AUTUMN 2024

FREE 

The 

Good Life France 

ISSUE Nọ 39 

ISSN 2754-6799 

Fall in love 

with Paris 

in the fall 

BORDEAUX’S 

3 delights: 

City, country, coast 

Hidden 

France 

Cap d’Agde, Minerve, 

Corsica 

Le weekend 

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Culture, history and 

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Delicious 

recipes 

Bringing you an irresistible 

taste of France – including 

irresistible almond 

croissants, olive bread, 

nutty benoitons, & more… 

148 pages 

Of inspirational features 

and gorgeous photos 

Magazine

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wel comes you ! 

Bonjour and bienvenue to The Good Life France Magazine. 

I’m absolutely thrilled to share this gorgeous Autumn issue with 

you. Whether you’re enjoying France from near or far, the fabulous 

features and wonderful photos bring you bucket loads of inspiration, 

information and entertainment, with destination guides, culture and 

history features, scrumptious recipes and much, much more. 

Come with us to Paris to discover the city’s autumn charms, find 

out what to do on a rainy day, and to visit by boat. Head south to 

Bordeaux to discover the city, the vine-covered countryside and the 

beautiful beaches – Bordeaux really does have it all. And discover 

three cities that are made for autumn visits. 

Discover some of the best kept secrets of France – pickled-in-thepast 

Minerve which clings to a rock above a gorge, and the Célé 

Valley which the locals call the Valley of Paradise in the Lot. We also 

head to beautiful Bénodet in Brittany, an elegant seaside town with 

a south-of-France atmosphere. Explore Narbonne’s Roman remains 

and Mediterranean Coast, hotspot for cyclists the Languedoc, and 

fabulous Clermont-Ferrand, a city built atop a volcano. 

Come with us to the Chateau of Malmaison where Napoleon 

and Josephine played house in the early days of their marriage, 

and to Corsica, the island of beauty – the perfect place for 

an autumn road trip. In Lyon we explore the city’s history and 

gastronomy, as well as discovering how Lyon’s lady chefs are 

helping to keep the culinary tradition of mâchon alive – tripe and 

wine for breakfast anyone?! 

Explore the magical world of French style collections with a 

renowned artist. Uncover the origins of cassoulet, a bean and meat 

dish that’s an obsession in France. Plus discover the legacy of Baron 

Haussmann who transformed Paris in the 19th century. 

There are practical guides, property hotspots, and top tips to help 

you with your visa applications. Plus, there are superb recipes from 

the crème de la crème of the French food world including recipes 

for delicious olive bread and blush-coloured brioche. 

And now – it’s time to enjoy this magazine which is totally free to 

read, and subscribe to, just hop on to page 4 and subscribe! And 

please do share this issue with your friends – that’s free too. 

I wish you a very happy Autumn. 

Bisous from my little corner of rural northern France, 

Janine 

Janine Marsh 

Editor 

Bienvenue 

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ISSN 2754-6799 

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Contributors 

Anna Richards is a writer & guidebook 

author living in Lyon. Her work has 

appeared in Lonely Planet, National 

Geographic and many more; her debut 

guidebook, Paddling France (Bradt 

Guides) is out now. 

www.annahrichards.com 

Gillian Thornton is an award-winning 

travel writer and member of the British 

Guild of Travel Writers, specialising in 

French destinations and lifestyle. Her 

favourite place? ‘Usually where I have 

just been!’ 

The 


ISSUE Nọ 39 

Fall in love 

with Paris 

in the fall 

Bordeaux’s three 

delights city, 

country, coast 

Hidden 

France 

Cap d’Agde, Minerve, 

Corsica 

Le weekend 

in Lyon 

Culture, history and 

gastronomic greatness 

Delicious 

recipes 

Bringing you an irresistible 

taste of France – including 

irresistible almond 

croissants, olive bread, 

nutty benoitons, & more… 

148 pages 

Of inspirational features 

and gorgeous photos 

Magazine 

FREE 

Ally Mitchell is a blogger and 

freelance writer, specialising in food 

and recipes. Ally left the UK to live in 

Toulouse in 2021 and now writes about 

her new life in France on her food blog 

NigellaEatsEverything. 

Christine McKenzie is a Franco- 

British journalist. Her stories have 

been published in anglophone and 

francophone media. Married to a 

Frenchman, she settled 30 years ago 

near Fontainebleau. 

Dana Facaros has lived in France for 

over 30 years. She is the creator of 

French Food Decoder app: everything 

you want to know about French food, 

and co-author of the Bradt guide to 

Gascony & the Pyrenees. 

Annaliza Davis is an editor, translator 

and writer. She lives in Brittany after 

falling in love with the area on a school 

exchange and loves to explore the 

coast with her scruffy dog Mimi! Find 

her at agentbritish.com 

The Good Life France Magazine 

Front Cover: Paris by Afi at Ú@one.afi 

Editor-in-chief: Janine Marsh 

Editorial assistant: Trudy Watkins 

Press enquiries: editor@thegoodlifefrance.com 

Advertising: sales@thegoodlifefrance.com 

Digital support: websitesthatwork.com 

Layout design: Philippa French littlefrogdesign.co.uk 

ISSN 2754-6799 Issue 39 Autumn 2024 

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30 

CONTENTS 

The Good Life France Magazine 

No. 39 Autumn 2024 

ISSN 2754-6799 

ON THE COVER 

8 Paris in the Fall 

Fabulous autumn experiences, from 

cosy brasseries to cultural gems, 

and dreamy walks. 

12 Bordeaux’s three delights 

Elegant city, vine-covered 

countryside, glorious coast – 

Bordeaux has it all. 

30 Minerve, Occitanie 

Explore one of the prettiest villages 

in France, clinging to a rock above a 

gorge. 

46 Cap d’Agde 

Discover one of France’s newest 

seaside resorts and its unique 

cultural attractions. 

70 Corsica 

Looking for autumn thrills, take 

a road trip through the ‘Island of 

Beauty.’ 

76 Le weekend in Lyon 

A cultural, gastronomic and historic 

jewel of a city. 

DISCOVER 

22 Clermont-Ferrand 

Built on top of a volcano in the 

Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, this is a 

city that rocks! 

36 Bénodet, Britany 

Discover a seaside town with a chic 

south-of-France feel – in Brittany. 

42 See Paris by boat 

Great accommodation, great food, 

great sight-seeing, is this one of the 

best ways to do Paris?! 

50 Rainy Day Paris 

Dodge the drizzle and have fun in 

the city of light! 

4 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 5

90 

66 

100 

54 Cycling hotspot in the south 

of France 

Pedal your way through the 

picturesque Languedoc. 

60 Château de Malmaison 

The former home of Napoleon 

Bonaparte and his wife 

Josephine has a fascinating 

history. 

66 Autumn in France 

Three spectacular French cities 

for a fabulous Fall break. 

84 Lyon’s lady chefs get mâcho-n 

A unique food culture which 

features a breakfast of tripe 

and wine in Lyon. 

90 The art of collecting – 

French style 

Artist Marin Montagut shares a 

magical world of extraordinary 

French collections. 

94 Cassoulet 

Find out about the origins of a 

bean and meat dish that’s an 

obsession in France! 

100 Secret France – Célé Valley 

Discover a hidden part of 

France in the Lot department, 

known locally as the Valley of 

Paradise. 

106 Paris during the Belle Epoque 

The legacy of Baron 

Haussmann, the man who 

transformed 19th century Paris. 

112 Narbonne 

Roman remains, medieval 

architecture and museums on 

the Mediterranean coast make 

this city a winner. 

PHOTO SPECIALS 

118 Your photos 

Featuring the most beautiful 

photos shared on our Facebook 

page. 

120 

118 

142 

REGULARS 

120 What’s New 

All the news and events you need 

for your next trip to France. 

146 Last word 

Autumn in France is a time for 

rural parties that are all about 

friendship and community. 

GUIDES 

124 Destination Charente- 

Maritime 

The second sunniest place in 

France, great beaches, laidback 

and lovely – why this 

southwest region of France is a 

great place to live. 

128 Deux Sevres 

Lots of green space, pretty 

villages, Deux-Sèvres is a 

tranquil place to live. 

135 Moving to France – get the 

lowdown on Visas 

Top tips for successful visa 

applications. 

BON APPÉTIT 

139 Almond Croissants 

Utterly irresistible croissants 

with an almond cream filling. 

140 Olive Bread 

A delicious flavourful bread 

that’s very moreish! 

142 Hazelnut Benoitons 

A delicious hazelnut bread stick. 

144 Pink Praline 

Delicious blush-coloured 

brioches. 

4 Subscribe to The Good Life 

France Magazine 

Everything you want to know 

about France and more – 

subscription is totally free. 


Seasonal France 

Paris in Autumn 

Shorter days, a little chill in the air and the 

odd shower of rain – get the lowdown on why 

Paris is perfect for an autumn visit. From walks 

in the capital’s parks, cosy bistros and fun 

festivals, there’s heaps going on. Janine Marsh 

shares some of her favourite Paris in the fall 

experiences… 

Beat the crowds 

Paris’s top attractions are quieter in autumn 

which means less queuing for the greats – 

from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre. Now 

is a great time to visit the city’s iconic 

museums, and with around 200 to choose 

from, you’re truly spoiled for choice. The 

Pinault Collection, housed in the old Paris 

Commodities Exchange Building is a temple 

of modern art, and has a fabulous restaurant 

with great views on the third floor, ideal for 

lunch, dinner or afternoon tea. The Musée 

Carnavalet covers the history of Paris, and this 

autumn will host a new exhibition focused on 

a single year in the French Revolution 1793- 

1794 featuring more than 250 works including 

paintings, sculptures, posters, furniture and 

other artefacts 

Autumn walks 

© Linda Grams 

There are so many green spaces, tree-lined 

squares and avenues – Paris takes on a golden 

hue in autumn. Stroll along the River Seine 

past the UNESCO-listed second-hand book 

stands. Wander by the Canal saint-Martin with 

its romantic iron bridges. Kick up the leaves 

in the Jardin des Tuileries then pop across 

to Angelina’s for a hot chocolate. Admire 

© givagaga photos via canva 

8 Autumn | The in Good Paris Photo Life France © Dawne Polis 


the vibrant fall colours of the leaves on the 

Linden trees in Place des Vosges in the Marais 

district, followed by coffee at Carette, an 

elegant almost century-old café. 

Paris culture 

When the weather cools down outside, it's 

time to head indoors and enjoy the vast range 

of cultural events. From exhibitions galore to 

ballet, musicals, cabaret, concerts and more, 

there's plenty of culture to indulge in during 

the fall months. 

One of the most fun autumn festivals is held 

in Montmartre, where there is a secret wine 

producing vineyard, right in the heart of the 

city. Each October the Fête des Vendanges 

de Montmartre celebrates the art of food and 

wine with free concerts, exhibitions, parades 

and tastings in the heart of the city. Join the 

locals in a celebration of the grape harvest right 

in the centre of Paris (9-13 October 2024). 

Cosy brasseries, Bouillons 

and Bistros 

I love a cosy restaurant, a warm and inviting 

sanctuary from the cooler outdoors, and 

Montmartre 

heart-warming grub - a taste of Paris’s culinary 

heritage. For dazzling interiors and delicious 

classic French cuisine: Le Grand Colbert 

(where Jack Nicholson, Keanu Reeves and 

Diane Keaton dined in the film Something’s 

Gotta Give) is brimming with Belle Epoque 

glamour; Le Vaudevile’s art deco looks, and 

super menu are a winning combination; 

Bofinger offers traditional French fare and 

Alsatian specialities in gorgeous surroundings 

(reserve a table in the main dining room under 

the glass dome if you can). 

See our top things to do on rainy days in 

Paris article on page: 52 

Le Grand Colbert 


© borisb17 photos via canva 

Destination: 

BORDEAUX 

City - vineyards - 

seaside 

The city of Bordeaux in the Gironde department, southwest France is a fabulous 

destination in its own right, but, surrounded by vineyards and with a glorious 

coastline in easy reach, it’s the perfect base from which to explore the many 

charms of this authentic part of France says Janine Marsh. 

Discover Bordeaux 

Over the last couple of decades Bordeaux 

has undergone quite a transformation. Its 

UNESCO-listed architecture has been given 

a spruce up leaving it dazzlingly elegant. The 

city has also emerged as a major art and 

cultural centre, home to the world’s largest 

digital arts centre, , Les Bassins de Lumières. 

Set in a former WWII German submarine 

base, this immense network of cavernous 

chambers is now full of the most beautiful, 

animated artworks projected onto the walls 

and reflected in the inky pools as the sound of 

music seems to hang in the still air. 

One of the most fun ways to discover 

Bordeaux’s streets and beautiful buildings 

is by 2CV with 4 roues sous un parapluie. I 

don’t think I’ve ever had so many people smile 

and wave at me as when touring in a pink 

Les Bassins de Lumières – Van Gogh 


Saint Emilion © Stephane Bidouze via Canva 

“Dedeuche” called Rose Antoinette! As dusk 

fell, and the streetlights twinkled, we pootled 

past the fabulous Miroir d’Eau water sculpture, 

the lit-up Place de la Bourse and the stunning 

Grand Théâtre, along cobbled streets lined 

with busy bars and restaurants, monuments, 

fountains, statues and stately buildings 

Bordeaux has been shaped by the river 

Garonne which, with its natural harbour, made 

it a major import/export location for hundreds 

of years. A guided river tour is a fun way to 

learn more about the history of the city and 

the natural harbour. 

There are several museums but don’t miss Cité 

du Vin, a hi-tech look at the influence wine has 

had on almost everything from farming and 

civilisation to art, cinema and more. Every tour 

ends with a top floor wine tasting, and there’s 

a gastronomic restaurant, Le 7, on the 7 th floor 

with super views over the city 

Wine is almost a religion in Bordeaux, there 

are wine bars galore, however don’t miss Le 

Bar à Vin. Their local wine list is top notch, and 

incredibly good value (subsidised by the wine 

makers so that everyone can afford a taste) 

starting at just €2.50 for a Château Penin 

Bordeaux Clairet. Seriously – a must stop. 

Cite du Vin 

Eat at: 

Chapon Fin: Celebrating its 200 th 

anniversary in 2025, this elegant restaurant 

is a legend in Bordeaux and beyond. Follow 

in the footsteps of the great and the good 

from Toulouse Lautrec to Sarah Bernhardt. 

Sumptuous dishes, sensational décor, and as 

you’d expect the wine list is phenomenal. The 

sommelier told me that some of their wines 

are so scarce, when a customer orders a rare 

bottle, the staff have to look up the price on 

the internet! 

InterContinental Bordeaux, in the heart 

of the city in the Place de la Comèdie, has a 

superb restaurant with terrace opposite the 

Grand Théâtre. If you really want to push the 

boat out, head to the second floor for Gordon 

Ramsey’s 2 Michelin Starred restaurant: 

Pressoir d’Argent. 

Stay at: 

Hotel de Seze 4* - two-minute walk from 

the Grand Théâtre, luxurious rooms and suites. 

Hotel Burdigala 5* – Burdigala, the 

Roman name for Bordeaux, is in the residential 

Meriadeck district. Lovely atmosphere, great 

restaurant and plush rooms. 

Bordeaux Vineyards 

Bordeaux isn’t just a city – it’s a style of wine 

too, and some of the most famous wines of the 

area (and the world) come from around the 

perched village of Saint-Émilion, a must visit 

if you’re in Bordeaux (less than an hour from 

the city centre by car/train). Named after the 

Saint who settled here in the 8th century, this 

village of hilly cobbled streets, wine stores 

and restaurants, is a photographer’s dream, 

luring some 950,000 visitors a year (just 226 

permanent inhabitants). 

Saint-Émilion is surrounded by vineyards and 

many of the great wine making estates of 

this area are now changing with the times 

and offering public visits for tastings, cooking 

lessons, restaurants - and the most amazing 

B&B and hotels. Some of the best include: 

Château Fleur de Lisse, just a few 

kilometres from Saint-Émilion offers tastings 

and tours (from 3 vintage wines, to wine and 

chocolate pairings and gourmet plates). They 

also run cooking courses with Chef Stéphanie 

Cellar, Château Fleur de Lisse 

Bottreau where you’ll learn the art of classic 

French cuisine and create a three-course 

lunch (my husband was blown away by my 

French peas when I got home!) which you’ll 

enjoy paired with spectacular wines from the 

estate. Or enjoy lunch on the terrace in the 

sunshine amongst the vines. Their 5-bedroom 

Château l’Etampe with pool, billiards room, 

wine cellar etc is in the heart of the vines, just 

3km from Saint Emilion. 

Château de Ferrand, built in 1702 was 

bought by a household name in 1978 – Baron 

Bich – of BIC pen fame (is there anyone in the 

world who hasn’t got a BIC pen?!). This place 

is seriously glamorous and includes a BIC pen 


Château Fleur de Lisse © Julien Emperaire 

art collection, and a turntable wine bar – yes, 

you could be standing at the bar sipping one 

of their truly outstanding wines on a fabulous 

tasting tour, while the bar rotates to give you 

a different view. And you can book into their 

gorgeous B&B in the grand château – think 

soft furnishings, Dior-like colours, top chef 

catering, and all in the middle of the grand cru 

classé vineyards. 

Château de Léognan offers rooms and 

suites in a gorgeous 19 th century hotel, plus 

luxury treehouse lodges on a wine-making 

estate, with yurt spas and an informal but 

excellent restaurant and treetop bar – this is a 

place to relax, rejuvenate and revitalise. 

Hotel Château de Léognan 

WINE + PLUS 

TM 

U n i q u e W i n e & T r a v e l 

E x p e r i e n c e s i n F r a n c e 

Les Sources de Caudille private lodge 

Bic pen art at the Château de Ferrand 

Expect to be cossetted and coddled 

to the Nth degree at the discrete, chic, 

5* Les Sources de Caudille hotel and spa. 

The only stress you will experience here is 

when to schedule your spa treatment with 

vinotherapists who use vine and grape derived 

CONTACT US TO START YOUR JOURNEY 

info@ospreybt.com www.ospreybt.com 


concoctions, or maybe to choose which 

superb restaurant to dine at, or which pool to 

swim in! Heavenly rooms, a private lodge on 

a lake (Beyoncé and Jay-Z are fans), it’s what 

dreams are made of. Truly gorgeous with the 

family’s art-filled vineyards, Château Smith 

Haut Lafitte literally across the road. Paradise. 

Spotted offshore – not a real whale but a fun art installation! 

Skippers Patrick and Laurent 

surf and forests that cover much of the 

Medoc Peninsula. Great for surfing, sailing, 

sunbathing, swimming and generally chilling 

out on the beaches. 

Art filled vineyards of Château Smith Haut Lafitte 

Bordeaux beaches – 

The Silver Coast 

Arcachon 

The town is made up 

of four districts named 

after the seasons with 

the Ville d’Hiver, the 

winter resort, featuring 

fabulous Belle Epoque 

villas. There’s a big 

marina, tamarisk 

tree-lined boulevards 

peppered with plenty 

of restaurants, bars, shops, apartment blocks 

and hotels. Architectural styles range from 

French Empire (Napoleon III), Belle Epoque 

and modern and even pagoda style! The resort 

developed rapidly after the arrival the railways 

when Bordelais (people from Bordeaux) 

started to build villas by the water, both the 

Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Arcachon, 

almost an inland sea. When Napoleon III 

arrived for a holiday, it put the town on the 

list of most fashionable holiday resorts. 

Celebrities and royals soon followed. 

Today it’s a laidback place to take a break – 

with stunning beaches, fabulous restaurants 

like Le Saint Ferdinand where sitting out in the 

sun, eating the freshest of sea food is one of 

life’s loveliest pleasures. 

Don’t miss a guided tour of the bay by 

boat with skippers Patrick and Laurent 

Stephane Bidouze via Canva 

(deshommesetdesmers.com). Cruise past the 

Isle aux Oiseaux, the island of birds, admire 

cabanes tchanquées, wooden huts on stilts, 

used in the past by the oyster fisherman. 

Slurp succulent oysters and sip wine, 

discover secluded bays, enjoy the stories and 

anecdotes of the area (available in English), 

then the skippers open up the throttle to 

speed back to base, James Bond style! 

This tidal lake isn’t the only geological 

wonder here, and you can’t fail to miss 

the mountainous Dune of Pilat, a tourist 

destination in its own right, with up to 2 

Ville d’Hiver © Kevin Biette, Arcachon Tourism 

Around 60km (38 miles) from the city (and 

easily reached by train), Arcachon is one of 

France’s best kept secret seaside resorts and 

a pearl of the Côte d'Argent, the Silver Coast 

as this stretch of shoreline is known, thanks 

to the silvery colour of the sea’s surface when 

the sun is shining. The French know and love it, 

but most holiday makers to France have never 

heard of it, though they may have heard of the 

famous oysters that come from here. 

