This part of France is not known for its white wines.  That is not to say that quality white wine is not produced in this area – just that in general the production of white wine is a relatively new addition to the area.  The region of Cahors, so well known for its production of deep red wines from the Malbec grape, also produces some stunning whites, for example the Cuvée Cedre Blanc from Chateau du Cedre, which is 100% Viognier.  Many of the white wines that we carry on our luxury hotel barge, Die Saint Louis, are in fact produced from just one variety of grape, such as the Chardonnay from Chateau Saint Louis in Fronton, and the Presteige Blanc Sec from Montels and the Tarani from Fronton, both of which are 100% Sauvignon.  However, the practice of producing wine from a blend of grape varieties is still commonplace in South West France, for example as is the case with the Jurancon Sec from Domaine Nigri (Gros Mansang, Camaralet and Lauzet) and the popular UBI (Colombard and Ugni Blanc).

I feel that one of the biggest recent revolutions in wine making in France is to be found with some of the excellent rosé wines that are now produced in South West France.   Around the world,  people tend to think of rosés as being not entirely mainstream, and the majority of guests we have on the barge admit that it is twenty or thirty years since they tasted a rosé.  We carry a number of rosés on the boat, and they are witnesses to the fact that many of the wine producers in this area are dynamic and extremely quality-focussed.  Increasingly, panels of expert judges agree with this view.  For example, we carry Inés from Fronton, which twice won gold at the International Congrés at Cannes, and Naudin from San Sardos which won gold at Paris in 2012.  My own favourite however is Foret Royale from Chateau Bellevue la Foret in Fronton, which won Gold at the SW Concours in Toulouse in 2010.

There are two alcoholic drinks produced in South West France which are not wines, but they are produced by the onward processing of wine.  The first is Armagnac.  This is a sort of brandy, but is a very different product from its highly commercial cousin called Cognac.  Armagnac is artisan produced by over 180 small-scale producers in the area around Nérac.  In spite of the producers teaming up into various marketing bodies, they are unable to exercise strong impact on the overseas trade – they are just too diverse and too small-scale.  For this reason only a small proportion of Armagnac is exported.

Whereas Armagnac is little-known around the world, Floc de Gascogne is almost unheard of.  Floc is also produced from the grape, indeed it is produced from Armagnac and unfermented grape juice.  Virtually all producers of Armagnac also produce Floc de Gascogne;  virtually none of it is exported, and in fact most of it is consumed within the area in which it is produced.  I see Floc as being one of the pearls of this region, one of the discoveries to be made by coming into the area and travelling slowly, rooting out the local customs and products.

We could not leave the subject of wine production in South West France without some discussion on sparkling wine, known as Champagne throughout the world.  The region of Champagne has taken steps to ensure that only sparkling wine from producers based within its borders can be called “Champagne”.  The story of the origin of sparkling wine is a story that is full of mystique and intrigue.  One claim is that a Benedictine monk living in the Champagne region of France, Dom Pierre Périgon, was responsible for the discovery and development of sparkling wine around the year 1682.  That may not be entirely accurate.  For a long time Gaillac had a tradition of producing sparkling wine, and it is believed that the methods of production were observed by a group of monks who were on a pilgrimage through Gaillac, and who took their secrets back to their monastery – in Champagne!    It would seem that were it not for some historical steps that occurred entirely by chance, weddings around the world would today be celebrated by opening a bottle of Gaillac from South West France, rather than a bottle of Champagne!  In any case, the Dom Pierre Périgon story is discredited by a paper published twenty years earlier in 1662 by Englishman Christopher Merret, from Winchcombe in Gloucestershire.  In this paper Merret describes and explains the phenomenon of sparkling wine production, which was being carried out in England by the bottling and secondary fermentation of white wine imported from France in casks.  It is significant that in the early days of the industry the producers were reliant on bottles manufactured in England since the French bottle industry could not make bottles that were strong enough to reliably withstand the pressures involved.  The logical result of the “industrial espionage” not actually happening back in the seventeenth century, would have been that the wine of South West France would have developed a global cachet and a fame,  instead of how it is today in which it is a part of France where wine producers are not really known about by wine buffs overseas.  Personally, I prefer it as it is – it is so exciting introducing to guests on the boat some of the hidden secrets of this area!

Unser Interesse an dem Thema stammt aus der Tatsache, dass wir ein Luxus-Hotel Barge Betrieb im Südwesten Frankreichs, genannt Saint Louis. Wir führen fast 40 verschiedene Weine, die meisten von ihnen preisgekrönte, all of them from the area in which we cruise.

Der Besitzer des Chateau Saint Louis - Adressierung Gäste aus Hotel Barge Saint Louis!

