Burgundy's patron saint Vincent

January 22nd is well-known throughout Burgundy as le jour de la Saint Vincent, the patron saint of winegrowers. This day also happens to fall between the vine's dormant winter state and the first appearance of new growth (according to legend, St-Vincent's Day either ushers in another round of winter or an early spring, Burgundy's version of Groundhog Day), and in any event the time when pruning the vine is supposed to begin in earnest.

A mystery remains as to why this Saint has won the devotion of winegrowers. Theories abound, with some of the most widely-held going like this: the name Vincent is pronounced in French as "vin" (wine) + "cent" (like "sang" or blood), with the Saint offering his blood as a libation to be united with Christ on the Cross; another suggests that Vincent's martyred body was trampled under torture in 4th-century Spain, much like the crushing of grapes in the press following harvest. According to yet another legend Vincent once stopped by the edge of a vineyard to talk with vine workers and in the meantime, his donkey nibbled at the young vine shoots. Come the next harvest, it was discovered that this particular vine stock had produced more fruit than all the others - St. Vincent's donkey had apparently invented the art of vine pruning.

Regardless of the inspiration, the end of January has become a fixture on the winemaking calendar as a time for celebrating the Burgundy vineyard. Rather than hold festivities at the same venue, like the regional wine capital in Beaune, each year local winegrowers and wine fraternities from a single village or group of villages host thousands of onlookers with a procession, a collective assembly or mass, and then the traditional pig roast and feast. For this reason, the fête is known as a "tournante", or transitional event; the 2007 edition will take place on January 27-28 in the town of Nuits-Saint-Georges, up the road from Beaune…

ROYAL Triumph in French Primary

Poitou-Charentes: A breeding ground for French statesmen (and stateswomen)

As Ségolène Royal readies herself to hold the Socialist Party's banner in the upcoming 2007 Presidential elections, making her the first woman in French political history to vie for the nation's top post from one of the mainstream parties, onlookers are wondering how this relative neophyte sprang from near anonymity within 10 short months to run away with the nation's first-ever Presidential primary and, in so doing, crushing rivals with decades of high-profile national exposure (including a former Prime Minister). Until her rise to prominence, the highest office she had held was President of one of France's less-heralded regions, the Poitou-Charentes. Even though political power in France is so tightly held and heavily concentrated in Parisian circles, Ms. Royal has made the most of her regional stature of a hands-on, grass-roots dynamo with the chic and elegance to create a gender revolution.

Part of this ascension may have something to do with her native region. The Poitou-Charentes, located in the western central part of France south of Brittany and the Loire Valley and north of the Dordogne, has long staked its claim as the breeding ground of some of the country's leading political figures. François Mitterrand hailed from Jarnac, where a museum (link) offers visitors plenty of memorabilia from his 14 years in office. Several recent Prime Ministers also call this region home, and the nation's current Cabinet contains a disproportionate number of ministers and high-ranking officials from this temperate, relatively flat land. Noteworthy tourist attractions in this region include the Futuroscope technology amusement park outside of the regional capital city of Poitiers (link) and the Marais Poitevin natural park and wildlife reserve, one of Europe's most important wetlands (link). Should your travels take you to France's western reaches next spring come election time, locals will be cheering hard for their heroine Ségolène la Présidente!

Tourism Going "Green"

Eco-tourism and "Green" holidays

After having just attended the Adventure Travel Trade Summit in Seattle this past October, I am not surprised to see more and more eco-friendly efforts surfacing in tourism. It was a huge topic of discussion in Seattle. While in Seattle, I met with the Sustainable Travel group and we are working together with STI to make all of Discover France, Pure Adventures, and Cycling Classics CARBON NEUTRAL in 2007! Details will follow soon.

