Posts Tagged ‘central france’

The Cevennes railway lies in south-central France, linking Nimes to Clermont Ferrand along a section of the Paris to Marseille line called the “line of 100 tunnels.” Make that 106 tunnels, numerous bridges and galleries, and some of ‘railwaydom’s’ highest and most spectacular viaducts. Veritable works of industrial art, they form just part of the enormous historical investment expended on opening up Languedoc to Paris in the 1870s. It took some six or seven thousand men six years of their lives to build a railroad that would confound most civil engineers today were its creation to be mooted afresh.

The immense technological feat, weighing in at a staggering 520 million francs, puts the enormity of the challenge, and its realization, into its true historical context. It is a national treasure and, like most of the world’s heritage, it takes brinkmanship to shake people into action and foreigners to educate national leaders as to just how important the preservation of such gems is to future generations. Perhaps the answer lies in the line’s adoption as a World Heritage Site?

Nevertheless, one would have thought that the magnitude of the human costs resulting from the line’s closure would have been enough to set the alarm bells ringing. Not so, or at least not the right bells.

Lozere is France’s most thinly-populated department with only 15 people per square kilometre. Add to that the fact that is has the highest average altitude of any department and the word ‘remote’ trips quite easily off the tongue. This then is the mountain region traversed by the Cevenol. On the upside, Lozere boasts the lowest unemployment level in France, of between five and six percent. However, there’s no ‘Silicon Plateau’ to thank for this, just straightforward massive rural de-population.

Those that have remained are engaged in either agriculture (itself at an all-time low) or tourism, and there lies the rub: at the very moment when green tourism is hailed as the future hope for those remaining in the countryside, short-term economic rationality wields the axe to the only real and sustainable means by which today’s eco-friendly travellers can access the region. And it is not without some irony, that France has just witnessed rail freight volumes exceeding those carried by lorry for the first time since the hey-day of rail transport.

The estimated cost required for the line’s repair and maintenance is estimated at fifty million Euros (approx. 68 million USD). In contrast to the billions that are being spent on keeping profligate car firms alive, it’s cheap and money well spent. Yet the last thing the Cevenol needs is state interference in the form of the omnipresent tourist boards launching some horrendous value-added (sic) exercise that would only serve to squeeze the real life and nature out of the ‘product,’ replacing it with a fabricated ‘plan touristique’ lacking authenticity. The French state doesn’t ‘do tourism’ very well, and any move towards trinket shops in railway stations and the further sanitization of hiking trails will simply kill the 19th Century goose that laid the golden Cevenol egg.

Those that are familiar with the case of The Regordane Way, a medieval trail that is a hiking history book, will know what I am saying: the State decided what should be preserved in its name and the resulting concoction is a dog’s dinner with which very few outside the local ‘postes de tourismes’ are happy. In the end, and as is the case with the preservation of the medieval Regordane, the best way to conserve our heritage is to give it our patronage, not patronize it.

So of what relevance is hiking to the continuance of The Cevenol? Well, it won’t be its saviour, but it can play an important role in the economic diversity of the region and the improved viability of the railroad. The land traversed by the Cevennes Railway is truly spectacular hiking country and the Cevenol provides excellent access to its fruits. The natural fault-line running down the eastern flank of the Cevennes is home to both The Cevenol and The Regordane; whilst the railroad provides an entre to those wishing to trek part or all of the Robert Louis Stevenson trail – not to mention some great circular hiking options that are spread out along its course and known only to the local cognoscenti.

If you enjoy the simple pleasures of train travel for its own sake, and are not in too much of a hurry to arrive, then The Cevenol is an experience you need to place on your wish-list. Hikers of the world will unite in rating the beauty of the Languedoc trails that lie either side of the rails as being some of the best in France, whilst those who are smitten by both means of conveyance will have the time of their lives. But please don’t defer your decision making for too long, for you risk missing out on what could become one of France’s mythical journeys of yesteryear. The local population rose up and held demonstrations late last year in the face of what seemed to be the imminent closure of the line. They won a reprieve, but for how long is anyone’s guess.

Author: Scott N. Anderson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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If you are looking for fine French wine and food, consider the Languedoc-Roussillon region of south central France. You may find a bargain, and I hope that youll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour in which we review a local red Pinot Noir.