Some 130km (80 miles) of coastline, 

mostly beaches, run between the Atlantic 

Lège Cap-Ferret 


4* family-owned 

hotel and restaurant 

Exceptional service & 

stylish rooms, suites and 

cottages plus pool & 

gorgeous gardens 

A truly unique & authentic 

Provence experience in a 

stunning location 

Les Baux de Provence 

Benvengudo.com 

million visitors a year. The dune’s size changes 

according to the wind but at around 2,900 

meters (9,500 feet) long and 600 meters 

(1,950 feet) wide, the millions-of-years-old 

dune is the biggest in Europe. Climbing it is 

challenging but worth it for the stunning views 

over the Atlantic Coast. 

Across the bay, Lège Cap-Ferret (no relation 

to the swanky southern French Cap Ferrat), 

a peninsula which stretches from the town 

of Lège to the southernmost community of 

Cap-Ferret is dreamy. On one side is the 

gentle Bay of Arcachon, on the other the 

vast Atlantic. Lined by forests of pine trees 

(which the Romans used to bleed for sap to 

waterproof their ships), picturesque villages, 

and oyster fisher’s cabins, Cap-Ferret is an 

authentic secret, a wildlife haven, this is a 

little corner of paradise. Take a day trip boat 

ride from Arcachon to explore. Every village 

along the shore has its own oyster beds – and 

it’s a wonderful experience to dine at one of 

the authentic food shacks where the menu 

consists of just oysters or shrimp, one type 

of white wine or rosé - simple but simply 

delicious. 

Arcachon is the sort of place that leaves you 

feeling rejuvenated. 

Practical info 

The fast train to Bordeaux from Paris 

takes from 2 hours, trains run between 

Arcachon and Saint-Émilion daily. 

Bordeaux International Airport, 12km from 

the city centre. 

Driver Service Agency 

Tourist offices: 

bordeaux-tourisme.com 

Arcachon.com 

Saint-Emilion-tourisme.com 

RAINA STINSON 

PHOTOGRAPHY 

International Award Winning & 

Fine Art Photographer 

Guided Photography Day Tours 

and Workshops 

Customized photo sessions to capture 

your special moments in Provence 

rainastinsonphotography.com 


View of Clermont-Ferrand, Volcanoes in the distance © Luc Olivier, Clermont Auvergne Volcans Tourisme 

© Gerard Fayet, Clermont Auvergne Volcans Tourisme 

SPOTLIGHT on: 

Clermont-Ferrand 

Auvergne is a region of natural beauty 

and dramatic landscapes, located 

midway between Paris and the 

Mediterranean, anchored in the centre 

of France by the Massif Central and its 

80 volcanoes. Janine Marsh explores 

the capital Clermont-Ferrand and 

climbs a volcano… 

In 2017, scientists monitoring volcanic activity 

in the Auvergne region, south of France, 

gulped as they watched seismic movement 

on the equipment that keeps watch over the 

city of Clermont Ferrand which is built on top 

of a volcano. The movement was sudden, and 

it was huge. How could this be they asked 

themselves, it came from nowhere, there 

hadn’t been an eruption here for thousands 

of years. There was talk of an immediate 

evacuation of the city’s 150,000 inhabitants. 

Bizarrely though, the action was only in one 

part of the city – Place du Jaude. One of the 

scientists realised that ASM, the local rugby 

team were playing a league match that day 

and it’s a tradition for the fans to jump up and 

down to support the team. Their enthusiastic 

leaping was causing the ground to shake – 

the result looked just as it did for a volcanic 

eruption! And that sort of sums up Clermont- 

Ferrand – a city full of surprises, friendly, 

welcoming and fun. 

The Romans had no idea that they were 

settled on top of a volcano when they arrived 

in about 50 BC. Neither did they realise that 

this hilltop city was surrounded by volcanoes 

A rare rainy day in the city – it’s said to rain just 90 days a year here 

that had been dormant for so long they were 

covered in trees and grass. 

Clermont-Ferrand is one of the oldest cities in 

France and before the Romans, it was home 

to the famous Gaul chieftain Vercingetorix. 

Over the centuries, it was attacked by Vikings, 

Normans and Visigoths and also served as 

the starting point for the First Crusade (1095- 

1099). A 13th century Duke of Auvergne 

disliked the then Bishop of Clermont so much 

that he set up an alternative town next door 

known as Mont Ferrand, and it wasn’t until 

1730 that the two towns merged. 

What to see and do in 

Clermont-Ferrand 

The best way to get your bearings in this hilly 

city is via a guided tour to discover its huge 

history, its secret mansions and courtyards 

(book a tour at the tourist office). The first thing 

you’ll notice is the dark stone of many of the 

buildings including the soaring 13th century 

Cathedral of Notre-Dame de l'Assomption, 

created from black rock, hewn from the 

interior of a volcano, nature’s alternative to 

concrete. The Cathedral was renovated and 

reconstructed in the 19th century by the great 

French architect Violet le Duc (Notre Dame 

Paris, Carcassonne Citadel). Originally it 

featured a neo-Romanesque façade, but le Duc 

refashioned it in Gothic style to give it harmony. 

The result of his work is astonishing both 

outside and inside where the mellow light from 

the Gothic style chandeliers he introduced 


create an extraordinary cocooning effect. The 

black stone helps to make the glorious stainedglass 

windows look even more vibrant. The 

rose window is magnificent, and like most rose 

windows - a circle within a square - the circle 

representing heaven, the square representing 

earth and the stained glass representing the 

jewels to be found in heaven. 

Before this cathedral there was a church 

made from light stone, and when the sun rose 

and set, the church from its perched position 

would reflect the light and be seen from miles 

around and gave it the name Cler Mont – the 

light mountain. 

A stone’s throw from the cathedral, my guide 

Oceane led me up some hidden stairs for a 

bird’s eye view over the 12 th century UNESCOlisted 

Romanesque Basilica on the Pilgrim 

Fromagerie Nivesse cheese tasting 

Fromagerie Nivesse cheese 

the cathedral are five levels of caves which 

date back to Roman times (open on heritage 

days), once used for maturing the famous 

Auvergne cheese, St Nectaire. 

Fromagerie Nivesse works with local 

producers who start the maturation process 

which is then completed in the shop’s cellars. 

I started my taste tour with a blue cheese 

called Fourme de Valcivières, “there is 

only one producer of this, he has 40 cows 

and used to make it just for the people in 

the village,“ said the guide. On the wall is 

a cupboard full of darkening goats’ cheese 

“for those who like it really mature”. The 

taste of wildflowers in the Tomme de Fajoux 

aux Fleures gives it a slightly spicy, herby 

taste, like no cheese I’ve ever had before. 

Saint Nectaire with its distinctive thick rind 

was next, one of the favourite cheeses of 

King Louis XIV. “We say it has a good poil 

de chat” says the guide – “cat’s fur”! Then 

it’s Cantal, one of the oldest known cheeses, 

Roman scribe Pliny the Elder wrote that it 

was a favourite cheese in Rome. After that 

we nibble on Salers, only made in summer, 

salty, creamy and earthy. 

The portions are generous, with bread, 

salad and fruit, washed down with a local 

wine and at the end a cheesy dessert called 

Fontainebleau – a mix of whipped fromage 

There are also modern stained-glass windows 

in the church, look carefully and you’ll spot a 

disciple wearing glasses and other oddities! 

Route to Santiago de Compostela, an 

architecturally dazzling building which is 

brimming with religious symbolism. This is a 

great city to wander, and traces of its past 

are everywhere such as Rue de Gras, from 

Latin ‘gradus’ – graduated, a street which 

featured several staircases, and Rue des 

chaussetières (medieval panty hose – think 

Robin Hood style). Lava stone mansions 

line streets dotted with fountains. 

The Romanesque Basilica Notre-Dame du Port 

Don’t miss a visit to Fromagerie Nivesse, 

one of the historic centre’s finest cheese 

makers. Their cheese tasting tour (available 

in English), is one of the best I’ve ever 

done. This region is famous for its cheeses 

and Clermont-Ferrand is itself like a big 

Emmental, full of holes and cellars. Below 


One that didn’t make it to market – test car at Michelin Adventure Museum 

Michelin Man – Bibendum 

Buildings made from or decorated with volcanic stone 

blanc, cream and sugar. You won’t need to eat 

lunch after this! 

Also try the fruit patés the town is famous for. 

Head to the shop of Hélène Martin-Mayeux 

which specialises in the real deal (Aux Délices 

des Puys). These sweets are a tradition from 

the 15 th century and are adored by the locals. 

Helene is an expert on the topic and explains 

that the real thing is always filled with apricot 

jelly whatever the flavour on the outside – 

strawberry, passion fruit, mandarin, blueberry 

and even angelica which grows only in water 

where there is a lot of sun. 

Culture vultures will find plenty to enjoy at 

several museums including the excellent 

Musée Bargoin archaeology and textile 

museum, and the Henri LeCoq science and 

technology museum. 

Michelin 

From the city centre take the tram into the 

old Montferrand part of the town to visit 

the Michelin Adventure museum. This was 

the first tram system built in France – by 

Michelin! Almost every family in Clermont 

had someone working at Michelin tyre 

company over the years and it doesn’t matter 

Train winding helter-skelter like to top of the 

Puy-de-Dome © J Way, Clermont Auvergne 

Volcans Tourisme 

if tyres don’t interest you one little bit, it’s 

a surprisingly fascinating presentation of 

Michelin’s history, telling the story of the 

Michelin brothers rise to fame and wealth, the 

company’s progress and the huge influence 

they had on the city and its people as well 

as on France and further afield. End the tour 

in the Gran Turismo section where you can 

enjoy a simulated sports car race. 

Volcanoes 

The number one attraction for visitors to 

Clermont-Ferrand, are the volcanoes, which 

you can clearly see from the city. The Puyde-Dôme 

is the highest of the dormant 

(not extinct, the last eruption was around 

8500 years ago) volcanoes of the Chaîne 

des Puys which were born from successive 

eruptions that burst through the surface of 

the earth around 11,000 years ago. You can 

hike to the top or, as I did, hop on an electric 

railway to gently glide to the top. There is 

a restaurant, bar, museum, laboratory with 

a cloud catching window – the scientists 

test the cloud content to monitor water, 

bacteria and pollution. Most extraordinary 

are the ruins of a Roman Temple built to 

honour the God Mercury. And the views are 

mesmerising as you take in the panorama 

of some 80 volcanoes. Equally incredible is 

how quickly the weather changes. I arrived 

under a blue sky with clear views but within 

minutes of alighting from the train, dark 

clouds began rolling in and swirling around 

me, cold and damp. And then it cleared 

again – a majestic natural phenomenon. 

You can visit several of the volcanoes 

including Puy du Pariou, the star of Volvic 

commercials. Reaching 1,290 metres above 

sea level, this volcano has two hiking trails to 

the top. You can even descend into its centre 

to explore the bottom of the crater. 


© Gerard Fayet, Clermont Auvergne Volcans Tourisme 

Where to eat out 

The locals love: 

La Fille à papa: Lovely friendly staff, super 

menu of traditional with a hint of Asian fusion. 

This would be my go-to if I lived in Clermont- 

Ferrand. 

Le Bistrot de la Butte: Traditional bistro with a 

great value menu, generous portions and in a 

lovely location in Place de la Victoire. 

La Gourmandine: Bistronomic restaurant with 

a fab menu – book in advance if you can, this 

place is much loved by the locals. 

Le Zenith de mon Père: Open since 1947, 

you’ll get a warm welcome and a great choice 

of traditional dishes. 

Le Devant: Very popular with the locals. The 

menu changes daily – and it’s always delicious. 

In the evening they play great rock music and 

the place has a really great vibe. 

Where to stay 

Hôtel Littéraire Alexandre Vialatte, 4* hotel 

on the Place de Lille which was once the 

crossing point between Clermont and Mont 

Ferrand. Big comfy rooms, lovely staff, 

fabulous breakfast room with views over the 

Place Victoire © HEMIS © Gerard Fayet, Clermont Auvergne Volcans Tourisme 

city and easy walking distance to the train 

station and tram stops. 

How to get there 

By train: The fast TGV train connects 

Clermont-Ferrand to Paris from just three 

hours. 

By plane: Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne 

airport is 7km from the centre of town. 

More information from the Clermont 

Auvergne Volcans Tourist office: 

clermontauvergnevolcans.com 

28 | The Good Life France 29 | The Good Life France 


Minerve, 

Herault, 

Occitanie 

Minerve, in the Herault department, 

Occitanie is officially one of the 

prettiest villages in France. Karen Tait 

plunges into its medieval streets to get 

a sense of the town’s historic past and 

discover its charms. 

As you drive along the road approaching 

Minerve, it’s hard not to be struck dumb by the 

sight before you. The medieval village clings 

to the top of a rocky outcrop high above a 

spectacular gorge – the view is surely little 

changed since the Middle Ages. Ok, so the 

route is now tarmacked for cars, rather than a 

rough track for horses, and maybe you’ll spot 

signs for a café or art gallery, but fundamentally 

this fortified village remains much the same as 

when it was built in the 13th century. 

Its strategic importance is immediately obvious. 

Its inhabitants would have been able to spot 

anyone approaching from miles off – whether 

welcome or not – and the towering stone 

bridge across the gorge would have been easily 

defended. And yet, the most infamous event 

that took place here involved a failed siege. 

Minerve past 

One of the ‘Cathar cities’, the picturesque 

streets of Minerve hide a most bloody of 

histories. In 1210, during the Albigensian 

Crusade, a group of Cathars escaping the 

massacre of Béziers sought refuge here. The 

brutal Simon de Montfort, military leader of 

the crusade against Catharism (considered 

heresy by the Catholic church) followed them 

there, setting up four catapults and trebuchets 

to bombard the double ring of ramparts. 

At the time, Minerve was a powerful city, 

home to the Viscounts of Minerve, and 

thought to be impenetrable. However, after 

six weeks, Minerve’s only well, the Puits St- 

Rustique, was destroyed, cutting off the water 

supply and forcing the stronghold to surrender. 

When the 140 Cathars refused to give up their 

faith, they were burned at the stake in the 

village square. 


the charming restaurants or at the Château 

Minerve, Domaine Vordy and Domaine 

Cavailles wineries. Cafés, bars and ice-cream 

counters are dotted through the streets, 

some with views of the gorge, while small 

independent shops and galleries sell artwork, 

local crafts, pottery and other specialities. 

Around every corner, there seems to be a new 

and spectacular vista, especially from the 

bridge. From one side of the village, you can 

admire the valley of the River Cesse, while from 

the other you can see a section of the fortified 

walls. Across the river is a reconstruction of a 

medieval trebuchet, the ‘Malvoisine’, just like 

the ones which would have flung rocks across 

the gorge to the walls of the village. 

The Tower 

There is very little left of the castle today, just 

the octagonal Candela tower, at the entrance 

to Minerve below the carpark (the village itself 

is car-free). Next to the tourist office, the Rue 

des Martyrs is thought to be the street the 

Cathars walked on their way to the stake. 

There is also a monument to the Cathars 

called the Stèle de Minerve, erected in 1982 

– the ‘dove of light’ by the artist Jean-Luc 

Severac. It’s close to the 11 th -century church of 

Saint-Etienne, whose altar is believed to date 

back to the year 456. 

Stèle de Minerve 

© Robin Cooper 

Once you’ve discovered Minerve’s manmade 

side, if you’re feeling energetic you can 

continue your explorations to discover the cliffs 

and caves below the town and its extraordinary 

natural setting. Head down through the Porta 

Bassa, one of Minerve’s original two gateways, 

and follow the path to the river. 

You can learn more about Cathar history 

in the village’s Hurepal museum, while 

the Museum of Archaeology, dedicated 

to palaeontological discoveries made in 

the nearby Aldene cave, reminds us that 

Minerve’s history goes back a lot further than 

the Middle Ages. 

© Robin Locker-Lacey 

The village was also a base for the Knights 

Templars; one of the houses on Rue des 

Martyrs belonged to the Templiers and a 

stone archway near the bottom of the street 

features the Maltese Cross belonging to the 

Order of Templars. 

Sadly, the Cathar crusade was not the last 

conflict to hit Minerve, which suffered again 

during the Wars of Religion in the late 16 th 

century; the castle was dismantled in 1636. 

Minerve present 

Today, as you explore the maze of cobbled 

streets, it’s hard to imagine the horrors of 

the village’s past. It’s now a tranquil and 

picturesque place, although it gets busy during 

the peak summer season. One of France’s 178 

Plus Beaux Villages, Minerve is the capital of 

the Minervois wine region, so it’s the perfect 

place to sample the local wines, in one of 

32 | The Good Life France 


Villa Lou Patio 

Underground river 

Winery 

The River Cesse, which carved this enormous 

gorge, disappears underground into a natural 

tunnel. The waters only flow during winter; 

the rest of the year the riverbed is completely 

dry, so you can walk along it before stopping 

to look up at the soaring old stone bridge 

above you. In fact, Minerve is built upon a 

peninsular above the confluence of two rivers, 

the Cesse and the Brian, both of which have 

formed deep gorges and natural bridges in the 

limestone around the village. 

Head back up to the village to reward yourself 

with a glass of something refreshing and 

another chance to gaze at those amazing views 

– which like Minerve itself, are unchanged from 

times of yore. 

The perfect base for exploring the French Riviera 

Pool – garden – 4 ensuite bedrooms 

Perfectly located, just minutes from St Paul de Vence 

Villaloupatio.com 

'Real' South of France Tours 

In the area: 

Minerve is at the gateway to the Regional 

Natural Park of Haut-Languedoc. Surrounded 

by vineyards, garrigue, olive groves and 

chestnut woods, it offers a wonderful 

landscape to discover on foot or by bike. 

Minerve is about 25km from Narbonne (see 

page 112), and about 45km from Béziers and 

Carcassonne, beautiful cities with fascinating 

histories. 

The nearest airports with international flights 

are at Carcassonne, Béziers, Montpellier 

and Toulouse. 

EXPERIENCE THE 

AMAZING CULTURE, 

HISTORY, FOOD 

AND WINE IN 

THE REAL SOUTH OF FRANCE 

realsouthoffrancetours.fr 


This resort in Finistère, western Brittany offers 

crystal-clear waters and gently lapping waves, 

a sheltered beach that invites you to while 

away the hours, and a wide esplanade framed 

by statuesque pine trees. Besides these 

obvious charms, Bénodet has a chic, southof-France 

feel that instantly switches you into 

holiday mode the moment you arrive. 

Previously a fishing village, Bénodet’s destiny 

changed around 1865 when rail links and 

better roads brought its charms to the 

notice of day-trippers and holiday-makers. 

It soon evolved into a refined seaside resort, 

complete with manor houses, coastal villas 

and stylish hotels to accommodate tourists, 

yachtsmen and countless artists inspired by 

the scenery. Since that early boom, the town 

has developed to become a truly excellent 

holiday destination. 

© A Lamoureux Bénodet Tourisme 

Seaview relaxation 

Picture yourself in a sea view room, gazing 

over the ocean as you enjoy a leisurely 

breakfast, then strolling from your hotel to the 

neighbouring spa for a morning of pampering 

and swimming. The Relais Thalasso is part of a 

national chain of spas, whose swimming pools 

and treatments focus on the health benefits 

Secret France: 

BRITTANY 

Bénodet? Bonne idée! 

What a wonderful moment it is when you happen upon a French seaside gem, with 

long sandy beaches, a sweeping promenade, sunny pavement cafés and even a 

spa. Bénodet has everything you’d hope for in a small seaside resort, including 

an understated elegance that is fabulously French says Annaliza Davis as she 

explores its charms. 

Relais Thalasso Bénodet 


of seawater (thalassotherapy). As well as a 

30°C saltwater pool, bubble jets, steam room 

and two saunas, this particular spa offers an 

aromatherapy shower, sea view gym and a 

sunroom with outdoor decking where you can 

unwind watching the ocean. 

Guests at the Hotel Kastel next door enjoy 

free access to the pool, but the experience is 

even better if you treat yourself to some of the 

spa treatments: an almond-oil Breizhfornien 

massage, a facial, seaweed wrap or a Watsu 

seawater shiatsu massage. If you’re staying 

elsewhere, booking a thalassotherapy 

treatment also grants you access to the spa 

centre, so you’re almost obliged to make the 

most of all the facilities and truly unwind! 

Great for families 

This resort is equally fabulous if you’re bringing 

youngsters. Firstly, the promenade is wide 

and level, with a flat surface that’s great for 

pushchairs and strollers, so you can easily 

walk for an hour along the seafront. The 

main beach, Plage du Trez, is a long stretch 

of golden sand with the advantage of being 

mostly sheltered from the breeze. The beach 

itself leads gradually into the water, so even 

toddlers can make the most of gently lapping 

waves while they paddle. There are other 

beaches, too, including the smaller cove of 

Saint-Gilles and Le Letty further east, where 

the sandbank protects the beach from the 

ocean, forming a lagoon-like area. 

