jurade goes back at least as far as 1199, when their son, King John, confirmed privileges apparently earlier granted by Richard, Coeur de Lion. Saint-Émilion became effectively a free City under the Crown with the Jurade having control of its legal and economic affairs. The Jurats’ duties included the control of production, and sale of, wine, closely monitoring its quality, branding approved casks and destroying any which were unworthy. Under Edward I, in 1289, the area of the Jurisdiction was enlarged to cover what is still the wine growing area composing the appellations of Saint Émilion. In return for these privileges, the Crown required that regular, and very large consignments, of wine be tasted, judged, its good quality assured, and then be consigned to England in casks quality assured by the Jurade’s seal. After Saint-Émilion reverted to the French Crown, the Jurade’s rights and duties were confirmed by French Royal Charters but, in the French Revolution, Jurats lost both their heads and their privileges.
The Jurade no longer has its extensive former civic and legal powers but its Grand Council still sits once a year, in Spring, to conduct a blind tasting of the wines of Saint-Émilion to assess their merits and pronounce a Jugement du Vin Nouveau. In September, it authorises the start of picking, in a ceremonial Ban des Vendanges from the top of the Tour du Roi, the Jurats wearing the scarlet and white robe of their mediaeval predecessors and calling upon their spirits to witness the continuation of over 800 years of tradition, passion, experience and skill.
The Jurade honours its historic links by giving us the privilege of two Chancelleries, based in the two ancient leading cities of England, York, serving the north of England and Scotland, and London, for the south of England and Wales. They organise tastings for those who would like to know more about the Jurisdiction’s wines, often in combination with charitable fund raising. They also arrange visits to Saint-Emilion for members of the Association de la Jurade in England for the important festivals in Saint-Emilion’s calendar, the Fête de Printemps and the Ban des Vendanges. More information about their activities, and contact details, are on their website - www.jurade.org.uk. They are always happy to welcome new members and to introduce them to Saint-Émilion’s renowned hospitality, its beauty and its enormous range of wines.

St Emilion produces some of the best Bordeaux red wines, wines which in the Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes dominate. The town and vineyards of St Emilion (33, Gironde, Aquitaine) are to my mind the most interesting to visit, the town being on an outcrop and the vineyards stretching down to the Dordogne river. The Spring celebration “Fete de Printemps” takes place on the 3rd Sunday in June, whilst the harvest celebration “Ban des Vendanges” takes place on the 3rd Sunday in September.

For more info on St Emilion see www.saint-emilion-tourisme.com

UPDATE: The St Emilion Ban des Vendanges takes place on Sunday 21 September 2008

For a classy B&B in the region see www.chezkelly.eu