Nouvelle-Aquitaine is a region in southwestern France resulting from
the merger of the former regions of Aquitaine, Limousin and
Poitou-Charentes. Its capital is Bordeaux. It also has several large
cities (Bayonne, Limoges, La Rochelle, Pau, Poitiers) as well as three
major seaside resorts (Arcachon, Biarritz and Royan).
First
region in terms of tourist jobs, it benefits from the presence of a vast
ocean frontage going from the Charente islands to the mouth of the
Bidasoa, at the gates of Spain, passing through the Gironde estuary
(more large wild estuary in Europe) and the Bassin d'Arcachon. Its
beaches, exposed to the swell, are frequented every summer by millions
of holidaymakers, and are also a mecca for surfing, some spots of which,
on the Basque coast or on the Ile de Ré, enjoy a solid reputation. . The
Pyrenees massif, from the green Basque mountains to the peaks of Béarn,
is a leading "nature" destination in all seasons, while in winter, ski
resorts such as Gourette or La Pierre-Saint-Martin are very crowded.
The region also has the presence of several natural parks, the
largest forest in Western Europe (Landes forest) and the highest dune in
Europe (Pilat dune). Certain destinations, such as the Dordogne and
Vézère valleys, with their prehistoric caves and castles, or the Basque
Country, are particularly popular with visitors.
Created by the
territorial reform of 2014, the region was born on January 1, 2016. It
more or less takes over the borders of the former Roman province of
Aquitaine resulting from the administrative reorganization under the
principality of Augustus in the 1st century BC. Our era. These remained
roughly those of Aquitaine during the creation of the Merovingian (in
the 7th century) then Carolingian (in the 9th century) kingdoms of
Aquitaine, then the Duchy of Aquitaine of Aliénor (in the 12th century)
and the principality of Aquitaine of the Black Prince (in the 14th
century).
The largest region in France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine is
part of the south-west quarter of France. It is one of the three
constituent regions of the South of France and is culturally divided
between the regions of Oïl (Poitou, Aunis, Saintonge, partly Angoumois),
the regions of Oc (Guyenne, Gascogne, Limousin, Marche, Périgord, Béarn,
partly Angoumois) and a Basque region (French Basque Country or
Iparralde).
The region benefits from a maritime frontage on the
Atlantic Ocean of nearly 720 kilometers, going from the Charente
archipelago in the north (islands of Ré, Oléron, Aix and Madame) to the
Basque coast in the south, in passing through the mouth of the Gironde
and the Arcachon basin. It counts on the presence of three important
seaside resorts: Arcachon, Biarritz and Royan. Its southern part is
marked by the presence of the Pyrenees massif, which forms the border
with Spain. Several winter sports resorts are located there, including
Gourette and La Pierre-Saint-Martin. To the east, the Limousin
mountains, with their gently accentuated relief, form the first
foothills of the Massif Central.
Structured around the valleys of
the Garonne, the Charente, the Vienne and the Adour, the region is
famous for its art of living, its gastronomy, its famous vineyards
(wines of Bordeaux and Bergerac, Jurançon, Haut- Poitou, eaux-de-vie
from Cognac and Armagnac), its festivals (Bayonne or Dax festivals,
Francofolies de La Rochelle, etc.) its historical heritage (prehistoric
caves, castles, bastides, towns of art and history …) or its spectacular
natural and national parks. That of the Landes de Gascogne is set in the
famous Landes forest, the largest in Europe, which extends over three
departments (Gironde, Landes and Lot-et-Garonne). The Périgord-Limousin
park extends in a hilly landscape, and that of Millevaches in Limousin,
with its peat bogs and its moors, is sometimes compared to a "French
Patagonia". In its northern part, near Niort, the Marais Poitevin, a
veritable cathedral of greenery, is made up of numerous canals
meandering through the bocage, earning it the nickname of “Green
Venice”. Conversely, in its southern part, the Pyrenees National Park
boasts spectacular landscapes and a rich fauna and flora.
Bordeaux
Angoulême
Bayonne
Biarritz
La
Rochelle
Limoges
Poitiers
Périgueux
Royan
Other destinations
Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle
The region essentially enjoys an oceanic climate, with slight
variations depending on where you are.
