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Explore France Holiday Guides Lot-et-Garonne Pays d’Albret
| Pays d’Albret |
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| Wednesday, 28 February 2007 | |
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The Pays d’Albret has a strong Gascon identity – and a reputation for its armagnac and foie gras. This southern corner of the Lot-et-Garonne offers the visitor a parade of history: a royal connection at Nérac, the venerable wateremill of Barbaste, the remarkably well-preserved bastide of Vianne and the sumptuous Château of Poudenas. While Elizabeth I was ruling England, the influential Albret family provided France with Henri IV, probably the best-loved of all the French kings. With the Edict of Nantes in 1598, he gave his subjects religious freedom, ending years of conflict. His reign (1589 to 1610) was cut short when a religious fanatic assassinated him in Paris. Henri’s château was at Nérac, a town on the banks of a little river called the Baïse (pronounce it “Baheeze” to avoid an unfortunate misunderstanding). Until the 17th century, this area was not part of France, Nérac being one of the two capitals of Navarre (the other is Pau, where Henri IV was born). Until the French Revolution, Nérac’s château had four wings enclosing a courtyard. In the anti-aristocratic backlash after 1789, three of these were demolished, one of many acts of vandalism at the time. The remaining wing, restored and open to visitors, dates from the 15th century and is quite stunning. Cross the central square with its multi-faced clock tower, then stroll down the Cours Romas – most attractive on Saturday mornings with its busy market – turning left to look at the statue of Henri IV, then back down to the river and into the medieval quarter of Petit Nérac over the old humpbacked bridge. You can tour a 14th-century house in the summer, after which a short riverside walk leads you back to the main bridge below the château. From the modern bridge you can photograph the old bridge you crossed earlier. Upstream from the main bridge, you can walk through the former château grounds where a statue commemorates a gardener’s daughter Fleurette. The story goes that she committed suicide after being seduced and discarded by Le Vert Galant, as the young prince Henri was known before he acceded to the throne. At the nearby spa town of Casteljaloux, the Albret family helped the Franciscans to set up a convent, the Couvent des Cordeliers, and a chapel, where the local nobility would pray. There are some fine 16thcentury houses here, with ground floors built in stone and the upper floors displaying timber Saint Andrew’s crosses. Mézin, to the south-west, is worth a visit, too for its charming shady squares and a museum devoted entirely to the cork tree. Barbaste Water mills are plentiful along the streams and rivers of the Lot-et-Garonne. Most no longer function as mills; some are forlorn ruins while others have been renovated as attractive residences. But not far from Nérac is a water mill which is unique, and was so even in the Middle Ages. On the little river Gélise, known as the Frontière des Sables as it separates the arable Gascogne from the sandy Landes, the mill at Barbaste was also a fortress. Its four towers of different heights and dimensions were supposedly a homage to the King’s four daughters. It is impossible to visit without being told the story of Henri IV who bought the water mill, afterwards calling himself ‘the miller of Barbaste’. The river is spanned at this point by an intriguing 12th-century bridge, which joins the Ténarèze, a path running from Bordeaux to the Pyrénées without ever crossing a river. Across the road from the mill is a low cliff with caves, now masked by symbolic stone façades where the architectural chronology has been inversed, with the oldest style at the top of the façade. Château de Poudenas The Château de Poudenas, between Sos and Mézin, was built in the 13th century by the lords of Poudenas, vassals to Edward Plantagenet I, King of England and Duke of Aquitaine. It defended the valley of the Gélise, a natural frontier between the Lot-et-Garonne and the Gers. Strategically sited on the edge of the Landais forest, it was a military base until the 16th century and still retains its mullioned windows on the keep. In the 17th century, the château was completely transformed, the interior courtyard was embellished with two terraces, arcades and an Italianate triple gallery. The château is open for visits and is the setting for an annual classical music festival, La Bouche à l’Oreille. Vianne With its formal plan and well-preserved walls and gates, Vianne, founded in 1284 by the English, is probably the Lot-et-Garonne’ s exemplary bastide. It was lucky to escape urban development and still has large garden areas although few original buildings remain intact. By the early 20th century, Vianne had become a centre for glassmaking. To house the influx of foreign labour, the town grew and spread outside its walls. Sadly, the glassworks closed in 2005 and the town’s main focus now is tourism, with a good choice of restaurants and lively night markets. Vianne is part of the European walled town project and you can take a virtual tour of the town on www.unibg.it/walledtowns . Sos Perched on a rock, the village of Sos famously withstood Julius Cæsar’s attempts at invading it. These days, its defensive location has been chosen as the venue for a new arts and music festival with a wideranging programme to appeal to all ages. Artists and musicians from all over France and Britain will gather in Sos for the event on August 13, 2006 |
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