This movement has been wholeheartedly embraced by the eco-tourism industry, which has become much more prominent in France and elsewhere in Europe over the past decade. The association "Naturelodging", created to help promote the accommodation side of eco-tourism offerings throughout the world, is now very active in France; the association's hotel and inn members are all signatories to a charter championing the virtues of a more sustainable tourism. The affiliated tour organizers are devoted to hosting ecologically-friendly activities such as cycling, kayaking, hiking, riding, climbing, hang-gliding… in addition to showcasing local flora and fauna. Here's a sample of the eco-holiday accommodations currently available through this association: http://www.naturelodging.org

Mont St Michel Update

Discover France offers both cycling and hiking tours that pass by the famed Mont St Michel on the border of Normandy and Brittany in Western France. A link to each is below:

Works now underway to revive the splendor of the Mont Saint-Michel

One of the very first monuments inscribed on the list of UNESCO's prestigious World Heritage Sites and probably France's most widely-visited attraction outside of Paris, the Mont Saint-Michel had for some time been in a failing state of environmental health. Ever since 1879, when the road dyke, or causeway, was built to connect the Normandy coast across the Mont Saint-Michel Bay to the island Abbey dating back to the 10th century, sediment from the sea has gradually been filling in the bay and threatening the very sensitive ecosystem that makes this site so spectacular. Exacerbating the environmental challenge has been the steady flow of automobiles crossing the causeway to the tune of 3 million visitors a year to witness this "Wonder of the Western World", a tower rising right out of the water. Over the centuries, monastery buildings and protective walls had been built to preserve what had become one of Europe's greatest spiritual and intellectual centers, and the powerful tides kept the Benedictines at a safe enough distance from land. The late 19th-century civil engineering feat to connect the mainland initiated an irreversible process of diminishing the tides' capacity to evacuate the bay's incoming alluvia and slowly but surely allowing the island to be engulfed by the Normandy Coast. Experts had predicted that in the absence of hydraulic remedy, this part of the bay would become a permanent sandbank by the year 2040.

The photo from this link shows just how much the shore has been encroaching: http://www.britishtours.com/montstmichel.html

Hydraulic engineers and historical preservationists saw the disaster coming during the mid-1990's and studies were commissioned to find a suitable solution, that would preserve the site and the architectural marvel while not jeopardizing its tourism potential. After considerable examination and public hearings galore, a plan was agreed and financially backed by the State and local authorities to undertake the necessary transformation works, consisting primarily of a dam to revitalize the waters near the island, and the showcase feature: a 2-km access bridge, reserved exclusively for pedestrians and non-polluting shuttle buses. All visitors will park their vehicles on the mainland and behold this treasure of human history in much more environment-friendly surroundings. For a preview of what your visit will look like circa 2012:

Hiking in Brittany - Mont St Michel

Cycling in Brittany - Mont St Michel

Planning A France Vacation Around the Weather

Change of weather, change of holiday plans?

Visitors to France during summer 2006 might have come away a bit confused. Parts of June and much of July saw one of the hottest spells in recent years, with temperatures soaring towards the 100°F mark and beyond. Then along came the wave of August vacationers (the "aoûtiens" as they're affectionately known) and conditions couldn't have been more sharply contrasted. Tourists were forced to reach for sweaters and jackets as a cold front descended on the country and produced some record lows. The temperature dipped to a high in the mid-50's one day in Paris, making it the coldest August in the capital for 60 years. Though southern France and the Mediterranean coast fared better, much of the country shivered rather than sunbathed its way through the month. And then came along yet another twist in this wacky weather year: warm weather blanketed the country during September and October, folks out in short-sleeve shirts, the traditional time of firing up the boiler and radiators could be postponed for at least a good month…

Such extremes came on top of a string of extremely dry winters and the killer heat wave of 2003, responsible for the deaths of thousands. All of this naturally raises the question: is France's climate changing? According to the head of climatic research for the Météo France meteorological agency, the recent extreme variations cannot all be ascribed to global warming, but the hotter trend in recent years is only likely to accelerate: the number of summer weather days, i.e. temperatures topping 80, has been considerably increasing and stretching into the shoulder seasons more over the last decade than at any point in weather-recorded history.

As a corollary, far fewer frosts can be expected during future winters. A recent health study concluded that mortality rates for winter and summer could inverse dramatically. Prior to 2003, it had long been held that the worst extreme weather in France occurred during wintertime, but the change towards milder winters with more heat waves during summer months will significantly alter these figures.

