From
Cro-Magnon's Caves to Bordeaux's Châteaux
Somehow,
life seems just a bit more intense in the Southwest
of France than in other parts of the country: the
food is richer, the wine heartier, the history more
tumultuous—even the grass is greener.
 |
Villages
tucked away in the Pyrenees Mountains |
Descending
from the north, the verdant valleys and rolling
hills of Périgord give way to the peaceful
agricultural lands of Gascony and Quercy, then to
the peaks of the Pyrenees, populated by grazing
sheep and isolated Basque hamlets. In the northwest
is the city of Bordeaux, surrounded by the region's
renowned château vineyards. Farther south
are the beaches, sand dunes and pine forests of
the Landes, and in the southwest corner of the country
near the border with Spain lies the glitzy port
town of Biarritz, a magnet for the international
jet set.
Throughout
the Southwest, the homegrown cuisine features rich,
full-flavored delicacies like foie gras (the liver
of a fattened goose or duck) and confit de canard
(duck preserved in its own fat). Although the health-conscious
might scold that these dishes are a recipe for a
heart attack, studies have shown that Southwesterners
actually have a low rate of heart disease and that
foie gras may even play a positive role. The region
is, of course, awash in red wine, which is also
thought to be beneficial for the heart.
The
Dordogne (or Périgord, as the area has traditionally
been known) is the land of ancient cave dwellings
decorated with early man's sophisticated and mysterious
paintings of beautifully preserved villages like
Monpazier, La Roque-Gageac, Collonges-la-Rouge,
and Domme, with its stunning views over the Dordogne
Valley, and of fortified castles and bastides, or
walled towns, that were captured and recaptured
between the 12th and 15th centuries by the English
and French as they fought for control of the territory.
Périgord first fell into English hands when
Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry Plantagenet in
the middle of the 12th century, handing over to
him as her dowry the lands of Aquitaine, which in
addition to Périgord includes the present-day
French administrative départements of the
Gironde, the Landes, the Pyrénées-Atlantique,
and Lot-et-Garonne.
Neanderthal
Havens
 |
Château
le Bordeilles |
It
is both an advantage and a drawback that Périgord
is not served by a superhighway. It takes longer
for visitors to reach their destinations, but they
are rewarded by increasing beauty around every twist
and turn of the road: beyond one bend awaits the
stunning château of Beynac, once the stronghold
of Richard the Lionheart; around another, a view
of the lush, cultivated valley of the winding Dordogne
River. Across the river from Beynac is Castelnaud,
a château held by Simon de Montfort during
the Albigensian Crusade.
The
caves of the Dordogne provided havens for Neanderthal
and Cro-Magnon man. Wall paintings and engravings,
mostly of animals, can be seen at Les-Eyzies-de-Tayac
and at Lascaux II, an amazingly exact replica of
the original Lascaux cave, which is no longer open
to the public because a surfeit of visitors were
causing damage to the prehistoric paintings. A smaller,
lesser-known cave at Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, a village
on the Vézère River, displays engravings
of bison, horses, mysterious symbols, and rare representations
of human beings.
The
English and French are still fighting for control
of Périgord, but this time without arms.
As the French countryside gradually empties of its
natives and loses its agricultural vocation, many
of its charming blond-stone houses are being snapped
up as vacation, retirement, or even permanent homes
by British citizens, who are reminded of the green
countryside at home, where property costs are much
higher than in Périgord. This recent colonization
has produced some interesting consequences: in one
small area near Ribérac, no fewer than five
restaurants have English owners, and some villages
are almost exclusively inhabited by visitors from
across the Channel.
In
addition to foie gras and confits from farmers'
flocks of ducks and geese, the earthy flavors of
Périgord include locally pressed walnut oil,
truffles and wild mushrooms from the forests, and
tangy Cabécou goat cheese. The region's purple
plums are distilled into potent eau-de-vie de prune.
Although Périgord is not primarily known
as a wine-growing region, a few worthwhile offerings
can be tracked down. While many Bergeracs are undistinguished,
some of the Pécharmants can be delightful.
The sweet white wine of Monbazillac is a popular
accompaniment to foie gras, and the tannic “black”
wine of Cahors stands up to the region's robust
cuisine.
 |
The
Bastides of Gascony |
In
Gascony to the south and Quercy to the east, the
culinary specialties are much the same as in Périgord.
