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Aquitaine & Dordogne
Tourist offices and related websites
Gironde | Dordogne | Lot-et-Garonne | Landes
Gironde
Visit the Gironde for wine in abundance, just west of the Dordogne, where vineyards stretch as far as the eye can see and wine shippers ply their trade along the banks of the Garonne. Renowned vintages are headed by St-Emilion, not just wine but also an historic town, with cobbled streets cascading down from its summit. Vineyards and wines are the jewel in the crown of the Gironde economy since the Roman Empire, but they are much more than just a commercial product, they are a way of life. The Gironde is made for wine: its temperate climate, its varied soils protected from the winds by immense forests, its judiciously blended grape varieties... and its winegrowers, heirs to continually improving techniques and skills. All these factors are what make the Bordeaux wine region so special. Each winegrower has his own jealously guarded secrets.
The elegant city of Bordeaux is a splendid mixture of different architectural styles and has plenty of good restaurants, as would be expected in one of France's leading gourmet regions.
The coastline boasts 126km of beautiful silver sandy beaches. As you travel south from the Pointe de Grave in the Médoc to the colourful seaside resorts of Soulac, Montalivet, Lacanau, Maubuisson and Carcans, you will discover beautiful beaches hidden behind lines of sand-dunes. On the other side of the dunes, the pine forest is home to both protected wildlife and a major economic heritage. Walkers in the forest may spot a family of deer from afar or unearth some of those famous Bordeaux cèpe mushrooms... Further south, the Bassin d’Arcachon and Cap-Ferret live to the rhythm of the tides and are a centre for oyster farming. The bay is like a small inland sea; each summer it celebrates the Oyster Festival, with tasting sessions, fêtes, music, dinner dances and firework displays to light up the bay in true Gironde festive tradition. Standing opposite one another, the Banc d’Arguin sandbank and the Dune du Pyla (the highest sand dune in Europe) are always astonishingly beautiful. The bay is a natural home for birds - especially the Ile aux Oiseaux, a fragile, protected island providing a refuge for dozens of species.
Dordogne
The capital of prehistoric man, the Dordogne is one of the most picturesque départements of France, made famous by the variety and beauty of the landscape through which the river flows. The open rolling countryside changes to wooded cliffs, then to neatly patterned fields of tobacco and maize, then to idyllic pastoral valleys.
Coveted with a ferocious intensity by the English and the French, for three centuries in the Middle Ages the Dordogne was a bloody battlefield. It has the largest number of castles of any French département, built high above the river, like the nests of eagles. They are recognised as prime examples of military architecture dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. Beynac, Les Milandes, and Bourdeilles are just a few of the châteaux which are well worth a visit.
When the river was the frontier, the lords of these domains confronted one another across the valley. Men-at-arms on the battlements of the château dominating the wonderfully restored town at Beynac could see rival forces gathering just upstream at Castenaud, where the castle is in ruins.
The Dordogne has a temperate climate. In the crescent-shaped north, forests of beech, oak and spruce still give way to patchwork fields and rolling meadows, a vivid green in the driest of summers. In the south, the Lot and the Tarn join the Dordogne in an epic journey through fierce gorges, past caves that were the home of prehistoric man.
The region has the most succulent gastronomy in France. This is the land of truffles 'hunted' by dogs and pigs whose trained and sensitive snouts detect the faint odour this 'underground mushroom' gives off, foie gras, walnuts and crêpes, prunes and asparagus, of mouth-watering wild mushrooms turned into exotic dishes. You can sample them at their brilliant best in dozens of little restaurants, or buy the ingredients for yourself in bustling open-air markets. Bergerac wine, especially the rosé, appeals to almost every palate, and for those who like a sweet dessert wine, Monbazillac, smooth and golden, is hard to beat.
Lot-et-Garonne
Lot-et-GaronneThe much more peaceful and less explored département of the Lot-et-Garonne has its share of well-preserved castles in exotic locations, such as Bonaguil and the Château des Rois Ducs, and fortified towns known as bastides, of which the most compelling is Villeneuve-sur-Lot on the Lot itself. Its 14th century gate, which at one time marked the start of an exceedingly long road to Paris, now leads the way to a pedestrian shopping area. Nearby Pujols, a picturesque village, offers an excellent range of competively-priced antiques.
Agen, on the Garonne, with its charming 17th century houses, has an exceptional museum, with no fewer than five pictures by Goya. Its river banks, where barges once took on coal and hauled wood downstream, are now jammed stem to stern with pleasure craft. The canal basin, a popular boating centre, is the best place to find one for hire. The finest Agen prunes are often bottled in Armagnac, France’s oldest brandy; and many farmers sell old Armagnac, matured in oak, direct to the public from rickety roadside stalls.
Landes
The wildlife and waterways of the Landes are a nature-lovers’ delight. In the Marais d’Orx reserve, a great crested grebe floats serenely by with a little chick on its back, while a spoonbill opens its beak and clacks its mating cry. Exotic plants line the banks of the Etang de Lion, their discarded leaves washed by the current down another river reserve, the Courant d’Huchet. More streams cross the sandy plateau of the regional park and verdant tunnels suggest a dark path through deep forests of pine, planted to stabilise the sand dunes on the Atlantic coast.
Long, open beaches, half empty even at the height of summer, are interspersed with lively coastal resorts, of which Hossegor and Capbreton are the best. Surfers come to these shores from afar to ride on the Atlantic waves.
Just inland, in the heart of the pine forests, Dax was a prosperous spa under the Romans, who called it ‘Aquae Tarbellicae”, the Waters of Tarbelli, after the local Gallic tribe. Water from the hot springs is still combined with mud from the local Ardour River to treat many ailments. The discovery was made accidentally by a Roman centurion, who threw his arthritic dog into the river mud and so the story goes, returned to find that the dog had not only survived but was cured of his arthritis.
Mont-de-Marsan, founded in the 12th century at the confluence of the Douze and the Midou, is known as the ‘city of rivers’. Elegant houses with wrought-iron railings, built by rich merchants, survive from its most affluent period around 1650 but it remains an important distribution centre for grain and Armagnac production. Mont-de-Marsan has a bullring, the focal point of summer entertainment but visitors may be relieved to learn that in the less sanguine French version of a traditionally Spanish recreation, the bulls survive to fight another day.
Tourist offices and related websites
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Bergerac, Dordogne
Pointe de Grave, Gironde
Limeuil, Dordogne
Dordogne River
Walnut trees, Dordogne
Bonaguil, Lot-et-Garonne
Lac Hourtin, Gironde
Medieval watermill, Gironde
Bordeaux Vineyard, Aquitaine
Dordogne River
Lac Hourtin, Gironde
Mimizan, Landes
Monbazillac Grape, Aquitaine
Pau Cathedral, Aquitaine
Pine Forest, Landes
Villeneuve sur Lot, Aquitaine
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