Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
As team tour operator I'd printed off an AA route plan for each leg of our journey.
This was intended to be used as back-up in the event that (when) the SatNav lady got lost.
But, although he constantly harangued it, Jack did prefer the electronic system. So he went
off to convert the SatNav CD to the French road network, while I popped out to buy some
nibbles.
I returned to find him surrounded by a mountain of cases and looking absolutely furi-
ous. It transpired that in his efforts to pack our equipment securely (many bungees being
used for the job) he'd completely forgotten that he'd need to be able to access the SatNav
mechanism. This, apparently, was beneath “all the bloody luggage.”
Sometime later we were re-packed and organised. We loaded the dogs into their nook
and set off back into the pine forests.
Our journey took us towards Pau and then across into the Midi-Pyrénées. This is the
biggest region in metropolitan France and covers an area larger than Switzerland. It was
also the destination for our first viewing and, as I mentioned earlier, highly recommended
by an estate agent who said it offered as much, if not more than Provence.
Settling nicely into the journey I continued with a little research and learned that it is
not covered in lavender or olive groves, nor is it host to a Riviera-style chic cosmopolit-
an coast, but then it is landlocked. Conversely it does offer equally attractive incentives.
The countryside is varied and ranges from agricultural terrain to the snowy peaks of the
Pyrénées. Culturally, as well as geographically, it is a diverse part of the country where
each area preciously guards its own unique setting and appeal. Gers, for example, is char-
acterised by sleepy villages that move in tune with the rhythms of nature.
Its rolling hills and fertile soils are richly suited to growing impressive quantities of
vegetables and it is also the home of the renowned Armagnac brandy. This contrasts with
the largely mountainous Haute-Pyrénées which borders Spain on its south side. Here wild
and woolly ski and trekking country gives way to a benign side, none more famous than the
city of Lourdes which is dedicated almost exclusively to the religious pilgrimage industry.
I've always loved trying out local culinary delicacies and the Midi-Pyrénées has loads.
The stomach-lining Cassoulet is a special favourite of mine. This is a bean and meat cas-
serole which Jack consistently refuses to eat, describing it as a mixture of entirely uniden-
tifiable pieces of animal and vegetable cooked in mud. But then he does overreact. One of
the main ingredients of this sustaining dish is the famous Toulouse sausage. It's a culinary
monster that contains coarse meat stuffed with herbs and garlic and can satisfy the heartiest
of appetites.
Amongst the rest of the seemingly endless list of 'local' dishes there is
magret de ca-
nard
(fillet of duck breast),
foie gras
(of course), smoked dried duck breast - in fact any-
thing to do with
duck
. And the famed
Roquefort
cheese which is heaven itself. Apart from
(or according to some,
in spite of
) these specialities, the residents of the Midi-Pyrénées re-