The Aquitaine oceanic climate
(hot summers, mild winters) affects most of the region, from the
Charentes to the Basque Country. It breaks down into several
micro-climates, especially on the coast, where frosts are almost absent.
To the north, Poitou experiences a Parisian oceanic climate (temperate
summers, cool winters).
The climate of Limousin and Périgord is a
degraded oceanic climate, which varies according to the relief.
Finally, the climate of Béarn is a mountain climate, with more distinct
seasons. Pau, its capital, has a micro-climate due to the proximity of
the Pyrenees, with hot summers and mild winters.
The sunshine is
particularly generous, especially on the coast, and can reach 2250 hours
per year, which is comparable to a Mediterranean city like Perpignan. It
reaches 1800 h/year in Poitiers, Bayonne and Pau, 1900 h/year in
Limoges, 2000 h/year in Bordeaux and 2250 h/year in La Rochelle. (For
comparison, the sunshine is about 1600 h / year in Lille and Paris, 1900
h / year in Toulouse and 2600 h / year in Montpellier).
Rainfall
is more marked in spring and winter, especially in the Basque Country
and in the south of the Landes. There is thus an average of 600 mm of
precipitation in Poitiers (equivalent to Paris), 700 mm in La Rochelle
and Limoges (equivalent to Toulouse), 900 mm in Bordeaux, 1,000 mm in
Pau and 1,400 mm in Bayonne (more than in Brest and its 1,200 mm). In
summer, dry spells are not uncommon throughout the region. Temperatures
can reach 40°C, especially in the Landes de Gascogne.
Sports
Due to its size, the region allows you to practice many
sports activities. Among the main ones:
Surfing, the flagship
activity on the coast due to the good exposure to the swells of the
Charente, Girondine, Landes and Basque coasts. The main spots are, from
north to south, the Ile de Ré, the wild coast of the Arvert peninsula,
the beaches of Lacanau, Hourtin, Carcans, Mimizan, and even more
Biarritz and the Basque coast, where form the famous Belharra wave,
which can reach 15 meters high.
The region has many marked hiking
trails. The GR4, which departs from Royan towards the Mediterranean
coast, passes through Charentes, Périgord and Limousin, with stops in
Saintes, Cognac, Angoulême and Limoges in particular. The GR8 follows
the coast from north to south, passing through Royan, Soulac-sur-Mer,
Lacanau, Mimizan and Hendaye. The GR48 passes through several villages
in Limousin and Poitou, such as Aixe-sur-Vienne, Confolens, Saint-Savin
and Angles-sur-l'Anglin. The GR636, which connects Monbazillac, in
Dordogne, to Lacapelle-Biron, in Lot-et-Garonne, allows you to see
several villages of character, including the bastide of Monflanquin One
of the most beautiful villages in France. The GR10, which crosses the
Pyrenees chain, starts from Hendaye, passes through the medieval town of
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the typical villages of Sare One of the most
beautiful villages in France, Ainhoa One of the most beautiful villages
de France and the Basque countryside, before crossing several passes
nearly 2,000 meters high. Finally, the hike to the Pic du Midi d'Ossau
(2,884 metres), reserved for sports enthusiasts, allows you to
appreciate a wide panorama of the Pyrenees.
Basque pelota,
originating as its name suggests in the Basque Country, is played in
fronton (outdoors) or in trinquet (in a covered space). Although almost
every village in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques has its fronton, this sport is
also practiced elsewhere in the region, in the Landes, in Gironde, and
in a few other towns further north (La Rochelle, Royan, Poitiers,
Limoges, Brive- la-Gaillarde…)
Winter sports are practiced almost
exclusively in the resorts of the Pyrenees, such as Gourette,
Artouste-Fabrèges, Issarbe or Le Somport-Candanchu. It is however
possible to ski, depending on the weather conditions, in Bonnefond and
Saint-Sétier, on the Millevache plateau, in Corrèze (about 850 to 950
meters above sea level).
The reputation of the Bayonne festivals, created in 1932, has long
since exceeded regional borders. Inspired by the San Fermin festivities
in Pamplona, they take place every year in July, and are the occasion
for bullfights, Landes races, power games, bandas and concerts. They
bring together an average of 1 to 1.5 million visitors.
