Category Archives: Places

Summer in Southwest France

Posted on 03/07/2018 by nessafrance

Summer is here, les grandes vacances have begun and the foreign number plates in the area have multiplied. And to go with them, a little present from the French government: a drop in the speed limit on secondary roads from … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, Places | Tagged Chapelle de Teysserolles, fete, French markets, lavoir de Caylus, summer, summer fêtes, Summer holidays, SW France, Teysseroles fête | 11 Comments

Every Château Tells a Story #16: le Château de Saint-Michel de Vax

Posted on 17/06/2018 by nessafrance

What a boon the internet can be – in small doses. And we’ve had only a small dose of it recently. More about that in a later post. I can find out almost anything, without moving from my computer in … Continue reading →

Posted in Châteaux, History, Places | Tagged Claude Simon, French châteaux, French Revolution, Jean-Pierre Lacombe-Saint-Michel, Les Géorgiques, Saint-Michel-de-Vax, SW France, Tarn | 6 Comments

Whitsun Walk on the Wild Side

Posted on 22/05/2018 by nessafrance

Pentecôte (Whitsun) is the time for our village’s annual fête. It’s become a tradition for Caylus Notre Village (CNV), an association that promotes and protects local monuments, to organise a series of guided walks around the commune as part of … Continue reading →

Posted in Places, Walking in France | Tagged APICQ, Caylus, Caylus Notre Village, Fête de la Pentecôte, lavoir, Moulin de Genebrières, SW France, vintage cars | 14 Comments

Loze: a Tiny Village on the Causse

Posted on 14/05/2018 by nessafrance

Sometimes life takes you over. I’ve brought out two books in the space of a month and sung in two concerts, in Gaillac and a tiny hamlet near Puycelsi, in the past 10 days. I’m notorious for trying to do … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged Bonnette Valley, Lacapelle-Livron, lauzes, Loze, Mas de Monille, Moulin de Vignasse, rural depopulation, SW France | 25 Comments

On the Carpet: the Tapestries of Montpezat-de-Quercy

Posted on 12/03/2018 by nessafrance

I’m pleased to say that I have done one of the five items I listed in my January post of things to do in 2018. It’s now getting a bit late for the truffle market at Lalbenque, but that will … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged Black Death, Cardinal Pierre Dés Prés, Collégiale Saint-Martin, Flemish tapestries, Hundred Years War, Jean IV Dés Prés, Montpezat de Quercy, SW France, Tapestries of Montpezat-de-Quercy | 7 Comments

Five Museums in SW France You Must Visit

Posted on 04/03/2018 by nessafrance

If you read Life on La Lune regularly, you’ll know I’m a history girl. And there’s plenty of it around in our part of France if you just scratch the surface. Also, many museums in France open for free on … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged Albi, Bordeaux, Centre Jean Moulin, Figeac, French museums, Fromagerie Papillon, Musée Champollion, Musée du Beret, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Nay, Roquefort, SW France | 17 Comments

5 Things to do in SW France in 2018

Posted on 07/01/2018 by nessafrance

Meilleurs vœux pour l’an 2018 à tous mes lecteurs. I will still be writing 2017 on cheques until the end of February. Have you made New Year’s Resolutions? I find those lofty aspirations are all too easily broken. However, the … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged Lalbenque, Les Arques, Montpezat de Quercy, Musée Fenaille, Musée Soulages, Musée Zadkine, Ossip Zadkine, Puylaroque, Restaurant les Sens, Rodez, SW France, truffles | 13 Comments

S.O.S. French Towns

Posted on 26/11/2017 by nessafrance

A few days ago, I had coffee with two friends in the centre of Villefranche-de-Rouergue. This Aveyron town, some 25 km from us, is one of my favourite towns in the region. It’s an attractive place, steeped in history and … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, Places | Tagged Aveyron, Collégiale de Notre-Dame, Montauban, out-of-town superstores, SW France, town centre decline, Villefrance-de-Rouergue, Villefranche-de-Rouergue market | 25 Comments

A Film Record of an Aveyron Family Post-WWII

Posted on 09/11/2017 by nessafrance

Just after WWII, Aveyron was a different country from much of France. It took a long time to get there from anywhere else, people spoke a different language and the way of life had existed for centuries. Change was happening, … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Personalities, Places | Tagged agriculture, Aveyron, Farrebique, Film, French country life, Georges Rouquier, Occitan, Rouergue, rural life, SW France | 5 Comments

Hidden Treasure in Quercy

Posted on 04/11/2017 by nessafrance

Imagine yourself at the bottom of this 30-metre deep hole, hacking away at the white rock with a pickaxe and piling the spoil into a wooden bucket. It’s damp. Visibility is assisted only by the dim light of lanterns. The … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged Bach, Causse de Limogne, Jean-André Poumarède, phosphate industry, phosphate mines, phosphate mining, phosphatières, Phosphatières du Cloup d'Aural, Quercy, SW France | 7 Comments

