France Today

France passé? Forget it. Leslie Williams writes the food lovers' letter to holidays in rural France.

Photo: Leslie Williams

Time to think about holidays again? For some people, including this writer, the decision is simply a decision on which part of France to go to this year.

The first reason for choosing France for a holiday is its sheer convenience as, apart from the UK, no other country is so accessible. You can, of course, also bring your car and fill it up with all kinds of goodies to sustain you through the winter months.

The best way to visit France is to rent a gite (holiday home), preferably in a rural area. You will find everything from dove cotes, to cottages, to chateaux available for rent at prices much cheaper than similar houses in Ireland. If you choose a camping holiday try to find one in a wine region (e.g. avoid the Vendee).

The huge advantage of self-catering is that it gives you the chance to live as the French do - by buying food at the local markets directly from the farmer and buying your wine from local producers and your bread from the local boulangerie and occasional evening meals from the local traiteur.

There is usually a market on every day in some town within 25 minutes driving distance wherever you are in France; ask a local for guidance as to where the best markets are. As well as fresh meat, vegetables and cheeses, all markets will have at least a couple of purveyors of hot food which you can take home for your lunch. Make sure to be up early as most markets close at lunchtime along with everything else in rural France.

Visiting a wine region is a must and as the boat from Ireland lets you off in either Brittany or Normandy, and neither of these regions produce wine, the Loire is your nearest wine region. The Loire is the most versatile wine region in France with bone-dry whites, solid reds, good sparklers and dessert wines all at a third of the price you would pay at home. Given its marginal climate, however, make sure you do some research before you visit, as there are as many bad producers as good ones.

The most useful reference book on what wineries to visit is the Guide Hachettes des Vins which can be found in the book section of most supermarkets and in all good bookshops for around 35 Euro. This is updated every year and most producers that are mentioned are worth a visit.

French Supermarkets can be up to ten times the size of the biggest supermarkets in Ireland, selling everything from guns to gunas to guavas. These are erratic places to buy wine as they tend to buy on price rather than quality so do try to taste before you buy in volume. For the return trip however you can stock up on sweet butter, fleur de sel de Guerande, 70% cocoa butter chocolate for less than a euro and jars of foie gras for c.12 euro.

Of course there is bad food to be found in France in the same places you find it in every country (motorway service stations, shopping malls, truck stops etc.) but if you ask locally you should have no problem finding an auberge or family run restaurant serving good to excellent food.

For example, last November, in the Auberge du Cheval Blanc in the village of Thourace (in the heart of Coteaux du Layon in the Loire Valley) I ate a 6 course meal including the likes of foie gras, fresh trout, braised duck, local cheese and crème brulee and the total for two - including a bottle of good white wine and two glasses of wonderful Bonnezeaux dessert wine - cost just over 50 euro.

Recommend regions to visit include Alsace, Loire (around Chinon and Saumur), Brittany, Burgundy, Champagne, Gascony, Bordeaux (though don't expect wine bargains), Aveyron, Perigord, Rhone, Languedoc and Provence.

Personally, I travel with Brittany Ferries, as they serve excellent food throughout the voyage, including a truly amazing buffet and with everything from foie gras to bresse chicken likely to be on the menu in the restaurant.

Photo: Leslie Williams

Leslie Williams