Centre

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. Imagine 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 Bourges

More info on the wines of Centre

Sunday 26 July 2009 sees the annual Fete des Vins at Bonny-sur-Loire.(45 Loiret, Centre), Although close to both Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire, the wines here are from the Coteaux Giennois (from near the town of Gien on the Loire) - whites from Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin, reds from Pinot Noir and Gamay. Chenin Blanc is the typical white grape variety in the Loire Valley wines - especially in the main section of the river - Bonny is on the cusp between the dominance of Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon from up-river vineyards such as Sancerre.
Although they lack the finesse of their more famous neighbours, they are good little wines and represent good value.
See map

For more info see www.vins-centre-loire.com

On  July 04, 2009 there is music in the cellars of Sancerre in the Centre region - high up the Loire Valley and the source of some of the best Sauvignon Blanc in France, made from the chalky soils of the region. A small amount of red wine is made from Pinot Noir.

Now that does sound like fun - although maybe a little scary until you are confident on the machine - hire a Segway for a tour of the parts of the Loire Valley

“The Segway PT (Personal Transporter) is unique! Each machine is a self-balancing electric transportation device. Teamed up with two computers, gyroscopes automatically respond to your body’s movements, «sensing» when it should speed up and slow down in order to keep you in balance while moving up to 12mph!
Only 5 minutes to master - Learning to use a segway is a magical experience and comes naturaly. It is the first time we get carried by a machine which seems to move by itself.

Currently on offer in the towns of Loches  (the royal housing, trave around the Bachelet park at the bottom of the majestic donjon and meander around the paved alleyways of the citadel. ), Amboise (from Amboise castle to the famous Clos Luce manor house, where Leonardo Da Vinci once lived …the heights of the city to the panoramic view of the Loire) and Tours ( the majestic cathedral, the royal castle and the old Wilson bridge.)-

For more info Tel: 02 47 30 95 35 (in France) see  www.freemove.fr

There are also Segway Tours in Paris - see  http://citysegwaytours.com

Fete des Plantes

A timely reminder from Colin Elliott, who runs a French Garden design company at Chabris (36 Indre, Centre) who will be exhibiting at the Garden Festival (Fete des Plantes) at the Chateau de la Ferte St Aubin from 1-3 May 2009.

For more info see www.chateau-ferte-st-aubin.com

la Ferte St Aubin is situated south of Orleans on the N20, just west of the Sologne (an area of wild natural beauty, and a few kilometre north of Lamotte Beuvron, birthplace of the Tarte Tatin!

To the west you will find the wine appellations of Touraine where Isabelle and Noe Roubillaud runs Domaine Octavie iand Cour- Cheverny AC where Michel Gendrier runs Domaine des Huards.

Despite the huge number of villages across France named after saints, there is only one which is named after St Valentine - at St Valentin (36 Indre, Centre), west of Issoudun and South West of Bourges.

Styling itself the “Villages for Lovers” (le village des Amoureux) the website at www.village-saint-valentin.com/ is very French and just a tad too pink for my liking. I an told that there is an annual festival on 14 February to celebrate their patron saint, but details were a little thin.

It appears that if there ever was a Saint Valentine, he was a very obscure saint, and any connection between him and a celebration of love is probably a very recent phenomenon, probably manufactured by florists, greeting card manufacturers and makers of pink ribbons!

The other option is to head down to Beaujolais and the village of St Amour (amour = love). The village is home to one of the Beaujolais wine crus, and is in fact the most northerly, which is probably better known for its voluptuousness rather than finesse! Again there it is unlikely that there ever was a saint called Amour, but is thought to be a derivation of Saint Amateur , a roman soldier who converted to Christianity and founded a local monastery. No obvious Valentine-inspired events here, which might make it a more attractive and less commercialised venue to take your paramour. Certainly the scenery is charming, even if the vines will look a little stark this time of year.

For more info on Beaujolais wines see www.beaujolais-wines.com

Or there is the Fete du Baiser (Festival of the Kiss) at Roquemaure near Avignon (30 Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon) although the name has now been changed to the “Lovers Festival” (Fete des Amoureux”) which takes place on the weekend of 14-15 February 2009.

The relics of (a) Saint Valentine lay in Roquemaure since 1868. Every year, the weekend nearest February 14th, the town recreates the arrival of Saint Valentine’s relics and celebrates the love and romanticism this mythical Saint now symbolises.
Roquemaure turns into the town of love legends, returning to its 19th century aspect with more than 800 traditionally costumed people, horses and carriages, store fronts decorated in 19th century fashion, an old post office selling souvenir postcards (valentine cards), a fountain of Lovers, a market with over 60 ancient trades, a bandstand and wooden merry-go-rounds. For the occasion, the streets are given the names of the most famous lovers in French literature. To the sound of oboes, bagpipes, drums, and shepherd’s pipes, folkloric dance groups animate the town, along with jugglers and acrobats. Lovers can hum the prettiest love songs played by the barrel organs in the streets of the ancient town. The relics are symbolically paraded on Sunday morning so that Saint Valentine blesses Roquemaure again. This completely free romantic festival was created 17 years ago.

As an added bonus the winemakers of the local Appellation of Lirac AOC have chosen this weekend to celebrate their Festival of Vine Pruning! “On the Sunday morning of Saint Valentine’s feast, seven carts loaded with vine shoots from the seven main vine varieties of the Lirac appellation accompany the procession of Saint Valentine’s relics in the streets of the ancient part of the village.”
For more info see www.saintvalentin.org/