The Dax
festivals, which are held in August in the main town in the south of the
Landes, bring together nearly 800,000 "festayres" dressed according to
the tradition of white and red. These festivities are, as in Bayonne, a
pretext for bullfights, concerts and folklore events.
The Confolens
festival, the first edition of which dates back to 1957, is held every
summer in Confolens, a small town in eastern Charente. Dedicated to
world folklore, it brings together nearly 100,000 visitors around the
"big names" of song, mainly French-speaking, and groups from all over
the world. The concerts are followed by wanderings in traditional
costume in the streets of the city, as well as various animations.
By car
Several highways provide access to the region from Paris,
Toulouse or Spain.
From Paris, the A10 serves the towns of
Poitiers, Saintes or Bordeaux, where it joins the city's ring road (A630
motorway).
From Toulouse, the A62 provides access to Agen,
Marmande, Langon and Bordeaux.
From Irun, Spain, the A63 leads to
Bayonne, Dax and Bordeaux. The A64 connects Bayonne to Pau, and
continues towards Tarbes and Toulouse.
Further north, the A20,
which connects Paris to Toulouse, opens up Limousin and notably passes
through Limoges, La Souterraine and Brive-la-Gaillarde. The A89, which
connects Bordeaux to Lyon, passes through Libourne, Périgueux and
Brive-la-Gaillarde.
By bus
The main towns in the region have
bus stations with several bus companies. In 2016, Eurolines served
Angoulême, Bayonne, Bordeaux, Brive-la-Gaillarde, Limoges, La Rochelle,
Niort, Poitiers and Saintes. Ouibus serves Bordeaux, Brive-la-Gaillarde,
Limoges and Poitiers. Flixbus serves Bayonne, Biarritz, Bordeaux,
Brive-la-Gaillarde, La Rochelle and Limoges.
By train
The main
station in the region is that of Bordeaux-Saint-Jean (11 million
passengers per year). It welcomes TGVs from Paris-Montparnasse,
Toulouse, Lille or Irun, as well as TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine (regional
express trains) and Intercités which allow you to reach other cities in
the region.
The stations of Limoges-Bénédictin and
Limoges-Montjovis, Bayonne, Poitiers, La Rochelle, Angoulême or Dax also
accommodate TGV and TER.
By plane
The region's main airport is
located on the outskirts of Bordeaux. Bordeaux-Mérignac international
airport, the 5th in the province in terms of attendance (6.8 million
passengers per year in 2018), offers direct lines with many countries,
such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Spain or
the Netherlands, as well as several internal lines with the main French
cities.
Other airports include, in order of attendance,
Biarritz-Bayonne-Anglet airport, which serves the Basque coast,
Pau-Pyrénées airport, Limoges-Bellegarde airport, Bergerac-Dordogne
airport -Périgord and La Rochelle-Île de Ré airport.
The souvenirs that can be brought back from a stay in the region vary
according to the place visited:
One (or more) bottle(s) of
Bordeaux, Saint-Emilion or Bergerac wine, or even cognac, armagnac,
pineau des Charentes or floc de Gascogne. In Limousin, panazo (a kind of
pastis) or chestnut liqueur. In the Basque Country, sagardo (literally
“apple wine”, a kind of cider) or patxaran (aniseed aperitif) from
Navarre.
Agen prunes marinated in Armagnac, traditionally served as a
digestive.
Salt or fleur de sel from the Ile de Ré, harvested by
hand.
Saint-Emilion or Montmorillon macaroons.
Limoges porcelain,
which is available both in traditional table services and in costume
jewellery.
Local cheeses: goat cheese from Poitou or sheep cheese
from the Pyrenees (Ossau Iraty, Ardi Gasna).
Pastries: broyé du
Poitou, galette charentaise, canelés from Bordeaux, pastis from the
Landes, Basque cake stuffed with black cherry jam from Itxassou...
A
Basque (or Béarn) beret. This traditional headgear, a symbol of France
for many foreigners, was originally used by shepherds in the south of
the region. They are still made in the traditional way in
Oloron-Sainte-Marie or Nay.
