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The Independent (2 Aug 08) has another of its “50 Best…” series, this time on Railway Journeys - and includes 2 French ones.
Clermont Ferrand-Beziers
The less well-used of the two lines from Clermont Ferrand through the Massif Central (the other goes to Nimes), this switchback route traverses some of the wildest country in France. Near St Flour the line crosses Eiffel’s Garabit Viaduct and follows the Lot and Tarn rivers to reach Millau and Norman Foster’s viaduct, the world’s highest road bridge.
The journey takes 5 hours and costs about €50. It has to be said that the road journey is pretty spectacular too, whether you opt for the new autoroute A75 or quieter side roads as the route crosses the Auvergne and the Causses before descending to the Languedoc (see www.frenchduck.co.uk/travel)
Eurostar London - Paris
Okay, most of the scenery between London and Paris or Brussels isn’t going to inspire a modern-day Edward Thomas, but the pleasure of using the magnificently restored station at St Pancras and the blissful ease of Eurostar makes it a great experience. Treat yourself to first class and enjoy champagne and a pretty respectable meal at 186mph.
Personally I would also recommend the route from Brive-la-Gaillarde to Montauban via Gourdon and Cahors - it cuts through the dramatic limestone landscapes and valleys of South West France offering unmatchable views of the countryside, the Lot River and the town of Cahors. Time: about 2 hrs, cost about €25.
With RailEurope you can book your rail journey to any destination within France, including Eurostar services, TGV and local trains
See the FrenchDuck article on Tourist Trains in France
Jancis Robinson in the Financial Times (12 May 08) talks about the growing number of Brits who have followed their dream and bought a vineyard in France.
It is hardly surprising then that a substantial proportion of the hundreds of thousands of Brits who own French property have been tempted by the apparently bucolic life of a vigneron……
Are there any French winemakers left down there?
I asked Walter McKinlay, whose Domaine de Mourchon southern Rhône wines are some of the most successful from a British domaine, whether his Domaine de Mourchon wines were financially viable. He frowned. “Just about,” he said cautiously, then smiled. “But it’s a lovely lifestyle though.”
My own observation would be that it can be incredibly hard work and despite the attractions of the climate, landscape and the French way of life, it can also be very stressful. And as with all winemakers, a bad harvest, particularly in the early years can be devastating.
So, here’s our list of British vineyard owners (and 1 Irish couple) - that we are aware of (not an exhaustive list I am sure). Visits can be much more informative if the language is no barrier:-
Domaine de Laroux - Cotes de Gascogne, Armagnac (32 Gers, Midi-Pyrenees) - Nick and Karen Kitchener
Chateau Haut Garrigue - Bergerac, Saussignac AC (24 Dordogne, Aquitaine) - Sean and Caroline Feely (the Irish couple running an organic vineyard also known as Wild Earth Vineyards)
Domaine de Fontenay - Cote Roannaise AC (42 Loire, Rhone-Alpes) - Simon and Isabelle Hawkins
Chateau Richard - Bergerac, Saussignac AC (24 Dordogne, Aquitaine) - Richard Doughty
Domaine de Merchien - Coteaux du Quercy and beer! (46 Lot, Midi-Pyrenees - David & Sarah Meakin
Clos d’Yvigne - Cotes de Bergeac, Saussignac AC (24 Dordogne, Aquitaine) - Patricia Atkinson
Chateau des Milles Anges - Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, Cadillac AC (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) - Heather van Ekris
Chateau Lezongars - Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux, Bordeaux AC (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) - Philip and Sarah Iles
Chateau Teyssier - Saint Emilion Grand Cru AC (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) - Jonathan and Lyn Maltus
Chateau de Sours - Bordeaux AC (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) - Esme & Sara Johnson
Domaine Gourdon - Cotes de Duras AC (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine) - John Coulthard
Domaine du Grand Mayne - Cotes de Duras AC (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine) - Andrew Gordon
Domaine de Begude - Limoux AC (11 Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon) - Catherine and James Kinglake
Domaine de Mourchon - Cotes du Rhone Seguret AC (84 Vaucluse, Provence) - Walter McKinley
Maison des Bulliats - Regnie AC Beaujolais (69 Rhone, Rhone-Alpes) - Fred and Helen Lockwood
Chateau Méaume - Bordeaux Superieure AC (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) - Alan and Sue Johnson-Hill
Domaine a Sauvageonne - Coteaux du Languedoc AC, Vin de Pays d’Oc (34 Herault, Languedoc - Roussillon) - Gavin Crisfield
Domaine Sainte Rose - Vin de Pays d’Oc (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon) - Charles and Ruth Simpson
Chateau Bauduc - Bordeaux AC (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) - Gavin and Angela Quinney
Domaine Sainte Croix - Corbieres AC (11 Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon) - Jon & Elizabeth Bowen
Chateau Monplaisir - Bergerac AC (24 Dordogne, Aquitaine) - David and Helen Baxter
Velomagg in Montepellier (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon) is another of the growing number of city bike hire schemes which have blossomed throughout France - and which potentially offer a different way of visiting many of France’s cities. It has also given employment to those creative people who dream up catchy logos and names for such schemes!