Beginnend mit Rotweinen, einer unserer Favoriten aus Gaillac ist Cuvée du Roc, von Domaine Lamothe. Dieser Wein wird aus drei Rebsorten (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot und Braucol) und es gewann Silbermedaille in Gaillac in 2011 (Gold in 2008)Viele unserer Gäste, die zu uns mit dem Auto anreisen zahlen einen Besuch in diesem Weingut auf dem Weg nach Hause, um sich mit, was zu einem ihrer Favoriten bei uns an Bord. Tatsächlich, es ist kein Zufall, dass einer unserer Töchter diesen Wein serviert bei ihrer Hochzeit vor ein paar Jahren!

Eines unserer nächsten Produzenten liegt etwas außerhalb Montauban. Ein herrliches belgisches Paar gekauft Le Mas des Anges nur neun Jahren, und sie haben Gold-und Silbermedaillen auf der nationalen Chambre Artisanale erhalten seitdem. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat.

Aufgrund östlich von denen wir leben und halten das Boot ist der Wein Teilbereich Fronton, und einer der Führer der Fronton Appellation ist der Besitzer des Chateau Saint Louis - die Tatsache, dass das Schloss den gleichen Namen wie unser Kahn trägt, ist reiner Zufall!Wir tragen seinen Wein namens L'Esprit, welches aus Negrette und Cabernet Franc produziert, und die Goldmedaille in der Independent Wine Producers concours in 2009. Weitere hervorragende Produzenten in Fronton Chateau Bellevue la Foret, Herstellung des Weins Optimum, das Gold in Toulouse gewonnen 2011, und Chateau de Plaisance mit ihren preisgekrönten Tot Co Que Cal, aus Negrette und Syrah. Wie viele Produzenten, Diese Chateau produziert Bio-Wein, und sie auch weiterhin das höchste Qualität durch Senkung ihrer Ausbeute zu 20 hl/ha.

At this point I am going to interject a couple of notes.  The first is that it will already be clear that wines carry a wide range of wonderful names.  For example Saint Louis – named after King Louis 9^th, und Le Mas des Anges,was bedeutet "das Anwesen Haus der Engel". Für Französisch Wissenschaftler, Tot Co Que Cal könnte verwirrend oder sogar bedeutungslos, bis Sie wissen, dass es bedeutet, "alles, was man sich wünschen kann" in der Sprache der Occitane, das war die Sprache dieser Region vor dem Französisch Sprache kamen einige unserer Nachbarn sprechen noch Occitane -. aber nicht für uns!

Die zweite Anmerkung betrifft die Rebsorten. Bei einem kürzlichen Besuch in den Vereinigten Staaten haben wir durch die Tatsache geprägt wurden, dass der Wein nach Rebsorte wird verkauft, und dass Blending wird selten aus. In Südwestfrankreich durchgeführt, Das Gegenteil ist der Fall. Es ist fast immer der Fall, dass zwei oder mehr Trauben verwendet werden, und dies ist in der Regel die von den AOC Kontrollorgane bestanden. Wine nicht durch Trauben verkauft, es wird von Namen verkauft / Produzent Namen / Sub-Region, und sehr oft die Rebsorten sind noch nicht einmal auf der Flasche erwähnt.

Um unsere Entdeckungsreise weiter, kommen wir zu dem Teilbereich Saint Sardos. Einer unserer Favoriten ist hier Cadis, hergestellt aus Syrah, Tannat und Cabernet Franc. Dieser Wein hat eine Geschichte von Medaillen im nationalen Concours in Paris, including a silver medal in 2007.

Reisen durch das Tal in Richtung Bordeaux, Sie kommen, um die Stadt und die Sub-Region Buzet. Buzet verwendet, um Teil der Weinregion von Bordeaux sein, bis es seine Unabhängigkeit erklärt einige 29 Jahren. Die wichtigsten Hersteller in Buzet ist die "Höhle Genossenschaft", die Griffe Trauben von einigen 1,300 Hektar und etwa 120 producers.  Chateau Padere and Lys are two of our favourites from this cave.

Keine Diskussion über die Rotweine von Südwesten Frankreichs wäre komplett ohne Erwähnung von Cahors. Die Stadt Cahors sitzt rittlings auf dem Fluss Lot, und es ist das Lot-Tal, in dem sich der Malbec-Traube ist. Dies ist die einzige Ausnahme von der "Mischung von zwei oder mehr Trauben"-Regel, daß 100% Malbec ist recht häufig zu finden. Unsere Favoriten aus Cahors ist La Komturei, hergestellt aus 97% Malbec und 3% Tannat. Dieser Wein gewann die Goldmedaille in der 2011 World Concours of Brussels.

So viel zu den Rotweinen. In den nächsten Post, I will look at some white wines and some of the very up-and-coming rosés.  I will also provide you with some surprises in relation to sparkling wine or “Champagne”.