Sneakers. Traditionally made in
Mauléon-Licharre, they are worn in summer, at home or at the beach.
A
makila. This cane of Basque origin, worked by hand, actually contains a
tapered weapon.
French, as the language of the Republic, is spoken and understood everywhere. The main regional languages are Poitevin and Saintongeais, languages of oïl spoken in part of Charentes and Poitou, Occitan (Gascon, Languedoc, Limousin and Marchois dialects) and Basque.
The region has five universities (Bordeaux, Poitiers, Limoges, La
Rochelle and Pau) spread over several campuses, as well as several
institutes and grandes écoles.
The main university in the region
is that of Bordeaux, which has approximately 60,000 students and 4,000
teacher-researchers. Founded in 1441, it has several sites in Bordeaux
and its agglomeration (notably on the Talence-Pessac-Gradignan campus,
the largest in Europe) as well as in Agen, Dax, Périgueux and Arcachon.
The University of Poitiers, which welcomes 24,000 students, shines on
the north of the region. Founded in 1431, it is one of the oldest in
France. It has three campuses in the conurbation and several sites in
Angoulême, Niort and Royan, which hosts the Audiovisual Center for the
Study of Languages, where students from all over the world come to learn
French. The University of Limoges welcomes 15,000 students spread over
the campuses of Limoges, Guéret, Tulle and Brive-la-Gaillarde. The
University of La Rochelle, created recently (in 1993) welcomes around
8000 students on its Minimes campus, in the city center.
Multidisciplinary, she specializes in sustainable development. The
University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour, founded in 1972, has
approximately 12,000 students, spread over several sites in the region
(Pau, Bayonne, Anglet, Mont-de-Marsan) as well as in Tarbes, in the
neighboring region of Occitanie.
Mountain outings
It is advisable to check the weather before
any outing in the high mountains in the Pyrenees.
Swimming in
the sea
In most of the seaside resorts in the region, the beaches
are generally supervised during the summer season (from mid-June to
the beginning of September). The flag hoisted at the lifeguard
station indicates whether swimming is authorized (green flag),
potentially dangerous (orange or yellow flag) or prohibited (red
flag).
The beaches of the wild coast of the Arvert peninsula
and the Gironde and Landes coasts are not all supervised, or only in
certain places. Exposed directly to the swell, they are sometimes
subject to powerful rolls or currents that should not be
underestimated. Baïnes, natural basins that sometimes form on
beaches, may seem tempting but are actually extremely dangerous, as
they can empty into the ocean at any time, generating particularly
strong currents that carry the unwary offshore. Do not try to fight
and let yourself be carried away, then signal your presence to the
lifeguards or other bathers by making big gestures. For more
information, do not hesitate to inquire at the nearest aid station.
Finally, do not underestimate the heat of the sun (more violent
than it seems) and do not try to tan without a cream adapted to your
skin.
Swimming in lakes and rivers
There are many bathing
spots in the area. Not all of them have a supervised swimming area.
In this case, swimming is at the risk and peril of the users.
The basic rules of good manners are enough to establish good relations with the inhabitants. Like many people in the South of France, the inhabitants of the region are generally generous, spontaneous and open, but proud and sometimes touchy: certain subjects, such as sport (rugby), bullfighting culture (bullfights) or nationalism ( especially in the Basque Country) must be approached with caution. There is a kind of age-old "rivalry" between Bordeaux and Toulouse, and more generally between Aquitaine and Languedoc, and this subject can sometimes be tricky to broach with people you don't know well, even in a joke.
The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region results from the merger of three local
authorities (Aquitaine, Limousin and Poitou-Charentes) decided as part
of the territorial reform of 2014. Extending over 84,036 km2 (comparable
to the area of Austria) , larger than French Guiana, it is the largest
region in France (mainland and overseas combined). It is one of the four
constituent regions of the South of France.
It covers part of the
Great South-West, i.e. twelve departments which are as follows in
alphabetical order: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Corrèze, Creuse,
Deux-Sèvres, Dordogne, Gironde, Haute-Vienne, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne ,
Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Vienne.