It all started in Paris with the Velib’ Scheme - an amalgam of Velo (cycle) and Liberte (free), which has been a tremendous success.
Vélib’ is a Self Service “bike hire” system available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Multi pick up and drop off location allows you to pick up your bike from one service point and drop off to another.
You need to subscribe, but for visitors there are 1-day and 7-day subscriptions and after the first 30 minutes you pay by the half-hour - e.g. a 90-minute hire will cost just €3 and you can pick up and drop off your bike at any of the hundreds of self-service stations across the city.
The Velib’ scheme has been based on a similar scheme VeloV in Lyon (69 Rhone, Rhone-Alpes) France’s second city. The combination of these eco-friendly and fitness focussed schemes is now spreading throughout France:-
VeloCite in Mulhouse (68 Haut-Rhin, Alsace) and Besancon (25 Doubs, Franche-Comté)
Vhello in Aix-en-Provence (13 Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence)
Le Velo in Marseille (13 Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence)
Velo in Toulouse (34 Haut Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees)
Nantes (44 Loire-Atlantique, Val de Loire)
Rouen (76 Seine Maritime, Normandy)
Bordeaux (33 Gironde, Aquitaine)
Velostan in Nancy (54 Meurthe et Moselle, Lorraine)
Velo+ in Orleans (45 Loiret, Centre)
Velomagg in Montpellier (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon)
This is clearly a popular scheme, mainly aimed at local residents but may also offer a different way of seeing some of France’s major cities from a different perspective. However, I would recommend choosing a city with good cycle lanes and paths - you do get the impression that traffic in many of France’s cities is not very forgiving with errant cyclists - so do not try cycling around the rond-point of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris!!
Inevitably there are some urban myths developing - such as the fact that there are always plenty of bikes at the bottom of the Butte de Montmartre, but none at the top - for obvious reasons. And you can get caught out in busy locations if you cannot find an empty slot in which to return your bike!
Beziers (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon) is another of those underrated French towns usually passed by on the autoroute - this time the A9 from the Rhone Valley down to the Spanish border. My principal memory is of horrendous traffic through the outskirts when trying to reach Pezenas and Chateau Belles Eaux at Caux many years ago - it all seemed a bit scruffy. But Ryanair now flies from Bristol so it could become a weekend break destination and it is close to lots of wonderful vineyards and landscape, Probably overlooked by its more glamorous neighbour to the north - Montpellier, Beziers seems more real.
Things like traffic should improve markedly from Autumn 2008 when the A75 from Clermont-Ferrand and Millau is completed with the stretch from Pezenas to join the A9 just east of Beziers. Anthony Peregrine in the Times writes of his visit:-
Up on its hill, the centre looks masterful - the gothic cathedral, especially, would be whipping the vast surrounding wine lands back into line, given half a chance. But chance hasn’t always been on Béziers’s side. It first made big news in 1209, when papal crusaders showed up and slaughtered the population as heretics.
Subsequently, the town has grown fatter and thinner with the ups and more recent downs of the cheap-wine trade. It has played rugby, held bullfights and generally been effervescent in the Latin manner. Then it has gone back to work. Or the bar. Or welfare. So, off the lovely esplanade and main squares, many old streets have a lived-in look - lived in not by Parisian gallery-owners, but by people who are meant to live there, the ones doing washing, pushing pushchairs and hanging around clapped-out cars, wondering how the hell to get the doors back on.
It makes for engrossing wandering, once you’ve had your fill of gothic. And we’ll come back to it at the end of our drive - which you could also join, with minimal adjustments, from Montpellier.
See our map of the area
Beziers Official Tourist Office
Stay on a vineyard at Les Montels at Raujan.