Every Château Tells a Story #15: Le Château de Puylagarde

Posted on 28/09/2017 by nessafrance

The village of Puylagarde has several distinctions. First, it’s the highest village in our département of Tarn-et-Garonne at 425 metres. On a clear day, you can see the Pyrénées to the south and the Monts du Cantal to the north … Continue reading →

Posted in Châteaux, History, Places | Tagged Avignon popes, Château de Puylagarde, Duèze family, Gourdon family, Hundred Years War, Pope John XXII, Puylagarde, Ratier de Belfort, routiers, SW France | 4 Comments

Vaour and the Templars

Posted on 17/09/2017 by nessafrance

Situated on the edge of the former royal Forêt de Grésigne, the town of Vaour conveys a strong sense of history. This is not surprising, since traces of Neolithic tombs and later occupation can be found in the forest. … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged Commanderie de Vaour, Crusades, fôret de Grésigne, SW France, Tarn, Templar commanderie, Templars, Vaour | 18 Comments

20 Years of la Vie Française

Posted on 29/08/2017 by nessafrance

Last weekend marked the 20th anniversary of moving into our house in France. We had arrived in France a few days earlier, but we regard the occupation of the house as the true anniversary. This year I had a long … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, Places | Tagged culture clash, France, French culture, French restaurants, la vie française, living in France, moving to France, SW France | 13 Comments

Varen: Haven by the River Aveyron

Posted on 03/08/2017 by nessafrance

I never cease to be amazed by the new things (to me) I discover in this region, where I have lived for 20 years. We haven’t set foot in Varen for ages and even then we didn’t stop to have … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged Château de Varen, French Wars of Religion, Hundred Years War, Le Moulin Varen, Lexos, patrimoine, River Aveyron, SW France, Tarn-et-Garonne, Varen | 16 Comments

Water, Water, Everywhere – But Not a Drop to Drink

Posted on 06/07/2017 by nessafrance

The joys of living in a rural French commune. We currently have to collect our drinking water daily in bottles from the Syndicat des Eaux (local water board), which for us involves a round trip of about 18 kilometres. The … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, Places | Tagged drinking water, rainfall, rural life, Source de Livron, SW France, tap water, water | 15 Comments

Discovering a Former Railway Line

Posted on 30/06/2017 by nessafrance

Do you enjoy travelling by train? I do, except of course when it’s cancelled or held up by the wrong sort of leaves or by vandals removing the copper from the electric cables, as happened to us recently in Sweden. … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged Bruniquel, Décazeville mines, Féneyrols, former railway line, Montauban-Capdenac railway, Penne, River Aveyron, Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, SW France | 15 Comments

All Fired Up: Bread Ovens

Posted on 11/06/2017 by nessafrance

You may have seen these small, domed buildings, often tacked onto the back of a house, in French villages. They’re part of le petit patrimoine, not significant enough to merit historic monument status but important vestiges of past times, nonetheless. … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged baking bread, bread, communal bread oven, Flouquet, four à pain, four banal, French bread, patrimoine, rural life, SW France | 15 Comments

Restoration of the Lavoir in Caylus

Posted on 11/05/2017 by nessafrance

Lavoirs, or wash-houses, are features of the landscape around here. In times past, this is where the women (naturally…) did their laundry. They were normally constructed by a spring or a stream, so if the women were lucky, there was … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged Caylus, Caylus Notre Village, lavoir, lavoir de Caylus, patrimoine, rural life, SW France, wash-houses | 12 Comments

Finding Our House in France

Posted on 26/04/2017 by nessafrance

Today is a very special one on La Lune. It’s 20 years ago to the day since we first saw our house. During our five days’ house-hunting in France, among the legion of properties we saw only two fitted the … Continue reading →

Posted in French life, Places | Tagged Aveyron, French property, living in France, Lot, property-hunting in France, real estate, rural life, SW France, Tarn-et-Garonne | 23 Comments

#Paris in the Springtime #2

Posted on 16/04/2017 by nessafrance

Here’s part 2 of the story of our first visit to Paris in 15 years. We had only three days in the capital, and so we were determined to make the most of it. Our shoe leather was definitely more … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged France, Gare d'Austerlitz, Ile de la Cité, Ile Saint-Louis, Jardin des Plantes Paris, Musée d'Orsay, Notre-Dame de Paris, Paris, Parisians, Shakespeare and Company, traffic in Paris | 8 Comments

Paris in the Springtime #1

Posted on 10/04/2017 by nessafrance

People often say to us, “You must visit Paris all the time!” Actually, we’ve been there only twice as tourists in our 20 years in France, and I’ve been there for the day (!) a couple of times for work. … Continue reading →