It encompasses the three largest
departments of metropolitan France (Gironde, Landes and Dordogne) which,
respectively with 9,976 km2, 9,243 km2 and 9,060 km2, occupy a third of
the total area of the region.
Demographically, New Aquitaine accumulates population contrasts where
the distribution of the population is very unequal throughout the new
region.
Thus the Gironde is by far the most populated department
with nearly 1,600,000 inhabitants, the Creuse is the least populated
with less than 120,000 inhabitants, the latter being the second least
populated department in France after Lozère.
Similarly,
population densities by department range from simple to sevenfold
between Creuse (21 inhab./km2) and Gironde (159 inhab./km2).
Furthermore, only three departments out of the twelve that make up this
region have a population density higher than the regional average:
Gironde (159 inhab./km2), Charente-Maritime (94 inhab./km2) and
Pyrénées-Atlantiques (89 inhab./km2). ./km2) which, moreover, are all
three coastal departments bordered by the Atlantic Ocean.
But New
Aquitaine remains on the whole a moderately populated region, its
population density (71 inhab./km2) is clearly lower than that of
metropolitan France (119 inhab./km2).
This average population of
the region is also reflected in the low number of large cities and by a
relatively moderate urbanization.
The largest city and only
metropolis is Bordeaux (254,436 inhabitants in 2017 for the
municipality), at the heart of an agglomeration of more than 900,000
inhabitants; it is tending to become a regional megalopolis, the result
of decisions taken by various regional planning policies. The regional
capital now extends its influence over the entire south-west quarter of
France and particularly increases its urban influence over the entire
region due to its regional command functions.
Three other towns
at the intermediate level actually play a weak role in the region
compared to Bordeaux. New Aquitaine has only one large city with limited
urban weight, Limoges, and two medium-sized cities with modest
influences, Poitiers and Pau. It is striking to note that they are all
three located on the territorial margins of the new region and were, for
the first two, former regional capitals: Limoges (132,175 inhabitants
and more than 182,000 inhabitants in its agglomeration) , Poitiers
(88,291 inhabitants and more than 132,000 inhabitants in its
agglomeration) and Pau (77,130 inhabitants and nearly 200,000
inhabitants in its agglomeration). None of these three cities exerts
enough counterweight against Bordeaux in the regional urban structure.
In the rest of the region, a relatively diversified fabric of
medium-sized towns mesh the regional territory. Of these, only Bayonne
and La Rochelle stand out clearly for their remarkable urban dynamism,
although their influence is limited to their micro-region.
The
other medium-sized cities can be classified into four distinct
categories:
Some cities exert their importance on the scale of
their department mainly because of their role as prefecture, such as
Agen, Angoulême, Mont-de-Marsan, Niort and Périgueux.
Other urban
centers owe their influence thanks to their particular geographical
situation allowing them to play a role of crossroads of communication
and commercial pole like Bergerac in the middle valley of the Dordogne,
Brive-la-Gaillarde between the departments of Corrèze and of the
Dordogne, Saintes in the central part of Charente-Maritime or
Villeneuve-sur-Lot in the Lot valley.
The third category of these
cities corresponds to former industrial centers where industry still
plays a significant role, such as Châtellerault with the automobile or
Rochefort with aeronautics.
Finally, some towns owe their
development to tourism, such as Dax with hydrotherapy, Arcachon and
Royan with seaside tourism.
The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region is bordered by Pays de la Loire to the
northwest, Centre-Val de Loire to the north, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to the
east, Occitanie to the southeast and by Spain to the south.
The
region covers a large part of the Aquitaine Basin and a small portion of
the Paris Basin (the boundary between the two being located at the
threshold of Poitou), as well as the Limousin plateau (belonging to the
Massif Central) and the western part of the chain of the Pyrenees.
It is part of five hydrographic basins facing the Atlantic Ocean:
Loire, Charente, Vienne, Garonne and Dordogne (and their estuary
extension which is the Gironde), and Adour, feeder rivers bordering land
most often devoted to viticulture and agriculture.
