ARMAGNAC PLEASE!
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| Alain Carrere and his bio Armagnac |
7.30 PM, a group from various nationalities is waiting, in the muddy courtyard of a farm, all wearing sweaters. All these people are walking on the Camino de Santiago and expecting to be allowed in the cellar of this unusual farm next to Larresingle, a small village which existed for many centuries and was fortified in the 13th century. The construction of its church started in the 12th century.
The fortified heart of the village looks very much like an open-air museum with tourist shops and a couple of restaurants. It is a well preserved example of medieval architecture. Space is optimized, the church's pediment is just a few meters away from the wall of the castle. Around them, houses are built on the inside against the fortification wall.
Back at the cellar, Alain Carrere, the owner of the farm de Tollet, is opening the doors to let in the group of pilgrims he is hosting for the night at his farm which had been warmly recommended by all the people we met on the Camino who had stayed there.
First things first, Alain is rearing cows for meat, he tells us that proper beef meat is extremely rare and expensive because real beef meat comes from a castrated bull. Very often what one buys in supermarkets or eats in the restaurant is not from castrated animals, but rather a cow or possibly young bull. On top of that, Alain has a bio vineyard from which he produces Armagnac, white wine, red wine, sparkling wine as well as local aperitif called floc. You must now have guessed the purpose of our visit to the cellar before dinner. We are here to taste the local production for aperitif. A few wooden barrels are used as tables for glasses. Alain first serves some white floc. It is composed of a mixture, of 2/3 fresh grape juice with 1/3 of Armagnac, which is left to mature for several months. We then graduated to the another sort floc, some rosé floc, called after Saint Jacques because the grapes are exclusively harvested by pilgrims doing the Camino. Applications must be received before mid-August for screening!
Back at the cellar, Alain Carrere, the owner of the farm de Tollet, is opening the doors to let in the group of pilgrims he is hosting for the night at his farm which had been warmly recommended by all the people we met on the Camino who had stayed there.
First things first, Alain is rearing cows for meat, he tells us that proper beef meat is extremely rare and expensive because real beef meat comes from a castrated bull. Very often what one buys in supermarkets or eats in the restaurant is not from castrated animals, but rather a cow or possibly young bull. On top of that, Alain has a bio vineyard from which he produces Armagnac, white wine, red wine, sparkling wine as well as local aperitif called floc. You must now have guessed the purpose of our visit to the cellar before dinner. We are here to taste the local production for aperitif. A few wooden barrels are used as tables for glasses. Alain first serves some white floc. It is composed of a mixture, of 2/3 fresh grape juice with 1/3 of Armagnac, which is left to mature for several months. We then graduated to the another sort floc, some rosé floc, called after Saint Jacques because the grapes are exclusively harvested by pilgrims doing the Camino. Applications must be received before mid-August for screening!
Alain opened the cork of a barrel containing Armagnac and told us to blow through the opening and smell the aroma coming out as a result, it was really sweet and fruity.
Our party was joined by three locals, two elderly men and a young women who was ostensibly cheerful. She knew a bit of german and said she was in love with the language. She was probably coming from another cellar and/or another tasting session(s).
The group's mood was now definitely cheerful after nearly an hour and a half spent in the cellar. Dinner was ready to be served, had said Mrs Carrere. We entered the living-room of the farm and discovered a long wooden table at which we all sat with Alain presiding at one end of it. A large open stone-fireplace and the stone walls were warming up the atmosphere.
Dinner was excellent, first vegetable soup followed by chicken in basque sauce which was utterly delicious. We drank with it bio red house wine with a particular after taste of cider which is coming from a particular grape sort. Cheese was the next obvious course and a piece of cake on which house Armagnac was poured from a magnum bottle (1.5 liter) called pot d'Armagnac. The bottle, which had a label with Alain's face drawn over it, was circulated again to fill small digestive glasses.
I sat next to a Frenchman, called Jacques, from south east of France and opposite to a German, called Raimund, who had a moustache that could have made d'Artagnan and the three musketeers very proud. He hardly knew any french but had been adopted by a group of three other French pilgrims so that he could tag along any bookings they would make. Raimund was a fast walker and a stroller at the same time who liked to stop and admire flowers and other things worth photographing (one should never underestimate the fascination potential of animals).