Plague du Coq 

Should the weather prove less than ideal, 

you have an ace up your sleeve thanks to the 

cinema that is right in the centre of town, on 

the seafront. Cinémarine has two cinema 

rooms with a total of 420 seats, and shows the 

latest releases as well as themed screenings 

throughout the year. That’s a great option for 

a night out or an alternative to the beach on a 

drizzly day! 

Walking, cycling and 

exploring 

The GR ® 34 (grandes randonnées: France’s 

network of walks, created in 1971) is also known 

as the Customs Officers’ Trail, as it was once 

patrolled by officers looking for smugglers 

coming in along the shore. This fantastic, freeaccess 

coastal path follows the entire coast of 

Brittany for over 2,000km offering some of the 

© A Lamoureux Bénodet tourisme 


most breath-taking views you could wish for, 

and the section either side of Bénodet is one 

of the most photogenic. 

If you walk along the seafront promenade 

west towards the old port and continue to 

follow the coast, you can walk up to the 

iconic Cornouaille Bridge that spans the River 

Odet. From this height of 70 metres, you 

are rewarded with unbeatable views of the 

marina, the town below and the surrounding 

woodlands. Cross the bridge and follow the 

path down to the charming harbour of Sainte- 

Marine, which faces Bénodet. You can stop 

for refreshment here before heading back or, 

from April to late September, you can catch 

Le Letty 

Cornouaille Bridge © A Lamoureux Bénodet Tourisme 

the water taxi known as Le P’tit Bac that will 

take you back to Bénodet. 

Walkers and hikers are spoilt for choice when 

it comes to trails around Bénodet, and you 

can find out more information from the Tourist 

Office or the Breton Riviera website. 

Out on the water 

Bénodet sits where the River Odet meets the 

ocean, and indeed its name comes from the 

Breton for ‘head of the Odet’. One of France’s 

most beautiful rivers, the Odet leads north to 

the cathedral city of Quimper, a route that 




is lined with graceful villas and châteaux. 

With Vedettes de l’Odet, you can take a trip 

along this stretch of the river, gliding along 

and watching the scenery as you listen to the 

commentary (also in English) giving details on 

the stately homes and even pointing out where 

Churchill once stayed, painting landscapes! 

For a completely different experience, take a 

boat trip to the nearby Glénan Islands, known 

as Brittany’s Caribbean, an archipelago of 

turquoise waters and sandy beaches perfect 

for snorkelling, sunbathing and lazing around. 

However you explore Bénodet, you can’t help 

admiring the various sailboats in the vast 

marina, so if you want to learn more about the 

town’s yachting and maritime history, head 

to the Musée du Bord de Mer near the Tourist 

Office. Panels are currently in French (plans 

are underway for English translations!) but all 

the displays are beautiful and informative, 

including a life-size replica of the striped 

beach huts that once lined the front. 

Different cultural 

experiences 

One of the unexpected aspects of Bénodet 

is its Casino, which is another reason for the 

resort’s south-of-France feel. Located on the 

seafront near the Thalasso Spa, you could 

easily walk past the entrance without realising, 

but Casino Barrière is open all year round, 

from 10am to 2am, extending to 4am on 

Fridays and Saturdays. Far from intimidating 

and with no formal dress code, this casino is 

open to adults with a valid ID. You’ll find the 

latest digital-technology games, slot machines 

and classics such as roulette and poker, and a 

top prize of over 500,000 euros. They also put 

on shows and concerts, or you can just pop in 

for a coffee like the locals. 

Seaside dining 

Whatever the time of day, 

there’s always a perfect spot for 

people-watching and sea-gazing 

and eating Breton crêpes in Bénodet. 

Right by the beach, the Sans Souci bar and 

restaurant is a must, open from 9am to 11pm 

with a varied, affordable menu and unbeatable 

sea views. A little further along the promenade, 

L’Alhambra is an iconic circular restaurant with 

incredible views and exquisite dishes to match 

(lunch and dinner). And if you head to the Vieux 

Port, the extended pavement areas are perfect 

for apéritifs and dinner in the evening sunshine, 

whiling away the hours and admiring the yachts. 

A true Breton gem 

By now, you’ll have realised that Bénodet is a real 

gem: big enough to offer something for everyone, 

yet small enough to feel that it’s your own private 

haven. Even off-season it’s a wonderful place to 

explore and to make great memories. A trip to 

Bénodet is always a bonne idée! 

Find more information at benodet.fr 

BÉNODETYour next 

in 

destination 

South Brittany, FR 

© A.LAMOUREUX 

tourisme.benodet @benodettourisme @otbenodet 

Visit our website : www.benodet.fr 


Discover Paris – 

by boat! 

Montmartre 

Searching for weekend in Paris ideas, I 

came across something that ticked all my 

boxes, and some I didn’t know I could have! 

Accommodation in the heart of the city 

was paramount. I didn’t want to break the 

bank to stay there either. And I wanted to 

see the sights with a friend whose first time 

it was. I discovered a way to get what I 

wanted – and more! CroisiEurope, a French 

family-run cruise company, operate cruises 

from beneath the Eiffel Tower on the River 

Seine that include not just accommodation, 

not just guided tours but also all meals and 

onboard drinks (except for special drinks 

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there’s also entertainment, a gala dinner and 

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A range of Paris-only cruises offers a range of 

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MS Renoir © Paul Hilbert CroisiEurope 


© Wazim 


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I mentioned entertainment – well it varies from 

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Paris and Normandy 

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many French songs that feature Titis – Parisian 

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All prices are based on two adults sharing a cabin, category C, are correct at time of going to press, subject to availability. All the flight-inclusive holidays are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. When you pay you 

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photos - Copyrights: Alexandre Sattler, Shutterstock. 


Agde 

The Greeks named their new port Agathé 

Tyché – Good Fortune – and the town 

remained one of the largest commercial 

ports in the Mediterranean right up to the 

18 th century. Today, the sloping riverside site 

once occupied by Greek traders is a maze of 

narrow streets lined mostly with 17 th century 

properties, where grand staircases and ornate 

loggias often overlook interior courtyards. If a 

door is open, peep in! 

Secret France: 

CAP D’AGDE 

Just a short hop from Béziers, Agde 

and its neighbours offer unique 

cultural attractions and all the fun of 

the Occitanie coast. Gillian Thornton 

explores. 

Cap d'Agde © H.Comte 

At the foot of the hill, the 12 th century 

cathedral of Saint-Etienne is something of a 

surprise, built from black basalt from nearby 

Mont Saint-Loup, last in a chain of extinct 

volcanoes running south from the Auvergne. 

For central accommodation close to the 

cathedral, station, and quayside restaurants 

like the friendly L’Amiral, book one of the 

spacious rooms at Hotel Yseria. Located in a 

17 th century barracks overlooking Place Jean 

Jaurès, this charming small hotel is a member 

of the reliable Logis network. 

Agde is also home to an unexpected art 

treasure, the extraordinary Château Laurens, 

set in a spacious park overlooking the junction 

of the Hérault river and the Canal du Midi, 

just minutes’ walk from the cathedral. In 

1897, 24-year-old medical student Emmanuel 

Laurens inherited a huge fortune as well as 

the family estate of Belle-Ile, commissioning 

a vast villa in the latest Art Nouveau style, 

inspired by Antiquity and his passion for 

foreign travel. 

Laurens entertained here in lavish style until 

the 1930s when his investments crashed 

and he was forced to sell, remaining a 

tenant however until his death in 1959. The 

abandoned chateau steadily deteriorated 

until purchased by the town in 1994, 

eventually opening to the public in June 

2023 after major restoration. Expect a 

surreal fantasy of bold colours, elaborate 

furniture, and stunning stained glass. 

The Ancient Greeks knew a strategic spot 

when they saw one, so when they pitched 

up near present-day Agde in the 5 th century 

BC, the combination of volcanic outcrop 

and broad river ticked all their boxes for the 

perfect trading base. 

Today the first Greek port in the western 

Mediterranean is the gateway to one of 

France’s newest seaside resorts Le Cap d’Agde, 

and to the fishing port of Le Grau d’Agde, three 

contrasting communities in one neat package 

around the Hérault river. Catch a shuttle bus 

from Béziers-Cap d’Agde airport or take the 

train for the 12-minute journey from Béziers to 

Agde on the Occitanie rail network. 

Chateau Laurens 


Cap d’Agde 

Officially inaugurated in July 1970, Cap 

d’Agde was part of an effort to bring tourism 

to vacant land on the Languedoc coast. Half a 

century later, this family-friendly resort fringes 

a circular inlet with unspoilt sandy beaches on 

either side of the harbour entrance. 

There’s a relaxed feel to Cap d’Agde as I stroll 

the boardwalk beside the marina and browse 

the boutiques beneath the big wheel on my 

way La Madragde where I enjoy an excellent 

prix fixe lunch. This upbeat resort doesn’t have 

quite the cachet of the Riviera, but nor does it 

have the price tag. 

And Cap d’Agde has a surprising cultural 

treasure too in a shady park close to the 

sleek curves of the new casino. The Musée de 

l’Ephèbe is the only museum of underwater 

archaeology in France, named after the 

Ephèbe statue, an exceptional bronze of 

Alexander the Great found beneath the 

Herault river. All the exhibits here have been 

found in nearby waters, some of the pieces 

dating back 27 centuries, and all of them 

providing a snapshot into local life. 

Ephèbe is certainly one beautiful Greek hunk 

but I also love the bronze of Césarion, a 

wavy-haired boy believed to be a royal child 

of around six or seven; the different shapes 

of the Greek and Roman amphoras; and the 

comparatively modern weapons and personal 

possessions recovered from ships sunk in the 

16 th and 17 th centuries. 

Le Grau d’Agde 

Before returning to Agde, I complete the 

Royal child, Musée de l'Ephèbe 

triangle by heading west to Le Grau d’Agde 

at the mouth of the Hérault river, the word 

‘grau’ signifying an opening into the sea. This 

traditional Mediterranean fishing village is 

home to an unexpected visitor attraction 

that is a must-do for any foodie, open every 

weekday from April through to end October. 

Named after the cries of the women who 

traditionally sorted and shouted out news 

about the day’s catch, the Belvedere of La 

Criée du Grau d’Agde is the only French fish 

auction in the Mediterranean basin that is 

open to the public. 

Take a guided tour to watch the boats unload 

their glistening prizes. Fish, shellfish and 

octopus, all sorted and ready for sale. Then 

watch through large windows as the 4pm fish 

auction takes place in front of professional 

buyers. I can guarantee you will look at 

your next fish supper with new respect after 

learning about the lives and challenges of the 

men who brought it to you! 

Belevedere de la Criee, Le Grau d'Agde 

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Perfect Paris 

on a rainy day 

The Théâtre du Merveilleux, one of the rooms of the Pavillons de Bercy museum, © Pavillons de Bercy 

Audrey/Sabrina may well be right about that, 

but even if you’re one of those people ‘who 

feels the rain when others just get wet’, Paris is 

a brilliant place for rainy days with hundreds of 

places to dodge the drizzle and have fun! Here 

Janine Marsh shares some of her favourite 

places to stay dry in the city of Light. 

“ 

You get yourself some rain, not just a drizzle, but some 

honest-to-goodness rain. The rain is very important, 

because that’s when Paris smells its sweetest” 

says Audrey Hepburn in the film Sabrina. 

Myriad museums 

Perfect for a rainy day – there are around 

140 museums in Paris, from the world’s most 

popular – the Louvre, to the magnificent former 

train station turned Musée d’Orsay! Then there 

are the museums that are hardly known and 

utterly fascinating including the Musée des 

Arts Forains – the Museum of Fairground Arts 

(which made an appearance in Emily in Paris) 

– think vintage carousels (great for all ages). 

Or how about the fabulous, fragrant and free 

Fragonard Musée de Parfum. 

Wine, dine and keep dry! 

Bouillon Chartier are a Paris institution, 

serving traditional French dishes since 1896. 

They have three restaurants in the city (I 

like the one at Montparnasse best for its Art 

Nouveau décor) and are as much loved by 

locals as tourists. The menu sticks to classic 

recipes – entrees start from €1, main dishes 

from €7. Expect to queue – you can’t reserve, 

but you generally don’t have to wait too long, 

service is swift. Great for lunch or dinner 365 

days a year! 

Bouillon Chartier Montparnassemuseum, © Pavillons de Bercy 

Must-see monuments 

Head to the Atelier des Lumières, a former 

iron foundry turned Paris’ first digital art 

centre, this vast venue provides the perfect 

backdrop for art projections from Van Gogh to 

Monet and more. 

Egyptian exhibition, Autumn 

2024 Atelier des Lumières 

Photo Vincent Pinson 


Take a tour of the Versailles-like Opera 

Garnier, home of the French Ballet and the 

largest stage in Europe, with a celling painting 

by Marc Chagall and a box reserved for the 

Phantom of the Opera who is said to live in a 

lake beneath the building! 

Go backstage at the Comédie Francaises, 

where performances have been held since 

1860 (tours are available in English: comediefrances.fr) 

A spot of shopping 

Department stores were invented in Paris and 

Printemps, Galeries Lafayette and Le Bon 

Marché are architecturally worth visiting, let 

alone for the shopping, and they also have 

super cafes! The shopping galleries of Paris 

are under cover and often utterly gorgeous 

like Passage Verdeau, Passage de Jouffroy, 

Passage des Panoramas (the oldest in Paris!), 

and Galeries Vivienne et Colbert. 

Tea and cake 

Afternoon tea makes 

for a perfect rainy 

day treat and Paris 

is teeming with 

gorgeous cafés. 

Aside from the 

famous Ladurée and 

Angelinas, there are 

loads of little-known 

(to visitors) Parisian 

gems like the Café 

de la Rose Lancôme 

on the Champs- 

Elysées where the 

cakes are made 

Odette © Dawne Polis 

by the Best Pastry 

Chef in the World (2023) – Nina Métayer. Or 

maybe Odette’s in the Latin Quarter, famous 

for their cream puffs. Or how about Cordelia’s 

Coffee Flower Shop in rue du Bac, created by 

Cordelia de Castellane, Artistic Director of 

Maison Dior. 

Evening fun 

Been raining all day – and still raining as dusk 

falls? Who cares – there’s loads to do in Paris. 

Take in a film, head to the theatre, cabaret (so 

Paris) – maybe the Moulin Rouge, or listen to a 

live music concert. 

“Life is not about waiting for the 

storm to pass, it’s about learning 

to dance in the rain.” 

Vivien Greene 

Café de la Huchette is one of the most popular 

jazz clubs in Paris, famous since the 1940s when 

jazz masters such as Sidney Bechet and Lionel 

Hampton played there. Music from boogiewoogie 

to blues, swing and jazz, plus dancing 

and cocktails – a basement club Parisian 

experience. Or maybe the Philharmonie de 

Paris with its three concert halls, and a yearround 

programme. 

Last but not least… Audrey/Sabrina was right 

– Paris is beautiful when it rains. Open an 

umbrella, take a stroll and enjoy the wonderful 

views. 

Top tip: Did you know that some RATP (Public 

transport in Paris and Île de France) stations will 

lend you an umbrella – pay a €7 deposit that 

you get back when you return the umbrella. 

And if you want to keep the umbrella, that’s 

fine, they’ll keep your deposit! Find details of 

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Collégiale de Capestang et canal du MIdi © JM Brancart Hérault Tourisme 

I was a cyclist long before moving to France, 

finding it fully acceptable to turn up to work, 

social events and everything in between caked 

in a mixture of sweat, mud and bike grease. 

Cycling in France is something else though, 

it’s in the soul of the country. After epic bike 

trips along the Rhône, mountain biking in 

the Alps and routes flatter than crêpes on 

islands off the Atlantic Coast, I may just have 

discovered the best part of them all in France 

for cycling. Languedoc. 

The variety is spectacular. Cycle tracks around 

red rock lakes that look as though they should 

be in outer space. Craggy limestone pillars. Salt 

flats home to native Camargue bulls. 

I’ve ridden a rickety bike far too big for me 

along the narrow string of land between the 

Mediterranean Sea and the saltwater lagoon, 

the Étang de Thau, wobbling perilously next 

to the water. I’ve bumbled over the cobbled 

streets of villages lost in time, and felt the 

exhilarating rush of a downhill sprint from 

the hills of Haut-Languedoc to the vineyards 

spread out like a calm ocean of vines below 

me. This time I had three different routes to 

test — on three very different bikes. 

First up, I was on a flamingo hunt. The bike 

was a butt-buster, desperately in need of 

oil, but my route was flat, making for plain 

pedalling. I started from Château Capitoul, 

but you could equally extend the route by 

LANGUEDOC 

is France’s new 

hotspot for cyclists 

Anna Richards pedals her way through the picturesque Languedoc. 

Gruissan © Federica Riva Via Canva 


Helen Booth works as a financial advisor for deVere France S.a.r.l. part of deVere 

Group, one of the world’s leading independent financial consultancies. 

Helen, who lives in the Deux Sevres region, worked in the financial services industry 

in the UK for 15 years and prides herself on being fully diploma-qualified for the 

services she provides in France. 

With more than $10 billion of funds under its advice and administration, and with 

more than 80,000 clients around the world, deVere Group truly offers a myriad of 

unique products and notes that are not available anywhere else in the market. This, 

as Helen puts it, gives clients the pick of the crop when it comes to investing. 

10 km and set off from where Roman vestiges 

hide between bistros and shoe shops. Down 

from Capitoul, long grass quickly gives way to 

water as deep and rich-looking as a sapphire. 

A cycle trail skirts around the étang to reach 

Gruissan town, the Barberousse Tower 

cherry-like above the rooftops. The flamingos 

were there, toothpick-like legs, milky pink, 

immobile, like cardboard cut-outs against the 

shore. 

A further 3 km along a cycle path so straight 

that if the literal evidence of Romans in 

Narbonne didn’t have me thinking about the 

Roman Empire, this route certainly did, and I 

arrived at Gruissan Plage, 2 km of sand. 

Etang de Thau tarbouriech 

There’s a very famous photo of a man and his 

son, bike laden with baguettes, riding down 

an avenue of plane trees (Boy, Bicycle and 

Baguette). It was a French tourism campaign 

in 1955, and the photo encapsulates France’s 

cycling culture, even though it was staged. It 

was taken by the famous photographer, Elliott 

Erwitt, but it could have easily been taken on 

my second route, where I was on a quest to find 

Molière and mussels. From Château St Pierre 

de Serjac (because this cyclist loves a luxury 

sleep), I made for Pézenas, on market day, the 

historic capital of the region. This time I was on 

a road bike, flying down the gently undulating 

roads flanked on either side with plane trees. 

Pezenas © Julie Noclerq, Hérault Tourism 

Anna on bike 

deVere France S.a.r.l. are regulated 

by ANACOFI-CIF and ORIAS which 

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regulated products. 

If you would like to know more about how 

deVere France can help you, contact 

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deVere France can advise you on ways to help safeguard and increase your 

wealth, as well as helping with HMRC-recognised pension transfers to a Qualified 

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flexibility in your pension plans. 

Helen Booth DipPFS , EFA 

Dénomination sociale: deVere France S.a.r.l, RCS B 528949837, 29 Rue Taitbout, 75009, Paris, France. Gérant: Mr. Jason Trowles. Registre avec ANACOFI-CIF (Association Nationale des 

Conseils Financiers). Nombre enregistré: E008176, association agréée par l’Autorité des Marchés Financiers. Courtier d’assurances ou de réassurance, Catégorie B, inscrit à l’Organisme 

pour le Registre des Intermédiaires en Assurance (ORIAS) numéro enregistré 12064640. Garantie Financière et Assurance de Responsabilité Civile Professionnelle conformes aux articles 

L 541-3 du Code Monétaire et Financier et L 512-6 et 512-7 du Code des Assurances. Registered name: deVere France S.a.r.l, registered company number RCS B 528949837, 29 Rue 

Taitbout, 75009, Paris, France. Gérant: Mr. Jason Trowles. Registered with ANACOFI-CIF (National Association of Financial Advisers). Registered number: E008176, association approved 

by the Financial Markets Authority. Insurance and re-insurance brokers, Category B, registered with the Organisation for the Registration of Assurance Intermediaries (ORIAS). Registered 

number 12064640. Financial and Professional Liability Insurance Guarantee conforms to article L 541-3 of the Monetary and Fiscal Code and L 512-6 and 512-7 of the Assurance Code. 

6XKWSX • V1.1/230418 

We can help with: 

• Moving to France or Spain 

• Setting up and running a 

business 

• Help with VISA, residency 

and work permits and taxes 

• Legal advice and Insurance 

• Healthcare advice 

Mobile: +33 (0) 77 171 2879 

Email: helen.booth@devere-france.fr 

B +33 950 75 81 92 

a +34 711 05 32 28 

pleasehelp.eu k 


Capestang © JM Brancart Hérault Tourisme 

to bash it out in half a day, I opted for an 

e-bike. After 700 m of elevation gain, I felt it 

was a wise decision. 