But Quercy prides itself on cassoulet, a satisfying
stew of beans, sausage, and confit; and tourtière
quercinoise, a flaky tart filled with apples and
prunes. Gascony, of course, is Armagnac country.
This quiet area of rolling hills and peaceful farms
is free of tourist traffic and is a fine place for
vacations that involve biking, hiking, eating, drinking,
and visiting bastide villages like Mirande or the
town of Condom, which claims a Gothic cathedral
as well as an Armagnac museum.
The
Pyrenees are the domain of the French Basques, a
proud people with a unique culture and a language
of obscure origins, which, due to the isolating
influence of the high mountains, has developed into
several mutually incomprehensible dialects. In these
rough, mist-shrouded mountains slashed by rushing
streams, the Basques traditionally lived in villages
and lonely farmhouses, some of which were accessible
only by footpaths until quite recently. However
small, each village has its fronton, a court on
which locals play pelote, a form of handball that
is the regional passion.
In
Basque towns like Ascain and Aïnhoa, the bright
whitewashed exteriors of the houses, set against
the lush green mountainsides, sparkle in the sunshine
when mists rise. The country folk tend their farms
and their sheep, which provide mutton and brebis,
a cheese made from ewes' milk. The Basques are also
avid hunters of palombes, the wood pigeons that
fill the skies during their autumn migration, and
along the coast, they are skillful fishermen of
tuna and hake. Black cherries are grown hereabouts
to provide the preserves that fill buttery gâteaux
basques. Chili peppers cultivated around Espelette
lend fire to the typical piperade—scrambled
eggs with peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic—or
are dried and rubbed into the famous hams of Bayonne.
Bordeaux:
A City for Anglophiles
Farther
up the Atlantic coast is Bordeaux. To the world
Bordeaux means wine, but Bordeaux is also a provincial
capital and busy river port on the Garonne. Among
the architectural treasures in old Bordeaux are
the graceful Place de la Bourse, the late Gothic
church of Saint-Michel, noble Renaissance mansions
and narrow stone houses with wrought-iron balconies
and ornate door knockers, and the 17th-century Grande
Cloche, whose bell proclaimed the start of the grape
harvest. Other must-sees are the Grand Théâtre,
restored to its original eighteenth-century splendor;
the Musée d'Art Contemporain, housed in the
Entrepôt Lainé, a converted warehouse
on the old port; and the cathedral of Saint-André,
a Gothic wonder built between the 11th and 16th
centuries.
Caught
between hedonistic Spain to the south and the more
austere north, Bordeaux combines elements of both
cultures. The locals flock to bullfights and dance
the flamenco while maintaining a very British reserve.
Indeed the British, with whom the wine trade has
always been important, have left their mark on Bordeaux
as they have on much of the French Southwest. This
is a city of Anglophiles, who take their Burberry
raincoats seriously and know how to keep a stiff
upper lip, which perhaps explains their reputation
as rather haughty burghers.
 |
Grape-picking
in Bordeaux |
The
wine trade brought wealth to Bordeaux. The fabled
wines of Médoc, Graves, Saint-Émilion,
Pomerol, Fronsac, Bordeaux, and Côtes de Bordeaux
come from the flat countryside around the city.
A good starting point for château visits is
the town of Saint-Émilion, located east of
Bordeaux, with its cloisters, views of surrounding
wineries, and curious church carved out of rock.
The names of the wine-growing estates to the north
of Bordeaux resonate around the world: Château-Lafite,
Château Mouton-Rothschild and Château-Margaux,
among many others. Itineraries for visiting the
region's wine-producing châteaux can be obtained
from Bordeaux's Tourist Office.
Below
Bordeaux stretch the beaches and pine forests of
the Landes, known as the Côte d'Argent, or
Silver Coast. Home to the largest forest in Europe,
planted in the 18th and 19th centuries to prevent
the coastal sand dunes from overwhelming the interior
plain, the Landes has miles of fine sandy beaches
and dramatic sand dunes, including the 375-foot-high
Dune du Pilat at Pyla-sur-Mer south of Arcachon.
Parts of this once wild landscape, where towns and
abbeys sank from view beneath invading dunes, have
been marred by the construction of tacky vacation
villages (like the one at Mimizan-Plage), but if
adventurous visitors wander off the beaten path,
they will find their reward.
Back to Southwest France
Images courtesy of Tourism
Midi-Pyrénées and CRT
Aquitaine
|