Ich wäre sehr zuversichtlich, zu erraten, dass nur wenige, wenn einer der Weine, die ich erwähnt habe von Ihrem lokalen Lieferanten zur Verfügung (außer natürlich, Sie passieren im Südwesten Frankreichs leben!)Für mich, Dies ist einer der herrlichen Dinge über das Leben und Arbeiten in diesem Bereich. Wenn Sie die Zeit und Mühe nehmen langsam erkunden "versteckten Ecke von Frankreich", Sie werden über Weine, die der Welt Standard sind gekommen, die aber etwas außerhalb der Region bekannt. Das gleiche gilt für viele andere Aspekte dieser Region. Es ist eine touristische Rückstau und desto besser für sie, waiting to be discovered by the discerning voyager.

12THC Statuette der griechischen Gott Bacchus - "Gott der Weinlese, Weinbau und Kellerwirtschaft, Ritual Wahnsinn und Ekstase "!

Am Anfang, Bordeaux ist nicht Teil des South West France, zum historischen und kommerziellen Gründen, die ich berühren wird später. Die Bordeaux Weinregion ist wie ein großer Halbkreis, surrounded on all sides except to the Atlantic west by the wine area of South West France!  The other apparent anomoly is that the land area to the east of Toulouse, heading towards the Mediterranean, is not part of the wine region of South West France.  As you head towards the Mediterranean from Toulouse  you come to the wine region of Languedoc, as distinct from South West France.  It is important to make this distinction.  I understand that the vast majority of wine retailers in the United States sell wine from Languedoc as being from South West France, and this is entirely incorrect.

Why does this matter?  You have only to drive through the two wine regions of South West France and Languedoc to see some of the differences.  Languedoc is the largest block area of grape monoculture in Europe, and you will see huge areas of vines under one single ownership.  This is industrial scale production,  and it contrasts sharply with the family farm artisan production of South West France.  While there are some grower cooperatives,  for example in Buzet and Fronton, the average vineyard in South West France has less than 10 hectares of vines.  It is for this reason that wines that are truly from  South West France are almost unknown internationally;  the individual producers are nowhere near to having the critical mass that makes the cost and complexity of export worthwhile.

We operate a luxury hotel barge called the Saint Louis, offering cruises in the Garonne Valley, broadly speaking between Toulouse and Bordeaux.  Many of our international guests have a deep and developed interest in wine, and we are able to offer them a selection of wines that for the most part they have never heard of.  Thus, it is a journey of discovery!  We carry nearly forty wines on the boat, and needless to say we specialise in wines from the area in which we cruise – South West France.   Almost all of our wines are bought direct from the producer, and the relationships that we have developed over the years are very important.

You can think of the wine area of South West France as being a bit like a patchwork quilt, since it is sub-divided into a number of smaller growing areas.  Hence, to the east you have Gaillac, Côtes de Montauban and Fronton.  To the north there is Cahors and Duras, along the valley there are such wine areas as Saint Sardos, Côtes de Brulhois and Buzet, while to the south there are a number of areas going up into the foothills of the Pyrenees, including Béarn and of course Jurançon.  All of these areas are represented in our cellar.

It is significant to point out that, with the exception of the vineyards in the foothills of the Pyrenees,  all the individual wine areas of South West France lie in the catchment area of the River Garonne and its tributaries.  Most of the wine areas date back to the beginnings of wine in France, to Roman times, and Gaillac for example is France’s second oldest wine-growing area.  Certainly, wine was produced in these areas long before vines were grown in Bordeaux.  In the days of ox carts, water transport had a major influence on trade, and the wines of South West France, heavy in flavour and rich in tannins, were floated down the river systems to the trading port of Bordeaux.  From here they were exported throughout western Europe,  frequently under the cover names of Claret or “wine of Bordeaux”.  During the 13^th and 14^th century this trade was very significant, but then Bordeaux started to develop its own wine production, and subsequently introduced protectionist legislation in a series of laws known collectively as “police des vins", within which the new Bordeaux wines were given marketing preference, ultimately to the extent that the wines from “up country” could not be exported until all the Bordeaux wines had been sold.  As Bordeaux increased its area of vines, this legislation had increasing effect on the traditional producers, even resulting at one time in no up-country wine being allowed through Bordeaux.

Before the construction of the railways and the canal (and later the roads),  access to river transport was crucial to any business.  The police des vins resulted in a downturn of production in the area now known as South West France.  There is no point in producing a commodity if you cannot get it to your market!

