Latest updates on France, French Wine, Food, Travel, Holidays and Events
FrenchDuck UK - Latest
| October 25, 2008 | ||
| October 26, 2008 |
The village of Espelette (64 Pyrenees-Atlantiques, Aquitaine) in the Basque country of Southwest France devotes a weekend to celebrate the chilli pepper - Fete du Piment on 25/26 October 2008.
The Peppers of Espelette are recognised with Appellation Controllee status. Needing a lot of sun and heat to ripen, the peppers are traditionally woven into garlands and hund from the roofs of houses throughout the town to dry. So, the town is decorated with garlands of bright red peppers, and there are stands offering a whole range of gastronomic delights based on the fiery pepper - plus music, feasting etc - all with a Basque accent.!
For more info see www.pimentdespelette.com
| July 30, 2008 | ||
| July 31, 2008 | ||
| August 1, 2008 | ||
| August 2, 2008 | ||
| August 3, 2008 |
Bayonne (64 Pyrenees Atlantiques, Aquitaine) in the heart of France’s Basque country and especially famous for its Bayonne Ham, celebrates its annual festival from 30 July to 03 August 2008.
Bayonne is ablaze in red & white with everyone dressed in the traditional white shirts and trousers and red neckerchiefs and sashes. The festival opens on the Wednesday night at 10p.m. in the town Hall square. The mythical King Leon of Bayonne appears on the balcony and celebrates his return by throwing the symbolic keys of the town to the crowd. Music, shouts and colours invade the town centre. Les Fêtes de Bayonne is the most important moment of the year for the inhabitants…no one would miss it !!! If you come to the Festival, you’ll enjoy the incredible atmosphere and enthusiasm, running of the young bulls, bullfights, bandas (music bands) in the streets …
Created in 1932, the frequentation to the festival is rising every year with people coming from all over France and beyond.
On the last night, people gather once again in front of the town hall to sing the farewell hymn “Pobre de mi”, which also closes the Pamplona San Fermin Festival.
For more info on Bayonne see www.bayonne-tourisme.com
| July 5, 2008 | ||
| July 6, 2008 | ||
| July 7, 2008 | ||
| July 8, 2008 | ||
| July 9, 2008 | ||
| July 10, 2008 | ||
| July 11, 2008 | ||
| July 12, 2008 | ||
| July 13, 2008 | ||
| July 14, 2008 | ||
| August 13, 2008 | ||
| August 14, 2008 |
The two appellations of Madiran AC (red) and Pacherenc du Vic Bilh AC (white) were created in 1948, and will be celebrating n July and August 2008.
These 2 appellations are typical of the South West of France - producing distinctively different styles of wine from lesser-known grape varieties - predominantly Tannat for the Madiran, Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng for the usually sweet Pacherenc-du-Vic Bilh. These are not necessaily “fashionable” wines but they are interesting, characterful, honest wines, which are no longer just rustic curiousities. Modern wine-making techniques enable skilled winemakers to produce more approachable wines whilst retaining the essential character which distinguishes them from the mainstream.
Didier Barre produces wonderfully rich and smooth Madiran at Domaine Berthoumieu - his sweet Pacherenc is a delicious, complex perfumed dessert wine. Another top producer is the Laplace family at Chateau d’Aydie.
The excellent co-operative Producteurs Plaimont produces good examples of the regions wines.
In August the Fete des Vins de Madiran takes place on the weekend of 14 and 15 August 2008 in the village of Madiran (32 Gers, Midi-Pyrenees).
From 4-14 July there are a series of events to celebrate, including daily “introduction to wine tasting” sessions at the Maison des Vins in Madiran, guided walks amongst the vineyards, music and barbecues - see www.civso.com (in French).
Information on domestic flights in France is not easy to come by, one reason being that Air France has such a dominant position in France and already have flights on most internal routes.
