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Regular readers will be aware the the Lot Valley in the South West of France features frequently in these pages - in many ways the essence of “deepest France”, it is less crowded than the Dordogne to the north and yet offers a wide variety of landscapes, pretty villages, great cuisine - and is home to the often under-rated Malbec-based wines of Cahors. Hence an essential recent purchase has been the revised edition of Helen Martin’s Book Lot: Travels Through a Limestone Landscape in SouthWest France, which is packed with insights, history and information on the Lot département (46) as part of the River’s journey from the Massif Central to its meeting with the Garonne near Aiguillon (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine).

Helen has kindly allowed us to print an extract of the section on Cahors and its wines…….
Lot: Travels Through a Limestone Landscape in SouthWest France

Chapter 8 The Lot Valley: West of Cahors
Below Cahors, the valley of the Lot belongs to the vignerons and the vineyards of the black wine of Cahors, châteaux-country in fact, but in times gone by it also belonged to the bishops of Cahors, who worked and played but mostly – in that great Christian tradition – fought along its banks.
Downstream of Luzech, the really wild cliffs you see to the east of Cahors become a thing of the past, replaced by gentler, graceful slopes, albeit with a certain grandeur to them, that, even though they may end in cliffs, are less formidable and are called cévennes. The river idles its way through the countryside in deep loops, or cingles, and was used as a major artery for transporting goods from the thirteenth century.
Along its banks grow the vines, and it was mostly the wine from these vineyards which used to be sailed downstream to the Garonne and Bordeaux and from thence to the world. The wine of Cahors may have had its ups and down in more recent times, but the Romans were making wine here in the third century and it had something of a reputation even then, so this river trade is very ancient. Finally, though, and in spite of the efforts of competitive Bordeaux wine-makers, it was phylloxera which put paid to the wine, and thus the trade, in the 1880s. By the time it had revived again, there were better means of transport. But even when the river was at the height of its usefulness, transportation was not always guaranteed. You would be surprised to know how many times the Lot froze right over in winter; the end of the eighteenth century was a particularly critical time – in 1766 it was frozen solid for two and a half months.
In the early nineteenth century, on a river much improved with the passage of time by locks and aids to navigation, 300,000 tonnes of freight was carried down it each year, including an astonishing 90 million bottles of wine – three times the number produced today. However, just as it was phylloxera that killed the river’s wine trade, so it was the coming of the railway that killed the river as a serious form of transport. In more recent years, though, it is coming to life again as leisure craft ply their way up and down, no doubt bringing new problems of pollution.
The villages along this western stretch of the river, unsurprisingly enough, are notable for their wine-producers’ houses – usually big and square with bolets or pigeonniers and sometimes both. You will notice, also, the use of decorative brickwork, the bricks being produced along the valley. Read more on this…

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!

With boats, ships and other vessels gracing 7 kilometres of quays in Rouen (76 Seine-Maritime, Normandy) this summer, the Armada festival promises to be one of the highlights of the summer. As a precursor to this year’s Tall Ships Race this maritime festival will have music, racing, food, dancing and seafood to entertain and maybe enlighten from 5th-14th July 2008.

On July 4th 2008, sailing ships from all over the world will sail up the river Seine to gather in Rouen for the biggest International nautical event. They will be passing the biggest rising bridge ever built: the ‘Pont Gustave Flaubert’, the new entrance to the Armada in Rouen.
Rouen, the Capital of Normandy will, once again, be under the spotlight when the Armada begins on July 4th 2008. The ships will sail up the river Seine under the newly constructed “Pont Gustave Flaubert”, the world’s largest vertical lift bridge, and then moor in the very heart of the city for the 10 day event. The Rouen Armada is now on of the largest International nautical festivals.

For more information on the Armada see www.armada.org

When the Pont Gustave Flaubert opens in late Spring 2008 it will be the highest vertical lift bridge in the world. It will enable traffic from the North West on the A150 autoroute to connect to the A13 autoroute to the south without having to go through the city centre - for more on this region and our customised Google Map CLICK HERE

The Seine remains an important shipping route linking Le Havre with Paris.

For more info on Rouen see www.rouentourisme.com

The Languedoc-Roussillon region has a lot to offer the visitor, but one of the more unusual offerings has to be the Museum of the Mundane - Musée Internationale des Arts Modestes (or MIAM) in Sete (34 Hérault, Languedoc-Roussillon).I rather like the term of “modest art”, The museum features objects which are (or have been) part of daily life, often with little real use, but which are aesthetically pleasing or interesting - often very simple and always lacking any intellectual value! - so examples will include a King Size model of Elvis Presley, plastic elephants and a fantastic jumble of the useless but interesting. (The website is quite fun in a rather obscure, French way). The objects come from all over France and other parts of the world.

On a more practical note is the Museum of Firefighting (Musée de Sapeur-Pompier) at St Hippolyte du Fort (30 Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon) in the foothills of the Cevennes (where there is also a Silk Museum (Musee de la Soie)

“The firefighting Museum enables us to discover all there is to know about firefighting from 1830 to nowadays. A 750 square metre exhibition of vehicles, equipment and exclusive collection of costumes and accessories covering a large period of time;”

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