New Aquitaine
also relies on the presence of a wide coastline of nearly 720 kilometers
open to the Atlantic Ocean, ranging from the national nature reserve of
the Baie de l'Aiguillon and the Sèvre Niortaise estuary ( north of
Charron) to that of Bidassoa (south of Hendaye) and including the
islands of the Charente archipelago (islands of Ré, Oléron, Aix and
Madame) as well as the vast indentation of the basin of Arcachon. This
varied territory is the domain of oyster farming (oysters from
Marennes-Oléron and the Arcachon basin), mussel farming (mussels from
the bay of Aiguillon), and tourism, materialized by the presence of
famous seaside resorts such as Arcachon (Silver Coast), Biarritz (Basque
Coast) or Royan (Coast of Beauty). Its northern part (Charentaise coast
and Gironde estuary) is included in the natural marine park of the
Gironde estuary and the Pertuis sea, the largest marine park in France.
From the Arvert peninsula to the coasts of Labourd, the coastline,
almost straight, is bordered by high dunes, which culminate in the Dune
du Pilat, large lakes (Lac d'Hourtin and Carcans, Etang de Lacanau,
Cazaux and Sanguinet ponds, Biscarrosse and Parentis ponds, etc.) and
wetlands (national nature reserve of dunes and marshes of Hourtin) which
precede vast pine forests planted in the 19th century. The Landes
forest, by far the largest, covers nearly one million hectares
(including nearly 950,000 maritime pines), making it the largest
man-made forest in Western Europe. Forming a vast triangle starting from
the Pointe de Grave, north of Soulac-sur-Mer, to Hossegor in the south,
and Nérac in the east, it replaced the barren, sandy and marshy moors
that characterized the region during centuries. The Landes forest is
partially included in the Landes de Gascogne regional natural park,
which begins south of Bordeaux.
Further north, on the right bank
of the Gironde estuary, the Coubre forest has the same characteristics,
forming the main green lung of the Royan area over nearly 8,000
hectares. Other important forest massifs cover the region: in the Basque
Country, the Iraty forest covers more than 17,000 hectares; on the
borders of Charente, Charente-Maritime and Dordogne, the Double forest,
punctuated by nearly 500 bodies of water, extends over approximately
50,000 hectares; further north, near Poitiers, the Moulière forest
covers nearly 6,800 hectares. Further east, near Guéret, the Chabrières
forest reaches 2,000 hectares.
The extreme south of the region
has a mountainous character with the presence of the Pyrenees massif.
Although its western part (the Labourd mountains) is made up of high
green hills which generally struggle to reach 1,000 m (the Rhune, near
Bayonne, is 900 m high; but further to the east, the highest point of
the French Basque country, the peak of Orhy, nevertheless rises to 2,017
m), the region of Pau is marked by more mineral landscapes, and is
surrounded by high peaks which often exceed 2,000 meters. The highest
point of the region, the Palas peak (2,974 m) is located not far from
there. Other Pyrenean peaks located in the region also include the Pic
du Midi d'Ossau (2884 m), the Pic d'Arriel (2824 m), the Pic de Ger
(2613 m) near the sports resort of Gourette winter, Pic d'Anie (2,504
m), Latte de Bazen (2,472 m), Pic d'Ansabère (2,377 m), Pic de
l'Arraille (2,147 m) or peak of Arlas (2,044 m).
This rugged
region is traversed by many mountain torrents, called gaves: among these
are the gave de Pau, the gave de Bious, the gave d'Ossau or the united
gaves, on the border of Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques . The Ossau
Valley, one of the three great valleys of Béarn, extends from the
suburbs of Pau to the Col du Pourtalet, on the Franco-Spanish border.
Its glacial lakes, its exceptional fauna and flora explain its
integration into the Pyrenees National Park.
Belonging to the
Massif Central, the Limousin also has a marked relief, with its high
bocage plateaus and its few eroded peaks which dominate green valleys
and forests of oaks and chestnut trees. The Limousin Plateau, cut by the
valleys of the Vienne (which waters its capital, Limoges) of the Isle,
the Vézère or the picturesque Corrèze, with its deep reliefs, hardly
exceeds 500 m. It marks the watershed line between the Loire basin to
the north (sources of the Briance, Aixette, Grêne or Gorre), the
Dordogne basin to the south (sources of the Dronne, l'Isle, l'Auvézère),
and the maritime watershed of the Charente, to the west.