In more recent times, aber, thanks to road transport, the wheel has of course turned.  There are many producers in South West France who have recognised the market for a high quality artisan product; they have identified that small scale can be a commercial advantage as long as it is combined with excellence of quality.  It is interesting to note that this surge of excellence comes from not only French producers, but also producers in this region who are of foreign origin, and we buy from vineyards owned by Scots, Irish, English, Belgian and Iranian wine makers, as well as some of the more dynamic French producers.  It is noteworthy that over 60% of the wines that we carry are silver or gold award-winning wines.  These awards are frequently gained in national or international competition, competing against other wine regions in France and against other wine producing countries.

We cannot produce an overview of the wines of South West France without the mention of two other beverages, both with their origin in fermented grapes.  Firstly, the area of Gascony is known for the production of Armagnac, a type of brandy which was known in the 14^th century and which is therefore significantly older in origin than Cognac.  Armagnac is artisan produced, and almost all producers of Armagnac also produce Floc de Gascogne.  There will be more about these liquid pearls of the region in a later post!

Nebenbei, it is interesting to note that the importance of the wine industry in this area is reflected in the many specialist suppliers here who serve the wine producers, and also in the presence of a highly successful barrel maker, who exports his products all over the world, including to Australia and the United States.

There is one fact that is quite surprising.  In spite of the population in this part of France having a fairly high-fat diet (particularly with the importance of duck and goose in the diet) the level of cardiovascular disease here is exceptionally low, even stated as being one of the lowest in the world.  Various authorities have attributed this to the highly tannic red wines, others to the health-giving properties of Armagnac.  Perhaps it is also due in part to the easy pace of life that is to be found here (combined, natürlich, with the occasional glass of something that is locally produced and good for the health!).

In Teil 2 we will be looking at some of the wines themselves in more detail.

A pilgrim at Pommevic – complete with stave and scallop

For a distance of some fourteen kilometres between Moissac and Pommevic, one of the main pilgrimage routes to Santiago di Compostela passes along the tow path of the canal.  This is Christendom’s third most important place to visit, after Jerusalem and Rome, and it is certainly the most important Christian pilgrimage in the sense of a holy destination reached after a long-distance trek. 

In the early years of the 9^th century, according to tradition, a hermit monk called Pelayo was led by a star to the burial place of St James the Apostle, and his find was confirmed as being the remains of St. James by Todemito, bishop of the most westerly diocese in the Iberian peninsula.   This part of present-day Spain is the region that James chose to come and spread the Word after the death of Christ, and it was to this coast that his remains were brought in 44 A.D., after he was martyrised by Herod Agrippa.  There is no hard evidence that the remains found by Pelayo were indeed the remains of St James the Apostle, but the evidence was sufficient at the time for the Church and the State to give immediate acceptance of the claim.  Perhaps the absence of hard evidence does not matter – the fact remains that there was established at the place a shrine to St James the Apostle, and very soon a pilgrimage to the shrine developed. 

The pilgrimage to the shrine developed within the population of Iberia, and then in the year 947 the first foreign pilgrim arrived – he was the Bishop of Puy, who had travelled over the Pyrenees from France.  Between then and the fifteenth century the pilgrimage was busy, and indeed it was at its busiest in the twelfth century.   Imagine, if you can, the conditions that these pilgrims had to endure at that time, and the risks they took.  Long staves, for protection, were part of every pilgrim’s essential equipment, as was a scallop shell displayed on the body, for identification.  (The scallop shell is the emblem of St James, the “logo” of the pilgrimage, and  the French for scallop is “coquille St Jaques”  -  “St James’ shellfish”)  Many of today’s pilgrims keep the tradition going by carrying a stave and displaying a scallop shell. 

A pilgrim statuette in nearby Auvillar

I am often asked where the pilgrimage starts.  The simple answer is that there is no starting point – there are feeder routes across Europe, from Ireland in the west to Austria and Poland in the east.  Hence, the pilgrims represent a multi-cultural and a multi lingual society.  Although the pilgrimage is clearly of Christian origin, there are many people who are doing it as a classic long-distance walk with no religious connotation.  It is essentially Slow Travel! 

As part of the parallel between the pilgrimage and Slow Travel, it is interesting that one of the very first Traveller’s Guide Books was written as a guide to the pilgrimage – the Pilgrim’s Guide “Codex Calextinum was written in the 12^th century! 

It is interesting to discuss with today’s pilgrims their motives for what they are doing.  I very often hear from people that their motives, their rationale, indeed their whole way of thinking have changed along the way.  There is the classic statement “One’s pilgrimage does not end in Santiago – it begins there”.  Perhaps this is a bit like a luxury cruise on the Saint Louis, in which you have the time and the surroundings to be able to reflect on the world around you.

 Meanwhile, back at Pommevic, the pilgrims can enjoy the fact that they only have 1,200 kilometres left to go!

