Southwestern France: Midi-Pyrenees

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.

Places of interest

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

Auch

Hometown of d'Artagnan, gourmet center

Conques

11th-century Sainte Foy Romanesque church

Cordes

Medieval walled town on a hill

Foix

11th and 12th century towers on a rocky peak above the town, 14th century Cathedral of Saint Volusien

Lourdes

Famous pilgrimage site where Sainte Bernadette is said to have spoken to the Virgin Mary in a grotto - To look for Pilgrim

Moissac

12th-century cloisters

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.

Saint Bertrand-de-Comminges

Sainte-Marie Cathedral

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.

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.

Technical tourism and sports

Aeronautic Industries (Ariane space shuttle), Laguiole knifes.Gastronomy, cooking classes, barging and self-drive boating. Canoeing, skiing, climbing

Cuisine

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.