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 18, 2008 |
The Tour de France 2008 (21 stages, 3500 km) Stage 13 is on Friday 19 July 2008 and starts from Narbonne (11 Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon) and runs for 182 km to finish in Nimes (30 Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon) via the Pic St Loup wine region (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon)
For more on the Tour de France 2008 see www.letour.fr/
For details of coverage on ITV see www.itv.com
At Saint Bauzille de Montmel (34 Herault, Languedoc) north east of Montpellier the Mas de Martin is a well-established vineyard (Coteaux du Languedoc AC) which also offers 2 Gites under the Gites de France scheme.
These are both well-appointed (one sleeps 4, the other 6) and well-situated to explore the vineyards, coast and the surrounding countryside, being within sight of the Pic St Loup, the iconic mountain crag which is at the centre of some of the best regarded vineyards of the Languedoc. The domaine also produces its own olive oils.
Contact:-
Gîtes de France Hérault Maison du Tourisme
34184 MONTEPELLIER CEDEX 8
Tél. : 04 67 67 71 62 ou
contact@gdf34.com
For more info on the wines of Domaine Mas de Martin see www.frenchduck.com
For more info see www.premiumwanadoo.com/masdemartin/
The Chateau Rieutort de Blanville at Saint-Pargoire (34230 Herault, Languedoc) is a very stylish chateau surrounded by vines – the chateau estate producing classy wines in the Coteaux du Languedoc and Grès de Montpellier appellations as well as some Vins de Pays Vicomté d’Aumelas.
Sitauted just 10 minutes from the medieval town of Pezenas (34 Herault, Languedoc), and not far from the Mediterranean coast at Narbonne, many of the best Languedoc vineyards are within easy reach
The Chateau offers classy Bed & Breakfast (Chambre d’Hote) accommodation.
Rieutort is not an hotel. It’s a home open to you and where you will feel welcome, the home of the owners of Blanville Wine Estate.
Blanville produces high-quality wines ( red and white), in particular Château Haut-Blanville, regularly rated amongst the best brands in Languedoc.
For more on the B&B - see Chateau Rieutort
For more on their wines see Blanville Languedoc wines
The Languedoc’s climate is note generally very conducive to the development of traditional gardens, but down near Pezenas (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon) , Françoise et Daniel Malgouyres set about clearing an old quarry at Servian of its accumulated rubble, brambles and undergrowth to create a spectacular, award-winning garden on several levels with waterfalls and water features linking the elements together. The combination of the water and plenty of shade provides a cool, refreshing atmosphere which can be most welcome in the often intense heat of the Languedoc summer.
The Jardin de St Adrien is at Servian, just off the N113 between Beziers and Pezenas.
Servian is also the home of Domaine Sainte Rose, a very successful vineyard developed by an English couple, Charles and Ruth Simpson. Visits are by appointment – see www.domaine-sainte-rose.com – their wines being stocked in the UK by Leon Stolarski Fine Wines amongst others
The Languedoc is such a rich region to visit and explore - wine, history, food, glorious and diverse landscapes.
But to get the best out of it you can always do with a knowledgeable guide to help to discover the best - and that is what tour organisers Wine and Food experiences in the Languedoc propose. They offer “epicurean tours for all the senses.”
Their information-packed website offers plenty of choices - B&B accommodation, vineyard visits, restaurants - all of which can be tailored into a package to suit your preferences.
Our tours are geared towards wine enthusiasts who want to visit wine domaines and learn more about the wines in a relaxed, fun way. Rather than being a whistle-stop tour of numerous producers in one day, we take time at each visit to taste through the wines and chat to producers about what they do and why. Vineyard walks and tastings amongst the vines are also included in the itineraries so there is ample time to enjoy the stunning scenery as well as to understand the terroir that makes each wine unique.
As a flavour of what is on offer, the site includes articles and links to many of the best vineyards in the region - such as Chateau St Martin de la Garrigue at Montagnac (34 Hérault, Languedoc) in the Coteaux du Languedoc (who also produce the crisp white Picpoul de Pinet); Antech in Limoux (11 Aude, Languedoc) ( who call themselves Maistres Blanquetiers - Master Blanquette producers - the “oldest” sparkling wine in the world made from the Mauzac grape: and Domaine l’Hortus at Valflaunès (34 Herault, Languedoc) in the Pic St Loup appellation
For more info see www.wine-food-languedoc.com