Our party was joined by three locals, two elderly men and a young women who was ostensibly cheerful. She knew a bit of german and said she was in love with the language. She was probably coming from another cellar and/or another tasting session(s).
The group's mood was now definitely cheerful after nearly an hour and a half spent in the cellar. Dinner was ready to be served, had said Mrs Carrere. We entered the living-room of the farm and discovered a long wooden table at which we all sat with Alain presiding at one end of it. A large open stone-fireplace and the stone walls were warming up the atmosphere.
Dinner was excellent, first vegetable soup followed by chicken in basque sauce which was utterly delicious. We drank with it bio red house wine with a particular after taste of cider which is coming from a particular grape sort. Cheese was the next obvious course and a piece of cake on which house Armagnac was poured from a magnum bottle (1.5 liter) called pot d'Armagnac. The bottle, which had a label with Alain's face drawn over it, was circulated again to fill small digestive glasses.
I sat next to a Frenchman, called Jacques, from south east of France and opposite to a German, called Raimund, who had a moustache that could have made d'Artagnan and the three musketeers very proud. He hardly knew any french but had been adopted by a group of three other French pilgrims so that he could tag along any bookings they would make. Raimund was a fast walker and a stroller at the same time who liked to stop and admire flowers and other things worth photographing (one should never underestimate the fascination potential of animals).
11PM, it was time to let our hosts rest and for us to go to bed. We somehow made our way safely through the wet grass separating the farm building from the house we were sleeping in, having to navigate a few fences thanks to a smartphone torch. The evening had been long and drinks ample. Jacques, who was on his own in the living-room started snoring as soon as he found his bed.
The next morning was kind of slow, on my part, and a strong coffee helped me get back on track for our short walk to the town of Condom which has an exquisite Cathedral and was getting ready to host a few days of furious street partying with bandas (brass bands playing in the streets and converging to the Cathedral square). Furious because most shops were covering their windows with wooden planks to protect them from being smashed. A large bronze statue of D'Artagnan and his three musketeers Porthos, Aramis and Athos, erected next to the Cathedral, was reminding us of D'Artagnan's origin when he was serving Louis the Fourteenth.
In a way, the Southwest of France, particularly the Gers which produces the Armagnac, but also neighboring towns like Moissac, Lectoure, Cahors and Figeac have a lot of traditional food, such as foie-gras, confit de canard, cassoulet etc... and drinks to be proud about. It is therefore only natural that they like to party.
Before stopping in Larresingle we had a night stay in the ancient city of Eauze. Under the Romans, it was already thriving as a food basket. It was recently discovered that the old Roman city lies buried at the periphery of the existing city. A treasure from a Roman family has been unearthed and is presented at the city museum which is well worth a visit. It contains a huge collection of coins and some jewellery. The city is at the frontier between Bas-Armagnac, which is more or less South-West, and the Ténarèze which is another area producing Armagnac. We stayed at La Grange, a hostel managed by Marie-France, a lady who formerly ran a dry-cleaning shop and had to stop because she caught cancer from chemicals used in dry-cleaning and who decided, once cured, that she would open a hostel for pilgrims on the Camino. Part of her mission during dinner was educational. She taught pilgrims about the subtleties of Armagnac. First, she serves floc for aperitif and when dessert time has come, she distributes first a small glass of Bas-Armagnac and then later another one of Armagnac from the Ténarèze so that one can taste the difference. The former is fruity and fairly sweet but the taste stays a only short time in the mouth, whereas the Ténarèze is a little less aromatic but the after-taste lasts much longer. One has to choose between sweet and quick or less flamboyant but longer in mouth! The difference in taste, she explained with passion, comes from the difference of earth on which the vineyard is planted. But the real love of Marie France is the Fine Armagnac, the alcohol right after distillation, which is transparent, before being matured in oak barrels. Marie-France confided that she was originally from the Landes, a region North of the Basque country which goes up to Bordeaux. She was nostalgic of that region. Here in Gascony people are very rural-minded and conservative. She needed movement, going to the mountain, driving to the sea.
