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Regions à la carte
Southwestern France
Region at a glance |
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 Major city:
Toulouse
Beautiful landscape of hills,
river valleys, and red stone.
Fortified villages with narrow streets and cobblestones.
Grand churches
Pre-historic centers
For inquisitive editors and writers,
who have already said all there is to say about
Paris and the Riviera, Provence and Brittany,
Midi-Pyrénées offers a new facet of France.
Exciting and provocative, it is the French
discovery destination of the ’90s. Its
unique history, landscape, culture, and cuisine
set it apart from the well-traveled paths
tourists already know. It is a land full of
promise and rewards.
As it sweeps north from the rugged snow-capped
peaks of the Pyrénées at the Basque borderland of Spain
to the foothills of the Massif Central, Midi-Pyrénées
luxuriates in the gentle climate of Southwestern France.
It glides over peaceful rolling farmland and then shifts
into dramatic landscapes scored by spectacular gorges,
rocky outcroppings, and extended plateaus. It
encompasses places with vaguely familiar, yet still
evocative names—like Gascony, Quercy, and Aveyron—that
have for centuries rewarded the visitor with their
unique treasures.
From its fertile farms and forests Midi-Pyrénées
has developed a special cuisine. It is the home of
authentic Roquefort cheese, foie gras, truffles, and the
best cassoulet and duck dishes in the world. Its Cahors
wines are reasonably priced, high quality products that
have earned their recent increased presence on the world
market. The incomparable delights of Armagnac, the
golden colored brandy, is prized by connoisseurs. The
region’s many fine restaurants prepare the freshest
ingredients using time-honored techniques.
Midi-Pyrénées has a landscape dotted with romantic
medieval villages on rocky cliffs. It has been
birthplace and inspiration to such artists as
Toulouse-Lautrec and Ingres. It boasts fine art museums
as well as superb examples of Romanesque, Gothic, and
Renaissance architecture and even prehistoric, painted
caves like Pech Merle. |
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Places of
interest |
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Albi |
Albi is best known as the birthplace
of its most famous scion, Henri de
Toulouse-Lautrec, who began his life in 1864 at
the Hôtel du Bosc. Travelers gain unique
insights into the artist when they visit his
native city and the world-class museum it has
devoted to him. The Toulouse-Lautrec Museum,
housed in the former 13th-century Bishops’
Palace, exhibits more than 1,000 of his
paintings, posters, drawings, and lithographs.
Toulouse-Lautrec drew inspiration for his most
famous works from Montmartre, the Parisian
neighborhood where he lived from 1882 nearly
until his death in 1901. Fascinated by the
colorful characters of the Bohemian quartier,
Toulouse-Lautrec captured the spirit of
Montmartre’s cabarets, cafés, and dance
halls in his celebrated works portraying the
Moulin Rouge, Le Chat Noir, and Jane Avril, among
others.
More
on Albi:
http://www.mairie-albi.fr/eng/index.html
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Auch |
Hometown of d'Artagnan, gourmet
center |
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Conques |
11th-century Sainte Foy Romanesque
church |
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Cordes |
Medieval walled town on a hill |
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Foix |
11th and 12th century towers on a
rocky peak above the town, 14th century Cathedral
of Saint Volusien |
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Lourdes |
Famous pilgrimage site where Sainte
Bernadette is said to have spoken to the Virgin
Mary in a grotto - To look for Pilgrim |
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Moissac |
12th-century cloisters |
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Rocamadour
& Saint-Cirq-Lapopie |
Rocamadour and St-Cirq-Lapopie leave
a lasting impression on any traveler who has the
good fortune to visit these astonishingly
beautiful villages, located in the northern Lot,
one of the départements in Midi-Pyrénées.
The medieval, hillside
charm of Rocamadour is best captured by a saying
well-known to locals: "Houses along the
stream, churches above the houses, rocks above
the churches, castles on the rock."
Accordingly, a castle towers 420 feet above the
Alzou River, dominating the village’s medley
of old houses, steep streets, ancient churches,
and tiny chapels terraced into a sheer cliff.
During the 12th and 13th centuries, thousands of
pilgrims on their way to Santiago stopped at
Rocamadour to climb the 216 steps that lead to
the seven sanctuaries around place St-Amadour.
Today you can follow in their footsteps.
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Saint
Bertrand-de-Comminges |
Sainte-Marie Cathedral |
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Saint-Cirq-La
Popie |
St-Cirq-Lapopie rivals Rocamadour as
the most picturesque place in France. Towering
265 feet above the Lot River, St-Cirq-Lapopie
seems to rise out of the very rock it rests upon.