Two pilgrims pass the barge at Pommevic

Die einwöchigen Kreuzfahrten, die wir laufen auf unserer Hotel Barge die Saint Louis sind im Südwesten Frankreichs, größtenteils zwischen Toulouse und Bordeaux. Wir normalerweise nicht nehmen den Kahn in eine von diesen beiden Städten, sondern fahren wir sanft durch die unberührte Landschaft entlang des Canal de Garonne, in einem Gebiet, genannt sowohl Gascogne und Aquitanien verwendet werden. Gascogne ist für eine Reihe von Dingen berühmten, einschließlich Armagnac, Henri de Batz who became known as d’Artagnon of The Three Musketeers fame  -  and numerous mediaeval towns and villages.

Führend unter den mittelalterlichen Meisterwerken in diesem Bereich ist Moissac Abbey. Das Datum und die Einzelheiten der Gründung der Abtei ist eine Angelegenheit von einigen Vermutungen, mit einigen Behörden zuzuschreiben es Clovis I (481 – 511 AD) während andere schreiben es Clovis II (635 - 657 AD).Archäologie hat gezeigt, dass es bereits Siedlungen in der unmittelbaren Umgebung, und bleibt eines gallo-römischen hypocaust freigelegt worden. Nach seiner Gründung, however, Die Abbeyaberled seine Position der Stärke in der Region zu finden, und es wird angenommen, dass es schwere finanzielle Probleme hatte. Das alles veräADeraberD, however, wenn der Abtei wurde eine außerordentliche Spende Nizezius gegeben und seine Frau Ermintrude, Wer hat über das Kloster 30.000 Hektar Land im Tal der Garonne. Dieses Geschenk effektiv enthalten einige achtzehn Dörfer, komplett mit allen Häusern, Mühlen, Kirchen, Leibeigene, settlers and freemen.

Die Geschichte der Abtei in den folgenden paar hundert Jahren ist ungewiss, weil Belege verloren gegangen, aber sicherlich der Bereich, in dem es steht mussten Invasionen von den Sarazenen, die Normannen und die Magyaren.

Bau-und Re-Gebäude auf dem Gelände fand fast kontinuierlich, insbesondere nach 1048 wenn die Bestellung durch den bärenstarken Cluny um absorbiert wurde. Eine neue Kirche wurde gebaut 1063, und die vorliegenden Klöster wurden in gebaut 1100 AD.

Zu dieser Zeit, das Skriptorium wurde vergrößert. Moissac Abbey ist als die Stadt der römischen Art bekannt, teilweise als Folge der sehr beträchtlichen Werke im Skriptorium hergestellt. Die Mönche machten ihre eigenen Pergamente, Tinten und Farben, and the scribes copied both religious and profane texts.  Many of the originals of these works are to be found in the French National Library.

Nach dem Hundertjährigen Krieg, Moissac Abbey ging der Niedergang, und in 1466 es wurde von Cluny getrennt. Die Abtei wurde später säkularisiert, und nach der Revolution die religiöse Gemeinschaft verschwunden und die Gebäude wurden verkauft.

Die Klöster gelten als die besten der Welt sein;gibt es 76 Spalten, die das Kloster Dach stützen, abwechselnd als Einzel-und Doppelzimmer Spalten platziert. Die Spalten werden von geschnitzten Kapitellen gekrönt, jeweils Geschichten aus der Bibel oder Szenen aus wilden Lebens.

Innerhalb der Cloisters

Im Innenhof, der von den Klöstern gebildet dort steht eine prächtige Zedern des Libanon. Die Geschichte geht, dass ein Landsmann aus diesem Teil von Frankreich aus ins Heilige Land, wo er eine Reihe von Pflanzenarten, darunter einige der lokalen Bäume gesammelt. Er kehrte in 1812, und einer der Bäume wurde in den Klöstern gepflanzt. Daher, können wir diesen Baum ganz genau zu datieren!

Es war ein weiterer Schritt in den Untergang der Gebäude, die wir heute sehen, dass in 1845 die Toulouse - Bordeaux Bahnstrecke gelegt, und der ursprüngliche Plan war, den Eisenbahn-Knall durch, wo die Kreuzgänge laufen. Glücklicherweise dieser Plan schließlich geändert wurde und das Refektorium Gebäude wurde für die Bahn abgerissen statt,  but the line is still very close and every passing train serves as a reminder to anyone sampling the extraordinary ambiance in the Cloisters that we are now living in a very different era from that in which the Abbey was built.

Dieser Teil der France genießt eine sehr sanfte Ebene des Tourismus, ganz im Gegensatz zu den überfüllten Plätzen von Paris oder Carcassonne. Moissac Abbey hat für die Öffentlichkeit in einer sehr sympathischen Weise präsentiert, und es ist der größte touristische Destination im Département, aber es ist unwahrscheinlich, Menschenmengen hier, auch in der Höhe der Saison. Südwestfrankreich nicht tun Massen!Jedoch, Sie sind wahrscheinlich die Pilger in Moissac zu finden. Die alten Pilgerweg von Santiago di Compostella führt durch die Stadt, und die Pilger immer die Abtei bevor sie ihren Weg entlang des Kanals towpath um Pommevic, dann weiter in Richtung der spanischen Grenze. Nur 1,200 Kilometer von hier aus gehen!