In a way, the Southwest of France, particularly the Gers which produces the Armagnac, but also neighboring towns like Moissac, Lectoure, Cahors and Figeac have a lot of traditional food, such as foie-gras, confit de canard, cassoulet etc... and drinks to be proud about. It is therefore only natural that they like to party.
Before stopping in Larresingle we had a night stay in the ancient city of Eauze. Under the Romans, it was already thriving as a food basket. It was recently discovered that the old Roman city lies buried at the periphery of the existing city. A treasure from a Roman family has been unearthed and is presented at the city museum which is well worth a visit. It contains a huge collection of coins and some jewellery. The city is at the frontier between Bas-Armagnac, which is more or less South-West, and the Ténarèze which is another area producing Armagnac. We stayed at La Grange, a hostel managed by Marie-France, a lady who formerly ran a dry-cleaning shop and had to stop because she caught cancer from chemicals used in dry-cleaning and who decided, once cured, that she would open a hostel for pilgrims on the Camino. Part of her mission during dinner was educational. She taught pilgrims about the subtleties of Armagnac. First, she serves floc for aperitif and when dessert time has come, she distributes first a small glass of Bas-Armagnac and then later another one of Armagnac from the Ténarèze so that one can taste the difference. The former is fruity and fairly sweet but the taste stays a only short time in the mouth, whereas the Ténarèze is a little less aromatic but the after-taste lasts much longer. One has to choose between sweet and quick or less flamboyant but longer in mouth! The difference in taste, she explained with passion, comes from the difference of earth on which the vineyard is planted. But the real love of Marie France is the Fine Armagnac, the alcohol right after distillation, which is transparent, before being matured in oak barrels. Marie-France confided that she was originally from the Landes, a region North of the Basque country which goes up to Bordeaux. She was nostalgic of that region. Here in Gascony people are very rural-minded and conservative. She needed movement, going to the mountain, driving to the sea.
The region is essentially rural. There is mixture of agriculture, vineyards, woods and cattle rearing. Towns have usually kept their medieval heritage nearly intact with stone or half-timbered houses, the best of which are usually renovated to be used as second homes by people coming from outside. A lot of British people come and settle down here before reselling their property to one of their peers. The village of Montcuq has its "fish and chips" evening to cater for its Anglo-Saxon population. There is also an interior design shop, opened from March to November, which sells very cosy furniture and accessories that one wouldn't think are selling well in France. This part of rural France is also benefiting a lot from the Camino and part-time residents.
Lectoure, a town perched on a hill overlooking the valley of the Lot river, is liked by french movie stars told us our host in La Romieu. One gets a property and the others follow. The city was fortified and has kept its medieval flair intact. The main street is vibrant with shops, a lot of fine products on market days and people like to spend time seating at terraces on the street.
I do have a sweet spot for La Romieu and its finely carved collegiate Saint Peter (called Collégiale Saint Pierre and formed of a church and a cloister). The church has two towers, one of which can be accessed up to the top. The church was built in the 14th century under the direction of Allemand Albert, a german pilgrim on his way from Rome to Compostella, who decided to settle down in La Romieu. He was influential enough to have the pope lend him some prisoners to build the church and his palace next door.
There is also a legend telling that a woman called Angeline saved the town from rats who were eating all the harvested crops. Back in the days of 1342 AD, there was a period when the weather was so bad that it would not allow crops to grow and caused a harsh food scarcity. Villagers decided they would eat all cats in town. Angeline loved her cats and hid a couple of them until the following year when the crops had grown again. By that time, the town had become infested with rats and mouses. Angeline released her kittens (20 of them!) who started to hunt the rats and saved the village crops. Since then cats are celebrated in the village. Many cat clay figures are spread throughout the village in memory of that story.
Images:
1/Alain Carrere and his bio Armagnac
2/ Larresingle
3/ D'artagnan and his three Musketeers in Condom
4/ Condom getting ready for the Bandas
5/ the roofs of La Romieu
6/ Dinner at a street terrace in Lectoure
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| Larressingle |
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| D'Artagnan and his three Musketeers, Condom |
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| Condom getting ready for the bands |
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| the roofs of La Romieu |
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| dinner at a street terrace, Lectoure |
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