Climb to the abandoned castle at the top of the
town and look down on the amazingly intact
15th-century village. Stone houses topped with
steep brown-tiled roofs and pierced with
mullioned windows press up against narrow streets
and the town’s fine church. Look again and
catch the sight of the Lot, far below your
ancient rock perch, as the calm river meanders
across dappled fields and forests of emerald
green. It is no wonder that this town, its
architecture now protected by law, has drawn an
interested crowd since Surrealist leader André
Breton "discovered" it decades ago.
Today artists and artisans have reclaimed and
carefully renovated its houses, turning them into
studios and workspaces. |
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Toulouse |
Called the Rose City for the pink
hue imparted by its many buildings fashioned from
brick, Toulouse is a vibrant, colorful city that
offers something for everyone.
The great Romanesque St-Sernin Basilica from the
11th century is distinguished by its octagonal
bell-tower and combined brick-and-stone
construction. The 13th-century Church of the
Jacobins was the first rectangular-shaped church
in France and is unique in its innovative use of
ribbed vaulting.
Toulouse has more Renaissance mansions than any
other city in France. They were built by wealthy
bourgeois who aspired to outbuild one other by
adding ever more elegant details and taller
towers to their homes. The Fondation Bemberg art
collection—housed in one of the Renaissance
mansions, the stunning Hôtel
d’Assézat—is renowned for its rich
collection of Old Masters, Impressionists,
Bonnards, and Expressionists. |
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Technical
tourism and sports |
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Aeronautic
Industries (Ariane space shuttle), Laguiole
knifes.Gastronomy, cooking classes, barging and self-drive boating. Canoeing, skiing, climbing |
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Cuisine |
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Singular Cuisine
Among the many celebrated pleasures of
Midi-Pyrénées is its hardy and refined cuisine.
Pride of place on the plate is rooted in the
region’s territorial riches: its
vineyards’ wines and liqueurs, its
farms’ crops and animals.
Armagnac, France’s
oldest brandy, is produced only here, and nowhere
else does it make such a pleasurable finish to a
fine meal.
Cahors red wines
are benefiting from renewed international
interest, though locals have always known that
the sumptuous wine is a natural match for
regional specialties.
Foie gras, black truffles, Roquefort
cheese—weekly markets and
restaurant menus overflow with these and many
more regional riches.
Cassoulet, the famous
and satisfying meat and white bean stew, has
become synonymous with Toulouse and
Midi-Pyrénées.
Auberges rurales,
or country inns and farmhouses, serve some of the
most memorable—and inexpensive—meals in
France. Fierce guardians of local culinary
traditions, owners of these establishments take
particular delight in sharing their food and
their traditions with visitors.
Food and Wine
When you dine in Midi-Pyrénées, a whole culture
unfolds. The region’s cuisine
serves as a guardian of local traditions, from
how the food is produced to the markets
where it is sold to the manner in which it is
served. There are countless regional recipes and
specialties, several of which have made
significant contributions to gastronomy around
the world.
Black
truffles, also known as black
diamonds, are one of the rarest and most
expensive foods in the world. The fragrant fungus
grows around the roots of oak trees and is routed
out by specially trained pigs and dogs. The
sublime flavor of truffles is best appreciated
when sliced and slipped under the skin of a
chicken before roasting, or shaved into the
center of an omelet, or used to enhance dozens of
other dishes.
Foie
gras is another of the most prized
products of Midi-Pyrénées. Goose or duck liver
from Gascony is unmatched in its extraordinarily
rich flavor and unctuous texture. It is a first
course par excellence.
Roquefort
cheese has made its mark in kitchens around the
world, though it is made only in the Aveyron area
of Midi-Pyrénées. Often called the king of
cheese, the pungent fromage is made from
sheep’s milk and aged in limestone caverns
where it develops its blue-veined interior.
Aficionados prefer Roquefort on its own, but it
is equally delicious added to salad dressings or
made into a sauce for meats or pasta.
Cahors red wines are
the most renowned of the Southwest, and they are
quickly gaining in stature. Over the past dozen
years, a quiet revolution has been taking place
in the vineyards and cellars of Cahors, claimed
to be France’s oldest wine-producing region.
Because vintners have recently begun to vary
blends and experiment with vinification methods,
the once relatively rustic wines are today
full-bodied, flavorful, and
well-balanced—perfect matches for the
region’s rich foods.
Gaillac wines,
though less well known than Cahors reds, are also
quite delightful. The region produces dry and
semi-sweet white, sparkling, rosé, and red
wines.
Armagnac is more than
the oldest brandy in France, it is a way of life.
Records confirm that Armagnac was being distilled
as early as 1411 in the Gascony region of
Midi-Pyrénées, the only place in the world
where the spirit is authentically produced. Today
Armagnac production is subject to the controls of
the Appellation d’Origine Controlée
regulations. What makes touring the area so
intoxicating is its nearly 600 years
of history and tradition
surrounding the brandy. |
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