Latest updates on France, French Wine, Food, Travel, Holidays and Events
FrenchDuck UK - Latest
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 artist Margaret Loxton is very English, and very Yorkshire – as is her style, but she has neverthess produced some very atmospheric images of France, and particularly French rural life. With her buxom men and women it may be a style you love or hate, but these pictures are so French they could not be anywhere else.
She has a whole series of scenes, including wine-related ones such as the Pavement Café in Riquewihr (68 Haut-Rhin, Alsace) shown above, but also Nuits St Georges (Burgundy) and the Luberon (Provence).
Limited edition prints are available online from La Provence Collections (along with a host of other gift items and fabrics on a Provencal theme) – thet also have a shop on the Square at Stow-in-the-Wold, near Cheltenham, Glos.
If you don’t want a print, you can see some of pictures in her book
From Semur-en-Auxois (21 Cote d’Or, Burgundy) to Bourg-en-Bresse (01 Ain, Rhône-Alpes) - passing through the heart of the Burgundy vineyards (Givry, Rully) down through the Maconnais and finishing at the Chicken Capital of France (see “The fourth Gastronomic Wonder of the World?”
For more info on the Tour de France 2007 see www.letour.fr or UK Eurosport where there are some good interactive maps of the route.
The appellation system in Burgundy get confusing – whereas elsewhere in France an appellation usually covers quite a wide geographical area, in Burgundy an individual plot of land can be classified as a separate appellation. So for example in Meursault, one of the best white wine areas (Chardonnay) with some pretty good Pinot Noir reds, the following are the individual appellations:-
La Barre et le Clos de la Barre. Les Casse-Tête. Les Charrons. Les Chevalières. Les Clous. Les Corbins. Les Criots. Le Cromin. Le Limosin. Les Luchets. Les Marcausses. Le Meix-Chavaux. Les Millerands. La Monatine. Le Murger-de-Monthelie. Les Narvaux. Les Pellans. Les Pelles. Le Pré-de- Manche. Les Rougeots. Les Terres-Blanches. Les Tessons. Les Tillets. La Velle. Les Vireuils.
For more info see http://www.ot-meursault.fr/meursault/fr/lemeursault.htm
| March 18, 2006 | to | March 19, 2006 |
The town of Chatillon-sur-Seine (21 Cote d’Or, Burgundy) is the host to this year’s “Printemps du Cremant” on 18th and 19th March 2006 - another chance for the locals to dress up in silly costumers, but more importantly it provides you with the opportunity to do some serious tasting of the bubbly Cremant de Bourgogne. Cremant is a term originally used for a Champagne bottled under a lower pressure (50-60%) of that for Champagne proper, but as it has largely passed into history in Champagne it is now the official term for 7 Cremant appellations - d’Alsace. de Bourgogne, de Loire, de Bordeaux, de Limoux, de Jura and de Die.
In Cremant de Bourgogne the grape varieties used are similar to those for Burgundy wines - Chardonnay, Aligote, Melon, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Gamay. Although technically the pressure can be lower than Champagne, they are often vinified to produce more bubbles and a better “mousse”, and can be extraordinarily good. Just avoid the cheapies in the supermarket which can be a bit thin and dull. For more info on the Printemps du Cremant Festival see http://www.mairie-chatillon-sur-seine.fr/
A good producer we can recommend is the Cave de Lugny, and their Cremant is stocked by Haynes, Hanson and Clark (http://www.hhandc.co.uk/) who have branches in London and Stow-on-the-Wold as well as nationwide delivery.£8.45 per bottle by the case.
For more on France, French Wine, Food & Travel try our SEARCH feature
Also see our calendar of events in France