Plus the French market is not as competitive. The French Railway system between major cities is both fast and competitive, especially if starting from Paris.
I have only been able to uncover a couple of airlines which offer domestic flights in France:-
http://www.easyjet.com/ - Toulouse to Lyon, Paris, Nice to Paris; Lyon to Biarritz, Bordeaux; Biarritz to Paris
http://www.twinjet.net/
Toulouse (32 Haute-Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees) to Metz/Nancy, Mulhouse, Brest; Marseille to Metz/Nancy, Mulhouse; Paris - Perigueux, Cherbourg
http://www.airlinair.fr/ Brest,(29 Finistere, Brittany) Bordeaux (33 Gironde, Aquitaine), Agen (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine), Lyon (69 Rhone, Rhone-Alpes), Poitiers (86 Vienne, Poitou-Charentes), Brive (19 Correze, Limousin) Beziers (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon) etc
http://www.ryanair.com/ now also has links from Marseille (13 Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence) to Lille (59 Nord, Nord-Pas de Calais) and Brest (29 Finistere, Brittany)
You can try sites like http://www.expedia.fr/ but even a price comparison site like http://www.baisse-de-prix.com/voyages.php seems to offer little new – it looks like Air France have cornered the market with little opportunity for discounting.
| July 14, 2008 |
The Tour de France 2008 (21 stages, 3500 km) Stage 10 is on Monday 14 July 2008 (Bastille Day) and starts from Pau (64 Pyrenees-Atlantiques, Aquitaine) via Jurancon to Hautacam (65 Hautes-Pyrenees, Midi-Pyrenees) through the mountains, a route of 156km - being Bastille Day there is always tremendous pressure and expectation that a French cyclist will win today!
For more on the Tour de France 2008 see www.letour.fr/
For details of coverage on ITV see www.itv.com
Most French autoroutes between major towns and cities are toll motorways, which whilst often offering fast and uncrowded dual-carriageways, can nevertheless add significantly to the cost of a trip through France - e.g over €90 (over £60) on a one-way trip from Calais to Nice (1226km of motorway driving about 760 miles).
However there are significant sections of autoroute which are toll free - most often these are around major towns and Cities (Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon etc).
In the North, the A16 is toll-free from Boulogne (J29) to the Belgian border (J36) via Calais and Dunkerque. The A25 from Dunkerque (J20) to Lille is free, so you can reach Lille from the main Channel ports without paying a toll!. Also all routes from Lille to the Belgian border.
The following autoroutes are toll free (as at September 2007)
A16 (part of the Autoroute des Estuaires (estuaries)) from Boulogne-sur-Mer (J29) to the Belgian border(J36)
A20 (L’Occitane) from Vierzon (J6 junction with A71) to Brive-la-Gaillarde (J53) via Chateauroux, Argenton and Limoges
A25 from Dunkerque (J20 with A16) to Lille
A28 from Abbeville (J1) to Rouen (J14)
A30/A31 (Autoroute de la Vallée de la Fensch) from Thionville (J1) to Toul (J12) via Metz and Nancy
A38 from Dijon (J33) to Pouilly-sur-Auxois (J24 and the junction with the A6)
A63 (Autoroute de la Cote Basque) from Bordeaux to Bellin-Bellet (J20)
A64 (la Pyreneenne) from St Martory (J20) to Muret (J25)
A68 (la Tarnaise) from Monastruc (J3 NE of Toulouse) to Albi (J11) via Gaillac
A75 (la Meridienne) from Clermont-Ferrand (J15) to Pezenas (J59) (except for the Millau Bridge) via Issoire
A77 (Autoroute de l’Arbre (trees)) from Pouilly (J26) to Nevers (J37)
A84 from Caen (J46) to Rennes (J25) via Avranches
The number of budget airline routes to France from the UK is continuing to grow, as is the number of French destinations - no longer restricted to the major cities. This really does open up some of the less well-known parts of France.
