Apparently there is a type of pain d'epices (spice cake, rather like gingerbread) made with honey which is designed to go with Foie Gras (Goose Liver)! So I learn from…
The Telegraph (19 Aug 08) includes a boat trip up the Rhone Valley as one of its top 10 river cruises: Navigating France’s mightiest river is a favourite for wine…
There's a new free map and guide available from InterLoire (the official wine body for the region) to the vineyards of the Loire Valley available to download and in English:-…
From the romanticism, chic and allure of Paris, the dazzling Cote d’Azur, the wondrous relaxation of Provence, the internationally celebrated vineyards throughout to the staggering dominance of the Alps and…
From June 27 to 29, 2025, Caen's Millenium summer season kicks off with a festive event celebrating the region through water: the Maritime Weekend, from Caen to the Sea which…
I am a great fan of the Lot département (46 Midi-Pyrenees), initially from wine-hunting around the town of Cahors, and more recently further upstream on the Rivers Lot and Célé, where the landscapes get even more enticing. A recent trip was greatly enhanced by having Helen Martin’s book Lot: Travels Through a Limestone Landscape in SouthWest France
It was her recommendation which led us to the stunning view at Reilhaguet (46 Lot) (see above) which she accurately describes as “the view to end all views, a roof of the world view, a heart-stopping, aching, yearning view” (about 25km north of Cahors just east of the N20).
But one of the undoubted joys of the region has to be its gastronomy and the richness of its markets, and with Helen’s permission we can share an extract from her chapter on “Food and Drink in the Lot”
Eating and drinking in the Lot is not so much gastronomy, it is more a way of life. Simple pleasures like early-morning mushrooming results in gastronomic treats at meal times.
The food used to revolve around the polyculture practised by the small propriétaires, less so today. But fruits are still bottled, geese are still stuffed, pigs are fattened, påtés are tinned, ducks are turned into hunks of confit, and yellow chickens, dotted with oil and butter and legs akimbo, are forced into ovens to emerge an hour or so later, tasting simply sensational. It is a day-in, day-out, year-long occupation. Tout es bou per sa sason ‘To everything there is a season’ takes on new meaning. ©Helen Martin
Helen Martin writes more about the Lot in her blog at http://lotbook.blogspot.com/
To read more about Food and Wine in the Lot see……… (more…)
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…