Canal du Midi © JNoclercq Hérault Tourisme 

Molière lived in Pézenas for a spell, and it’s 

allegedly where his famous play Le Médecin 

Volant was first performed in 1655. The 

theatres, bookshops and literary themed cafés 

pay homage to the town’s famous alumni, but 

since Molière is old news — almost 400 years 

old — I was more interested in the town’s 17th 

century architecture, and the spectacular 

Saturday market. A further 16 km took me 

to the Étang de Thau, where you can eat 

swollen oysters for a pittance at Le St Barth 

Tarbouriech, an oyster farm on the water which 

supplies Michelin-starred restaurants. To put 

fuel in my legs, I tucked into the mussels and a 

tielle Sètoise (a pie filled with octopus ragu) too 

A final bike ride was on the cards, 80 km 

long, on a brand-new loop which opened this 

February, marketed as the Oenovélo. Needing 

The tourism board recommends splitting 

this route over two to three days, to get the 

maximum ‘oeno’ with your ‘vélo’, and it seems 

wise, particularly with wineries like La Cave 

de St Chinian and Le Domaine de Soustres 

for tastings. Château les Carrasses is virtually 

on the cycle trail, making a great stop, and 

they’ve got all the bike repair facilities and 

know-hows for weary cyclists. Flowers framed 

the vines, and for a good two thirds of the 

route, I cycled right alongside vineyards. 

Much of the route follows an old railway line, 

and former station houses inject keeps of 

character. The most scenic stretch was along 

the Canal du Midi, running from just before 18 

km almost unbroken to Capestang. Weeping 

willows hang over barges on water the colour 

of algae, and in Capestang the sun-drenched 

main square makes for a perfect refuel 

point for tapas and a beer. Signage is a little 

intermittent, download the GPX trace on a 

good navigation app. 

There are 4,000 km of cycling routes in 

Hérault, and they’re accessible to everyone 

— none of these 2,000 m + climbs to 

mountain passes that serve as the ultimate 

challenges during the Tour de France. Be it 

Roman-straight roads to ruins of the same 

era, or an excuse to work up a thirst for a 

wine tasting, if holidays on two wheels are 

your thing, head to Languedoc. 

Azincourt1415.com 

24 Rue Charles VI 

62310 Azincourt 

Step back in time 

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Azincourt 1415 historic centre 


Chateau de Malmaison © Pedro Faber Via Wikimedia Commons 

The Château 

de Malmaison 

A home fit for 

an Empress 

17kms west of Paris the pretty Château de Malmaison was home to Napoleon and 

Josephine Bonaparte. Christina Mackenzie explores its fascinating history. 

Portrait of Josephine 

Tucked away on the outskirts of Paris, the 

Château de Malmaison doesn’t have the 

kudos of Versailles or the royal history of 

Fontainebleau, but it became a firm favourite 

with Napoleon and Josephine, Emperor and 

Empress of France. Josephine purchased the 

castle in April 1799 for 325,000 Francs (the 

equivalent of about $500,000, a small fortune 

in those days), money she borrowed whilst 

her husband was fighting in Egypt. Napoleon 

returned four months later, reimbursed the 

loan, and the couple passed much of their 

time at Malmaison, spending a fortune on 

updating and expanding the gardens. 

The good times didn’t last. Josephine’s 

inability to produce an heir (by now a son 

born to Napoleon’s mistress was proof he was 

fertile), led to their divorce in 1809. Three 

months later he married Marie Louise of 

Austria (1791-1847) although he’d never met 

her in person! 

He gave the Chateau de Malmaison to 

Josephine and was still a regular visitor there. 

He also continued to support her financially 

– more than 30 million francs over a decade. 

A steady stream of dressmakers, jewellers, 

milliners, and perfume makers made their 

way to Malmaison to tempt her – she loved 

fashion, and clothes, and in one year alone 

it was claimed she bought 985 pairs of 

gloves, 520 pairs of shoes, and some 900 

gowns, and the dressing room, wardrobe 

room and boudoir must have been bursting 

at the seams. She died of pneumonia in 

Malmaison on 29th May 1814 just 26 days 

before her 51st birthday, a month after her 

ex-husband’s abdication. Exiled on the island 

of Elba he was distraught at the news and on 

returning to France, one of his first visits was 

to Malmaison. 

Although Malmaison is inextricably tied to 

Josephine and Napoleon, the house had a 

long history before them. The existence of a 

manor house on this spot is recorded in papers 

from 1376. In 1390 it was bought by a Parisian 

tradesman and sergeant-at-arms, Guillaume 

Goudet whose descendants owned the 


property for 373 years, and it passed through 

several hands before the Bonapartes bought it. 

Josephine’s son inherited the house. It was 

later bought by Queen Marie-Christine of 

Spain and eventually sold in 1861 to Emperor 

Napoleon III, Josephine’s grandson and 

Napoleon I’s nephew (Josephine’s daughter 

Hortense married Louis Bonaparte, brother of 

Napoleon Bonaparte). 

The Council Chamber where the Council of Ministers held 169 meetings 

between 1801 and 1892. It takes the shape of a military tent. Madame Mère 

(Napoleon’s mother) watches over the proceedings from the left and Josephine 

from the right. 

The billiard-room has been restored as it was in Josephine’s day 

Josephine’s bedchamber reconstituted as precisely as 

possible by Napoleon III. The bed is the one she died in. 

The second floor is dedicated to Napoleon’s 

exile to Saint Helena and to his death. There 

are many mementos including the tableware, 

furniture and personal items he used. 

The gardens are gorgeous! Josephine 

expanded the 70 hectares she’d originally 

bought, to 726 hectares. She loved English- 

The dining-room has remained in the same location since 

1703. The décor has been restored as it would have been in 

Josephine’s era but the furniture is not the original 

The library 

Malmaison was eventually donated to the 

French state and became a museum in 1906. 

It’s the Napoleon III version of the house 

that we see today, beautifully restored and 

filled with fabulous artworks and furnishings. 

On the first floor the rooms are sumptuously 

decorated, filled with paintings and objets 

d’art, furniture and gorgeous chandeliers. 

Josephine’s bedroom features gold and 

deep red furnishings, containing her original, 

curtained bed in which she breathed her 

last. A billiard room, dining room, council 

room are all beautifully furnished. The library 

is spectacular, with several hundred books 

embossed with the letters “BP” for Bonaparte. 

The walls and ceiling are hung with striped 

twill to resemble the inside of a military 

commander’s tent. It was here in this room 

that Napoléon created the Légion d’Honneur, 

France’s highest order of merit, and worked 

on the Code Napoléon, France’s first legal 

framework, still in use today. 


Tour the beautiful Loire Valley at your own pace 

with a guided e-bike holiday 

Rose garden 

Napoleon’s bedchamber 

style gardens and hired a series of landscape 

architects to work on the house and gardens. 

Josephine cultivated rare and exotic 

plants, sometimes from seeds, which she 

acquired thanks to her network of botanists, 

nurserymen and scientists, and even the 

French Navy, who at Napoleon’s command, 

was enlisted to confiscate any plants or rose 

seeds from ships at sea. And Josephine’s 

purchases from the British nursery Kennedy 

and Lee, were granted safe passage through 

a naval blockade Napoleon ordered when 

France and England were at war. 

Josephine cultivated dahlias, camellias, 

hibiscus, tree peonies and black lily magnolia, 

amongst 200 or so other plants, when they 

were first introduced to France. An orangery 

contained 300 pineapple trees. But it was 

roses that Josephine (whose real name was 

actually Rose, but Napoleon preferred to 

call her Josephine, her second name), had 

a passion for, and she assembled more than 

250 varieties, both botanical (wild) and 

horticultural (bred) from central Asia, Europe 

and the Americas. It was the largest collection 

in the world at that time. 

Josephine ordered a series of drawings of her 

rarest plants from famous illustrator Pierre- 

Joseph Redouté and the resulting, sumptuously 

illustrated book “Jardin de la Malmaison” 

published in 1803-04, played an indisputable 

role in the fame of Malmaison’s rose-garden. 

It’s a fascinating visit, a unique, historic castle, 

and for bonus points, the lovely Park Bois- 

Préau is next door, the perfect place for a 

picnic lunch. 

Opening hours, how to get there and details: 

musees-nationaux-malmaison.fr 

A statue of Jospehine in 

the Bois-Réau park 

Slow Down And Enjoy The View 

www.loirebrakes.com 


Three French cities 

for a Fabulous 

Fall Break 

Strasbourg 

Alsace – Strasbourg 

Strasbourg is renowned for its pretty as a 

picture old town. Fairy-tale-like half-timbered 

buildings line the cobbled streets, its watery 

arteries are straddled by quaint bridges and 

the Cathedral whose spire soars over the city 

is world famous. It’s a great city for cycling 

and walking, perfect with those cooler fall 

temperatures. Discover the canals, islands, 

picturesque bridges, and bucolic quays of 

the city. Head out along the banks of the 

Ill, a tributary of the river Rhine which winds 

its way around the historic old town and the 

breath-taking historic quarter Petite France. 

Indulge in the regional cuisine from sauerkraut 

to Flammekueche, and local wines – we 

recommend a wine tasting experience at one 

of the oldest wine shops in the world – hidden 

underneath the hospital car park! 

Grand Square Lille 

Hauts-de-France – Lille 

Strasbourg 

When the temperatures cool and the sun-loving crowds thin out, 

it’s a great time to take a French city break. 

Lille has cultural venues by the bucket load, 

is fabulous for foodies and its cobbled streets 

and dazzling architecture make it feel a bit 

like a miniature Paris, but with a flamboyant 

Flemish vibe. The Palais des Beaux Arts lives 

up to its name, it really is a grand palace and 

one of the largest museums in France. It has 

the second biggest collection of fine arts 

outside of Paris with exhibits from antiquity 

Lille 


enjoy its winding lanes, dotted with cafés, art 

galleries and designer boutiques, and visit the 

Vieille Charité, a former alms-house now a 

museum and cultural centre. Head to MuCEM 

(Museum of Civilizations of Europe and the 

Mediterranean). Clothed in concrete lace, 

it’s an incredible architectural masterpiece. 

Don’t miss a visit to the rooftop terrace via an 

outdoor walkway (you don’t have to enter the 

museum to go there). From here you have the 

most fabulous views over the Mediterranean. 

Embark on a Timeless Journey: 

Discover the Soul of the Loire Valley 

Unveil the secrets of ancient châteaux 

and savor the enchanting landscapes 

with our expertly guided tours 

Palais des Beaux Arts Lille 

to contemporary, including all the greats 

from Rubens, Goya and Monet to Van Gogh, 

Picasso and Chagall. Hop on the tram to 

Roubaix in the suburbs to discover the world 

famous La Piscine, an art-deco swimming pool 

transformed into a museum. 

Enjoy the local dishes carbonnade (beef stew 

made with beer), Maroilles (a very stinky but 

totally delicious cheese) and leave room for 

a waffle from Meert patisserie where they’ve 

been making sweet things since 1761. Watch 

the world go by in the grand central square, 

Place du Général-de-Gaulle, the beating heart 

of Lille. It’s lined with magnificent ancient 

buildings embellished with Flemish facades, 

now transformed into lively bars and shops. 

loirevalleychateautours.com/tours 

Provence – Marseille 

In the port city of Marseille, the temperatures 

remain mild, and the days are often sunny 

throughout the fall season. Wander the Vieux 

Port area and watch the fishermen sell their 

just caught catch of the day. Strike a pose 

under the giant mirrored sunshade designed 

by Norman Foster which gives you upside 

down views over the port. Ride the Little 

Train up to the Notre-Dame de la Garde 

Basilica which watches over the city. Stroll 

the picturesque Panier neighbourhood and 

68 | The Good Life France Panier neighbourhood Marseille 


© dulezidar via Canva 

Want autumn thrills? 

TAKE A Corsican 

road trip 

Corsica is an island of bewitching 

beauty, wild and unspoiled, a place that 

steals your heart says Dana Faracos. 

Twilight deepened the reds of the rock and 

green of the maquis as I drove from Pitretu 

Bicchisgia to Aullène in southern Corsica. I 

couldn’t remember when I last saw another 

soul. The stillness was so complete I began to 

wonder if I ever would again. 

When Corsica starts to get uncanny, music is 

the antidote. I put on the Choeur d’Hommes 

de Sartène and turned up the volume. First 

one, then another, and then a third deep 

male voice welled up in an archaic, haunting 

tide of polyphony. As their voices surged, the 

mountains reverberated, recognizing music 

emanating from their deepest granite roots, 

and they let me reach Aullène and my bed at 

the Hotel de la Poste. It was peaceful enough, 

except for the occasional bloodcurdling shriek. 

‘Des hiboux – Owls,’ the owner explained at 

breakfast. 

Driving around Corsica in October when the 

autumnal colours glow and the beach-loving 

tourists are gone, is exhilarating, sublime, 

sometimes terrifying. Corsica’s nickname, ‘Ile 

de Beauté’ may sound like a tourist slogan, 

but it’s actually the translation of Corsica’s 

ancient Greek name Kalliste, ‘the most 

beautiful’ – not a title one imagines that 

the Greeks, who know a thing or two about 

islands, would have bestowed lightly. 

It’s also often lonely. Napoleon said ‘I 

would recognize my island with my eyes 

closed, by nothing more than the scent 

of the maquis’ – yet the maquis is a sign 

of abandonment. Ever since World War I, 

when 40,000 Corsicans (out of the thenpopulation 

of 320,000) never returned 

home, an emerald tide of Mediterranean 

scrub has steadily encroached on vast tracts 

of arable land. Maquis laps at the fringes of 

tiny granite hamlets, many of them teetering 

on impossible, breathtaking spurs – superbly 

photogenic, but geographical hemophiliacs, 

bleeding inhabitants. 

The next morning, I drove to the famous 

Col de Bavella, where the towering crimson 

spikes rise over a yawning abyss. Laricio pines, 

contorted by the wind, cling to impossible 

rocks, all sharply defined by the clearest of 

lights, as if the landscape were trying to break 

out of the straitjacket of three dimensions. I 

thought of Rilke’s line, ‘For beauty is nothing 

but the beginning of terror...’. 


That afternoon I drove up the east coast to 

the Castagniccia, the biggest chestnut forest 

in the world. Some trees have trunks the size 

of garages. Once this was the most densely 

populated rural area in Europe; today it’s a 

poster child of depopulation. ‘The children 

visit in the summer, but spend their days on 

the beach,’ sighed the lady who offered me a 

coffee in Piazzole, a blip on the map famous 

for its church door, carved and painted by a 

bandit who hid in the church attic in 1774. 

‘But it’s so lovely here,’ I said, watching tendrils 

of mist rise like sinuous ghosts through the 

trees. ‘If I were your daughter, I’d stay here.’ I 

imagined a fairy tale life in the woods, but my 

hostess laughed. 

‘If you were my daughter, you’d be picking 

chestnuts. That would change your mind!’ 

She described the backbreaking labour of 

harvesting chestnuts on steep slopes, loading 

them onto donkeys, then roasting and grinding 

them into flour for cakes and Pietra beer, 

which has been a boon for the area since it 

was invented in 1996. 

© Sasha64f via Canva 

Castigniccia’s tiny roads resemble vermicelli 

on the map. As I pootled along in third gear 

the alternating bursts of sun through the 

of chestnut canopies were hypnotic, when 

suddenly around yet another hairpin bend, 

three black horses galloped towards me, like 

Ring Wraiths hunting Frodo. I quickly pulled 

over as they flew past on pounding hooves. 

Cows, pigs, wild boar – Corsica’s free-range 

animals definitely add to the motoring thrills. 

The horses were the ad hoc welcoming 

committee for Morosaglia. The village 

overlooks Corsica’s highest peak, 2706m 

Monte Cintu, the central mountain range that 

appears to roll back into infinity, making the 

island seem larger than it is. And size does 

matter, as one discovers in the house-museum 

of Pasquale Paoli, the Corsican ‘Babbu di a 

Patria’ (Father of the Nation). Paoli dreamed 

big, and had he had a bigger stage, he might 

have been the Corsican who changed history 

instead of Napoleon. 

There’s not a lot to see chez Paoli, but there’s 

enough to make you understand why the 

Corsicans are so proud of him. In 1755, at 

age 30, he led a war of independence against 

Genoa and made Corsica the first democratic 

republic since ancient times, with a constitution 

based on the sovereignty of the people and the 

separation of powers. Paoli even gave women 

the vote; thanks to Napoleon, it would be 190 

years before French women would have a 

chance. ‘Long live Paoli!’ was a battle cry in the 

American Revolutionary War. 

For all that, the independent republic of 

Corsica never stood a chance. Genoa’s 

response to the revolt was to sell the island to 

France in 1768, and it didn’t take the French 

long to crush Paoli’s army. His simple tomb is 

in a chapel next to the house. I was happy to 

see that even in remote Morosaglia, Paoli gets 

far more flowers than that other Corsican in 

his la-di-da tomb in Paris’s Invalides. 

That night in my hotel just outside Corte, 

a sharp crack of lightning put paid to the 

lights. The hotel is located in the stupendous 

Restonica gorge, and in the darkness the 

booming thunder, drilling rain and rushing 

river just outside my room were so unearthly 

that I just had to turn to the eeriest chapter in 

Dorothy Carrington’s excellent monograph on 

Corsica, Granite Island. It’s called ‘The Night 

Hunters of the Soul.’ 

It might be in the Med, but historically 

Corsica was an introspective place, an island 

of shepherds. Carrington, who first visited 

in 1948, was lured by a waiter’s description 

of carved stones at Filitosa, where she had 


the good luck to be on hand when several 

4000-year-old statue-menhirs (now a World 

Heritage Site) were excavated. She spent the 

next fifty years delving into the island’s past 

and concluded that some traditional beliefs 

go back to the time of Filitosa (some 8000 

years ago). 

The most striking was the existence of a parallel 

‘Other World’, a dream world of implacable 

destiny, where all events are played out 

beforehand. Our world may seem real, but we 

are only shadow puppets going through preordained 

motions. In the old days, Corsicans 

visited the Other World in their dreams; 

even Paoli, a key figure of the Enlightenment 

Movement, ‘saw’ his friend the mayor of Paris 

die on the guillotine before it happened. 

No one has better access to the Other World 

than the mazzeri, men and women born with 

an irresistible ‘calling’ to hunt. While they sleep, 

their spirits roam the maquis, and when they 

are about to strike their prey, they recognize 

the animals as people they know – who 

inevitably soon fall ill or die. Carrington, who 

interviewed several mazzeri, concluded their 

‘calling’ was a last relic of Paleolithic hunting 

magic. As the thunder boomed, I shivered. 

The next day, I took the squiggly D39 through 

the chestnuts to see the Pisan church of Santa 

Maria, a little gem that made the 16km of 

meanderings worthwhile. 

In the early Middle Ages, the Pisans built 300 

churches in Corsica, each a masterpiece of 

perfectly cut stone. They were part of Pisa’s 

mission to re-establish Christianity; one of the 

few things we know about Dark Ages, when 

the island was held by Saracens, is that they 

thought the Corsicans were all sorcerers. 

Santa Maria, now lost amid the holm oaks, 

may mark a forgotten ancient sacred place: 

near the church stands an extremely thin, a 

Giacometti statue-menhir with staring eyes, 

howling mouth and a sword. And a short 

walk away, there was the 3000-year-old 

Petra Frisgiata, a menhir covered with 595 

unfathomable symbols. 

It was like many places in inner Corsica, 

uncanny and beautiful in its solitude. I sat on 

a rock and pondered the statue-menhir. The 

only sound was my own breathing. Even here, 

on an intimate scale it seemed as if nature 

wanted to burst out of three dimensions… but 

wasn’t time the fourth dimension? Maybe the 

fifth dimension was the Other World? I tried 

to channel my inner Corsican; I unfocused my 

eyes, trying to dissolve the present… 

I slowly became aware of a second figure by 

the statue-menhir, slowly walking towards me. 

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Actually, I slid 

off the rock and went down on my bottom. He 

hurried over. 

‘Are you all right?’ he asked. He was 

bespectacled and middle-aged, and when my 

heart slowed down, I gasped: 

‘I’m fine. I just thought you were a mazzeru!’ 

He looked at me in astonishment. ‘A mazzeru!’ 

he chuckled. ‘Wait until I tell my wife. No, I’m 

a postman, wanting you to move your car – it’s 

blocking the road.’ 

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Le Weekend in: LYON 

as locals call it (due to its four corner towers), 

was dedicated to the Virgin Mary in thanks for 

saving Lyon from the Black Death in the 17 th 

century and as a thank you to God for sparing 

the city from invasion during the Franco- 

Prussian War. 