Jährlich, während unserer Saison, Gäste fragen, was wir während der Wintermonate zu tun Manchmal ist die Frage völlig offen - mehr. oft es geladen, als wolle er sagen "you guys muss ein wunderbares Leben, nur mit, um für ein halbes Jahr zu arbeiten!"

Es ist die halbe Wahrheit. Wir fühlen, dass wir ein wunderbares Leben haben, aber nicht, weil wir unsere Füße für sechs Monate des Jahres!Erstens, the winter months provide us with the time to do things that we cannot do during our cruising season.  This includes all the medical appointments – teeth and eyes to be checked, overall check-ups and screenings – France is very strong on preventative medicine.  We also catch up on the social life that we have to forego during the season, part of which is to do with the walking group in our little village – last week for example we went on a 2-day trek high in the Pyrénées.  We also spend our time on all the essentials to do with the marketing of our small business – trade shows to visit, agents in other countries to meet, and back home all the booking procedures and client enquiries to handle.  Most often, the people who would like to book a cruise on our hotel barge have all sorts of questions first, and it is the way in which we respond to these questions that develops a rapport with our future guests, so that when they arrive on the boat we know them as friends already, and they know what to expect by way of hair dryers, slippers, dressing-gowns, and all the little services that we provide.  All of this information is available on our web site, but the personal contact we have with our guests before their arrival greatly helps to get the week off to a good start.

In the mountains with the walking group

There is, aber, another major category of work that takes our time and energy during the winter months, and that is all to do with the maintenance of the barge.  Over the years, each winter we have tackled major works on the boat, bringing it up to a higher and higher standard.  Neither of us like the “last minute panic” style of preparing for the season, and the high level of presentation we achieve is the result of weeks and weeks of work during the winter months.

We had one adventure with the boat last autumn, when we took her to the dry dock in Toulouse.  The journey there and back was fairly routine, but this is not part of the canal system that we normally cruise and so everything was a bit unfamiliar.

We are obliged to put the boat into a dry dock every five years in order to keep our “Permit de Navigation” up to date, and to do routine cleaning and painting of the hull.  This year our surveyor had all sorts of new inspections to do, because a new set of regulations has come into force since our last docking.  I am pleased to report that we passed with flying colours!

The dry dock itself is a remarkable piece of engineering, right in the middle of Toulouse.  The facility was built at the same time as the canal, around 1670, and the covered dock that we were in is a listed building.  Originally, there were four open-air dry dock chambers and one covered one, and it is easy to imagine the bustle that was part of the scene in the days of all the working barges on the canal – it is an important part of the industrial heritage of the country.  Nowadays, only the covered dock and two open-air ones are ever used.

Open air dry dock - Hotel Barge Saint Louis behind

One of the magnificent elements of the dry dock is that no external energy is used for the docking process.  A valve is opened to fill the dock from the basin, which in turn is connected directly to the Canal; water for this comes from reservoirs in the Black Mountains and flows by gravity down the Canal du Midi.  The boat enters the dock and is moored.  Then a floating plug that forms a door to the dock is moved into position, and a big valve on the side of the dock is opened.  The water is emptied from the dry dock and the boat settles on its supports.  One fascinating element of this engineering masterpiece is that the water flowing from the dry dock is channelled down about five kilometres of brick-built vaulted tunnel, to flow into the River Garonne.

The magnificent covered dry dock - complete with magnificent barge!

Fortunately, we both like to be busy!  There never seems to be enough time to do all the things we try to do.  The winter months are busy, varied, and full of promise for the season to come.

Genuine Auszüge aus dem Gästebuch an Bord der Barkasse Hotel Saint Louis, geschrieben während unserer 2011Saisonn:-

You have broadened our horizons while exciting our palates. 

Paris is fabulous but it can’t beat barging on the Saint Louis! 

Our first barge trip could not have been better. 

This was, Einfach ganz, die beste Urlaub, den wir in gehabt haben 40 Jahr …..  food and wine of the highest quality   …   we are enormously sad to leave. 

We have marvelled at Alasdair’s expert handling of the boat and Barbara’s inspired cuisine.

“Magnifique”.  Everything  -   food, drinks, service, vehicles, tours  –  beyond expectations.

Der einzige Weg zu gehen - auf der Garonne!  A delicious experience in all respects.  You have created an island of tranquillity on your boat – at least for your guests.  A starting place towards world peace?  At the very least, the perfect vacation. 