The
Limousin mountains, which include a series of small massifs (Fayat
mountains, Monédières massif, Châlus mountains) culminate at Mont Bessou
(977 m), in Corrèze. Further north, the Monts de la Marche, which are
divided into the Monts de Guéret, the Monts d'Ambazac and the Monts de
Blond, are more like high wooded hills, dotted with pastures, than real
peaks. They culminate at the signal of Sauvagnac (702 m), in
Haute-Vienne. The south-west of Limousin and the north-west of Périgord
have been integrated into the Périgord-Limousin regional natural park
since 1998, while the regional natural park of Millevaches in Limousin
created in 2004 is associated with the eponymous plateau.
The
northern part of the region, which corresponds to historical Haut-Poitou
and the southern part of Anjou (north-west of Vienne), is organized
around an agricultural and wine-growing plateau (vineyards of
Haut-Poitou). Poitou) irrigated by the Vienne, the Clain or the
Gartempe, which form so many shallow valleys, often bordered by oak
forests. Further south, the Niortais presents open landscapes
(openfields) dominated by cereals, but also rich marshes, such as the
Marais poitevin, the legacy of a former marine gulf filled in by
alluvium, which is divided into wet marshes (one speaks more readily of
"Green Venice") and dry marshes, converted into polyculture. The town of
Niort, on the Sèvre Niortaise, the main agglomeration of Haut-Poitou
outside Poitiers, is the gateway to this "Green Venice", a large part of
which belongs to the Marais poitevin regional natural park, created in
1979, classified Grand France website.
Further south extend the
Charentes, which correspond to the former provinces of Aunis, Angoumois
and Saintonge. Aunis is reminiscent of the landscapes of Niortais, with
its large marshes which extend on either side of La Rochelle and
Rochefort (bay of Yves, marshes of Rochefort, Broue and Brouage) , but
also the islands of Ré and Aix, with varied landscapes where pine
forests, sandy beaches and the curious lagoon of Fier d'Ars, with sands
in constant movement, which is home to an ornithological reserve. The
interior of the territory is marked by the presence of a rich cereal
plain evoking Beauce by its open relief on the horizon. In the center of
this space, the town of Surgères has remained a land of pastures, where
dairy farming has retained all its importance: the small town in Aunis
is thus one of the centers of production of Charentes-Poitou butter.
Angoumois forms a transitional area between the coastal plains of
Aunis, the great “champagnes” of Saintonge and the Limousin plateau.
Punctuated with small hills, it seems to live to the rhythm of the
Charente, a real artery which waters its main cities, Angoulême, Cognac
and Jarnac. A great wine-growing region, it produces an internationally
renowned alcohol, cognac, which is an eau-de-vie, as well as Pineau des
Charentes. The western quarter of Charentes is made up of Saintonge, a
territory organized around the towns of Saintes, the first capital of
Aquitaine in Roman times, and Royan.
In the extension of
Angoumois, the Dordogne corresponds approximately to the former province
of Périgord. Taking its name from the river of the same name, which
waters Bergerac but not its prefecture, Périgueux (on the banks of the
Isle), this territory with varied landscapes has a high rate of
afforestation (45%) which makes it the third most wooded department of
France. The great oak and chestnut forests of the Périgord Vert,
organized around Nontron, are matched by the large cereal fields of the
Périgord Blanc, nicknamed "the granary of Périgord", the oak groves, the
walnut trees and the truffle plantations of the Périgord Noir, around
Sarlat. -la-Canéda, and the vineyards of Périgord pourpre or
Bergeracois, where Bergerac, Monbazillac or Pécharmant are produced.
The Gironde estuary, which acts as a link between Saintonge,
Blayais, Médoc and western Guyenne, is in itself a world apart. Largest
wild estuary in Europe, classified as a marine natural park with the
Pertuis Charentais, it is bordered by large marshes ("small Camargue")
and hillsides where most of the great wines of Bordeaux are produced,
from the great Médoc wines of the left bank of the Garonne (pauillac,
margaux, saint-estèphe, saint-julien) as far as blaye-côtes-de-bordeaux
and the côtes-de-bourg of the Blayais and Bourgeais vineyards on the
right bank of the Dordogne.
