The small south-west appellation of Madiran (64 Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Nouvelle Aquitaine) is home to the Tannat grape, producing rich, sometimes tannic red wines. This is a rural area - no large…
The town of Duras (47 Lot et Garonne, Nouvelle Aquitaine) boasts an impressive Chateau on a promontory overlooking the countryside. It is a walled town with a medieval centre in…
The town of Carcassonne (11 Aude, Occitanie) holds its "Marché aux Gras" (literally "fat market) on 22 December 2024 in the Salle du Dome - as with other towns in the…
Brittany Ferries will add Portsmouth-Bilbao to is list of ferry routes from 27 March 2011 - The twice weekly service will be in addition to the existing ferry services to…
Channel4 TV is running a series by chef Jamie Oliver called "Jamie Does....". On 12 May 2010 the episode is entitled "Jamie does the French Pyrenees" - a slight misnomer…
At Bellegarde-en-Marche (23 Creuse(Nouvelle Aquitaine) the locals are so keen on goat that a Confrerie (or brotherhood) of Goat Meat Eaters (la confrérie des mangeurs de chèvres) has been established…
The Minervois region of the Languedoc holds a major wine festival in Bize-Minervois (11 Aude, Occitanie) in the Autumn Tastes en Minervois 1 - 2 September 2018 - see www.leminervois.com.…
An interesting cheese seldom seen in the UK is the Fourme de Montbrison which comes from an area known as Le Forez (42 Loire, ARA) between St Etienne and Clermont…
In August the pretty Brittany port of Roscoff (29 Finistère, Bretagne) celebrates the local speciality - the Pink Onion (oignon rose) and the locals who used to cross over to…
The town of Luchon (31 Haut-Garonne, Occitanie) (also known as Bagnères de Luchon) in the middle of the Pyrenees celebrates its annual Luchon Flower Festival (Fete des Fleurs) 25 -…
From 1 July 2009 the French Government has lowered VAT (or TVA in France) on Restaurant meals from 19.6% to 5.5% in a bid to stimulate a sluggish market, which…
Part of our series featuring places for a short stay in the in France we visit the Gers, South West France (32 Gers, Occitanie) Le Weekend in...Eauze Where to stay?…
I suspect we all look for evidence to convince us that our bad habits are not so bad for us after all. I still quote numerous medical articles which "prove"…
Now here's an opportunity to spend several months in one of the most beautiful and unspoilt parts of France next summer - near Entraygues-sur-Truyère (12 Aveyron, Midi-Pyrenees) in the upper…
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, which tells the story of the landscape and people of this region of South West 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 Montmartre vineyard in the heart of Paris is well-known, but the BK Wine Blog reports that a new vineyard has been established in the grounds of the Brettoneau Hospital…
Guy Cuisset at Chateau Grinou in Bergerac is an extraordinary winemaker - for years his wines took pride of place on the Allez Vins! wine list both with his "Tradition"…
La Maisonnette The trouble with writing about "hidden" corners of France, is that you run the danger of sharing the secret with too many others. Places which I felt were…
The small appellation of Saint Sardos, (82 Tarn-et-Garonne, Occitanie) some 50km west of Toulouse and south of Montauban is unique in having a blend of Syrah and Tannat as the…
The winemakers of the Coteaux du Quercy AOP celebrate their annual wine fair ( la fête du vin des Coteaux du Quercy ) at Castelnau-Montratier (46 Lot, Occitanie) on 7…