Aquitaine,
capital city Bordeaux, is one of the great historic regions
of
France; it is also one of the largest and most varied regions of
France, stretching from the foothills of the Massif Central in the
north, to the Spanish border in the south, a distance of over 300 km.
In the Middle Ages, Aquitaine was allied with the Plantagenet kings of
England, and the region has many historic connections with the British
Isles, notably through the wine trade.
On
account of its size, Aquitaine is a very varied region; the northwest
part of Aquitaine, comprising the departments of the
Dordogne (24) and
the
Lot et Garonne
(47) is made up of gentle hill country, with large areas of vineyards
in the lower lying areas, and woodland and mixed farming in the hillier
north east. The Dordogne area is famous for its rurality, its gentle
valleys and villages, which seem to outsiders to be lost in time, and
have become very popular with second-home buyers from the UK and the
Netherlands in particular. The area is also famous as one of the oldest
centres of known human habitation in Europe, and many prehistoric sites
can be found round the area of Lascaux (remarkable caves, a UNESCO
world heritage site) and Les Eyzies. Within France, the Dordogne
department is more famous for its gastronomic specialities, truffles,
foie-gras, walnuts and other mouth-watering delicacies, and is often
rerferred to as "le Périgord", the area around the
departmental capital
of
Périgueux.
The
middle band of the region,
following the line of the Gironde estuary, is low-lying land, and one
of the most famous wine-producing areas in France.
Bordeaux, regional
capital and capital of the
Gironde
(33) department, is a magnificent city lying at the lowest
bridging point on the Garonne river. it is one of France's great
seaports, and its historic wealth is reflected in the many fine
buildings of the old city, such as the unique eighteenth-century
theatre. North of Bordeaux, to the west of the Gironde estuary, lies
the area of Médoc, the most prestigious of the region's
wine-producing
areas; other famous vineyard areas can be found all round Bordeaux, and
notably along the valley of the Garonne and its tributaries. The area
around the small historic city of
St.
Emilion
is another famous vineyard area. Further inland, the area
between
Marmande and Agen supports a busy fruit and vegetable industry. On the
coast, the resort of
Arcachon
is very popular, on account of its sheltered anchorage, favoured by
yachtsmen, and the proximity of the Dune du Pilat, the highest sand
dune in Europe.
The
southern
part of Aquitaine is made up of two distinct areas, the departments of
les Landes (40) and the Pyrénées
Atlantiques (64).
Les
Landes is
the most heavily forested area of Europe; a low lying area with sandy
soil, almost the whole department is covered with pine forests
interspersed with small areas of heath and farmland. The forests are
popular with nature lovers, ramblers and hunters, and support a major
timber industry. Outside the few towns and seaside resorts, the
department of les Landes, which until the nineteenth century was
renowned as an inhospitable wasteland, is one of the least densely
populated areas of France. It is also a department where almost a
quarter of all dwellings are second homes. The coastline of les Landes
is a long almost unbroken stretch of sandy beach, much of it virtually
empty.
The
department of
Pyrénées
Atlantiques (64)
is essentially composed of the former province of Bearn and the Basque
country. It is a very attractive department, offering everything
from Atlantic surf on the beaches around
St Jean de Luz and
Biarritz,
to good skiing on the slopes high up in the Pyrenees. The foothills of
the Pyrenees are a delightful area, benefiting from a very mild
climate, and sufficient rainfall to remain green and luscious through
many months of the year.
Pau,
the departmental capital, is an elegant city that was very popular with
the British in the nineteenth century as a thermal resort, and even
boasted at one time an English hunt, complete with hounds and redcoats.
Aquitaine is a region that
is popular for
cycle
tourism:
two long distance cycle routes, the Atlantic cycleway and the
Atlantic-Mediterranean cycle route cross the region. In Aquitaine, both
are largely on dedicated surfaced cycle routes, and are flat, as they
largely follow the coast or rivers / canals.