The list below shows the extent of the coverage - and this excludes flights to Paris which are available from most local airports. Some flights are seasonal, so please check with the airline for timetables and availability.
| Destination | From | airline |
Red and White will be the colours which will dominate the Basque city of Bayonne (64 Pyrenees-Atlantiques, Aquitaine) from 2- 5 August 2006. On the river Adour just a few miles from the Atlantic coast and forming a small conurbation with Biarritz and Anglet (referred to as B-A-B) this is the heart of Basque country. This feels a quite different part of France - the language and accent and road signs all take on a different feel, and the local architecture is quite distinctive - influenced I suspect by the proximity of the Pyrenees which dominate both sides of the border.
We found it delightful - especially St Jean-de-Luz.
However, the Bayonne festival provides a wide range of attractions, from concerts, dancing parades and cow racing!! in addition to its other main attractions such as Bayonne Ham, Chocolate and Honey!
For more info see www.bayonne-tourisme.com/
The Tour de France came down off the Pyrenees briefly yesterday for a stage finish in the town of Pau (64 Pyrenees-Atlantiques, Aquitaine) at the heart of the Jurancon wine region.
Jurancon is a small village just west of Pau on the Grave de Pau (river), all set in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Only producing white wines from grapes such as Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng
and Petit Courbu these tend to be highly aromatic intense wines.
You have to be a little careful though, as both dry (very dry) and sweet wines are produced - so if you want a dry Jurancon always select Jurancon Sec AC, otherwise you can end up with anything from a sweet table wine through to a rich dessert wine!
My preference is for the dry white, which can be exquisite - full of fresh citrussy flavour, refreshing and long in the mouth, At the other extreme some of the oaked dessert or late harvest wines made from 100% Petit Manseng are pure nectar and well worth seeking out - especially in the half-bottle or 50cl sizes.
We imported the wines of Domaine de Cinquau from Artiguelouve (west of Jurancon) who produce an excellent range of Jurancon wines at good prices. They welcome visitors to the domaine (see map) and have a great tasting room with views over the slopes of the Pyrenees. Their website has full information on the wines plus details of where to buy their wines in France (including Paris and Dunkerque) - but unfortunately their wines are not available in the UK at present.
Other good producers include Chateau Jolys and Domaine Cauhapé. Devigne Wines stock Cauhapé’s Jurancon Moeulleux, Ballet d’Octobre.
| April 13, 2006 | to | April 15, 2006 |
Bayonne (64 Pyrenees-Atlantique, Aquitaine) is in the middle of the Basque country in deepest southwest France. just 30 minutes from the Spanish border and 10 minutes from the coast and Biarritz.It is famous for its Bayonne Ham, which is similar in style to Parma ham from Italy.
Since 1942, Bayonne celebrates its Ham Festival during Holy week (13-15 April 2006). when the farmers come to the bank of the river (The Nive) to sell their orange-coloured air-dried ham with red peppers.
It is an area of strange and wonderful contrasts - the Basque influence on architecture, food and language is evident everywhere, except nearby Biarritz which has a rather faded Eastbourne-like elegance. We much preferred the next coastal town south - St Jean de Luz, which seemed less touristy and was a delightful blend of new and old. It is a stunning area to visit with the mountains and the sea - the western end of the Pyrenees seem almost to fall into the Atlantic. In the same way that the French part of Basque country seems quite un-French, so the Spanish side has a different feel from the rest of Spain - and you can understand a little of why the Basqu e people feel that it is one area, artificially divided by an international frontier. However, with the EU transit from France into Spain and vice versa is usually seemless, unless there is some security alert or local farmers from either side chose to block the frontier to get publicity for some grievance. With the recently announced ceasefire announced by the Basque separatists and the recent unrest in France over race, unemployment and labour laws, the latter is probably the bigger threat!
For more on France, French Wine, Food & Travel try our SEARCH feature
Also see our calendar of events in France