Among the eleven wine-growing regions of France Languedoc-Roussillon ranks number four in total vineyard acreage. This area, which includes the Midi was traditionally known for generating immense amounts of rather dubious table wine called vin ordinaire. Recently, in part because of Australian winemakers, the region has started to produce a lot of fine wine. A few weeks ago a salesman offering free samples greeted me at my nearby wine store. While I hadnt planned to review yet another Languedoc-Roussillon wine so soon after the two others, I was particularly intrigued by this wines classification and its grape variety.

The wine bottle proudly displayed a sticker proclaiming its Gold ranking in a national contest for Vin de Pays (Country Wines) in 2006. You may recall from the initial article in this series (I Love French Wine and Food Launching a Series) that Vin de Pays is a relatively recent French classification for wines of promise that for one reason or another dont meet the stricter requirements of the presumably better classifications. Even though almost one third of French wine is classified as Vin de Pays we dont get too many of them here. I smelled a potential bargain.

The grape variety was Pinot Noir. I know of a relatively recent exhaustive list of Languedoc-Roussillon grape varieties comprising over thirty entries, some famous, others obscure. Pinot Noir was absent, surely not by oversight. Pinot Noir tends to be a cool-weather grape found in places such as Champagne and Burgundy in France, and Oregon in the United States. In our various article series we reviewed Pinot Noirs from non-traditional areas including Germany, Italy, and France (Alsace). Well see below how a Languedoc-Roussillon Pinot Noir stacks up.

Narbonne is a city of about fifty thousand that had been a major city in old Roman times. Sadly little of its Roman past remains. Youll have to be satisfied with modern sites such as the Fourteenth Century Cathdrale St-Just-et-St-Pasteur (St-Justs and St-Pasteurs Cathedral), the tallest cathedral in all of southern France. Nearby is the Palais des Archevques (Archbishops Palace) that houses art and archeology museums. If youre feeling ambitious climb the almost two hundred steps in the dungeon for a prisoners eye view of the surroundings. The sculpture museum in the former church Notre Dame de la Mourgui displays Roman and Gallic treasures of all sorts. The twenty two kilometer (fifteen mile) Robine Canal, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, flows into the much longer Canal du Midi (Midi Canal), similarly classified. Charles Trenet, a famous French singer and songwriter was born in Narbonne. Leon Blum, a three time French Prime Minister was born in Paris but elected to Parliament from Narbonne.

Before reviewing the Languedoc-Roussillon wine and imported cheeses that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region.
Start with Gambas (Prawns).
For your second course savor Loup en Papillote (Sea Bass cooked in Foil).
And as dessert indulge yourself with Pches la Minervoise (White Peaches with Muscat Wine and Raisins).

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed
Partiarche Pinot Noir Vin de Pays 2004 12% about $9

Lets start by quoting the marketing materials. Tasting Note: Pale ruby color; light cherry and spice aromas, sweet fresh cherry flavour, soft finish. Serving suggestion: Serve with cold roast beef.

My first meal consisted of cold beef spare ribs with cracked peppercorns, potato salad, and cucumber and onion salad. My first reaction was this is a real Pinot Noir at a great price. Its light acid did a great job of cutting the congealed fat. It was shorter and less complex than other Pinot Noirs that cost a lot, lot more.

The next meal was cold barbequed chicken with cucumber and onion salad, and potato salad. There was a lot of extract and quite a good length. I tasted tobacco and dark fruits.

The final meal involved grilled hamburgers with spicy Thai sauce, a cole slaw advertised as a health cole slaw whatever that means, and once again potato salad. In this case spicy meant really spicy. The sauce was too assertive; I had to remove most of it. While I like spices I want the wine to be there. Once that problem was solved the wine was fine. I tasted black cherries rather than the sweet cherries that I had been promised. I was not disappointed. I also tasted the underbrush and that didnt disappoint me either.

My first cheese pairing was with a local Asiago cheese that I prefer to the native Italian versions that I have tried. Perhaps in Italy The Pinot Noir was powerful with dark fruit. Then I went to a goats milk cheese, a Palet de Chevre from the Poitou Charentes region of central-western France. I might have guessed that the cheese was a Camembert rather than a goats milk cheese. Be that as it may, the wine became too acidic and lost its flavor. Then I paired the Pinot Noir with a nutty tasting Swiss Gruyere. At first the same phenomenon occurred, but later became less pronounced. I thought that perhaps the wine was starting to decline, but I finished the bottle on its own and the fruit came back in force.

Final verdict. We have a winner. We have a bargain. The two are related. At twice the price I wouldnt bother. But at the present price Ill be coming back. And Ill be looking for another Vin de Pays to try soon.

Author: Levi Reiss
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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