The good news for us travelers is that such predictions could mean even sunnier springs and more clement falls in many regions of France, not just the south and Mediterranean, providing for greater opportunities to enjoy touring pleasures during seasons when crowds have thinned and prices have eased. Be sure to take a look at Discover France's wide selection of tours that extend well into the spring and fall shoulder seasons…

Back to Provence

Getting back to Provence

We were at the movies on a cold October evening last week and walked into the theater right as the first trailer was showing a landscape that was oh so warm and oh so familiar, those regal cypress trees pointing towards a cloudless sky, the golden brown earth rolling through vineyards, olive groves and hilltop villages - yes, unmistakably I'm being transported to Provence. By the time we settled into our seats, the trailer's just about over, and it seemed like another tale of an Englishman falling for the Provençal charm, tradition and way of life, much like a Peter Mayle book. When I checked out the story behind the film, turns out it is another Peter Mayle book, written so that his good friend and neighbor, the Hollywood director Ridley Scott, could arrange a film shoot in his back yard…

It all began with a feature story in The London Times ten years ago about an English winemaker in Bordeaux who, quelle horreur !, was using New World methods of winemaking to create vintages that sold for thousands of pounds a case.

Scott, who himself owns a vineyard of 11 hectares (27 acres) in Provence, was intrigued by the piece and showed it to Mayle, who recounts: ‘This story offered the perfect opportunity, so we cooked up the idea together that I would write a book about a winemaker who came to Provence and Ridley would make the film so that he could spend more time here and it all worked out rather splendidly.’

In 2004, Mayle published 'A Good Year' which immediately topped the best-seller lists, and the film project of the same name was launched. A Good Year tells the story of Max Skinner (Crowe), a high-living London trader whose uncle (Albert Finney) bequeaths him an 18th-century chateau and vineyard in Provence. Although initially reluctant to get involved, when Skinner realizes wine can be a lucrative business, he's ready to make the plunge, along the way getting seduced by French country life. A wine scandal and the arrival of a woman who claims to be his uncle's illegitimate daughter help pepper the plot.

Much of the movie was shot at Chateau La Canorgue in the Luberon country and apparently the Crowe's and other members of the cast were lodged on site, once again making the picturesque village of Bonnieux the unwitting backdrop to plenty of media hype.

The story that inspired it all was about a winemaker Hugh Ryman, whose father Nick sold his business in England to buy a château in the Bergerac area near Bordeaux in the early 1970's. Over the next 20 years, Ryman Senior turned the Chateau de la Jaubertie label into a respectable wine but it was son Hugh who made it internationally famous during the 90's.

Interested in a trip to Provence as told by Peter Mayle and played by Russell Crowe: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401445/trailers-screenplay-E28375-10-2

Or, just click on our title link for cycling tours in Provence that pass through this very countryside!

Discover France Awarded Best Website

Kudos for Discover France from the French Government Tourist Office

Tourism and the tourist industry are so vital to France's economic well-being (75 million visitors a year, well above the nation's population, a contribution of nearly 10% to the country's GNP) that it should come as no surprise for the French Tourism Ministry to have set up local missions throughout the world to help promote travel to France and provide assistance and cooperation with local tour operators and travel professionals. In this spirit, the French Government Tourist Office in the United States, whose main office is located in New York under the banner "Maison de la France", held a trade gathering mid-October in New Orleans, as the travel industry gears up for the 2007 season.

As part of the meeting agenda, an awards ceremony was held to distinguish outstanding achievement in French travel services. Discover France was nominated in several categories and walked home with the award for best Website. Those of you who have been following our Web efforts over the past several years have undoubtedly noticed the extent to which our tour details are presented, in sequences of user-friendly and informative pages, overlapping with more general background on French travel news and latest events. More than just a screen brochure to entice bookings, we've gone to great lengths to make the Discover France site and its sister sites (Cycling Classics for more adventurous cycling excursions, Pure Adventures for other European destinations and of course the newly-launched gotoparis.net devoted to Paris stays) a true French travel resource, with plenty of updated links to interesting sites for the savvy traveler. Ancillary to our day-in, day-out work on the site, we generate a monthly e-newsletter to signal upcoming events and news that could help shape travel plans, in addition to biweekly blog postings…

At Discover France, we fully realize that the success of our site and Web efforts lies primarily with you, our loyal audience. Many thanks for your support: discoverfrance.com