Inside is extraordinary. Colourful mosaics 

– Neo-Byzantine style – and stained-glass 

windows vie for attention. It’s a major place of 

pilgrimage with some 2 million pilgrims visiting 

each year. The first Bishop of Gaul was Lyon’s 

Saint Photunis, and the city is where some of the 

earliest martyrs of the Christian religion died. 

Head behind the Basilica for outstanding 

views over the city and Lyon’s “Eiffel Tower”, a 

replica of the top third of the Paris original. On 

a clear day you can see as far as Mont Blanc 

in the French Alps. 

Basilica Notre Dame 

© Delphine Castel, Lyon Tourism 

A cultural hub with museums galore, Roman remains, and one of Europe’s most 

extensive Renaissance districts, known as the ‘World capital of gastronomy’ and 

flanked by world class vineyards – Lyon is a first-rate weekend destination says 

Janine Marsh. 

Statue of Saint Michel above the Basilica © Gael Fontaine 

Essential Lyon 

Start your visit on top of Fourvière Hill where 

Lyon was founded by the Romans in 43 BC 

– they called it Lugdunum, the Hill of Light. It 

grew to be one of the largest Roman cities in 

Gaul and was the birthplace of the Emperor 

Claudius in 10 BC. The Romans had to take 

chest-thumping hike up the steep slopes – 

save yourself, hop on the fabulous funicular, 

nicknamed the Ficelle, the string, it’s been 

ferrying passengers up and down for more 

than 100 years. 

The great Basilica of Notre-Dame crowns the 

hill, and it’s well worth a visit even if you’re not 

into churches. “The upside-down elephant” 

Amphitheatre © Gaël Fontaine 

Roman amphitheatres 

A short walk from the Basilica, plunge into the 

past and explore Lyon’s Gallo-Roman past. It’s 

an astonishing sight to see the “large theatre”, 

the oldest and one of the biggest in Roman 

Gaul. Built into the hill and astonishingly wellpreserved, 

it could host 10,700 spectators 

and put on tragedies and comedies. And even 

more astonishing, right next to it, another 

amphitheatre “the odeon”, the “small” 

theatre, it could seat 3,000, and was kept for 

music and reading. Every summer a festival 

of music, dance, opera, drama and circus are 

hosted here, it’s incredible that more than 

2000 years after the theatre first echoed to 

the sound of applause, it’s still going on. Close 

by, the Lugdunum Museum is fascinating and 

full of historic treasures. 

From here, you can either hop back on the 

funicular to go downtown or walk down via the 

pretty Rosarie Gardens, and a series of steep 

streets and steps, or take the 573 steps of the 

Nicolas de Lange staircase. 

Vieux Lyon and its traboules 

At the bottom of the hill, Lyon spreads out 

around two rivers, the Rhône and the Saône. 

There are four UNESCO-listed districts 

in Lyon but if you only have time for one, 

walkable Vieux Lyon is a must. 

Lyon has long been prosperous which naturally 

made people want to live there. Up until 

the 12 th century, newcomers simply built 

somewhere to live, so the authorities created 

a law to restrict building space which resulted 

in people building in gaps between existing 

houses which meant a long walk to get around 

them. So they created ‘traboules’, short cuts, 

between the buildings. You can wander some 

of these pickled-in-the-past passageways, 

90% are private and inaccessible, the rest 

are open from 10h to 18h. They date from 


Boucherie Massot at Les Halles 

that features a wide range of sets used on 

film shoots donated by major European and 

American film studios. 

Vieux Lyon © Delphine Castel, Lyon Tourism 

the 13 th to the 17 th century, and they’re lined 

with buildings, galleries and shops, a genuine 

medieval labyrinth. 

In the 15 th century, wealthy Italians arrived 

to trade at the famous commercial fairs of 

Lyon. They made fortunes and built beautiful 

mansions and palaces, many of which survive, 

like the Palazzo Grandi, which now hosts two 

museums. They also bought silk with them. 

And French King Francis 1, who adored silk, 

encouraged the Italian silk weavers to set 

up shop, and train the French. In 1536, he 

granted Lyon the right to produce silk and gold 

thread, making it the silk capital of France, 

and it still is. In its heyday, centred around the 

Croix-Rousse district, up to 18,000 people 

were employed in the silk industry. Pop into 

the shop/gallery of the Ames Soeurs (soul 

sisters) who bring the work of local artists to 

life making their art into gorgeous silk scarves. 

There’s so much to see and do in Lyon, but if 

you have time, hop on the tram to the Musée 

des Confluences. Within the architecturally 

extravagant building – a tangle of metal and 

glass that makes you think a UFO has landed 

in the city – lifts, escalators and stairs take 

Maison de la Tour Rose, an emblem of Lyon, built in the mid 1500s. 

King Henry IV stayed here when he married Marie de Medici at Lyon Cathedral 

you from one level to another for the most 

extraordinary exhibition of the history of life, 

everything from 150-million-year-old fossils 

to luxury cars and waffle makers. It’s weird, 

whacky and truly wonderful. 

Lumière Museum 

Cinema was born in Lyon and the Musée 

Lumière is unique and brilliant, located in 

the former home of the Lumière family, 

you’ll discover the early history of film and of 

brothers August and Louis Lumière and their 

contribution to photography and the movies. 

Le Café Lumière next to the museum is great 

for a light lunch or early dinner 

And, if you’re a film buff, the Musée Cinéma et 

Miniature is one-of-a-kind in Europe exhibition 

The foodie bit 

Eating out in Lyon: It’s hard to know where 

to start. Lyon has the most restaurants per 

inhabitant of any city in France – one per 

300 people. Eating well is a way of life here. 

If you had lunch and dinner out every single 

day, it would take you more than 10 years to 

enjoy every restaurant. Luckily for you, I have 

done the hard work and tried several – all that 

walking up hills gives you an appetite! 

Les Halles Bocuse: The covered market 

named in honour of Lyon’s late great chef Paul 

Bocuse typifies what gives Lyon its nickname 

“world capital of gastronomy.” I’ve been to a 

lot of markets in France but never one quite 

like this, the most amazing food stalls, stars of 

the food world and multiple MOFs (Meilleurs 

Ouvriers de France, the crème de la crème 

of their profession from cheese to meat and 

everything in between). 

At 10am I found myself seated at a table at 

Boucherie Bobosse for a tasting tour which 

started with a glass of Beaujolais red followed 

by gourmet plates of food – starting with 

rosette and saucisson of Lyon. A sausage 

called Jesus (I asked, no one knows why) 

Tasting tour, Les Halles 


Au Poelon d'Or © Robwer Brice Lyon Tourism 

In the kitchen at Paul Bocuse © Aurélio Rodriguez 

Quenelle 

followed. Then more wine, terrine, Ardêche 

Pate and grattons, fatty pork scratchings, 

known as the ‘peanuts of Lyon’ – I was 

beginning to feel a bit porky myself! 

Shoppers drifted by admiring our table of food 

and wine and wished us bon apetit. I could tell 

they thought I was wise even if I’m not French, 

I mean what could be better than gluttonous 

indulgence – before lunch. Believe me you 

will think you won’t want anything to eat after 

this… but you’re in Lyon, you’ll give in, it’s futile 

to resist its culinary charms. 

Experience a true bouchon: 

There are hundreds of 

bouchons (restaurants which 

specialise in homemade regional Lyonnaise 

dishes) in the city, but only those with an 

official symbol are considered the ‘real deal’ 

by the locals. Poêlon d’Or is one of them. 

Expect traditional Lyonnais fare such as 

quenelle (the best in Lyon I was told by a 

customer), made with pike and puff pastry, 

andouillette sausage with old-fashioned 

mustard sauce, and the sweet specialty of 

Lyon – pink praline tart(see our recipe on 

page 144). 

Locals love: Bleuvert bistrot, run by two 

young chefs, the food is tapas style, seasonal, 

local and outstandingly good. 

Auberge du Pont de Collonges: I’ve saved 

the best for last. The restaurant of one of the 

world’s great chefs, Paul Bocuse (1926-2018), 

AKA “the Pope of Gastronomy” continues 

his legacy. It was here that as a young chef 

he won his first Michelin Star in 1957. Paul 

Bocuse went on to win many more stars and 

become a star himself. Jean-Philippe Merlin, 

the dining room manager of the restaurant 

for 44 years assured me that the chef would 

most certainly recognise the restaurant 

today – little has changed. And many of the 

customers here have been coming for years, 

as did their parents and their grandparents. 

This place is an institution and as a 

foodie, coming here was for me a bit of a 

pilgrimage. The dishes are extraordinary, 

works of art, sigh-inducing taste sensations. 

A lemon-infused croissant, tiny jewel-like 

amuse bouches, sculpted mushrooms, black 

truffe soup a la President Valery Giscard 

d’Estaing, a dish Bocuse created for the 

Elysée Palace on receiving the Chevalier 

de la Legion d’honneur, divine wines. If chef 

Bocuse is looking down, I’m sure he must 


An elaborately sculpted mushroom amuse bouche 

Not just a cake – a work of art 

https://frenchcountryadventures.com/ 

be delighted with how his legacy is being 

upheld by a who’s who crew of some of the 

finest chefs in France. 

Where to stay: 

Recently opened, the 4* Hotel Pullman 

4 is seriously funky, and right next to the 

train station (with direct access) though the 

big, comfy rooms are silent, it’s in a brilliant 

location. There’s also a great restaurant with 

a South American vibe – and the breakfast 

buffet is big and brilliant. 

For a country feel in the city itself, the 

Lyon Country House is a secret oasis. A 

castle within a park, you enter via a door in a 

residential street and have absolutely no idea 

what lies behind. With various B&B options 

including perched cabins, I stayed in a B&B 

room in the former guard tower. Run by the 

lovely Jean-Max and wife Louise, it’s an under 

the radar treasure. 

Hotel de l’Abbaye is in a quiet area of 

Lyon and easy walking distance to the heart of 

the city. Boutique, bijou, cosy, arty – it’s a little 

gem! 

Getting there: By fast train to Lyon Part-Deux 

(in the centre of town) from Paris the journey 

takes from 1h 52m. Regional trains are served 

from Lyon-Perrache station, also in the city. 

Lyon-Saint Exupéry International Airport is the 

third biggest in France and is 25km from the 

city centre. 

Public Transport: Excellent metro, bus and 

tram network. 

Private chauffeur/airport transfers: 

TeleportaLyon.com 

Website for Lyon Tourist Office where you 

can book guided tours, tasting tours and more: 

visiterlyon.com 

Tip: Get a city pass which gives you access to 

transport and museums. 



© Robert Brice Lyon Tourism 

The new mères 

Lyonnaises 

Female chefs made Lyon’s bouchon’s legendary. Anna Richards explores how 

they’re now helping to keep a centuries old Lyonnais tradition alive: mâchon. 

Everyone knows French breakfast. A sweet, and 

dare I say it, rather insubstantial meal, a typical 

petit déjeuner is a croissant, brioche or tartine 

slathered in salted butter and jam. 

Brunch culture hasn’t taken off, save for a 

couple of expat-heavy enclaves. When you 

do find a restaurant offering a brunch menu, 

it tends to be a Sunday exclusive, served 

at midday (that’s just lunch, right?) and 

composed of far too many courses. You might 

be able to get a glass of wine, but certainly no 

limitless mimosas. 

Long before bottomless brunch became so key 

to a millennial’s social calendar that it came to 

define a whole generation, the Lyonnais were 

drinking carafes of Beaujolais as the clock 

struck nine. The accompaniment? No poached 

eggs, smoked salmon and avocado toast, but 

liver, kidney and tripe. 

Mâchon, this hearty morning feast of offal and 

wine, was traditionally served to workers on 

their lunch break. Lyon’s silk industry boomed 

for some 300 years, between the mid-16 th and 

mid-19 th centuries, and many weavers would 

begin work in the middle of the night. By the 

morning, they were famished, and a pain au 

chocolat was hardly going to cut it. 

Elsewhere in the country, this combination of 

a savoury breakfast washed down with wine 

is known as a casse-croûte, and will still often 

be eaten by manual labourers. In Lyon, where 

women-led bouchons already served up a unique 

menu of tripe, calf’s head and andouillette, 

mâchon became a cultural institution. 

“People often come once or twice a week,” says 

Florence Perrier, owner of Le Café du Peintre in 

Lyon’s 6 th arrondissement. “There are very few 

tourists; it’s a local’s thing. I always try to make 

time to have a drink with them after their meal.” 

In the past, most bouchons in Lyon were run 

by women. The most famous of these women, 

Eugénie Brazier, was the first chef ever to be 

awarded six Michelin stars in 1933. No-one 

even matched her for over 60 years. As Perrier 

says, though, Brazier was far from the only 

woman shaping Lyon’s culinary scene. 


Florence Perrier 

“I was born in a restaurant, and my first 

experience of cooking was watching and 

learning from my mother and grandmother,” 

says Perrier. “The mères Lyonnaises shaped 

Lyon’s dining scene, but there are dozens of 

them whose names we’ll never know.” 

This reference to mère wasn’t just to do 

with gender, but the many parental duties 

performed by the women running bouchons. 

“Many of them, my grandmother included, took 

on a multitude of different tasks,” says Perrier. 

“Silk merchants had to travel a lot, so often 

the mères Lyonnaises would do their laundry 

between journeys, or even act as bankers. 

The merchants were paid in cash, and my 

grandmother regularly looked after the wages 

of a man who often travelled for work.” 

While in the times of Perrier’s grandmother, 

mâchon was typically prepared by women, Le 

Café du Peintre is now one of only a handful 

of women-run bouchons in the city. 

“There’s also the Bouchon des Filles and 

Chez Hugon,” says Valérie Girod, president 

of the mâchon-munching society, Mâchon 

Valérie Girod, president of Mâchon des Filles and chef Sandrine Huit 

©Delphine Castel, Lyon Tourism 

des Filles, “and the bouchon we’re sitting in 

now, Café Lobut.” 

The chef Sandrine Huit later comes to join us 

for a cigarette. The rain thunders down on the 

patio, the sky stripped of all colour that isn’t 

a bruised grey which matches the pavement. 

Behind, the bouchon’s awning is scarlet. 

Mâchon des Filles was formed 20 years ago. The 

existing mâchon group, Les Francs- Mâchons, 

was staunchly traditional. Members had to be 

over 30, had to have been recommended by two 

other members, and spaces were limited. Most 

limiting of all, though, Les Francs-Mâchons was 

exclusively male. 

Girod set up Mâchon des Filles with a 

handful of other women (two of whom 

would go on to found the Bouchon des 

Filles). Provided that their members were 

legal adults, there was no age limit. They 

welcomed a range of nationalities (counting 

Brits and Americans among their number) 

and you didn’t need a personal connection. 

If someone attended the required number of 

mâchons and got on well with the rest of the 

club, it was good enough for them. 

Membership rules may be more relaxed, but 

those around the mâchon itself are taken 

extremely seriously. 

“We begin eating at 9am on the dot. 

We don’t choose what we eat, and that’s 

what makes a true mâchon,” says Girod. 

“In the past, the chef would have heated 

up leftovers from the day before. It’s a bit 

like going to your grandma’s and being 

told, ‘right, I’ve got a cut of meat and a 

slice of cake from yesterday, so that’s 

what you’re having.’” 


Chef Bastien Depietri, le Bistrot d’Abel 

Five Lyonnais bouchons 

for a mâchon 

Le Café du Peintre: The locals’ haunt 

in Lyon 6, with three generations of 

knowledge handed down, mother to 

daughter. Florence Perrier’s favourite dish 

on the menu is veal liver. 

Le Café du Peintre 

The fact that there’s often no menu doesn’t 

stop the women from experimenting. 

“We had a Mexican mâchon recently, 

prepared by a Mexican chef, Carla Kirsch 

Lopez, owner of Alebrije,” says Girod. 

“Tacos with tête de veau (calf’s head) — a 

delicious fusion.” 

Les 4G: A favourite with the boy’s club, the 

Francs-Mâchons, hidden in high-rise Lyon 

9, with few tourists. It doesn’t get much 

more authentic than this. 

Le Bistrot d’Abel: The little sibling of what 

claims to be Lyon’s oldest bouchon, chef 

Bastien Depietri uses his grandmother’s 

recipes to create his dishes. Reservations 

essential. 

Café Lobut: The best for walk-ins, Café 

Lobut opens from 8am on weekdays 

and Sandrine Huit never lets anyone go 

hungry. Just don’t turn up unannounced 

with the whole mâchon club. 

Bouchon des Filles: From mâchon eaters to 

mâchon makers, Isabelle and Laura inject a 

much-needed dose of girl power into Lyon’s 

bouchon scene. 

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Artist Marin Montagut has always collected objects imbued with a poetic soul 

that sparks the imagination. In his travels across France, he has met remarkable 

dealers and passionate amateurs and in his book: Extraordinary Collections – 

French Interiors, Flea Markets, Ateliers, he takes us into the magical world of their 

extraordinary collections. In this extract, it’s the incredible Paris flea markets that 

are highlighted as the perfect hunting ground for treasure seekers… 

Collection of author Patrick Mauriès Photo © Pierre Musellec, from Extraordinary Collections, Flammarion 

The art of collecting – 

A glimpse at the creative world of collections, Marin Montagut's house in Normandy Photo © Pierre Musellec, from Extraordinary Collections, Flammarion 

French style 

Established on the outskirts of Paris, Les Puces 

de Paris Saint-Ouen flea and antique market 

is the oldest and largest of its kind in the 

world. In the early twentieth century, curious 

people began flocking to what had become 

a fashionable area frequented by artists 

and writers. Colette came here In search of 

crystal paperweights to expand her collection. 

Yves Tanguy, Alberto Giacometti, and André 

Breton were frequent visitors to the markets 

where, according to Breton, you don’t find 

objects, they find you. 

Gradually, new markets mushroomed up on 

the site, each one drawing a different king of 

customer. The Paul Bert Serpette, Vernaison, 

and Dauphine markets, villages in themselves 

are home to charming stalls of antiques and 

designer objects. Bargain hunters head here 

in search of rare finds, or simply to wander 

La Maison Courtin, © Pierre Musellec, 

from Extraordinary Collections, Flammarion 

La Maison Courtin, La Chartre-sur-le-Loir Photo 

90 © Pierre | The Musellec, Good Life from France Extraordinary Collections, Flammarion 

Cup collection at the flea markets of Saint-Ouen Photo 

© Pierre Musellec, from Extraordinary Collections, Flammarion 


Mood board Photo © Pierre Musellec, from Extraordinary Collections, Flammarion 

through this enormous outdoor museum 

that also offers food and drink. Here, in 

places whose soul and poetry remain intact, 

collectors will always find something to stoke 

their enthusiasm. There is something for 

everyone and every budget, from the most 

valuable of objects to those traded for a 

handful of coins. 

Take a stroll around and you’ll encounter 

statues from antiquity to the present day, 

furniture from every era, carpets and 

tapestries, collections of paintings, and myriad 

frames-from the very simple, to finely sculpted 

or gilded marvels. 

Linger at stalls to admire the wealth of 

textiles: bright or faded silks, wall hangings, 

and precious passementeries, some of them 

recovered from the sale of a luxury hotel. 

One of the traders will let you in on a secret of 

the best chefs: they buy their equipment here, 

where they know they’re sure to find kitchen 

utensils that are not available anywhere else. 

For some customers, the sight of the stacked 

shelves will conjure up childhood memories 

of time spent with grandparents: enameled 

coffee pots, cups and bowls in faience adorned 

with folksy designs, and a whole wall of coffee 

grinders. You can even find old-fashioned 

porcelain, wood, or Bakelite switches to replace 

modern electrical accessories. 

Marin Montagut is a 

French illustrator and 

designer; his Parisian 

boutique is dedicated 

to whimsical decorative 

objects. He is the author 

of Timeless Paris: 

Ateliers, Emporiums, 

Savoir Faire and coauthor 

with Ines de la 

Fressange of Maison: Parisian Chic 

at Home. He has collaborated with brands 

including the Café de Flore, the Comédie- 

Française, Château de Versailles, Pierre 

Frey, and the Ritz Paris. Pierre Musellec 

is a lifestyle photographer; his work 

appeared in Timeless 

© Pierre Musellec 

Paris and the magazines 

Faire and Milk. 

Extraordinary 

Collections is published 

by Flammarion (ISBN 

978-2-08-042198-2) 


The Cult 

of Cassoulet 

As war was raging around the town of 

Castelnaudary, the townspeople faced 

starvation. The English surrounded them, 

the town’s soldiers were dwindling fast, and 

it looked like this southwestern commune 

would be just another notch on English belts in 

what would become the Hundred Years’ War 

(1337-1453). But the people rallied. Gathering 

all they could find – beans, bacon, sausages 

– everything was chucked into a cauldron 

and simmered. This communal effort was 

rewarded, and the southwest’s most famous 

dish was born. Thanks to this newly invented 

cassoulet, their revived energy sent the English 

packing! Defeat could wait another day. 

