Curious tales & strange places
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MARIANNE, SYMBOL OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC / Marianne was not a real person. In 1792, she was dreamt up for a song, rather like Eleanor Rigby or Maggie May. Today in France, you will find her image on coins, postage stamps and government documents, and her bust is in most official buildings.
ASTONISHING TALES FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS OF FRENCH AVIATION / In 1910, Armand Viguier built a pedal-powered aeroplane in his village church. When war broke out in 1914, he served successively as cavalryman, bomber pilot and fighter pilot. Learn more about his extraordinary career.
TOULOUSE: IN MEMORY OF THE EXPLODING FERTILISER FACTORY / At 10.17 on 21 September 2001, Toulouse was shaken by an explosion which killed 31 people. The cause? A fertiliser factory run by AZF.
BIARRITZ, LA RHUNE AND EMPRESS EUGENIE / In 1859, Eugénie, wife of Emperor Napoleon III, climbed this mountain in grand style. She also did much to develop tourism in Biarritz, Eaux-Bonnes and other parts of the western Pyrenees. Most modern visitors climb the mountain with the help of the scenic mountain railway.
SACRED, SECRET PYRENEES / I recently discovered a place which soothes the soul in these troubled times, a remote village where the church is unlocked and the bijou museum opens its doors at the touch of a button to reveal its treasures, a place with breathtaking views of Pyrenean peaks.
A SHAGGY DOG STORY: HOW A FEW BEARS RESCUED THE PYRENEAN MOUNTAIN DOG / Traditionally they were trained to defend flocks of sheep from bears and wolves, but during the second half of the 20th century the Pyrenean Mountain dog all but disappeared from its home range, along with the predators it used to confront. With a little help from Slovenia, this iconic dog has made a come back in recent years.
WHEN IS AN ENGLISH CEMETERY NOT AN ENGLISH CEMETERY? / Two places to the east of Toulouse are known as le cimitière des anglais, or the English cemetery. The question is, are any Englishmen buried there?
A TALE OF BURIED TREASURE AND MARKETING GENIUS / The mysteries of Rennes-le-Château have inspired enough books to open a bookshop. At the root of this phenomenal success was a master of creative marketing who had a brainwave in 1956.
SO MANY REASONS TO VISIT NAUROUZE, NOT FAR FROM TOULOUSE / Naurouze is one of those places that seems to attract legends and history, as well as being notable from a geological and geographic perspective. It is located south-east of Toulouse, conveniently close to the main road between Villefranche-de-Lauragais and Castelnaudary.
HOW WELLINGTON FINALLY LAID HIS HANDS ON NAPOLEON’S GREATEST GENERAL / Soult and Wellington never met face-to-face during all the years they spent fighting each other in Portugal, Spain, France and Belgium. But according to a tale I was told during a visit to the Château de Soult-Berg, this long-overdue encounter took place at the coronation of Queen Victoria in London.
THE PIG FARMER, THE ROMAN TILEMAKER AND NAPOLEON’S COMPANION IN EXILE / Most people visiting Las Cases barely glance at the château. Instead, they dive straight inside the farm shop to buy dried hams, sausages or fresh pork. But before the Malinge family started making charcuterie, Las Cases had enjoyed a curious succession of occupants.
THE MYSTERIOUS OBJECT IN THE LAKE / The obelisk in the lake at Saint-Ferréol only shows itself during times of extreme drought (eg 2022) or when the lake is drained for maintenance (last done in the winter of 2016-17). What is its purpose?
WHY ARE THE PYRENEES CALLED THE PYRENEES? / This question has been debated since Classical times, and there is still no clear answer today. Back in the 16th century, the future King Henri IV of France thought he knew why. These mountains were called the Pyrenees because one of his ancestors had ravished a princess inside the cave of Lombrives.
ROQUEFORT CHEESE – THE OLDEST FRENCH APPELLATION / This village in the south of France is famous for transforming ewe’s milk into blue cheese worth €350 million a year. Commercial success has left its mark on Roquefort, but not in a way you would expect. An interview with the mayor explains why nearly all the dwellings in his commune are uninhabited.
FROM THE CAUCASUS TO CASTRES VIA THE RED ARMY AND THE WEHRMACHT / This article tells the extraordinary story of Vakhtang Sekhniachvili who fought for the Soviets, the Germans and the French Resistance. After that, he was awarded the Military Cross in France and sent to the gulag by Stalin.
WHO WERE THE TWO ‘GERMAN’ SOLDIERS BURIED AT THE CHÂTEAU DE GARREVAQUES? / One day, the owner of the Château de Garrevaques shared a memory from her childhood: a few years after the end of the Second World War, the German army came and disinterred two dead soldiers buried in the grounds of her château, but were they really German?
HOW THE PROTESTANTS OF REVEL STOLE A MARKET FROM THEIR CATHOLIC NEIGHBOURS / Founded as a royal bastide in 1342, Revel has one of the busiest weekly markets in the Lauragais. Few shoppers know that this popular event was stolen from the neighbouring town of Sorèze during the Wars of Religion 440 years ago.
A LOST CITADEL IN THE MONTAGNE NOIRE / A few months ago, I took a walk in the forests of the Montagne Noire, south-west France. I waded rivers and fought dense vegetation in a bid to became one of the first people since the 12th century to visit the remains of a lost castrum – or fortified village. I say ‘lost’ because, until a year ago, it was unknown to archaeologists and historians.
WHY WAS THOMAS JEFFERSON SO DETERMINED TO VISIT THIS PRETTY LAKE? / Rather than admiring its beauty, Jefferson was more interested in the engineering aspects of Saint-Ferréol. It is, in fact, a reservoir, not a lake, and it supplies the Canal du Midi. Jefferson studied the whole system because, in his home state of Virginia, there was great interest in the idea of making the Potomac navigable.
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