Posted in Places | Tagged France, Impressionist painting, Impressionists, Latin Quarter of Paris, Marais, Montparnasse, Musée d'Orsay, Musée du Louvre, Paris, Vermeer | 5 Comments

Puylaroque: Tranquil Village with a Turbulent History

Posted on 19/02/2017 by nessafrance

The panorama from the viewpoint at Puylaroque is magnificent. Beneath the rocky outcrop on which the village stands, the plains of southwest France roll away towards the Pyrénées. On a clear day, you can see the mountains, but that is … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged Albigensian Crusade, French Wars of Religion, Hundred Years War, Puylaroque, Quercy, Restaurant les Sens, SW France, Tarn-et-Garonne, truffles | 3 Comments

Forgotten Love Letter Saved for Posterity

Posted on 14/02/2017 by nessafrance

Sometimes fate works in mysterious ways. In this case, it saved for posterity a wonderful letter that would otherwise have been consigned to the flames with a heap of junk.

Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places, World War I & II | Tagged Espinas, farming, Flouquet, living in France, love letter, rural community, rural life, SW France, World War I | 5 Comments

A Cut Above the Rest: Laguiole Knives

Posted on 08/12/2016 by nessafrance

The Aveyron town of Laguiole sits at the edge of the stark and empty but stunningly beautiful Aubrac plateau. We passed through there several years ago on our way to the Aubrac cattle transhumance, which takes place every year in … Continue reading →

Posted in Aveyron, History, Places | Tagged Aubrac, Aveyron, Jean-Louis Calmels, Laguiole, Laguiole bee motif, Laguiole cheese, Laguiole knife, Michel Bras, SW France, transhumance | 11 Comments

A Walk Around Castanet

Posted on 28/11/2016 by nessafrance

Last week, the weather here was truly appalling, especially on Wednesday and Thursday, with high winds and torrential rain. And other parts of southern France suffered much more than we did. This November has been particularly wet, although not cold. … Continue reading →

Posted in Places, Walking in France | Tagged Castanet, châtaignes, rural depopulation, rural life, SW France, sweet chestnuts, Tarn-et-Garonne, walking, Walking in France | 13 Comments

Appetising Return to Belcastel

Posted on 13/11/2016 by nessafrance

Last time, I wrote about a ghostly story linked to the château de Belcastel. This week, we had the opportunity to make a return visit to this plus beau village in Aveyron. Not only does it occupy a delightful setting … Continue reading →

Posted in Aveyron, Food/drink/recipes, Places | Tagged Aveyron, Belcastel, Château de Belcastel, food, Michelin star, Plus beaux villages, Restaurant du Vieux Pont, SW France | 16 Comments

Every Château Tells a Story #14: Le Château des Bordes, Lot

Posted on 22/09/2016 by nessafrance

When I started this series about the châteaux in our area, I had no idea that so many of them exist. There are the obvious ones – Najac, Saint-Projet, Belcastel – but also less obvious ones. Some are just … Continue reading →

Posted in Châteaux, History, Places | Tagged Château des Bordes, Châteaux, French châteaux, Gourdon family, journées du patrimoine, Lot, patrimoine, Promilhanes, SW France | 11 Comments

5 More Hidden Gems in Southwest France

Posted on 15/09/2016 by nessafrance

This coming weekend the annual Journées du Patrimoine take place throughout France. You can visit historic buildings and monuments, some of which are not normally open to the public, and many of them offer free entrance. I have already … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged Abbaye de Beaulieu en Rouergue, Château de Cas, journées du patrimoine, Lagarde-Viaur, Limogne truffle market, Limogne-en-Quercy, SW France, truffles, Viaur Valley, Villeneuve-d'Aveyron | 11 Comments

Calvignac, Lot: Untold Stories?

Posted on 23/08/2016 by nessafrance

I often find the smaller places in rural France more interesting than the big cities or the real tourist honeypots. They have their own intriguing histories, their hidden features, and to me these are more satisfying than the roads much … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged Calvignac, Château de Cénevières, Exoplanet Lot, Hundred Years War, Lot, River Lot, Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, SW France | 19 Comments

5 Hidden Gems in Southwest France

Posted on 13/08/2016 by nessafrance

This region contains so much to see and do that it’s easy to visit only the obvious places, those that get the most publicity: the plus beaux villages, the Viaduc de Millau, the better-known markets, the famous festivals. Dig a … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Places | Tagged Académie des miniatures, Albi, Caylus, Les Jardins de Quercy, maison rucher, Ossip Zadkine, patrimoine, Peyrusse-le-Roc, Promilhanes, SW France, Villeneuve, Zadkine Christ | 17 Comments