This is all according to legend anyway. 

And is it any wonder that a dish of such 

extraordinary fortifying effect, so much so 

that it somehow prevented occupation, has 

gone down as the iconic taste of southwest 

France? Little does it matter that this siege 

probably never happened – the Black Prince 

(son of English King Edward III) led a massacre 

of Castelnaudary in 1355 – but legends have a 

sneaky way of becoming fact. Especially when 

it comes to cultural identity. 

For a meal that was apparently made during 

battle, the cassoulet is understandably 

modest; made in a conical clay pot called 

a cassole, hence the name cassoulet, full of 

white beans and certain obligatory meats that 

must amount to 30% of the ingredients. This 

is in accordance with the 1966 ruling of the 

Etats Généraux de Gastronomie Française, a 

quality recognition board for French cuisine 

that evidently doesn’t take cholesterol into 

account. These pivotal ingredients define the 

terroir, but the cassoulet means much more 

than a bowl of stodgy comfort food. 

Within the walls of Carcassonne, red-robed 

and hatted congregants meet, watching 

their newest initiates take their vows before 

officially marking them as members by 

slipping ribboned amulets over their heads. We 

haven’t stumbled into a witches’ coven, no, 

this is the Académie Universelle du Cassoulet. 

And that amulet is a 

miniature cassole 

Founded by chef Jean- 

Claude Rodriguez in 

1998, the Académie’s 

purpose is to honour 

and promote ‘true’ 

cassoulet around 

the world. To the 

Académie, canned 

Amulet © 

Académie Universelle de Cassoulet 

Castelnaudary Cassoulet © Antony Bernabeu 

Ally Mitchell explores the origins of a bean and meat dish 

that is an obsession in France. 

The Cassoulet Brotherhood of Carcassonne © Académie Universelle de Cassoulet, Carcassonne 


‘industrial’ cassoulet is sacrilegious, and the 

members have taken on a mission to uphold 

standards and respect French tradition. The 

70 members dress in sweeping robes, has 

their own cassoulet hymn, and their scripture 

is the work of French culinary master, Prosper 

Montagné. His 1929 book “Le Festin Occitan” 

celebrates his Carcassonne roots and it 

was he who declared “God the father is the 

cassoulet of Castelnaudary, God the Son that 

of Carcassonne, and the Holy Spirit that of 

Toulouse,” confirming the three contenders of 

the unofficial cassoulet competition, doctrine 

that the Académie still preaches. 

Yet this holy trinity may be a reason why 

cassoulet has gone down in history. As the 

chef André Daguin once said, “Cassoulet is 

not really a recipe, it’s a way to argue among 

neighbouring villages”. 

The ‘true’ cassoulet is constantly up for 

debate, as each town has a different 

recipe in their possession. For example, in 

Castelnaudary, the triumvirate of meat is Cassoulet of Carcassonne © Académie Universelle du Cassoulet La Grande Confrérie du Cassoulet © Castelnaudary Tourism 

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France and more... 

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duck confit, pork shoulder and sausage, 

while in Toulouse, it is tweaked so that the 

city’s own Toulouse sausage is celebrated. 

In Carcassonne, it includes mutton or 

partridge depending on who you ask, and 

meanwhile everything you’ve just read is 

uncertain because no two sources can 

agree! Different restaurants within city walls 

take their own creative inspiration. Some 

swear by a crumb topping whereas others 

declare it as heresy, and even the type of 

beans can cause conflict about whether it is 

the Tarbais or flageolet bean. Knowing that 

other local towns claim it as their own injects 

a sense of possessiveness – usually the 

honour of the cassoulet’s origins is bestowed 

on Castelnaudary, allegedly because the 

town has little else to offer in comparison to 

its competitors, yet it is clear that this hasn’t 

put the dispute to rest. Castelnaudary’s La 

Grande Confrérie du Cassoulet – another 

cassoulet brotherhood – has admitted how 

difficult it is to trace its origins “given the 

inflamed passions it provokes”. 

Chef Blasco Carcassonne 


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Toulouse cassoulet banquet © Toulouse A Table 

Even so, clues have been traced – medical 

treatises, historical artefacts, and recipe 

books – back to the 14 th century. The cooking 

tome “Le Viandier” by royal cook of 60 years 

Guillaume Tirel honours stews and casseroles, 

including one in particular that was of pork 

and beans. La Grande Confrérie suspects 

the influence of a medieval culinary work 

by Mohamed of Baghdad who created a 

spiced mutton and legume stew, meaning 

that the cassoulet could be Arabic. However, 

whichever legumes were used are no longer 

celebrated in the modern cassoulet as today’s 

white beans were shipped to Europe from the 

Americas by Christopher Colombus in the 

16 th century. The Queen of France, Catherine 

Medici, then introduced this new ingredient 

and encouraged its cultivation which was 

carried out in the southwest of France. 

The 17 th century was the Belle Epoque of 

French cuisine, yet cassoulet (at that time 

known as ‘estouffat’) was the taste of home 

with housewives simmering the stew over 

the fire for hours at a time, slowly softening 

the beans so they could soak up the meats’ 

fatty flavours. Soon it was named after the 

pot it was cooked in, officially becoming the 

cassoulet. In 1836, the first cassoulet factory 

was opened: Maison Bouissou was established 

in Castelnaudary, making the town the 

epicentre of cassoulet production. 

Occitanie may be fractured because of 

the sheer variety of ‘authentic’ cassoulets, 

but a matter each city can agree on is that 

cassoulet is an occasion for a good old knees 

up. Toulouse’s Place du Capitole transforms 

into a cassoulet banqueting venue every 

September for aficionados to feast and 

Castelnaudary celebrates with an annual 

Fête du Cassoulet – “five days of cassoulet 

and music”, a reason to party if ever there 

was one. As Jean-Claude Rodriguez says, 

“Cassoulet has such a religion… because it's 

the plat de partage… it’s Communion around 

a dish.” 

Carcassonne cassoulet © Académie Universelle du Cassoulet 

Recipe for Castelnaudary cassoulet 

Recipe for Carcassonne cassoulet 


Sauliac-sur-Célé © Teddy Verneuil, Lot Tourisme 

Tucked away in the Occitanie region in 

the south of France, the Lot Department is 

home to dramatic clifftop villages such as 

Rocamadour, famous for its Cité Réligieuse, 

a complex of medieval religious buildings 

clinging perilously to the rockface. There are 

caves and prehistoric art – like the Padirac 

Cave with its underground lakes and unusual 

rock formations which you can visit by boat, 

and the Pech Merle Cave with its prehistoric 

rock art that are so vibrant it’s easy to 

imagine the animals in the pictures leaping 

off the wall when no one is there to see. There 

are historic towns where time seems to have 

stood still, Figeac with its Renaissance town 

houses and medieval alleys, Cahors with its 

14th century bridge, Pont Valentré, which, 

according to legend, the devil helped to build. 

Beautiful villages like pretty as a picture Saint 

Cirq-Lapopie with its Gothic house and the 

ruins of a castle carved into the rock. 

Few know of the Célé Valley which lies 

between Cahors and Figeac, carving its 

way through dramatic limestone plateaus 

and the wild landscape of the Causses du 

Quercy, a UNESCO-listed geopark thanks 

to its cultural heritage and biodiversity. 

The valley is peppered with lush vineyards, 

forests, majestic castles and tiny villages 

with honey-coloured houses nestling at the 

foot of, or perched atop soaring cliffs which 

plunge down to the river Célé as it flows 

from the mountains of Cantal to join the 

river Lot under skies that are said to be the 

purest in France. 

SECRET FRANCE 

The Célé Valley, Lot 

Janine Marsh explores a hidden valley in southern France that the locals call 

the Valley of Paradise… 

Marcilhac-sur-Célé © Teddy Verneuil, Lot Tourisme 


Moulin sur Célé 

Canoeing on the River Célé © J.Morel, Lot Tourisme Château des anglais à Brengues Lot Tourisme © Teddy Verneuil, Lot Tourisme Deirdre and Marc with their children 

This is a place that makes you stop in 

your tracks at every corner because of its 

dramatic and eye-poppingly beautiful natural 

landscape. There’s plenty to do and see here 

from canoeing, kayaking and swimming to 

cycling and horse riding past fields full of 

wildflowers, ruby red poppies in spring, wild 

orchids and carpets of violets, sky blue chicory 

and golden sunflowers in summer. Walkers are 

utterly spoiled, whether you want to walk a 

little or a lot. I wandered through forests where 

the sunlight filtered softly through the leafy 

canopy creating a little magic kingdom just for 

me. And along the river which every morning 

seems to be smothered with a gentle mist so 

that you can’t help but expect to see an arm 

break through the surface holding aloft a 

sword King Arthur style. 

There are cliff top paths with names like the 

“Passage of the English” thanks to a castle 

named the Chateau des anglaise that stood 

here 1000 years ago while at Espagnac- 

Sainte-Eulalie the GR651 hiking route is 

an alternative to the Way of Saint James 

and you’ll often spot pilgrims, laden with 

backpacks, walking on their way to Figeac. 

Little villages with restaurants and cafés that 

look as though they’ve been pickled in the 

past serve traditional dishes alongside a warm 

welcome. The wine is outstanding, the rocky 

terroir and abundant sunshine produce some 

of the finest reds I’ve ever tasted. 

There are village markets and flea markets, 

“foires de brocantes,” in the summer, where 

treasures can be found. And don’t miss the 

Musée de L’insolite, not far from the famed 

Pech Merle, where artist Bertrand Chenu’s 

open-air museum at the foot of an ancient cliff 

full of art created from “less than nothing”, 

objects that would have been thrown away, 

but are now turned into surreal, bizarre and 

humorous artworks that wouldn’t look out of 

place in the Tate Modern in London. 

Discovering this area makes you feel you’d 

like to stay forever – which is exactly what 

happened to Deirdre McGlone and Marc 

Gysling. They first saw their home, le Moulin 

sur Célé, in St. Sulpice in the heart of the 

Villages of honey-coloured houses where time seems to have stood still 

Musée de L'insolite 

Célé Valley whilst browsing the internet. Living 

in Donegal, Ireland where for 30 years they 

owned and managed the legendary Harvey’s 

Point Hotel, they had a yearning to one day 

live in France. The couple often went online, 

looking for “the” property and when they 

spotted a 16th century Mill with a working gite 

for sale, they knew straight away that this was 

the one. 

“This area chose us, we didn’t even look at a map” 

says Deirdre. “For a long time we had harboured 

a dream of having a wee place in France when 

the kids went off to college. In 2020, on a 

stormy Valentine’s Day in Donegal – I remember 

it well, a video of the Mill came up, I just fell 

in love with it there and then. Oh bingo I said, 

we’ll go there and see it for real so we did. It was 

pouring with rain, but we could see how stunning 

and dramatic the scenery is via the Causses 

road as we drove. We arrived at the Mill and it 

was love at first sight. We drove to the office of 

the local notaire there and then. We knew we 

didn’t want to look at anything else. It ticked all 

the boxes, even though we had no boxes.” 


LE MOULIN 

SUR CÉLÉ 

Marcilhac-sur- Célé 

View from one of the bedrooms of the Moulin sur Célé 

View of the Moulin sur Célé with its vineyard in the front garden 

Saint-Sulpice 

After renovating the mill, they opened two 

holiday homes in 2023 and have had rave 

reviews, not just for the laid-back ambiance, 

warm welcome, and unique country-meetscontemporary 

vibe and their passion for 

hospitality, but for the stunning views and 

spectacular location complete with its own 

little beach. 

The Mill is set in its own private parkland with 

vineyards in Saint-Sulpice, a perched village 

clinging to the limestone cliffs, peppered with 

medieval ruins and semi-troglodyte dwellings. 

It’s just 4 km from the stunning village of 

Marcilhac-sur- Célé where the ruins of a grand 

9 th century Benedictine Abbey bear witness 

to the town’s prestigious past. Its winding 

medieval streets are lined with timber houses 

and the friendly boulangerie produces the 

most delicious croissants! 

And just a little further on is Sauliac-sur-Célé, 

a village in the hollow of the cliffs with curious 

troglodyte houses. And the tiny village of 

Espedaillac where you’ll find the Auberge 

Beauvillle with a friendly atmosphere and 

where the menu reflects the local, traditional 

and seasonal cuisine, wine and cheeses - I 

honestly don’t think I’ve ever eaten better. 

“We’re surrounded by nature, the most 

beautiful countryside, gorgeous villages, 

vineyards producing excellent Malbec wine, it 

really is a little bit of paradise. This place just 

exudes wellbeing. Being able to share it with 

others is just the icing on the cake. We feel 

rejuvenated here and so do our guests.” 

Info 

Le Moulin-sur-Cele, luxury holiday 

accommodation in the heart of the 

Valley of Parade, Vallée du Célé 

Tourisme-lot.com 

Tourisme-Figeac.com 

An enchanting luxurious riverside retreat in the beautiful Célé Valley 

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© Kavalenkavadesign via Canva 

PARIS 

Transformed – 

the Belle Epoque 

Georges-Eugène Haussmann ripped up the rule books to transform Paris, 

Mike Rapport, author of City of Light, City of Shadows, looks at his legacy. 

‘Where is it now?’ lamented a popular song 

in 1926 of a lost Paris; ‘the assassination of 

Paris’ wrote the great historian Louis Chevalier 

in 1977 of post-war urbanisation; and now a 

social media hashtag cries ‘SaccageParis’ 

against litter and some new urban innovations. 

Change in a city with a beauty, history and 

variety of neighbourhoods such as Paris will 

always provoke both anger and nostalgia. Yet 

the novelties of the past hundred years have 

inescapably acted on a cityscape that was to 

a great degree shaped by the most dramatic 

transformation of all: the renovations 

driven by Baron Georges Haussmann in the 

nineteenth century. 

Emperor Napoleon III appointed Haussmann 

as Prefect of the Seine in 1853 with a 

sweeping brief: nothing less than the 

transformation of the city itself. Until his 

dismissal in 1870, the Baron deployed a 

veritable army of labourers, levelling old 

tenements, driving through new avenues 

and boulevards; digging the Paris sewers, 

constructing markets and disengaging great 

historic monuments from the obscuring clutter 

of buildings around them. In the process, 

he added two hundred kilometres of new 

streets and 34,000 new buildings, totalling 

214,000 apartments. The aims of this startling 

programme were both practical and symbolic. 

Practically, Haussmann and the Emperor 

wanted to solve the long-acknowledged 

problems of the capital: the narrow, medieval 

streets clogged with carriages, handcarts, 

horses and people, the shocking conditions in 

the overcrowded quarters in the city centre 

(it is hard to imagine that today’s quaint Île 

Saint-Louis was in the mid-nineteenth century 


Paris Opera © MasterLu via Canva 

Parc Monceau © Pascale Gueret via Canva 

one of Paris’ most teeming slum districts), 

dirty water, disease (especially the horrors of 

cholera), the lack of green space and fresh 

air. Haussmann’s mission was to create broad, 

straight avenues and boulevards, to ease the 

flow of traffic, to allow clean air to circulate, 

to ensure a ready supply of fresh water and 

accessibility of food markets, to open up new 

spaces within the old city and to create parks 

as the capital’s green lungs. 

Symbolically, Napoleon III wanted to make 

Paris a fitting capital for his empire, a 

showpiece for the modern France that he was 

working so hard to create. He calculated that 

the renovations would make Parisians more 

prosperous (meeting with mixed results) and 

(correctly) that the city would become more 

of a magnet for visitors than ever before. 

As Haussmann explained, ‘Paris, capital of 

France, metropolis of the civilised world, 

favourite destination of leisured travellers… 

should be a centre of intellectual and artistic 

activity’, as well as France’s beating economic 

and political heart. Earlier regimes had 

tinkered, but Haussmann and Napoleon III 

came to these challenges with an over-arching 

plan for the entire city. 

Ultimately Haussmann created a coherent, 

integrated network of broad, straight streets 

that made rapid movement through the city 

a possibility and connecting its disparate 

quarters. His boulevards were a vital link 

in la grande croisée (‘the great crossing’) 

which sought to connect the different parts 

of the city with a north-south axis along the 

Boulevards Sébastopol and Saint-Michel, 

crossing the great west-east axis of the Rue 

de Rivoli and Rue Saint-Antoine. Of all the 

streets envisaged by Haussmann, the Avenue 

de l’Opéra connecting the Louvre with 

Charles Garnier’s opera house is probably 

the most iconic, although both street and 

theatre were, in the end, completed in the 

1870s after Haussmann’s political fall. Admire 

the view up the broad, angled thoroughfare 

and Garnier’s ornate building stands proudly 

at the far end, presenting a spectacular vista. 

To line the boulevards, a host of architects 

designed apartment buildings according to 

stringent guidelines on height and form that 

now make them so characteristic of Paris, 

with their balcony windows, their ornamented 

façades in light yellow sandstone and their 

zinc mansard roofs that from above give 

the impression of an undulating light grey 

sea. Parisians complained that Haussmann 

was converting Paris into a ‘ville-caserne’, a 

barracks city with regimented streets marked 

by a dreary sameness. Look closer, however, 

and the designers added a myriad of individual 

touches. Haussmann’s purpose overall was to 

ease the flow of traffic, to bring light and air 

to the inhabitants and, in this age of railway 

expansion, to connect train stations with each 

other: look up the Boulevard Sébastopol and 

you will see the Gare de l’Est with its iron and 

glass canopy peering distantly back at you. 

Haussmann also created Paris’ green lungs, 

such as the Bois de Boulogne to the west and 

the Bois de Vincennes with their decorative 

lakes inspired by the Serpentine in London’s 

Hyde Park. Within the city, he landscaped the 

Parc Monceau, the Parc de Montsouris and 

the Buttes-Chaumont, this last spectacular 

for its crags from its days as a quarry for the 

gypsum that gives the exterior plaster on older 

Parisian buildings their grey-tinted whiteness. 

Fresh water was to be delivered to Parisians 

by a series of aqueducts from the rivers of the 

Paris basin, while wastewater was disposed of 

through a new underground sewage system, 

a subterranean network which became 

fashionable to visit once they had opened 

to the public in 1855: ever since, it has been 

possible to take a tour. Food markets were 

given modernised premises: Victor Baltard 

built the capacious iron-and-glass pavilions for 

the food halls at Les Halles: dismantled in the 

early 1970s, they became part of Chevalier’s 

lamented ‘assassination of Paris’, and were 

replaced by a subterranean shopping complex. 

A surviving pavilion has been reconstructed at 

Nogent-sur-Marne. 

To turn Paris into a statement of imperial 

Pavillon Baltard © Poulpy via Wikimedia Commons 

grandeur, Haussmann created vistas on the 

city’s historic monuments by levelling the 

buildings clustering around them. The Prefect 

demolished the warren of streets and old 

houses in front of Notre Dame, creating the 

parvis, the open space from where one can 

truly admire the cathedral’s Gothic towers 

and façade. Sometimes, Haussmann’s work 

reveals some pleasant surprises: walk down the 

Boulevard Henri IV from Bastille towards the 

Île Saint Louis, and you will also be on a direct 

bearing for the distant dome of the Panthéon. 

There was some suspicion that the boulevards 

served a military purpose in a city that had 

risen in revolution as recently as 1848. Broad 

avenues are harder to barricade than crooked, 

narrow streets and they lend themselves 

to troop movements and to the straight 

aim of cannon and musketry. Certainly, in 

paving over the southern segment of the 

Canal Saint-Martin, Haussmann literally 


Haussmann apartments commanded high rents 

bridged an obvious obstacle defending the 

radical artisanal neighbourhoods of the east. 

Moreover, the placing of barracks on or 

near the new boulevards – most notably the 

casernes on today’s Place de la République 

– was just too convenient for the deployment 

of soldiers around the city. The interwar 

philosopher Walter Benjamin suggested that 

Haussmann’s renovations were therefore a 

‘strategic embellishment’. The Prefect himself 

was (perhaps unsurprisingly) coy about spelling 

out any such counter-revolutionary motives. 

Even so, by easing communication within the 

city, Haussmann strengthened the reach of 

the state and the forces of order in the capital. 