Every trip we take is fun and enjoyable but there always seems to be a time when we say “Except for..”   That is, until this one!  Without exception the best ever. 

Hemos pasado unas fantasticas vacaciones – muchas gracias por todo. 

Wow – food, service, boat – fantastic.  Loved it. 

Das Essen, wine and conversation could not have been better  -  wonderful. 

We have loved every minute of every day.  Our meals have been absolutely delicious and our daily tours so interesting and enjoyable. 

It was a dream from start to finish  -  words will not suffice.  Thank you – for the bestest holiday of all time. 

Awesome barge pilot, fabulous wines, breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and best of all genuine hospitality and laughter.   ue magic! 

The cruise couldn’t have been better!  The food, Die Weine, the crew, the weather – all fabulous. 

A week on the Saint Louis was absolutely the best way to enjoy south west France  …  overall an outstanding experience.

Jährlich, in early August, Valence d'Agen ist für einen ganz anderen Grund bekannt. Der Hafen ist in eine theatralische Set mit einem traditionellen Dorf auf beiden Seiten des Kanals erstellt umgewandelt. Tribünen für ein Publikum von 2,500 spectators is constructed.  Lighting and sound is installed.  Ancient carts are made ready, and ancient cars are polished.  Costumes are prepared, actors are rehearsed. Valence is ready to enchant once again. 

With our guests, we have just visited the 18^th production of Au Fil de l’Eau – une Histoire.  Each year this extraordinary spectacle is presented on eight nights in the first two weeks of August.  It could be called a Ton und Licht, but this would be a cruel understatement.   Au Fil de l’Eau is a story, a history, a tragedy, a comedy.  There are scenes that are poignant.  There are scenes that are gripping.  And particularly there are scenes of outstanding beauty, where the whole audience gives off a whispered “wow”.  

It is possible to simply buy tickets for the show, and to arrive shortly before nightfall to enjoy the spectacle.  Much better, obwohl, is to take part in the pre-spectacle long-table traditional meal, and to become a real part of this extraordinary evening.  During the meal, you will be served by people dressed in costume whom you will later recognise as actors during the spectacle, and you will be entertained by accordions and barrel-organs, and by a group of workers called “the forced workers of the threshing machine” who are keen to share their jokes and their wine with you.  Outside, you will find a wide range of entertainments and exhibits.  A magnificent cart-horse is coupled up to a working cart, while the action stops so that a couple of children can have their photographs taken beside the huge animal.  A team of volunteers are working sheaves of wheat through a threshing machine.  A basket-maker is busy working his craft.  A variety of vintage cars are to be found, some of them 100 years old, being shown off by their proud (and very knowledgeable) owners.  And there is a group of Occitane dancers, entertaining the public to traditional dances from this part of France.  All this fair-ground atmosphere serves to entertain, to help pass the evening until nightfall, and to “warm up” the audience to the period of the spectacle they are about to witness. 

The action takes place on three “stages”.  There is the far side of the canal, where the main part of the village is set up.  There is the near side of the canal where scenes take place that allow the actors to take their show into the audience.  And there is the canal itself, where five separate boats are used to present different themes and actions, including the iconic scene at the beginning and the end of the spectacle, where the narrator and his three young charges glide in their punt through a laser-lit tunnel into the past or the future.

 The story-line of the show is not complex.  It is the simple story of the lives of three lads who were born locally in the late 1800’s, with the various events that highlighted their lives including the first and second world wars.  This simple theme allows all sorts of scenes to be woven into the spectacle.  For example, there is the gossip of the village women doing their washing at the canal’s edge, and there is the engagement and marriage of one of the three friends.  One favourite scene is the bustling market, where comedy comes to the fore with one actor bringing a live piglet into the audience, while another who has stolen a live chicken manages to escape into the crowd and to fool the police into arresting an innocent member of the audience. 

The opening scene is stunning.  After the initial journey of the narrator and the three boys in their punt in the tunnel of time, everything goes dark for some seconds, and when the dawn music is introduced and the overall lighting is gently increased the audience see three hundred and fifty actors arranged in groups throughout the set.  The actors are frozen, like statues.  Some ten seconds later, the music changes and all the actors come to life. 

 One of the great things about Au Fil de l'Eau is that it is such a community achievement.  All the actors are volunteers.  Even though we live an hour’s drive from Valence d’Agen, we had a great sense of belonging.  For example, in the winter months Barbara dances with the group who were doing the Occitane dancing, I knew the staff on the stand of the Donzac Conservatoire, we met in the audience a farmer who lives just a hundred yards from our house, and one of our French guests recognised that the man carrying the pig was the President of the regional tourist organisation.  As an art form, as a cultural experience, and as a way of providing real insight into the life of the past in this part of France, we will always be delighted to bring our guests on the barge to this spectacle.  In a way it is the inside knowledge of such an event that is important.  Cruises with us on the hotel barge Saint Louis become even richer when our guests discover this astonishing show.

