LIFE IN GASCONY

Here we have tried to summarise a little of what we know to be Gascony and unlike some of the world all of it is real, harsh or not:

Space - rolling countryside in which there are only 27 people per hectare, that is about a tenth of the UK. It means you do not have to worry about fitting things into a space, it is about making sure you expand your horizons. It means you can breathe, not have to fight your neighbour for space, have views, watch sunsets and see lots of stars because it is black at night.

Welcoming people - life is simple here, there is not the competition, people help each other, they barter without haggling, they have skills they share and they know that community is still important, it is how you survive in the country, it is Darwinian. They stop to talk, smile a lot, laugh a lot and the whole village goes to the funeral when someone dies. They might go in their slippers or wellies and their jeans but it does not mean disrespect just that the person is more important than the image and in any case they have to go back to work afterwards. 

Tranquillity - stunning countryside and views, rolling hillsides like coloured tapestries because of the different crops spreading across the land; rugged beauty in the villages, bastides, country, towers, rivers and elements. Here you get characters, tranquillity and time. In the supermarket the cashiers stop and talk to customers and help them, this means you have to wait longer and with time you learn this is a good thing.

Energy - yet with all of this there is an energy about the place. It is partly because everyone works hard. Making a living here can be hard. It is also about the way things are done. If you spend your day ploughing a field you appreciate a simple conversation and company. Fetes are for frivolity, consumption and excess, a break.... and then you go back to work with the sun on your back and it feels good.

Self sufficiency - is the way of life, fruit and vegetable from the ‘potager', keeping a few chickens, ducks or a pig. Even if you do not keep you own pig you know someone up the road who will sell you one. And you hunt for things to eat wild boar, pigeon, partridge, pheasant and every kind of deer. Everything is eaten fresh or conserved fois gras, pate, confit de canard, saucisse, prunes and confiture of every known fruit and vegetable are all preserves and they are the gastronomic essence of the region. Everything is worth growing, rearing, harvesting and preserving to do otherwise is criminal waste. What they do not eat themselves they give to friends and neighbours or sell from a small trestle table on the market. We often get into trouble with locals for poor harvesting techniques and thus waste.

The character of the grape - since its roman introduction viticulture has dominated the region. It created the money that the grand chateaux were built from. Vineyards large and small cover swathes of the countryside. Every farmer who has the right to grow vines will hold on to those tenaciously and carry on pruning, spraying, lifting, defoliating until in late September and October when half the population are involved in the vendage, picking and pressing the grape. There are a large number of Domaines who make their own often very wine; most grapes, juice and early wine goes to the cooperatives. Armagnac is the local spirit and it is less well known and they sell far less of it, than its cousin the big brands of Cognac. It is still seen as Gascony's wealth, its pension . In a small village of 120 homes near here there are thirteen Armagnac growers. They distil their Armagnac, not every year but often, and they keep it in huge barrels letting it mature and improve with age. Slowly but surely people around the world are learning its virtues but more about that in our what's on section.

History of Gascony