There was a heavy price to pay for the glories 

of Haussmann’s Paris. Haussmannisation 

(the term dates to the 1890s) drilled through 

old, long-established neighbourhoods. The 

magnificent type haussmannien apartment 

buildings commanded much higher rents. So 

the artisans and poor fled northwards and 

eastwards to the outskirts of city – to places 

like La Chapelle, La Villette, and the slopes 

of Belleville and Ménilmontant. Haussmann 

formally incorporated these onetime villages 

into the city in 1859 when he added eight 

new arrondissements to the already existing 

twelve (Paris has had 20 arrondissements ever 

since). Yet they were almost literally a world 

apart from the more prosperous central and 

western areas. The striking images of Charles 

Marville, whose photographs documented 

the disappearing Paris, also captured the 

shanty towns – bidonvilles – that grew up on 

the fringes: in all, 350,000 Parisians were 

pushed out from city centre to the eastern and 

northern outliers. These areas would explode 

in anger, hope and revolution in the Paris 

Commune of 1871. Just as later urbanisation 

would evoke strong criticisms, so too did those 

of Napoleon III’s Prefect. Born in Paris but 

raised in Alsace, Haussmann was dubbed the 

‘Alsatian Attila’ for his ruthlessness. Charles 

Baudelaire devoted a series of poems to 

Paris in Les Fleurs du Mal lamenting the 

rigid geometry of Haussmann’s city and the 

disappearance of the rich diversity of human 

life from its renovated neighbourhoods. 

Yet Haussmann also laid the foundations 

for modern Paris. People can still wander 

along his boulevards. The café terrasse 

dates to Haussmann’s day. Speedier travel 

shrank the distance between historic 

neighbourhoods. This dramatic, even 

bewildering, transformation intensified the 

process of segregating rich and poor districts 

along geographical lines, but it also made 

more feasible such symbols of modern 

consumerism as the department store, which 

drew on customers from across the city and 

beyond. The creation of new neighbourhoods, 

the shrinking of distance, the acceleration of 

movement, the creation of new social spaces, 

the fostering of a consumer society and the 

stress on the beauty and grandeur of an 

imperial capital set the pattern for the growth 

of Paris into today’s city. 

Mike Rapport’s book City of 

Light, City of Shadows: Paris in 

the Belle Epoque, is a brilliant 

account of Paris’s Belle Epoque 

revealing a city at war with 

itself as well as a golden age 

for Parisian culture. 

(Published by Basic Books, 

2024 ISBN 9781541647497) 

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NARBONNE – 

history, culture 

and coast 

Clinking glasses over the first lunch of the 

holiday, Liz and I already know we have 

made a good choice. Decades after our first 

joint venture to France, we are enjoying a 

bistronomie lunch at Les Tapas de la Clape 

within Narbonne’s Art Nouveau indoor food 

market. And we are toasting the latest in a 

long line of Best Buddy adventures. 

You never forget your first trip abroad with a 

friend, in our case a teenage language course 

to Paris. We endured spartan dormitory 

accommodation and unimaginative food in a 

rambling 19 th century boarding school, but for 

both of us it was the start of an enduring love 

affair with France. 

So where better to celebrate our latest 

zero-birthday than back in our favourite 

country? But for our big birthday celebration, 

we wanted to feed body and soul with a 

mix of city break and seaside, culture and 

gastronomy. So we settled on three heritage 

cities near the Mediterranean coast of the 

Occitanie region. 

First Narbonne, established in 118 BC as 

Narbo Martius and second most important 

Mediterranean port in the Roman Empire. 

Then Perpignan, once Spanish and still steeped 

in Catalan culture. And finally Béziers, made 

prosperous by the Canal du Midi and the 19 th 

century wine trade. Plus some seaside chill-out 

time at local beach resorts. 

All are easy to combine whether you travel by 

car or, like us, with an Occitanie Rail Pass that 

allows unlimited regional travel for just €10 a 

day, pre-bookable online. 

Fly into Béziers and it takes just 20 minutes 

by taxi or shuttle bus from the airport to 

the station where we board the train for 

the 13-minute journey to Narbonne in the 

Aude department. Ten minutes’ walk and we 

arrive at the 3-star Hotel la Résidence, a 19 th 

Century mansion in the historic centre. With 

its twin windows and contemporary décor, 

our cosy room could not be further from that 

Parisian lycée! 

Narbonne lies behind a large lagoon, bisected in 

Roman times by manmade dykes leading to the 

sea. Today, locals head to the nearby resorts of 

Port-La Nouvelle, Narbonne-Plage and Saint- 

Pierre-la-Mer for their Mediterranean fix. 

The centre of historic Narbonne is bisected 

by the Robine canal, which links to the Canal 

du Midi. In the 1880s, this was the only area 

of France to escape the phylloxera aphid that 

ravaged vineyards, so the town cashed in, 

ornate properties springing up along the treelined 

waterway. 

Narbonne Marie Narbonne 

Gillian Thornton visits Narbonne, AKA “the daughter of Rome” 

on Occitanie’s Mediterranean coast. 

Canal de la Robine 


© Mairie Narbonne 

© Mairie Narbonne 

Via Domitia © Mairie Narbonne 

We enjoy a glass or two of chilled local rosé 

over dinner on the terrace at Chez Lulu, 

where I dine on Medieval-style black pig and 

lemon meringue tart, all from locally sourced 

produce. Liz receives good advice on glutenfree 

options from the staff here, but France 

generally lags behind Britain in flagging up GF 

dishes on menus, breakfast being a real issue. 

Full marks then to La Résidence who not 

only serve up a delicious organic breakfast 

with minimal food miles, but also come up 

with freshly baked GF bread (advance order 

appreciated). But as the holiday progresses, 

few hotels prove equally enlightened, so we 

advise buying a sliced GF loaf to feed into 

hotel toasters! 

Dominating the historic centre of Narbonne, 

the Archbishop’s Palace and St Just Cathedral 

sit side-by-side in the area once occupied by 

the fortified town. Begun in 1272, the Gothic 

church boasts the third highest vaulted ceiling 

in France, soaring to a neck-cricking 41 metres. 

Construction ground to a halt in 1355 during 

various adversities and the church was never 

finished, the back of the chancel still formed by 

the town wall. Book a guided tour to look down 

into the 14 th century cloister from roof level. 

Cathedral of Narbonne 

The adjacent Old Palace dates from the 

13 th century and the New Palace from the 

14 th , repeatedly modified as the archbishop 

grew in power. But religious influence came 

crashing down with the Revolution and the last 

archbishop went into exile in 1791, his grand 

palace used first for military purposes, then 

as a museum and finally as the Town Hall, 

the neo-Gothic façade added by fanciful 

architect Viollet-le-Duc who also embellished 

the fortress at Carcassonne. Discover the 

ornate apartments by visiting the museums 

or take a guided tour to discover hidden 

courtyards and architectural anomalies. 

In the square outside, a section of the Via 

Domitia or Domitian Way is visible below 

today’s ground level. Look closely and you 

can still see the grooves made by Roman 

cartwheels along the highway from Italy to 

Spain, an interesting juxtaposition with the 

branch of Monoprix that occupies the ornate 

building opposite the Town Hall and was once 

home to the local Viscount. 

Just around the corner, the Promenade 

des Barques is a delightful place to enjoy a 

drink beneath the plane trees that fringe the 

canal. Browse the outdoor market stalls every 

Thursday and Sunday morning and soak up the 

daily sights, sounds and smells of the wrought iron 

and glass covered market on Cours Mirabeau 

opposite. “It was voted favourite indoor market of 

the French in 2022. We love to have a tapas style 

lunch here" say locals Mark and Kay Williams of 


A Taste of Provence. © Exquisite, all-inclusive, small group tours. 

Narbo Via Photo N.Young © Foster & Partners 

Real South of France Tours. See the town from 

water level too. On our teenage trip to Paris, Liz 

and I felt hugely glamorous cruising down the 

Seine on a tourist boat. Here we toy with the 

idea of a self-drive electric craft, but opt instead 

to let someone else do the driving and buy 

tickets for the Solal cruise with commentary in 

a traditional flat-bottomed boat. 

We pass beneath Narbonne’s Pont des 

Marchands, last remaining residential bridge 

in France, but today sporting just one arch 

instead of the seven during the Middle Ages. 

Beyond the bridge, we pass the home of 

crooner Charles Trenet, gliding between banks 

once lined with industries that supported the 

local wine trade. 

Having grown up in a Roman town in England, 

our last stop is Narbo Via, a must-see museum 

of Roman archaeology that opened in 2021 

in a building designed on the plan of a Roman 

Villa designed by Foster + Partners of London. 

First things that strike me are the calm 

atmosphere, the natural light and, opposite 

the spacious entrance hall, the eye-catching 

Lapidary Gallery. Composed of 760 funerary 

blocs arranged warehouse-style on racking, 

this unique display echoes the streets lined 

with necropoli that marked the entrance to 

Roman cities. Each block is accessible in 

close-up via interactive video screens and 

we spend ages zooming in to rotate intricate 

carvings of bulls’ heads and breast plates, 

Glimpse into the past, funerary bloc of a Roman couple hand in hand 

floral garlands and coats of arms. Stunning 

does not even come close. 

And the craftsmanship continues. Room after 

room. Vivid painted walls, intricate mosaics 

and stone faces so detailed I half expect them 

to turn and look at me. A married couple hand 

in hand with age lines on their foreheads. 

Scenes of daily lives engraved around a rich 

man’s tomb. Spine-tingling insights into the 

lives of a rich Roman colony twenty centuries 

ago, all enhanced by short films in Roman 

‘rooms’. We spend an hour absorbed in the 

exhibits and then set out on a second lap. 

We are still talking about Narbo Via as we 

relax over an al fresco dinner at O Juste bistro 

beside the canal where a genius formula 

offers each dish in starter or main course size. 

Join us in the Winter issue for some summer 

sunshine in Perpignan and Collioure on the 

next leg of our Occitanie rail tour. 

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Your Photos 

Up, up and away 

by Sonja Lambermont 

Beynac-et-Cazenac, Dordogne 

Every weekend we invite you to share your 

photos on Facebook and X /Twitter – it’s a 

great way for everyone to “see” real France 

and be inspired by real travellers snapping 

pics as they go. Every week there are 

utterly gorgeous photos being shared, and 

here we showcase just a few of the most 

popular. Share your favourite photos with 

us and your photo may appear in the next 

issue of The Good Life France Magazine! 

Chateau de Chambord, Loire Valley 

by Anne Jacques 

The great French writer Victor Hugo said of 

the Chateau of Chambord “All magic… all 

madness is represented in the bizarreness 

of this palace of fairy kings and queens”. 

Find out more about the 

Chateau de Chambord 

Bayeux, Normandy by Lori Prosser 

Famous for its thousand year old tapestry and 

museums, the medieval town of Bayeud, is 

beautifully preserved. 

Discover more about the Bayeux Tapestry 

Join us on Facebook 

and X to like and share 

your favourite photos 

of France... 


© Michal Collection via Canva 

What’s NEW 

for Autumn 2024 

There’s plenty going on across France this autumn – starting with la rentrée, the big 

‘return’, back to work, back to school, and back to normal after the long summer 

holidays. It’s the season when the arts world gets a renewed lease of life and 

loads of new exhibitions start. And at the end of the autumn, we’re easing into the 

Christmas festivities! 

National events in Autumn 

31 October – Halloween – not as popular in 

France as it is in the US, but events seem to 

increase year on year – especially at theme 

parks, major attractions from museums in 

Paris to chateaux in the Loire Valley. 

1 November – Le Toussaint, a national 

holiday, a day of remembrance of those who 

have passed. It’s traditional to put tubs of 

colourful chrysanthemums on the graves of 

loved ones. 

11 November – Armistice Day, a national 

holiday to commemorate the end of 

World War I at 11am, November 11, 1918 

in Compiègne, Picardy. Every town and 

village will honour those lost, laying wreaths 

at memorials and holding services of 

remembrance. 

Beaujolais Nouveau - third Thursday of 

November (November 16, 2024), when the 

first wine of the season is released at 12.01 a.m., 

celebrated in France and beyond. 

What’s New? 

Musée du Fromage, Paris – yes, cheese 

lovers, the first cheese museum in France 

opened in June – what could Brie better?! 

23 November 2024 – reopening of the 

Matisse Museum in Cateau-Cambresis, 

northern France. 

© Musée du Fromage 

Honfleur 

What’s on? 

French Property show 19-20 October 

2024, Cheltenham, England 

For anyone planning to buy a property 

in France or move to France, the French 

Property Show is an absolute must to help 

you make your dreams of a new life in France 

come true. 

Rederie d’Amiens, October 6, 2024 

An annual flea market that takes over the 

whole town with a whopping 5km of stalls. 

The second biggest flea market in France 

after Lille, which is the biggest flea market 

in Europe! 

Honfleur, Normandy – Fete de la 

crevette, 12-13 October 2024 

The shrimp festival held in this lovely port 

town is authentic, fun and charming, not 

to mention delicious! Sea shanties, pirate 

village, arts and crafts stalls, cookery 

demonstrations and of course seafood 

specialities, plus cheeses and other local 

produce. ot-honfleur.fr 

Paris, Montmartre – Fêtes des 

Vendanges, 9-13 October 2024 

This is one you definitely should not miss 

if you’re in Paris at this time. A harvest 

celebration of the wine made in the secret 

vineyard of Paris, with dance, food, fireworks 

and a lot of fun. 

Étaples Herring Festival, 9-10 

November 2024 

In Étaples, Pas-de-Calais, near Le Touquet, 

the humble herring is celebrated. A huge 

street food event sees the fish cooked every 


which way – grilled, marinated or smoked. 

And it’s accompanied by a crispy chunk of 

French bread and a robust glass of wine. 9-10 

November, 2024. etaples-tourisme.com 

Salon du Chocolat, Paris, 30 October 

to 3 November 2024 

The world’s leading chocolate companies 

and artisans will be at Paris Expo Porte de 

Versailles. A must for chocoholics! 

Alexander 

Bates 

Campbell 

Europe Limited 

Nancy Jazz Pulsations Fest, 5-19 

October, 2024 

Non-stop concerts throughout the Nancy 

(Lorraine, northeast France) area and not 

just jazz despite the name: blues, rock, 

chanson française, electro, reggae, hip-hop 

and world music. 

Etaples 

Coming up 

8 December 2024 – reopening of Notre- 

Dame Cathedral, Paris. 

Late November–December 31 – 

Christmas Markets take place all over 

France with the Paris Christmas Paris lights 

likely to be switched on 

24 November (TBC). 

Lyon Festival of Lights 5 to 8 December, 

2024 – one of the greatest light shows in 

the world. 

The Perfect Paris Tour 6-12 April 2025 

– join author (and editor of The Good Life 

France) Janine Marsh for a week in Paris to 

get to discover the most perfect, authentic 

and fascinating parts of the city of light. 

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Festival of Lights, Lyon © Brice ROBERT ONLYLYON Tourism & Conventions 


surrounded by cafés and stalls, historic twin 

towers which stand watch and usher in the 

Atlantic, ancient, covered arcades and 

narrow streets, it has effortless southern style 

– in a western corner of France. 

La Flotte L’Ile de Ré © Christina McCabe 

Its island neighbour L’Ile de Ré, is a chichi 

enclave adored by Parisians. So in demand 

has property become on the picturesque 

island with its whitewashed houses and 

pastel green shutters (the colour palette is 

strictly controlled), that new builds are all 

but banned, and you can expect to pay more 

than twice the price of mainland property. 

La Rochelle properties tend to be apartment 

style new builds. But if you’re prepared to be 

30 minutes or so away from the city, you’ll 

find lovely coastal and countryside towns 

where your budget will go much further. 

La Rochelle 

WHY BUY? 

Charente-Maritime 

Charente-Maritime in southwest France, in 

the region of Nouvelle Aquitaine is the second 

sunniest region in France. With three airports 

within easy reach, plus fast TGV trains to Paris, 

it’s become a favourite in recent years with 

both French and foreign buyers who want 

a home near fine sandy beaches as well as 

beautiful countryside. The slow pace of life, 

year-round mild climate and great gastronomy 

(seafood heaven) are also big draws. 

Capital of the department, La Rochelle, 

is a bustling coastal town and centre of 

marine commerce. With a pretty harbour 

Ile d’Oleron © Eric Cowez via Canva 

If you yearn for island living and don’t fancy 

forking out for the Ile de Ré, check out the 

not very well known Ile d’Oléron, France’s 

second largest island after Corsica. As the 

crow flies, Oleron is not that much further 


from La Rochelle than the Ile de Ré, but it’s a 

lot less crowded and unlike its posh neighbour, 

the bridge that connects it to the mainland is 

toll free. 

Fouras, a seaside town on the mainland with 

great beaches overlooking Fort Boyard, is 

easy to cycle to from La Rochelle and offers 

cheaper properties. But, head inland 40 

minutes or so from the capital and you’ll 

discover picturesque villages, rolling hills and 

property at a much better price. 

Saint-Jean-d’Angély, named after Jean the 

Baptist as it was claimed his skull was once 

kept in the abbey, is a classic French town 

with everything to hand. There’s a lovely town 

square and weekly market. Properties are 

mostly older 3-storey town houses, while on 

the outskirts there are more traditional stonebuilt 

houses. 

Beach lovers should consider Point d’Espagnole 

on the Côte Sauvage, south of Rochefort. La 

Tremblade has stunning beaches backed by 

sand dunes and pine forests - one of the best 

kept secrets of the Charente-Maritime. 

Rochefort is particularly good for retirement 

homes. Being upstaged by La Rochelle has 

spared this market town major development 

but it has everything you need, beautiful 

buildings, huge range of shops and 

restaurants and plenty going on year-round. 

Purpose built to house the military dockyards 

of the 17 th century, the town is firmly on the 

tourist map thanks to the Corderie Royale 

(royal rope factory). 

Further inland, Port d’Envaux, once a strategic 

commercial port, now a vibrant village on the 

banks of the River Charente, offers a peaceful 

setting with a river beach and water activities 

galore. There are magnificent manors once 

owned by ship owners as well as new builds 

and traditional houses. 

If you seek city life within easy distance of the 

sea, then the city of Saintes is definitely worth 

considering. The left bank is more popular 

with French buyers as it has more choice in 

the range of properties available. A Ville d’Art 

et Histoire Saintes boasts some of the finest 

Roman ruins in France and is on the pilgrim 

Route de Santiago de Compostela and is 

famous for its annual classical music festival 

held at the monumental 11 th century Abbey aux 

Dames. Saintes attracts buyers who want town 

facilities, surrounded by glorious countryside 

and less than an hour to the coast - with 

properties that are very good value. 

Charente-Maritime has become increasingly 

popular with younger buyers, especially 

those who can work from home or commute 

to the UK via flights from nearby Bordeaux 

airport. With prices cheaper than Dordogne, 

Normandy and Brittany away from the coast, 

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With plenty of sunshine, green spaces, 

pretty villages and historic towns, Deux- 

Sèvres offers a fantastic lifestyle as 

Janine Marsh discovers. 

Destination 

DEUX-SÈVRES 

Marais Poitevin © litchi-cyril-photographe via Canva 

Niort © guy-ozenne via Canva 

The rural department of Deux-Sèvres, in 

Poitou-Charentes (part of Nouvelle Aquitaine) 

takes its name from the Sèvre Nantaise and 

Sèvre Niortaise rivers, both of which have their 

source here. The capital of the department, 

Niort, is just an hour from La Rochelle and its 

most famous attraction is the Marais Poitevin, 

the “green Venice” of France, an area of 

marshes with prolific wildlife. 

It’s a sleepy sort of region, not a major tourist 

attraction but it’s become increasingly 

popular with expats seeking the good life in 

France. With a great range of property styles 

and prices, it’s one of the cheapest places 

in France for houses. There are two main 

airports close by: La Rochelle and Poitiers, 

and TGV from Poitiers (from 1h4m) and Niort 

(from 1h53m). 

There are several reasons that the area is 

becoming more and more popular for both 

French and foreign buyers looking for a more 

authentic and rural way of life. 

Deux-Sèvres is in the centre of the triangle 

between La Rochelle, Poitiers and Nantes 

airports and it’s just over three hours to 

Saint Malo for the ferry. With easy access 

to the beaches of Charente-Maritime and 

the Vendée, plus plenty of other tourist 

attractions, it’s a great area for expat retirees, 

holiday homeowners, families with children 

and those wanting to run gites. And the 

weather – it’s much warmer and sunnier than 

in the north, but without the intense heat of 

the far south with 2,600 hours of sunshine 

each year, not far behind the Mediterranean 

resorts 2775 hours of sunshine. Banana trees 

are even known to thrive here! 

The location is great for those who want a 

quiet life or for those who want plenty of 

activities and things to do. You can easily 

get to the beaches and the superstar theme 



Moving to France 

© litchi-cyril-photographe via Canva 

parks of Puy du Fou and Futuroscope are 

close by. Cognac and the Loire Valley are 

neighbours. There’s not much traffic on the 

roads and the countryside is glorious. The 

Gatine countryside for instance, has rolling 

hills with granite boulders brought down in 

the ice age, people say it reminds them of 

Wales – except with sunshine. The Marais 

Poitevan in a classified Grand Site de France, 

its natural and cultural heritage protected, 

renowned for its picture postcard charm, its 

complex labyrinth of canals criss-crossing 

idyllic meadows and its enchanting riverside 

villages, each with their own little port. Lush, 

rich vegetation bursts with wildlife, while 

willow trees sigh over lazy waterways and 

lines of poplar trees grace the watery arteries 

– perfect for messing about in boats. And 

for those who like cycling, the Voies Vertes, 

disused railway lines are brilliant. 

