As so many of you travel to my birthplace, some of you even staying, I thought I would share some of the sights that have delighted me over the years in this country so bountiful with history and scenery. France is a large country and outside my native Besançon area, I regale being a tourist; finding the villages, monuments or views that have shaped the local people. In wine, the terroir plays a crucial part in the final product, it is no different with people. My little travelogue is an attempt to give a taste, a sense of each area. I immediately apologise to any locals for any omissions or false representations; I am after all just a tourist in most of Ma Belle France. These little descriptions are not travel guides, think of them as amuse bouches, there to titillate your senses tempting you to discover the real thing.

Le Bas Languedoc

Conques

Why not start with a Brasserie Blanc connection? St Jacques De Conques, our house wine, is made near here by Regis. Conques is a medieval village built on a hill, overshadowed by the Romanesque Sainte Foy abbey. A little word of warning about Sainte Foy; you may know her as Faith or indeed Santa Fe, and she is known as a the “trickster” Saint. She preys on the faithful who are less than generous to the abbey, so do remember this when visiting. 

This is a village for walkers, the tight streets are closed off to cars (except residents). Leave your car at the car park and walk into town. The abbey is a World Heritage site as it is part of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostella. The village itself takes its name from this historic connection; Conques translates as “shell”. Start your visit in the abbey itself; made from the local limestone, it is truffled with metamorphic rock giving the walls the look of a geometric fruit cake. This is no simple abbey, the good Saint obviously had exceptional affect on the travelling pilgrims; it boasts three towers, a cloister, the Conques treasure and a wonderful fresco of the last judgement over the entrance. Watch out for the “curieux”, the inquisitive carved faces looking down on the scenes of the Last Judgement.

Taking your cue from the inquisitives, explore the village slowly relishing a near untouched medieval village. 

Gorges du Tarn

Frances own little Grand Canyon, not as big but much prettier. The Tarn is a river that along the gorges can take on the mantle of lazy puddle to roaring rapid, depending not only on the time of year but where you stop over this 50km stretch. It is fed by more than 40 tributaries. Its mood can be judged by the brave souls canoeing down it; angry and the Tarn spits them along in a froth, contented and it leaves them to their own devices paddling in the heat. The road to take is the D907 Bis, I’m not quite sure what happened to the first D907, better not to ask. If you were to stop, stare, wonder and enjoy, this trip could take you all afternoon. Use the many parking lots to punctuate the journey. Choose a clear day and stay till the beginning of sunset where the colours are magical. Nature is punctuated by small little gems such as Ispagnac, Castlebouc (surely the only castle in the world named after a goat) Quezac and many more.

If you are feeling brave you can descend in a canoe or kayak. They say the view from below is unparalleled but it can be difficult.

Chaos de Montpellier le Vieux

Not a village and nothing to do with the city it takes its name from. Montpellier le Vieux is in fact rocks, admittedly lots of rocks and rocks that have been shaped by the waters of the region, but rocks none the less. The locals once thought it was a damned city, livestock would disappear and until the late 1800 it was covered in vegetation. This defloration revealed that erosion had created a large somewhat macabre city with dungeons, triumphant arches, streets and houses. A bit more imagination is needed to spot the water sculptures of Cyrano’s nose, dogs, sphinxes and others. The walk should take a good hour and half and will leave you hungry for lunch. I am told that mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, I can’t advise against it strongly enough here.