With its hillsides and its palus
between Garonne and Dordogne up to the gates of Lot-et-Garonne, the
natural region of Entre-deux-Mers follows it with its vineyards of dry
or sweet white wines (cadillac, loupiac, Sainte -croix-du-mont). The
stones from its limestone quarries in Astéries were used for the
construction of Bordeaux buildings such as the Palais Gallien from the
3rd century and the mansions of the 18th and 19th centuries.
On
the other bank of the two rivers are still deployed, to the north, on
the right bank of the Dordogne, the Libournais vineyard (Pomerol,
Saint-Émilion, Fronsac) and to the south, on the left bank of the
Garonne, that of the Graves (pessac-léognan) and Sauternes (sauternes,
barsac). With an international reputation, the vineyards of Bordeaux
have made the reputation of the region for centuries. Its productions
are exported all over the world.
Further south, on the left bank
of the Garonne, extends to the Atlantic the great plain of the Landes de
Gascogne (west of the Gironde and north of the Landes department), which
begins at the gates of Bordeaux and ends at the foot of the Pyrenees.
Occupied largely by the Landes forest, it is also a major agricultural
region (maize cultivation) and it hosts a spa resort of international
reputation, Dax, which is also the capital of Chalosse, an important
breeding ground.
The coastline, subject to strong erosion, has
remained very wild. A few seaside resorts have been set up in the middle
of the dunes, from Soulac-sur-Mer in the north of the Gironde, via
Carcans, Hourtin, Lacanau, Biscarrosse, Mimizan or Capbreton, not to
mention those bordering the Arcachon basin: Arcachon ,
Andernos-les-Bains, Lège-Cap-Ferret, Pyla-sur-Mer. This vast lagoon,
wide open to the ocean, has been home to the Arcachon Basin Marine
Nature Park since 2014.
Eastern Guyenne partly corresponds to the
department of Lot-et-Garonne. Rich agricultural and cereal region
watered by both the Lot and the Garonne, it is famous for its prunes,
which took the name of its capital, Agen (nearly 8,000 hectares of land
are devoted to plum orchards of Ente) , while Marmande is renowned for
its tomatoes. The mildness of its climate explains why tobacco is also
grown there, as well as strawberries (gariguettes) and vines, which are
used to produce Côtes-du-Marmandais, Côtes de Duras, Buzet or Côtes du
Brulhois, which are linked to the vast vineyards of the South-West. But
the real glory of this terroir is Armagnac, the Gascon counterpart of
cognac, like him exported all over the world. Its vineyard extends over
part of the departments of Lot-et-Garonne, Landes but also Gers (in the
neighboring region, Occitanie). Floc de Gascogne is also produced there,
with delicate floral accents.
The extreme south of the region is
made up of two territories with a strong identity, the Basque Country
(Northern Basque Country or Ipparalde) and Béarn. The first, which is
organized around Bayonne, Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Labourd),
Mauléon-Licharre (Soule) or Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (Basse-Navarre),
owes to its warm and humid climate its green side, the Atlantic rains
coming up against the barrier of the Pyrenees. The coast, with its posh
or family seaside resorts, makes it a popular vacation spot. The inland,
more rural, retains a strong agricultural tradition and a solid
wine-growing region, symbolized by the irouléguy vineyard but also by
traditional liqueurs such as izarra and patxaran, the characteristic
eau-de-vie of Navarre. .
Anchored in the heart of the Pyrenees,
Béarn contrasts its Gascon traditions with the Basque Country. Formed by
a succession of gently accentuated hills and valleys (that of the Gave
de Pau, which concentrates the capital, Pau, and several cities such as
Orthez and Navarrenx, being the most populated), it includes the valleys
of Aspe, Barétous , and Ossau (with the Col d'Aubisque). Agriculture
still occupies an important place, as does viticulture (Jurançon,
Madiran) even if the aeronautical and petrochemical sectors are also
represented. It is in Béarn that the main winter sports resorts in the
region are concentrated, such as Artouste, Gourette, Issarbe, La Pierre
Saint-Martin and Le Somport.