The average house price is around €180,000 

euros. Prices start as low as €20,000 for 

properties needing renovation. You could 

currently get a charming country cottage 

for around €80,000, or a house with a gite 

at €318,000. Farmhouses with land for 

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Financial planning services 

for US expats in France, 

wherever you are on your 

international journey… 

sanderlingexpat.com 

Bressuires © Leonid Andronov via Canva 


Our latest properties for sale in Deux-Sèvres 

EXCLUSIVE 

The Good Life 

La Chapelle-Saint-Laurent €172,800 

Ref: A31437 - Renovated 3-bedroom farmhouse 

with outbuilding and garden. 


DPE: In progress 

Country C o tt a g e 

Clussais-la-Pommeraie €167,400 

Ref: A22179 - Delightful 2-bedroom cottage 

with glorious views across open countryside. 


Energy class: D Climate class: B 

EXCLUSIVE 

Ready & Waiting 

Villemain €114,450 

Ref: A27792 - Renovated 2-bedroom stone 

house with garden. Ready to move into. 


Energy class: D Climate class: B 

horses, village properties, apartments in the 

city of Niort, family homes, holiday homes, 

gite complexes and B&B properties – there’s 

everything here. Sous-sol houses are generally 

unknown to the British market, they are like a 

bungalow from the front but have a basement 

and are much bigger inside than they look 

from the outside. A typical, local property 

would be a ‘longère’, a long country house, 

with exposed stonework and beams. 

Parthenay, a medieval town with small 

narrow streets is very popular. It has a 

river, cattle market (Parthenais cows), plus 

plenty of restaurants and bars. Bressuire 

has a yearly Grand Prix of old cars racing 

around the streets and every two years a 

Highland Games contest held in the chateau. 

Saint Loup-sur-Thouet and Moncoutant 

are also popular. Coulon is one of France’s 

prestigious “plus beaux villages” and home to 

whitewashed houses with bright and cheerful 

shutters and flowerbeds groaning with colour. 

La Garette south of Coulon and Le Mazeau 

are two other places that ooze charm with 

Parthenay © Stephane Bidouze via Canva 

traditional old houses backing onto the canals 

and the work of local artisans begging for 

a browse. And don’t miss Arçais, home to 

the cultivation of Angelica, with its beautiful 

little port, caressed by the shadow of a 

19th century chateau. 

Because there is less traffic here, everything 

is easier to reach, so even an isolated 

property isn’t really that far from facilities. 

If you prefer city living Niort, the capital, 

is a small city and home to a maze of 

twisting narrow streets lined with elegant 

Renaissance town houses. Remains of a 

12th century fortress are now the municipal 

museum, and weekly markets bring visitors 

for miles around. Madame de Maintenon, the 

uncrowned wife of Louis XIV was born here 

in 1635. There’s plenty of culture and a great 

café lifestyle. 

Deux-Sèvres is sunny, friendly and relaxed, 

ingredients for the good life… 

See properties for sale with Leggett Immobilier 

here: leggettimmobilier.com/deux-sevres 

Fabulous Farmhouse 

Pliboux €287,830 

Ref: A31310 - 4-bedroom farmhouse with 

gardens, barn and space for a pool. 



EXCLUSIVE 

Village Life 

L’Absie €136,250 

Ref: A31430 - Superb 3-bedroom property 

with garden and garage. 



Beautiful Mill 

Chef-Boutonne €557,000 

Ref: A25456 - 5-bedroom water mill with 

grounds, château views and new pool. 


Energy class: B Climate class: C 

Sitting P r e tt y 

Azay-sur-Thouet €149,500 

Ref: A17456 - Charming 4-bedroom house 

which could be split into a house and gîte. 



Lovely Views 

Vanzay €190,080 

Ref: A31314 - 3-bedroom stone house with 

outbuildings, conservatory and garden. 


DPE: In progress 

Barn Conversion 

Val-en-Vignes €478,400 

Ref: A31312 - Stunning 5-bedroom country 

home with guest cottage, garden and views. 


Energy class: C Climate class: C 

www.leggettfrance.com info@leggett.fr +33 (0)5 53 60 84 88 

Change 

your 

outlook 

We are recruiting 

independent 

sales agents 

across France 

+33 (0)5 53 60 82 77 

recruitment@leggett.fr 

Information on the risks to which these properties are exposed is available on the Geohazards website: www.georisques.gouv.fr 


Guide to VISAS 

2024 

for moving to France 

French Properties for sale 

Holiday rentals throughout France 

Employment opportunities 

Visa requirements 

Currency exchange 

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If you’re thinking of moving to France, one of 

the first, and most important aspects of your 

move – if you’re not a resident of the EU – is 

applying for the right visa. It’s estimated that 

at least 20% of visa applications are refused 

because of the wrong paperwork, or through 

not being aware of what’s required and failing 

to supply the correct information. We asked 

Eric Donjon, visa expert at The European 

Concierge to share his top tips: 

Visa types: There are 17 different types 

of visas for France, from short-stay, 

professional, student and long-stay (several 

types) which you need if you’re moving to 

France. It sounds obvious but make sure you 

apply for the right one, it’s not uncommon to 

get it wrong, and you’ll have to reapply and 

start all over again. 

Income: The administrators are looking for 

reassurance that you have sufficient funds to 

cover yourself. For example, if you’re retiring 

to France, this amounts to a minimum income 

of €16784.32 net per annum (€1398.69 net 

per month), per person, after tax (1/1/2024. 

Note this figure is subject to regular change). 

That is based on the SMIC (Salaire Minimum 

de Croissance) - the minimum wage in France 

(2024). For student visas, you need to show 

proof of one full year of funding, plus a living 

cost of €615.00 per month. 


The European Concierge 

Expert support for ALL Visas, 

Carte de séjour, Driving 

Licence Exchange / Vehicle 

imports / ANTS registration, 

CNF (French Citizenship) 

We manage your visa application 

from start to finish - start your 

new life in France the right way. 

theeuropeanconcierge.com 

Accommodation: You need to provide proof 

that you have somewhere to live - whether 

it’s a permanent home or rental. If you’re in 

the process of buying a property, an ‘acte de 

vente’ – a document that shows you are in 

the process of buying will be accepted. And 

if you’re renting, a French rental contract is 

required. 

Insurance: Evidence of private medical 

insurance. Even for British citizens with a state 

pension and S1 form to cover insurance, should 

consider private medical insurance. 

Work: If you’re planning to work in France, 

either running your own business or working 

for a UK, EU or non-EU-based business, or 

volunteering, you will need to apply for one of 

the numerous types of right-to-work visas. 

Approximately one in five French visa 

applications were turned down in 2023 and 

many of these failures were due to a lack of 

the correct paperwork being submitted. 

The Process: It’s possible you will also 

need to ensure key documents for the 

relevant authorities, and they may need 

to be translated into French, by French 

administration approved translators. 

Once you have moved to France, more 

administration awaits from opening a bank 

account, integrating into the healthcare 

system, applying for residential status – the 

Carte de Séjour, importing a vehicle or 

renewing your driving licence. 

Want help to get your visa, and for all 

administrations processes in France? Contact 

Eric Donjon at: theeuropeanconcierge.com 


Almond Croissants 

Croissant aux amandes 

Makes 6 

Your one stop shop for the finest quality 

food from Britain and Ireland. 

Active time: 30 minutes 

Cooking time: 15 minutes 

Storage: Up to 24 hours 

EQUIPMENT 

Large serrated knife 

Pastry bag with a plain tip 

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INGREDIENTS 

Vanilla syrup 

2 cups (500 g/500 ml) water 

2 2⁄3 cups (1 lb. 2 oz./500 g) superfine sugar 

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds 

scraped 

Almond croissants 

6 × 1-day-old croissants (see separate recipe) 

Vanilla syrup (see above) 

8.5 oz. (240 g) almond cream 

Generous 1 cup 

(3.5 oz./100 g) 

sliced almonds 

Confectioners’ 

sugar 

Extracted from French Boulangerie: 

Recipes and Techniques from the Ferrandi 

School of Culinary Arts by FERRANDI 

Paris (Flammarion, 2024). 

ALL PHOTOS ©Rina Nurra. 

METHOD 

Preparing the vanilla syrup 

Combine the water, sugar, and vanilla seeds 

in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to 

dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and 

let cool. 

Preparing the almond croissants 

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C/Gas 

Mark 4). Using the serrated knife, cut the 

croissants in half horizontally. Quickly dip the 

croissant halves in the cooled syrup and place 

on a rack for a few minutes to let the excess 

liquid drip off. 

Spoon the almond cream into the pastry bag. 

Place the bottom halves of the croissants on 

a baking sheet lined with parchment paper 

and pipe a layer of almond cream over each 

one. Place the tops on the croissants and pipe 

a little almond cream over them. Sprinkle with 

the sliced almonds and bake for 15 minutes. 

Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve 

warm or at room temperature. 


Olive Bread 

Pain aux olives 

Olive mixture 

1.75 oz. (50 g) pitted black olives, roughly 

chopped 

1.75 oz. (50 g) pitted green olives, roughly 

chopped 

0.25 oz. (5 g) basil leaves, chopped 

Scant 2 tbsp (25 g/27 ml) extra virgin olive oil 

Olive bread dough 

4 cups + 2 tbsp (1 lb. 2 oz./500 g) white bread 

flour (T65) 

1 1⁄3 cups (325 g/325 ml) water 

2 tsp (10 g) salt 

0.25 oz. (5 g) fresh yeast 

10½ oz. (300 g) pâte fermentée (see above) 

Olive mixture (see above) 

METHOD 

Preparing the pâte fermentée 

(2 days ahead) 

Mix the flour, water, salt, and yeast together in 

the bowl of the stand mixer and knead on low 

speed, or by hand, for 10 minutes until smooth. 

Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and 

let ferment overnight in the refrigerator. 

Preparing the olive mixture (1 day ahead) 

bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let ferment 

for 30 minutes at room temperature. Fold the 

dough once, then cover with plastic wrap and 

let ferment for 10–12 hours in the refrigerator. 

Shaping and proofing the dough 

The next day, divide the dough into 3 pieces 

weighing 14 oz. (400 g) each. Shape each 

one into a bâtard measuring 8 in. (20 cm) in 

length and place on a baking sheet lined with 

parchment paper. Let proof in a steam oven 

set to 75°F (24°C), or on a rack in a turnedoff 

oven above a bowl of boiling water, for 

45 minutes. 

Baking the loaves 

Place a rack in the center of the oven and 

another rack directly below it. Place a heavyduty 

rimmed baking sheet on the bottom 

rack and preheat the oven to 480°F (250°C/ 

Gas Mark 10). Bring 1 cup (250 ml) water to a 

simmer. Using the bread lame, score each loaf 

lengthwise down the center. Place the loaves 

on the baking sheet in the oven and carefully 

pour the simmering water into the rimmed 

sheet on the lower rack to create steam. 

Quickly close the oven door and bake for 30– 

40 minutes. Immediately transfer the loaves to 

a rack and let them cool completely at room 

temperature. 

Makes 3 loaves, weighing about 

14 oz. (400 g) each 

Active time: 1½ hours 

Pâte fermentée fermentation 

EQUIPMENT 

Stand mixer + dough hook 

Instant-read thermometer 

Bread lame 

Combine all the olive mixture ingredients in 

a bowl. 

Preparing the olive bread dough 

(1 day ahead) 

time: Overnight 

Bulk fermentation time: 1 hour + 

10–12 hours in the refrigerator 

Proofing time: 45 minutes 

Cooking time: 30–40 minutes 

Storage: Up to 2 days wrapped 

in a clean dish towel 

INGREDIENTS 

Pâte fermentée 

1½ cups (6 oz./180 g) white bread flour (T65) 

Scant ½ cup (112 g/112 ml) water 

½ tsp (3 g) salt 


Knead all the olive bread dough ingredients, 

except the olive mixture, in the bowl of the 

stand mixer on low speed for 5 minutes until 

well combined. Increase the speed to medium 

and knead for 6 minutes. With the mixer 

running on low speed, add the olive mixture 

and continue to knead for 2 minutes until well 

distributed. Make sure the dough temperature 

does not exceed 75°F (24°C). Place in a clean 







0.5 oz. (15 g) fresh yeast, crumbled 

1¾ tsp (9 g) salt 

Scant 1⁄3 cup (2 oz./60 g) sugar 

¼ cup (50 g/56 ml) hazelnut oil 

3½ tbsp (50 g/50 ml) whole milk, well chilled 

(for bassinage) 

Scant 1 cup (3½ oz./100 g) dried Cranberries 

cover with plastic wrap, and let ferment for 30 

minutes at room temperature. 


Flatten the dough into a rectangle measuring 

9½ × 11¾ in. (24 × 30 cm), with a thickness of ¼ 

in. (5 mm). Place on a floured dish towel and let 

rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Cut the 

dough into 16 rectangles measuring 1¼ × 6 in. 

(3 × 15 cm) and place on a baking sheet lined 

with parchment paper, with the floured side 

facing up. Let proof in a steam oven set to 75°F 

(24°C), or place on a rack in a turned-off oven 

above a bowl of boiling water, for 1½ hours. 

Hazelnut Benoîtons 

Benoîtons aux noisettes 

Makes 16 


Toasting time for flour and 

hazelnuts: 35 minutes 

Bulk fermentation time: 30 

minutes 

Resting time: 30 minutes in the 

refrigerator 

Proofing time: 1½ hours 

Cooking time: 8–10 minutes 

Storage: Up to 2 days in a 

plastic bag 

EQUIPMENT 



INGREDIENTS 

1 cup + 2 tbsp (3½ oz./100 g) hazelnut flour 

¾ cup (3½ oz./100 g) whole hazelnuts 

3¼ cups (14 oz./400 g) white bread flour (T65) 

Scant ½ cup (3.5 oz./100 g) lightly beaten egg 

(2 eggs), well chilled 

2⁄3 cup (150 g/150 ml) whole milk, well chilled 

METHOD 

Preparing the dough 

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C/Gas Mark 

4). Spread the hazelnut flour over a baking 

sheet lined with parchment paper and toast 

for about 20 minutes until deeply golden; 

ensure it does not burn as any blackened bits 

will taste bitter. Spread the hazelnuts over a 

baking sheet lined with parchment paper and 

toast for about 15 minutes until dry, crisp, and 

golden in the center. Let cool and chop finely. 

Let cool completely before using. Knead the 

toasted hazelnut flour, bread flour, eggs, 2⁄3 cup 

(150 g/150 ml) milk, yeast, and salt in the bowl 

of the stand mixer for 5 minutes on low speed 

until well combined. Increase the speed to high 

and knead for 7–8 minutes until the dough is 

supple, smooth, and elastic. Add the sugar and 

hazelnut oil and mix until smooth. Incorporate 

the 3½ tbsp (50 g/50 ml) milk for bassinage as 

needed, depending on the consistency of the 

dough: it should be soft and sticky. With the 

mixer running on low speed, add the toasted 

hazelnuts and cranberries. Increase the speed 

to high and mix for 1 minute to ensure even 

distribution without crushing the hazelnuts and 

cranberries. If, at this point, they are not evenly 

distributed, finish mixing them in by hand, 

folding the dough several times. Make sure the 

dough temperature does not exceed 77°F– 

79°F (25°C–26°C). Place in a clean bowl, 

Baking the benoîtons 

Place a rack in the center of the oven and 

another rack directly below it. Place a heavyduty 

rimmed baking sheet on the bottom 

rack and preheat the oven to 475°F (240°C/ 

Gas Mark 9). Bring 1 cup (250 ml) water to 

a simmer. Place the benoîtons on the baking 

sheet in the oven and carefully pour the 

simmering water into the rimmed sheet on the 

lower rack to create steam. Quickly close the 

oven door and bake the benoîtons for 8–10 

minutes until they begin to color. They should 

remain soft and tender inside. Transfer to a rack 

and let cool. 







Individual Pink 

Praline Brioches 

Briochettes aux pralines roses 

EQUIPMENT 



10 × 3-in. (8-cm) muffin pans, 1½ in. 

(4 cm) deep 

INGREDIENTS 

Brioche dough 

1 cup (4.25 oz./125 g) all-purpose flour (gruau) 

1 cup (4.25 oz./125 g) white bread flour (T65) 

2⁄3 cup (5.25 oz./150 g) lightly beaten egg 

(3 eggs), well chilled 

2½ tsp (10 g) superfine sugar 


1 tsp (5 g) salt 

1 stick plus 2 tsp (4.5 oz./125 g) butter, diced, 

at room temperature 

Butter for the pans 

Pink pralines 

1 lb. (440 g) pink pralines (pralines roses), 

broken into rough pieces 

Egg wash 

1 egg 

METHOD 

Preparing the dough (1 day ahead) 

Knead all the dough ingredients, except the 

butter, in the bowl of the stand mixer on low 

speed for 5 minutes until well combined. 

Increase the speed to high and knead for 

5 minutes until the dough is supple and 

elastic. With the mixer running on low speed, 

add the butter and knead for 5 minutes 

until completely incorporated. Make sure 

the dough temperature does not exceed 

77°F–79°F (25°C–26°C). Place in a clean 

bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let ferment 

for 30 minutes at room temperature. Fold the 

dough once, cover again with plastic wrap, 

and let ferment overnight in the refrigerator. 


The next day, grease the muffin pans with 

butter and place on a baking sheet. Divide 

the dough into 10 pieces, weighing 1.75 oz. 

(55 g) each, and roll into 2 × 6 in. (5 × 15 cm) 

rectangles. Place about 1 oz. (25 g) pink 

pralines on one of the dough rectangles 

and fold it in 3, like a letter, as if giving the 

dough a single turn. Rotate the dough 90° 

clockwise, then gently roll it into a 2 × 6 in. 

(5 × 15 cm) rectangle again. Top with 0.5 oz. 

(15 g) pralines, fold in 3, and shape into a ball. 

Repeat with the other dough pieces and place 

them in the molds. Let proof for 1½ hours at 

room temperature in a draft-free place. 

Makes 10 


Bulk fermentation time: 30 

minutes + overnight 

Proofing time: 1½ hours 

Cooking time: 20 minutes 

Storage: Up to 24 hours in an 

airtight container 






Baking the brioches 

Preheat the oven to 285°F (140°C/Gas 

Mark 1) on fan setting. The temperature is low 

to prevent the pralines from caramelizing. 

Lightly beat the egg and brush it over the 

brioches. Bake for about 20 minutes until 

lightly golden. Let them cool in the pans 

before turning out. 


Last 

Word 

Autumn is special in the countryside of France. The harvest takes centre stage – 

whether that’s grape, apple and blackberry picking, gathering in the last of the sunripened 

crops, and in my part of France especially, hops for beer. 

Here in Pas-de-Calais, the far north, many villages will hold a harvest party, known 

as a Ducasse or Kermesse, old Flemish terms, and nothing so ordinary as ‘party’ 

– besides, the attitude here is that it worked perfectly well when they called these 

rumbunctious events by those names 300 years ago so why change things? 

The entire village takes part, and other villages around join in too. Take my little 

hamlet: “152 people and 1000 cows” is what people say when they hear its name. 

But when it comes to the Ducasse, you can be sure up to three times as many 

people as that will arrive to celebrate the harvest – though so far, no cows. 

These are not black-tie events, there is nothing formal about them, haute cuisine 

is neither served nor expected. Socialites, families and friends are squeezed sideby-side 

onto long tables inside a huge tent, the town hall salle des fetes and the 

covered car parking area. There they feast on mussels, spit-roast pig, or fried 

chicken and always frites (chips), followed by the stinkiest of local cheeses – 

Maroilles and Boulette d’Avesnes (AKA the ‘Devil’s suppository’ as it is pointed and 

coated in glowing red paprika spice), then delicate cakes that look like they were 

made by a top chef, washed down with copious amounts of beer, wine or cider 

before taking to the dance floor to boogie until the sun comes up. Local teenagers 

record their efforts for TikTok, the oldies demonstrate ballroom dancing skills, and 

craggy faced farmers stand at the makeshift bar, holding their glasses of pastis 

or ruby red wine so strong it can strip the fur off your tongue, or tangy Picon (an 

orange-flavoured liqueur) flavoured beer, surveying the room, like ageing Mafia 

Dons. Kids run around getting under everyone’s feet, pretending to be riding horses 

and sliding on their knees on the wooden floor. 

More than a party, this is a celebration of life, friendship and community. 

Vive la France. 

Janine 

Janine Marsh is Author of My Good Life in France; My Four Seasons in 

France; Toujours La France, and How to be French: Eat, dress, travel 

and love la vie Française - available on Amazon, all online bookshops and in 

bookstores in high streets everywhere. 

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AUTUMN 2024

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