"Südwest-Frankreich" bezeichnet verschiedene Dinge für verschiedene Menschen, sondern um den Wein professionelle es bedeutet, ein sehr spezifischer Bereich mit einem Flickenteppich von Weinbauregionen, von Gaillac im Osten von Cahors nach Norden, Erreichen soweit Jurancon in den westlichen Ausläufern der Pyrenäen. Einige dieser Weinregionen sind sehr alt, aus römischer Zeit, und zwar Gaillac ist die zweitälteste Weinregion in Frankreich. Ein Punkt zu bedenken ist, dass Südwest-Frankreich, als Weinanbaugebiet, nicht enthalten Bordeaux. Früher, aber, die Produzenten von Wein in diesen Bereichen gefunden, ihre Märkte über Bordeaux. Flach Boote waren mit dem kostbaren Fässer Wein geladen, und sie waren die Flüsse hinab gesegelt (einschließlich des Lot, Das Tarn, Die Baise, Und der Garonne) nach Bordeaux, wo der Wein wurde gemischt, Flaschen abgefüllt und exportiert, unter dem generischen Namen von Bordeaux. It was thanks to the delicious full-bodied red wines of South West France that the trading port of Bordeaux became established as the wine capital of the world.

Die Dinge haben sich seitdem geändert. Die riesige industrielle Monokultur der Reben der Bordeaux-Weine Bereich wurde eingerichtet, und die traditionellen Hersteller von Südwesten Frankreichs diversifiziert haben. Neben der Produktion der Rotweine und die Clarets, die so gut in der entwickelten Welt bekannt wurde,, in the past sixty years many of the producers have added white and rosé wines to their range.

Es ist interessant, die Unterschiede zwischen den Weinen aus dem Südwesten Frankreichs und die Weine aus Bordeaux nachdenken. In der allgemeinsten Bedingungen, Bordeaux Produzenten haben den Vorteil, ihre international bekannten Namen und riesigen Werbeetats, und Bordeaux-Weine sind das Thema unzähliger Artikel, von zahllosen Experten geschrieben. Die Weine des Südwestens, auf der anderen Seite, werden typischerweise durch kleine individuelle Winzer, die ihr Handwerk gelernt haben über die Jahrhunderte hinweg produziert, und reichte sie vom Vater auf den Sohn. Sie sind Teil unserer "versteckten Ecke" Frankreichs, und sie sind da, um durch die langsame Reisenden entdeckt zu werden, durch den Reisenden, die Zeit und das Interesse zu graben, der Fachmann Produzenten hat. Sie sind da, um während einer Luxus-Kreuzfahrt auf dem Saint Louis entdeckt zu werden

"Was" können Sie fragen, "über die Qualität dieser Weine?"Eine der Referenzen wir benutzen, ist Hachet's Guide. Dies ist eine Anleitung veröffentlicht jedes Jahr nach der professionellen Blindverkostung von über 35,000 verschiedene Weine. Südwest-Frankreich hat einen höheren Anteil von Weinen in Hachet als die meisten anderen Weinbaugebiete in Frankreich aufgeführt. Wir führen auf dem Boot, zum Beispiel, eine Rose aus Fronton, der zweimal in den letzten drei Jahren gewann die Goldmedaille bei den Internationalen Concours in Cannes, Wettbewerb mit Weinen aus einigen 47 different countries.

Auf unserem Hotel Schiff führen wir einige sechsunddreißig verschiedene Weine. Diese Weine spiegeln einen guten Querschnitt der Qualitätsweine aus Südwest-Frankreich. Die meisten von ihnen sind preisgekrönte Jahrgänge. Wir nehmen einen Stolz auf unsere Weine als eine Reflexion der wunderschönen Teil Frankreichs, in denen wir Kreuzfahrt, and we take pleasure in introducing to our guests such secrets of this part of France that they would have great difficulty discovering by themselves.

Nebenbei, Betrachten wir den Hundertjährigen Krieg. Dieser Krieg fand im Südwesten Frankreichs zwischen 1337 und 1453 - Und damit für nicht weniger als dauerte 116 Jahr. Was hat das mit den Weinen der Region zu tun? Es wurde mir allen Ernstes stellen, dass die Kämpfer auf beiden Seiten kein Interesse daran, den "Krieg" zu einem Ende kommen musste, für die Lebensmittel-und Wein der Region gab ihnen eine ausgezeichnete Lifestyle, nur durch die gelegentlichen Scharmützel getrübt! Wohl, Dies war der Beginn des Weintourismus. Slow Kriegsführung geworden langsamen Reisens!